Painting With A Credit Card Class at Art(ology)

The night was cool, the gallery was festive, and we had a grand time in the "Painting With A Credit Card" class. During the holidays, I am choosing to teach one day workshops that will give students experience with painting and mixed media techniques but not require vast amounts of skill knowledge or supplies. Students, though skeptical at first, loved the process and were quite surprised how the finished paintings were turning out. 

Here is one of the samples I used for this class. 

Here is the other. 

Gallery is all set up!

Class in action. Nancy is standing, asking questions about the process.

I love this shot of the gallery. Being surrounded by so much art is inspiring. 

Laura laying down base layer for her flower.

Laura adding more details to her sunflowers.

Yajaira laying down base layers on her two flowers.

You can see that Yajaira is adding depth using values to her flowers.

I am explaining a swipe technique to Nancy. (I am sitting)

Nancy working on her flowers, using complimentary colors.

She added a burst of white which set off the center.

Carol loved adding texture to her piece using the scratch out technique.

Although Carol isn't quite finished, her piece is going to be gorgeous.

Phyllis painted yellow daisies which are lovely!

Before the students began to paint on canvas, they practiced stroke techniques with the credit card with acrylic on paper. These abstracts always turn out wild and great!

Carol's abstract, looks kind of like a ship!

This class was wonderful! Art(ology) was the perfect setting for slinging paint and I can't wait to teach another one!

Mixed Media Acrylic Fruit Paintings

This weekend was a riot of a time as I painted through a few new mixed media techniques in miniature sizes, you can read about those fruit paintings HERE. In preps for a larger painting, I increased the paper size today to an 8" by 10" and painted in a series as well, but changed up a few ideas.

In these larger pieces, I used my rubber dotted stamps for added texture, continued scratching out within the wet acrylic paint, and added quite a few finger painting marks. The same blue tape bled, because I had taped off the paper all at one time, but it isn't the end of the world because I think these pieces stand alone.

I have 5 more gessoed papers taped and ready to go, so when I finish the last five, I will feel confident about going forward with my really large piece that I have been prepping for. Working in this small format, several at a time, has been a great learning experience for me as to what colors blend well, contrast well, and which textures I love or hate.

Lemon and Orange, Acrylic on Paper 8" by 10" $60

Green and Purple Plum, Acrylic on Paper, $60, 8" by 10"

Turquoise Pears, Acrylic on Paper, 8" by 10"

Golden Pear, Acrylic on Paper, $60 8" by 10"

Plum Pumpkin, Acrylic on Paper, 8" by 10", $60

On a note of blessing:
As a creative, being surrounded by a welcoming atmosphere and people who are supportive is a total blessing to me. My friends at the Lavretta Art Center have welcomed me with open arms and when I walk in that door I just feel a sense of 'being home.' So, for today, I am marking the day with much gratitude because I do know, like I am breathing, that I live a life I don't deserve.

Red Tomato $60

A Pair of Pears, $60

Two Peaches, $60

Apple and Lemon, $60

Eggplant, $60

This evening, as I type this, the sun is setting and bending its evening light through the window panes. I spent so many days laid up in the bed, watching the same light dance through the window when I was recovering, but today this light just seems extra comforting. Glad to know I exist at a time where beauty surrounds me despite any circumstance that gives me pause. Sending lots of ((((((creative love)))))) out to you, and you, and yes, YOU! 

"Meyer Lemon and Peach" Full Sheet Acrylic on paper

Miniature Acrylic Fruit Studies

When I see a painting technique whiz by me in my social networking streams I usually make a note of it if it is something I haven't tried yet and I usually paint it in miniature. This fruit series is an example of that. There were three aspects of  these paintings I was curious about. 

1. Would a cheaper brand of blue painter's tape work well?
2. How would scratching out effect the under layer?
3. Would adding graphite enhance the acrylic or would it be invisible for the most part? 

The blue painters tape was a huge fail. I normally use green gator tap, which is really expensive, so I chose to use an ACE Hardware brand and a 3M brand of blue tape. Even though I rubbed my tape well, it still bled around the edges. These paintings actually were going to be 5" by 5" but due to the bleed, I had to cut the white border off. 

Scratching out actually turned out to be interesting. I had previously used a credit card to layer background inks and when I added the top layers of color I scratched out lines revealing the underlying colors. I liked this effect and plan to use it in some larger paintings. 

Adding graphite to my work is something I am new to. Before, I would sketch and then paint over the graphite. These little pieces showed me that using a 4b pencil would add another layer and enhance the overall feel of the piece. 

Each painting is only 4.5 inches by 4.5 inches, which is quite small. These studies have given me a bit of knowledge going forward as to the color palette and texture I plan on using in a much larger still life with fruit painting. 

Pear I, Acrylic on Paper, $30 4.5" by 4.5"

Pumpkin I Acrylic on Paper, $30 4.5" by 4.5"

Pear II, Acrylic On Paper, $30, 4.5" by 4.5"

Blue Plum, Acrylic on Paper, $30 4.5" by 4.5"

Lemon, Acrylic on Paper, 4.5" by 4.5", $30

Pumpkin II, Acrylic on Paper, $30, 4.5" by 4.5"

Pink Plum, Acrylic on Paper, $30, 4.5" by 4.5"

Pear III, Acrylic on Paper, $30, 4.5" by 4.5"

Green Apple, Acrylic on Paper, $30, 4.5" by 4.5"