You are currently browsing the monthly archive for July 2007.
Acrylic on canvas. 11×14 inches.
Illustration Friday: Little things.
My portrait of Flannery O Connor was accepted into the PMA exhibit. So until next month, we have it hanging to watch over our souls in the living room.
Today I was able to finish up a portrait of Hannah, who modeled for me for 2 days (7-8 hours total). She did a great job and only fell asleep on me once. Ha!
I have been spending most of my time this summer in a room with no windows and no other people while I paint and draw. When I get a project started, I will sketch quite a bit to come up with the composition and concept. Once the initial drawing is done, I paint, and all that I need to think about is color mixing and edges. So, that frees up the major part of my brain for some audio input.
Here are some audio goodies that I have been absorbing:
Musicians- The Arcade Fire, Bill Evans (pictured above)
Podcasts (these are so fun to listen to. I laugh, I cry, and I wish they would never end.)- This American Life, Radio Lab
Audio books- The Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana, Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry
So what have you been listening to lately? Any suggestions?
Art camp:
Wow. So my first week of art camp is done. My four students were a delight, and I hope that they enjoyed sketching and painting as much as I enjoyed seeing their progress. We started each morning at 8:30 am. At 12:30 we ended, after learning a bit about 20th century designers, after painting, and after doing some sketching from still lives each day. The students were able to finish at least one 18×18 painting, several sketches from life, and some students took home freshly painted puzzles, and name plaques for their bedrooms.
I headed over to my study set up at the school to paint. This week I decided to do a poster design for the Pensacola Art Festival contest. Hopefully, next week that will be completed. This is the painting that I did complete this week. It is a 6×6 inch gallery wrap painting.
I listed it on Etsy, but it did not last more than 30 minutes before it sold. How cool is that?
As a treat for our boys, we stopped by a machine dealership after dinner tonight. Those two boys love bulldozers and earth-movers. I will put the photos up on flickr tomorrow. I am just so tired after all the excitement this week. I am going to sleep. Sweet dreams.
This is art camp:
I am hosting 2 weeks of art camp this summer. Today was the second day of the first week, and 3 out of my four students (wish you were here) are about to finish their first 18×18-inch painting in acrylic. Wow!
We are surveying some of the famous 2oth century designers (Mucha, Lucian Bernhard, Paul Rand, and Milton Glaser), and the paintings the students are doing are in a flat color/ object poster style. Today we also took a break to go outside and sketch. That made it a little more campy camp-like since the bugs were buggin’ us.
I never went to a camp like this when I was a child. My camps were always very far away from civilization (and my parents), and somehow a lifetime of love, heartbreak, and adventure occurred in five and a half sweaty days.
These pieces finish up the week for me. The top piece is a pastel painting shown unfinished on left as I decided to give the face a second try. The graphite sketch of the big house is for my G’ma-in-law. She lived many happy years in this lovely home.
I also have been prepping for Art Camp which begins Monday. My students range in age from 3rd grade to adult. I cannot wait to see what they will paint.
These acrylic paintings came off the easel yesterday. They were the first real attempt I have made to paint from life with acrylic, and I must say that I enjoyed every minute.
Today I will be switching back to pastel to finish a sketch of Anna doing this:
What a great model! Hope to show you the result tonight.
