Get Your Paint On Week 3

two pictures of the same thing, in different light.  this weeks assignment was to pick four items from around the house that we love the color of and try to match those colors as close as possible by mixing our paints.  the miniature red purse, pink feathers, green piece of wood from our old house, and blue chippy stool were my choices.

in progress

finished piece.

since we could paint any subject matter using our four colors, i wanted to try something really simple this week.  i didn't want a bunch of detail like last week.  i wish i had a more intuitive sense of shadowing and highlighting.  i don't automatically know where to shade and highlight so i get frustrated.  here i was looking at a wine bottle and just had to decided on where the light source could be coming from.  these are odd colors and not at all realistic so it was tougher for me. 

week 4 is all about composition.  we have a list of about 10 elements of composition and we are to pick one or two of them when focusing on our choice of painting.  i just saw a photo of a one room church in the Andes mountains in Peru that i want to try painting so i will be back to show you when that's finished.  the photo is in an online magazine and i cannot figure out how to lift the image to show you here so i will try making a link to it so you can see the original photo i base my painting off of if ya want....

making pasta with huge shavings of parmigiano reggiano,

xoxoxxxo

jennette



Get Your Paint On Week 2

a glass of red wine helps the painting along

background good to go

got my brushes ready

"Suddenly at Twilight"

this weeks assignment for my Get Your Paint On class was to be inspired by an artist(s) we like and to try to emulate a part of their style in our painting.  i am inspired by Amanda Blake who is a painter in Portland,OR., that i love. emulating her night time sky seems to be what i had the most success with.  i also used her ability to do faces as the inspiration for this little guy.  The rest of my painting and subject matter was inspired by this drawing that August did of Jasper when Gus was 10 and Jasper was 2.  Gus called it "Jasper Demon!":

the original Jasper Demon

just a few days later i already see several things i could have done to make this painting more "right."  i should have done a gray wash, especially over the tent, to give it a less bright and more night time look.  and i could have gradually darkened the ground as it goes back to make it look like it is receding.  also i have no sense of proportion so the demon's wings are just about as big as his body!  i wish i would have allowed more time to fill in the foreground with more movement.  i suppose i could still go do more of that but now we are on to week three, which is all about color.  I need to pick four objects from around my house that i love the color of and then try to match those colors as closely as possible by mixing my paints and then use those four colors in a painting of my choice.  deciding what to paint is the hard part.  i want to try something bigger, with less detail, for this next one.  i will let ya know how it goes.  in the mean time....... you could go get YOUR paint on!

attaching medals to my military jacket,

xoxox

jennette

You Are Your Own Muse

I'm taking another workshop!

You Are Your Own Muse!

it's about "telling the story of my life, stepping into my beauty and my identity, and telling the story of my history." 

 HolyScaryFaceMyDemonsScary!

i will be exploring my visual voice through self-portraiture.

the ultra fabulous Vivienne McMaster, who is offering this course, is a Vancouver based photographer and mentor/teacher.  She has other photograpy and self-discovery workshops so check out her site if this intrigues you at all. 

setting a scene for a photo shoot,
xoxo
Jennette



Get Your Paint On!

here i am working on my Week 1 assignment for Get Your Paint On

so i decided to take my first painting workshop!

scary!

and fun!

Get Your Paint On is a five week painting class with Lisa Congdon and Mati McDonough.  it is conducted all online in a private, safe and supportive environment where Mati and Lisa share their unique and colorful approach to painting.  each week has a topic of focus that is supported by information, tips, and important ideas from Mati and Lisa.  they post videos, images and photos to elaborate on the weekly topic.  they give an assignment each week that is connected to the topic and we have one week to complete the painting assignment.  then we post a photo of our painting to our private Flickr group.  we are asked to comment on others work in a supportive way and Mati and Lisa comment too.  there is an interview each week with an established artist about their work and process.  and Mati and Lisa each take a day to share what they are inspired by with links and images.

you might remember my "new" quilt from the antique show in november...

what does this have to do with painting, you ask?  well our first week covered selecting mediums and using materials with our painting assignment drawing on inspiration from the incredible Gee's Bend quilters of Alabama. We were asked to make a gridded or quilt like painting so we could experiment and get familiar with our paints by making blocks of color.  i love quilts and immediately thought of the one above that is now hanging over my bed.   the quilt looks like it could be a Gee's Bend quilt so i decided to be inspired by it for my first ever painting!

here is a look at my week one finished painting.  i have never really painted like this before so i have so much to learn.  these blocks of color seem so heavy and solid to me. 

i am getting to be so fascinated by paintings and how painters can make something look so real in paint.  some painters can make photo-realistic paintings!  amazing!

if you have any interest in exploring painting, you should check out the next Get Your Paint On.  There will be another level one class this spring or summer and i already plan to take the level 2 class after this one.

week 2 assignment has to do with finding artists that inspire you and trying to use or incorporate an element of their style that you are fond of.  i have been loving Amanda Blake since discovering her in November at Little Winter so i have spent this week looking at her paintings and doing a lot of my own drawings while trying to emulate her style.  i am loving it so i will try to show you the next painting and the inspiration for it, when i am done.

please be nice in your comments and feedback.  i am too new at this to be handling criticism, even if its constructive! like my mom always taught me, if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say nothin at all!

drawing circus tents and floating crystals,

jennette