Still No Whining

I took yesterday's study and painted it on an 8"X10" board in oil. Yesterday's was on a canvas sheet.
I pushed the color just a bit more and painted thicker.

"Have A Glass" By Eva Marie Tanner-Klaas  Oil on 8"X10" Board

No Whining

I was able to finish this piece with no whining. Hmm. What a coincidence... or is it?

Watercolor Value Studies

I came home this afternoon after figure open studio and painted continuous value studies until it was time for dinner.  Here are a few watercolor examples.  I was pleased with the progress. The worse part was waiting for the watercolor to dry.

Simple value study.

One color value study and keeping the white of the paper.

Messy value study.

Keeping it simple.

A Black And White Affair

I bought inexpensive, black and white acrylic paint at Joanne's last night. Today I set up a still life and took out my studies from the last month. Goal? To practice my values. I was resistant with the first one. I didn't want to compare but rather just get through the lesson. Then I started to see, compare and join like values. The work improved after each one.

Watering can with lemon

Two vases, bottle and oranges.

Orange, bottle and pottery vase

Orange and two bottles

Teapot with two pomegranates

Watermelon slices, bottle, copper pot with lid and flower

Viewing Art

I headed to another gallery today to see “Richard Diebenkorn/Franz Kline: The Black and White Show.”  There were lithographs, etchings, and ink on paper. I looked at each piece up close and then far away. Amazing what how inspirational black and white can be.

Richard Diebenkorn - Seated Woman - Lithograph

 

 

Megabus to SF's Legion of Honor and Back

I hopped on the mega bus to San Fransisco today to see Andrew Zorn's exhibit at the Legion Of Honor.  The exhibit was wonderful  and what a great way to see the city. I spent 6 dollars for the mega bus round trip and didn't have to pay for parking and gas. I did have to pay for the metro buses in SF but my Legion of Honor admission was reduced by two dollars for taking public transportation. Not bad.
I spent time in Chinatown and decided that I would return in two weeks to sketch the city. I can't wait.

Urban Plein Air

I was up early painting this morning to meet up with some Urban painters and before I knew it, it was time to go home.  Good day.

Urban Plein Air on 8"x10"Canvas Board in Oil

Being Subtle

This exercise was a bit "subtle".  It was pink, white and soft lavender and made my head spin. I struggled to turn the form on the white teapot!  But.. it really was a great lesson.

Pushing Color

Here is my color study from my expressionist class.  It was one of those paintings where  I just wanted to be  done.  I didn't know what to do with background and I changed the color of the larger pot too much.
Oh well. Tomorrow is another day.

Values

I like this value study.   I used a palette with ivory black, white, transparent red oxide, cad. green light, cad. red, cad. orange and lemon yellow.  I painted over a 5"X7" gesso board  and looked at the relationships and compared the values. The brush strokes we kept loose.
Again, I took two photos of the painting. I edited one in black and white  using my smart phone application  to see how I did with the values.

How Are My Values?

I am diligently doing value studies with  5 minute time limit to help me with my paintings. Today, I did a quick 8x8 study of a rose under 15 minutes. Then I took a picture of it and edited it to black and white.
I see I am still not getting the value quite right but I am focusing more on the lights and darks rather than the subject matter.

"Red"

I painted this pretty red head today trying to keep things abstract and focus on value. I have painted three of these so far. Could that mean a series?

"Red" 12"x12" Oil On Gallery Wrap

Express Yourself 1/14/2014

This is a continuous class learning to push color and brush work. The flower was a demonstration by the instructor.
Some days I walk in and I am bold and confident. Other times, I am unsure and make timid strokes. I like the bold and confident better.

Go Figure - 1/13/2014

I got up early and headed to an open studio to practice figures.  I painted two to three value figures. The last 30 minutes, I painted this quick portrait with broad strokes.  An artist friend pointed out the ear was not far back enough and I resolved it later.  I also adjusted the lips.

Oil on 9"x12" Utrecht Canvas Pad Sheet

So Much Fun With Peggi Kroll-Roberts

I love learning.  It is even more exciting with a great instructor who is passionate about teaching. I found this with Peggi Kroll-Roberts' two day workshop in Angels Camp, CA  this weekend.
I struggle with value when I paint. I had heard about Peggi's workshops and kept thinking I would get to it.  Before I knew it, two years had passed by so I finally signed up. What a fantastic leap forward!
First day we learned her method of value studies while watching her demonstrations. It was fun. She showed us how to paint quick studies using a light and dark with still life. Then we moved to  quick studies with two light and one dark value. Then one light and two dark values. Then she said just go for it.  (Some of the paint smeared in the back of my van but you get the idea).

Two value studies on 9"x12" linen canvas sheets.

The top left is a demo by Peggi to help me out. I love this quick studies. I see a  noticeable difference in the full color painting above immediately with my two lights and one dark value study.

Go for it  - I was happy and exhausted at this point.

Go for it, again. 

Next day, we moved to a live model with more demonstrations.  First we did quick, blind, contour drawings. We used the same learned value method for the model.   This continued all day. I was so excited after class I forgot some of my class work of the model - yikes. The good thing is Peggi had us paint continuously during the workshop so I walked away with quite a few pieces and  priceless information. Oh and I bought two of her DVDs. "Gathering Information" and "5 Minutes Notans".

If you struggle with values and want learn an effective way to improve your work, I highly recommend Peggi Kroll-Roberts to any artist regardless of your background.

Express Yourself

Expressionism.  I am not sure what I am doing when I try to paint in this style but it has been fun.  This was painted  at the Brookings/Harbor port.

"Port Express" By Eva Marie Tanner-Klaas - 8"X10" Oil on Canvas Board

Relax

I painted this young, female model  to hone my  figure painting skills.  I  used abstract shapes, values and color. 
I started on a 12"X12" gallery wrap canvas and drew the shapes. I scrubbed the dark values and then the light colors. Once I was satisfied, I added directional brushwork to the forms.  I pushed the  background  using colors from the objects in front of it.

"Relax" By Eva Marie Tanner-Klaas 12"x12" Oil on Gallery Wrap