Get Your Paint On Week 3

This week for class, we had to choose four colors and paint something. We were to only use those colors. Well, I tried. I really did. In the end, I layered the four colors chosen from my bathroom towels and curtain and did lots of sanding and texturing.

I’m pleased with the results given the assignment. I don’t love the painting, but am happy to have completed the assignment within the timeline.

In the close up below you can see all the layers of paint. I really love the bottom left hand flower. If I could just cut that one out and use it I would.. and I might. :)

So there you have it, another painting!

Go Big or Go Home

This week in Get Your Paint On we were challenged to focus on color.  I am still working on this week's painting, but I ramped up last weeks painting with color so I thought I'd share.

I have decided that I like the idea of Impressionism, but I like some crisp lines as well, so I am developing my own style.   I also really like the green chair.   In the picture below you can see my going big  this week!  I think it's 2'x3'.

At school we are hard at work getting the art pieces ready for contest.  I have more than 40 students attending and we are taking 78 pieces.  I truly believe that there are days were I must be certifiably nuts and I have to say a small program like mine taking that many kids with that many fine art pieces on a bus more than two hours away from the school is nuts. 

My painting this week is an abstract-ish one of the roses I got for Valentine's Day!!  I've got to get it finished and posted by Sunday.. so I better go get my paint on!

Get Your Paint On Week2

I like.  More info to come.  Dead modem at home.

Sources of Inspiration

So, I'm taking this painting e-course.  It's great!  I'm telling my students about it at school and they are impressed that teachers still take classes and learn.  They are shocked when they find out that I'm doing it because I want to, that no one is making me and that I even have to pay for it myself!

This week we are suppossed to find a painting/artist that inspires us.  Man, this is hard!! I love so many different styles, periods and techniques.

I've got to decide and then paint something by Sunday!

So, after really pushing myself to look for someone new, to break from a classic and all that, I go back to Monet.

Yeah.  Boring. I know. 

It's not experimental, cutting edge, trendy or anything.

But I love Monet. I love the colors, the landscapes, the technique.

I wonder if I love Impressionism so much for the art, or for the memories of walking through the Musee d'Orsay in Paris. I think they are intertwined.  All I know is that even though I push myself to move beyond Monet, something about his uneven horizons and bursts of color continue to call to me.

So I guess I better translate this into a painting!

Getting My Paint On.. Part1

I am so pumped about my ecourse I'm taking.  And I'm very proud of myself for taking the time to gather supplies before I left school yesterday!  Cause today, SNOW DAY!!! 

So, I decided to make myself a painting spot in the laundry room.  Yes, I have a craft desk in the den.  It happens to be the perfect height for one year old hands.  And is currently the home of  Lexi's oversized dollhouse.  My spot in the laundry room is great for standing and working and is tall enough that little hands and eyes are not intrigued.

Here is my spot.  Please don't look at the dust :)

And here is my painting in progress.  I tell you, I am so leaving my comfort zone by showing something in progress.  eek.  please no snide comments!

But I do want to mention something, for those of you out there who don't like to paint because you can never mix a color the way you think you should be able to and you get all frustrated and all that... well.  Let me tell you something.  It is NOT YOU!  It's the paint.

It is.  I used to hate to paint becuase my colors were always muddy and icky.  And then I learned about GOOD PAINT.  And a whole new world opened up!  I use Golden Acyrlics and their mediums.  They are FANTASTIC!!  So, give yourself another chance.  Go buy a sample size of a couple of colors and play. 

In fact, Golden has a wonderful color chart that you can get that teaches you about color mixing.  And no, this isn't a paid advertisement :)  I just get frustrated with crappy paint and the disappointment that it leaves you with.

So there you have it.  My handy "studio!"