January 28 - Explorations of Legs ... continues

(See January 21 for all the Class Guides from Giny for January 21 & 29 and February 4 & 11)

Great value studies today!

January 28 - let's paint the same sketches in COLOR...and duplicate your value patterns!

(Yes, slight change in plans... advancing from Value to Color ...on our way to composition...!)

Quarter off your paper and draw your sketch again... Use the ColorValue images to help sort out what colors you want to use for light, middle, dark...you may want at some time to recreate this chart with the colors in your palette...

Meanwhile, just for fun...take a look at previous works we've done, and evaluate value patterns, gradations, value contrast

See January 21: Pears in values, pears in color. A pdf "Values Explained" from “The simple secret to better painting” by Greg Albert.

and...link to a watercolor demo by Michael Reardon - good to watch the whole process - layering, saving white, so much to learn!

Michael Reardon High Speed Demo (Amazing)

Looking ahead, Feb 4 & 11: Value study of a landscape Feb 4 in one color AND one warm/one cool;

Feb 11 Full color, Feb 18 & 25th: Composition...putting it all together! Feb18th: Design & composition basics and dangers! Using value to lead the viewer’s eye, creating interest with gradation of values. Paint value study. Feb 25: Putting it all together with color...!

Art quote of the week: "A value study will save more time than it takes."

Happy painting!

Giny

January 21 - Explorations of Legs ...

What fantastic snow scenes we created today! This was a toughie and you all took it in stride...screen shot attached! (See January 14th)

Here’s what we’re planning the next few weeks…Explorations! Explorations of legs…Legs? Say what? Let’s think of a painting as standing on a three legged stool:

Value / Color / Composition

We’ll spend 2 weeks on each leg, starting with VALUE.

Jan 21 - Week 1: we’ll do a simple still life in 4 different value patterns, working in one color only. You can create your own image, or use one of the ones attached. Quarter your paper. But before we paint – we’ll make a value sketch for each one. Make sure you have at least a foreground and a background ….ideally also a middle ground, maybe with multiple objects (such as the brushes or the pears in the samples attached) to really vary the patterns…

Jan 28 - Week 2: Landscape value patterns. You’ll choose maybe something we’ve painted and mix up the values. Using value to set mood.

Color…translating value into color! Let's use the same images. Still life Feb 4 - week 1, landscape Feb 11-week 2, focusing on creating mood with color choices.

Composition: putting it all together. Feb 18 -Week 1: elements of design, composition basics and dangers! Feb 25 - Week 2: using value to lead the viewer’s eye, and creating interest with gradation of values.

Attached are suggested images to work from, sample value patterns, and a pdf of an excellent overview of “the value of value” taken from “The simple secret to better painting” book by Greg Albert. Meanwhile, look at your own art, art on your walls, magazines, art books, etc, and try to analyze the value patterns and what makes them work...

Art quote of the week: “Value does the work and color takes the credit” - Marie Wilkes

Happy painting!

Giny

January 14 - Brrr... More Snow!

Hello watercolor artists! This week we'll continue capturing snow.

But first, we'll spend a little time going over brushes - you don't need a lot of brushes, but you just need the right ones.

Then: we'll do the lake scene as a paint along. Notice the simplified drawing of the pine tree. Planning on painting the sky around it. Then leave the tree mostly unpainted, and just paint over the pencil lines under the snow covered boughs. And look closely, very light footprints! I've also attached a little watercolor of snow covered pines that shows how few paint strokes are needed to suggest snow on the branches...

Color choices! (as always if you don't have these colors, I'll help you decide what to use). We'll take some time mixing various neutrals...think more about cool/warm and less about specific colors...

Cobalt blue, perm rose, yellow ochre, ultramarine blue, burnt Siena, maybe sap green.

Lakefront: hmm! Want colorful neutrals for sky, lake, far tree line. Probably ultra marine blue and BS for pine boughs, warmed up for porch posts. Roof and pine stay unpainted.

Here's an alternate image of the frozen lake scene...shows how the same scene can be captured with entirely different weather conditions for a totally different feel! (Facebook reposted this January 12, 2015 photo...coincidentally I was also there yesterday for the day).

Attaching 2 photos and drawing for Thursday... and that great lineup of last week's paintings!

Giny

Art quote of the week;

"I could paint for a hundred years, a thousand years, without stopping and I would still feel as though I knew nothing." Cezanne

January 7 - Let's Paint Snow!

Let's paint snow! I hope you all got out today and took some nice photos of snow shadows and forms...if not, here are a few of mine to give you ideas...I'll add a few from the internet onto our website...

Hello watercolor artists!

I will be painting these 2 images tomorrow as a paint-along; and thought it might be helpful to send my drawings out.

Planning to do the tree shadow image first , then the misty lakefront scene. I may decide all my trees will be dark and not birches, or just a couple birches... Still thinking...

On the lake scene: I recommend simplifying the big pine on the right... My plan is to paint the sky around it, leave the tree mostly unpainted, and just paint over my pencil lines under the snow covered boughs. Attached is a watercolor of snow covered pines that shows how few paint strokes are needed to suggest snow on the branches... And look closely, very light footprints!

Color choices! ( as always if you don't have these colors, I'll help you decide what to use).

Tree shadows: cobalt blue, some lighter shadow lines neutralized slightly with perm rose and yellow ochre. Background ultra marine blue, w burnt siena.

Lakefront: hmm! Want colorful neutrals for sky, lake, far tree line. Probably ultra marine blue and burnt sienna again for pine boughs, warmed up for porch posts. Roof and pine stay unpainted.

Hope this helps!

Giny