Lisa Daria Workshop - Awesome

This two day workshop was perfect in several ways - great host, great venue, fabulous food, fun crowd of artists and Lisa who gets my rave review!  

Here's the recap with a little about each challenge.  Lots of drills and trials like mixing grays, other ways to mix darker colors and the like.  The most powerful lesson we learned was to mix paint so that you never use the same color mix more than three times. It doesn’t take long to realize that you have to get creative while mixing!   It also helps you to focus on what you are actually doing – say a little more blue on the shadow side for example. 

Lisa is very up-front. She tells you there are rules and it is okay to break the rules, but her favorites to hang on to are:

• No drawing! 
• Squint so much that detail is eradicated!
• Three strokes per color max!
• Paint on a panel that’s toned in bright red to leverage the color energy! 

These four items keep the painting fresh, vibrant and interesting. I forget her exact words, but this is the list of takeaway gems if you ask me. 

Day 1 - Get in the Groove

First panel – no drawing, squint, get used to the bright red backbround.  Oops, vase got chopped off the bottom. . . . er, maybe a little drawing would be okay.

Second panel – Only 30 strokes for the whole painting; increases the fluid-factor and makes you really plan what’s happening.  

Can you belive the shadow was one stroke! Talk about planning ahead!

Third panel - Paint subject again with only the paint left on your palette – egads I only had a small dab of white, so focus was on what colors could be used while mixing to keep it interesting.  ahhhh . . . .darkness.

Day 2 - Work it Out

Paint all unlit areas in black with big blocky sections!  Without drawing - this is hard, but sets up drama and a new way to observe.  Shadow side of the orange really lucked out on this exercise.   BTW the green blobs are grapes :-)

Finally - Paint what you want keeping the rules in play – no drawing, squint, 3 strokes max and don't forget the red panel.  This photo is bigger because I absolutely love how it turned out!

Of course there had to be to one last twist. Paint setup again – but with your non-dominant hand! Not too  bad. I really enjoyed re-painting the same setup, getting more and more abstract.

So what do you think – should I keep doing a few more this way?

Lisa is high-energy, delightful, knowledgeable, fun and funny – she makes it exciting to be learning.  A lot of workshops are what I would call “passive” - where the artist gives out a list of “rules,” does a demo and then walks around making comments.  Helpful, but not my preference.  You never really know what type you’ll end up with, but I personally like what I would call “active” – constant stretching, short bursts of trying concepts, information on why, challenges, etc.  Workshops are expensive, so you always hope you have a good time and come away with a few gems of wisdom.  I got a ton in return and found more JOY in painting! Priceless.  

Lisa's facebook page is here

Enjoy - life is joy we make one moment at a time, 

Johnna

Let's Get the Party Started

This one was so much fun to paint.  The grape tomatoes from the farmer’s market were looking for trouble and happened upon the jalapeno pepper who wanted to start a party.  They huddled together and made a plan, then headed off to find the rest of the team (oh, I mean ingredients).  Guess I better go hide the limes I’m planning to paint!

Salsa Plan

This painting will be added to the Daily Paintworks auction on Sunday 8/11.   

Life is joy you make one moment at a time. . . 

Recharged!

Getting back into the swing of painting now that we’re back from a wonderful vacation to Bermuda.  Going to try painting a few of the photos – the colors are so fabulous and the island so beautiful.  I suspect it will be a bit of a challenge switching from painting real life / still life, but ready to dive in.

This is a do-over of a painting because the panel was damaged on the first one. So very disappointing and I think added to my lack of painting mojo.  Hopefully that’s behind me now!  I am mesmerized by these beautiful royal blue, gold rimmed plates we found on our honeymoon.  I think you know I LOVE grapefruit.  Not too many of us do, but hopefully we all at least like looking at them.  I am enjoying the fact that I get to keep the first one despite its flaws. . . 

Luscious Elegance #2

This painting will be added to the Daily Paintworks auction on Saturday 8/10.    

Quick Update

Apologies for not updating the blog lately – no excuse.  Wanted to let you know that I’ll be doing the Studio tour 20% off selection tomorrow morning and will notify everyone no later than Monday 7/22. 

Meanwhile, I’m adding this painting to the auction starting on Sunday 7/21.

Best of luck to all!   

Me and My Shadow  (auction)

p.s. again I apologize for the poor grammar. . .  It should be My Shadow and I. 

Sunday Morning

Big weekend and another milestone – not one, but two, paintings have sold in the auction so they will be off to new homes!.  It’s always exciting to see who wins the final bid.  I guess for good reason, even I can’t see who’s bidding on a painting – only the final highest bidder.  Guess that’s so I know where to send it.  

Adding this one to the auction tomorrow.  I’m calling it Sunday Morning. Happy orange slices.  This was created for the challenge painting that ends this weekend.  Whew, just in time.  See The Composition Challenge (link).

Sunday Morning

After this blog email arrives in your mailbox around 11:00 am, you will see a very special edition later that evening around 11:00 pm with the surprise event I mentioned yesterday.  

Enjoy

It’s All About Me – How Rad!

Okay, you caught me - tongue in cheek title.  Blushing. . . 

You know I love, love, love radishes -- not sure why, but they are so much fun.  Maybe if you eat your subjects, you can relate to them on a much deeper level.  HA, HA.    I get so excited painting a favorite food, in a favorite quirky saucer / bowl, with vibrant colors and the subtle shadows that I find so irresistible!   Simple is so much fun.  I hope you love it too.  

How Rad!

Have you noticed lately that radishes are now being sold in technicolor-bunches?  Our local stores have them grouped with red, white, purple, magenta and mauve!  I don't know what's up with that, but they all taste differently (and delightfully so - try 'em), not like the German white radishes I grew up with that were long and skinny. . . .    

Intrigued, I painted two of the round white radishes out of the bunch.  Will post that one this weekend.  

Meanwhile, here's the big news, I am putting Garlic Four Ways on auction Saturday 6/22.  There's been a lot of interest and I am buoyed by the recent sale of Lemons Four Ways.  What's not to like???

Swiss Miss

Some of you may know that I had the most delightful opportunity to live in Europe during my high school years.  As an American family, we had the luxury of traveling and learning a lot.  To me, experiencing other cultures is the best education you can possibly have, especially when growing up.  This darling cup came from a small hotel in Switzerland on one of our many ski trips.  It has the subtle, yet distinctive feel of a tulip.  Can you see the petals?  Such fond memories, better than a T-shirt souvenir don’t you think?  I recall the hotel refused my offer to pay for it, but were gracious enough to give it to me.  A cherished memory.  Perhaps I should try this again because the delicate white got a bit lost in trying to render the whole.  I love it anyway.

Swiss Miss

Delish!

What’s could be better than triangular fruit on a square plate!  I just love the way light sneaks through watermelon unlike other subjects – it’s not translucent nor opaque but some mysterious place in between.  How lovely to have such variety in life.  This was both fun and frustrating to paint.  I hope to do more in the future. 

Delish!

One of my fondest childhood memories was the “watermelon dress.”   Growing up with a brother and three sisters – there were a lot of hand-me-downs (clothes, toys, furniture, etc.).  That has to be an ancient term.  I wonder what it is called now. Gently-used-pre-re-cycle-wear or something like that.  Ha, ha.    At any rate, it was a great dress – starchy white and dark green with big bold, appliqué watermelon slices on it.  All the girls got to wear it and you can see it was a favorite when you look through any family photo album.   Funny how some things just stick with you for a lifetime.  I cannot think about watermelon without thinking about the dress and I bet my three sisters are the same!  Normal people probably just think watermelon means it is finally summertime!

Enjoy, life is joy we make one moment at a time.

Trying on Some Black

Hello again - Earlier I mentioned that I had a few new paintings, but was not very happy with them.  I “called a friend”, got the CPR going, and will post them over the next few days.  In addition, I’m trying out black backgrounds because they seem so intriguing.  The black I use is Phthalo Green and Alizarin Crimson (learned a few years ago from DT).  Somehow, the dark green and red make the most luscious black.  These are both considered cool colors, who knew.  Perhaps that explains why anything warm will pop out at the viewer.  So much to learn.

Every day I try to take a three-mile walk.  The path has a number of wildflowers and it’s always delightful to see what’s blooming.  Go figure, all the time we spend hand-holding and tending our garden plants doesn’t seem to apply to these hardy specimens that brave the drought and the torrential rains!  This painting was to capture their bravado.  Calling it Daisy Divas, because it looks like they are actually singing into the wild clover “mike” and jockeying for the limelight!

Daisy Divas

Tomorrow I will post my favorite of the three and put it up for auction. I am delighted to report that last week's painting, Lemons Four Ways, has been bid on (auction to end on Sunday June 16th).

Enjoy, life is joy we make one moment at a time.

Lemons Four Ways

Putting this cutie on auction with DPW.  A Carol Marine exercise where you paint the same subject, capturing the change in lighting, background, etc.  I also love the Warholesque factor.  In life, everything changes with position and lighting, wouldn't you agree?  When life hands you lemons, do you see the sweet side, or the sour side?  When life hands me lemons, I make lemonade! 

Lemons Four Ways

Enjoy, life is joy we make one moment at a time.

Pretty in Pink

Painted a few new ones, but not happy with them so far - Looks like I'll have to and call in CPR (Creative Painting Rescue) again!    Also, adding two items to the auction over the weekend (one today and one on Sunday).  This is one I really love and have blogged about before – took a few adjustments to get it to the happy place.  

Pink Roses with Silver Creamer

Blog Experiment & The “Bling”

Trying out a little experiment connecting the blog to Daily Paintworks.  Essentially, it’s a test to see if I understand how things work “behind the scenes.”  Wish me luck. 

The Art Club challenge this month was to paint some Bling – That’s right, jewelry.  This is really hard and I had to over-complicate since I apparently think I have too much time on my hands these days.  So here it is, Bling Four Ways.  These are all actual pendants that I love and wear, especially those given to me as gifts.  I think the reason it is particularly hard, is even in its 3x3 square, the object is larger than real life (by a lot).  For some reason, painting actual size or smaller seems "natural", but painting small to bigger just begs me to go back and ask Alice in Wonderland, "How does that all work again?"  

Bling Four Ways

Oh - before I go, we had a great art club get together at a delightful home in Middleburg VA.  Amazing food and camaraderie.   The table was gorgeous and gifts (handmade pottery by hostess GL) are adorable.  A very talented artist in a variety of media!   As a special event, we all headed over to The National Sporting Library & Museum to see Sir Alfred J. Munnings’ exhibit Out in the Open.  Some wonderful paintings of landscapes, livestock and fox hunting.  It is on display through September 15, 2013 (free).  

Life is joy you make one moment at a time. . . 

Crazy Challenge ~ Mega Trouble!

Here’s the blown up version which I like much better (excuse the glare since the paint is still wet).  I guess it’s true that repainting a subject tends to make a better painting.  Maybe the size helps to slow things down.  This felt like it took  f-o-r-e-v-e-r !

HELP - Please email me with what this beast should be titled!!!

If I’m lucky enough to have this one for a while, I would rotate it every week – it has a different personality depending on how it is hung. 

Check this out.  Quarter turns - maybe I should invent something to launch this kind of abstract format into a new art medium???  Once a day, rotate 90 degrees. . . .    How fun, enjoy!

p.s. did you know you can click on the title in the email to get to the whole blog?  You can also click on "Johnna's Painting Blog" header and get there too.  From the blog, you can easily sign up for email blog notifications and go to my Daily Paintworks gallery.  From there you can check out the art, submit auction bids,  send email, etc.