Barbara's Painting

My intermediate class just finished a still life painting of a silver tea pot with a glass bowl of cherries. This is Barbara and her finished piece. This is special because Barbara actually polished the silver piece for me that we used as the reference for this painting. Great job on your painting, Barbara! And thanks so much for making the silver look like new!!!

More classes are beginning in February. You can visit my website to see the list, register and view the supplies list.

We have been working hard to get our new teaching studio ready and so I haven't had a lot of time to work on lessons for this blog. I have been taking progress photos of some pieces we've been working on in class, so I hope to have some new lessons up soon. Stay tuned! Thanks for visiting.

You can see pictures of the new studio by visiting our Art and Antiques Studio Facebook page. The teaching studio is called Courtyard Studio, but we are affiliated with the Art and Antiques Studio and Gallery next door. Visit our Facebook Page and become a FAN!

Teaching Watercolor at the Melbourne Square Mall

Last week I volunteered to teach seniors a little bit about watercolor painting at the Melbourne Square Mall. As a member of the Art and Antique Studio and Fine Art Gallery, I volunteer here and there to give demonstrations and mini workshops. Once a month the mall holds a Seniors Day and provides bingo, health screenings, informational booths about local services, and little art and craft workshops.

I brought in small 5 x 7 inch watercolor pages and some little palettes and brushes. I also brought in a small sailboat photo reference and a little drawing that they could transfer. It took about an hour for each session. I showed them how to transfer the drawing to the paper and how to apply washes to the sky and boat. Each participant took home a little painting. It was a lot of fun! I will be doing this again in February, but we will be painting a small rose, since it will be just before Valentine's Day.

For more information about my ongoing watercolor classes click here to visit my website. Classes begin in January!

Lemons Lesson Number 13

Again I add another wash to the background to deepen the value. This time I used very wet puddle of Indigo. This cooled the background color, darkened the value and really made the fruit pop. I used variations of Indigo (very wet!!!), VanDyke Brown, French Ultramarine Blue and Burnt Sienna to further develop small areas of detail around the bowl, fruit and plate.

Remember to spend more time looking at the reference than you do painting. Look for value, shape, color, and edge quality - crisp edges require an application of wet paint on dry paper, soft edges require clear water on the softened edge of the pigment either before or after the stroke is made.
After tweaking a few small areas, I think it is done!

If you would like to paint along with my blog lessons, you can get the photo references and drawings sent to you by visiting my etsy shop, clicking on the Online Lesson icon, and pay a small fee of $5.00. I will then email all the references to you.

If you are local to Melbourne, Florida, I also teach classes and workshops locally. Check out my Classes page on my website for more information.

Arches Study - Student's Work

Just for fun, I wanted to share some
of the student's pieces from the last
project of the Arches Painting.
I think they are really lovely!

Nice job, ladies!