My sweet hubby, busy reading the Saturday papers. A new ArtRage/iPad painting, done freehand, based on a reference photo I made of him some time ago. This one was done using only the watercolor tool, over a light pencil sketch on the bottom layer.
Pat, reading the Post on a Saturday, with coffee.
I feel much less comfortable using the ArtRage watercolor brush (and oil painting tools) than I do with chalk, pen, pencil & paint roller. So I’ve been trying to trudge up the learning curve in watercolor. Here are my two most recent efforts:
A flamenco dancer I photographed during our trip to Cuba last Spring:
Dancing in Havana
And a scene from Glen Echo Park, based on a photograph I took a couple of years ago:
Cuddle Up at Glen Echo Park during a Cloudy Sunset
I’ve got 3 weeks down and 7 to go in the Intro to iPad Art class I’m teaching at the Yellow Barn Studio. We have covered some of the most basic how-to information about the ArtRage app and are now exploring/practicing various tools.
In the last week, at the suggestion of Walt Bartman, I tried simulating a traditional oil painting technique – making a monochrome value-study by rubbing out highlights in a toned canvas and then adding color at the value levels developed in the preliminary study. In the iPad framework, I used the paint roller to make a solid underpainting and then used a soft eraser to ‘rub out’ the lighter passages and then added a few darker areas using the chalk tool to capture the darks.
Here are the two stages of the first work I did with this method, painted from our lovely live model Kuniko. First, the study:
Kuniko in kimono, monochromatic iPad study.
And then the colored version:
Kuniko iPad study, developed with color.
I’ve been pondering making a series of gouaches about my family. As the ‘About’ section suggests, there is LOTS of material. My husband and I will head to California soon to help celebrate our grandson’s first birthday. So I decided to make Family No. 1 a study of Max on his original ‘birth day’.
Family No. 1 (Max, Day 1). Gouache on paper.
When I first got an iPad, I’d sit around the living room every night doodling whatever came into mind or view. After awhile, it occurred to me that I’d developed a prosaic tour of our living room from my sofa vantage, with hubby reading nearby, and a parade of accidental still lifes marching across the coffee table at my feet. None of these efforts is great art, but it was a fun way to gradually hone skills in this new medium.
Welcome to my living room!
The Kensington Armory/Town Hall is the site of my third show over Labor Day weekend. The hours are noon to 4 pm Saturday and Sunday, and 9:30 am to 4:30 pm on Labor Day. There will be a public reception Saturday evening from 6:00-7:30 pm.
For this exhibit, I plan to hang four framed paintings and show 10-12 matted originals and possibly prints of recent iPad images in a nearby rack. The slide show below gives a sense of these works — but they look much better ‘in person’. Come see them!
This one is the Yellow Barn‘s 2nd Annual Drawing Exhibition, which runs contemporaneously with the Glen Echo Park show in the Spanish Ballroom (12 pm to 5 pm Saturday, Sunday, Monday). We will have a reception at the Yellow Barn at 5 pm Labor Day evening, with beverages and munchies — so come join us!
I had two drawings in last year’s show. Unless I get busy today or tomorrow, I’ll only have one drawing on display this time — based on my Make Piece days/photos. Toddler Trishtan (Ms Naomi’s grandson) often accompanied his mom when she was helping out in Ms Naomi’s excellent food service. In his early months, he was usually asleep in his stroller, so, with his mom and grandmother’s ok, I was able to soak up his beauty, peace and lovely smile (on his face during every waking moment).
Trishtan – asleep on the job. Pencil on paper.
First up will be the 42nd Annual Labor Day Art Show at Glen Echo Park, to be held in the historic Spanish Ballroom from September 1 through September 3. The exhibition and sale includes a wide range of media, such as sculpture, painting and drawing, ceramics, glass, jewelry, and photography. It is open daily from 12 p.m. to 6 p.m. There is also a public reception on Friday, August 31, from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. Admission is free.
Here are the two pieces I’ll be showing.
Atop the Arcade on a crisp October day. oil on canvas.
Dreaming in red and orange. Gouache on paper.
We had beautiful days in Vinales, sunrise to sunset. I took lots of photos and, while waiting for evening activities, made a couple more paintings. A gouache of the valley below our balcony (the black paper didn’t photograph well):
‘Gauzy’ gouache of the valley beneath our balcony.
and a watercolor of a lone palm tree presiding over the pool (painted happily with a Mojito at my elbow):
A proud palm by the pool at Los Jazmines,Vinales.
Here are a few more photos in and around Los Jazmines Hotel, made primarily to fix the place and its beauties in my memories:
Early sunrise at Los Jazmines.
Tobacco barn underway in the valley.
The cozy cafe-bar in the hotel.
We DID drink coffee in addition to plentiful Mojitos!
Pink hotel and blue pool made a cool combo.
A casual evening around the pool.
We sigh and snap a photo of our last Vinales sunset.
We pass a ‘colorful’ mural en route to the morning bus.
Goodbye, Vinales! Goodbye, Los Jazmines! On to Havana!
This past weekend two of my drawings were in the ‘First Annual Yellow Barn Drawing Exhibition’. Each member of the Yellow Barn was allowed to enter up to three drawings. No paintings allowed this time around.
With some trepidation over sensitivity and propriety, but with my husband’s blessing, I submitted two drawings I had made of his mother toward the end of her battle with cancer. I thought her patience and tranquility in the face of final illness were admirable and moving. We were blessed to host her in her last days.
Mom Mom knew I was making drawings of her, and occasionally peeked over at my progress before carefully resuming her position. She was satisfied with the results of our collaboration. I think she appreciated a record of her stoic suffering.
MomMom Resting, bic pen on paper
MomMom with Red Purse, bic pen on paper