The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly

WHY?

Because what I am learning is to see, to appreciate value, color (and deconstruction). 

Technique too ~ my style and Pablo's technique merge. (pretty good)

And a major piece of the puzzle that has been revealed... (THANKS PABLO!)

deep, rich color, generous amounts, and the right amount of water to get it were I want it. 

Oh, what JOY! I like being 'the painter of dark'! (I'm 'bad') 

When I get nice and comfy with this pallet, I'll eventually 'lighten up', maybe, for the purpose of knowing how to be subtle, at least with defining values as part of the lesson plan!

Oh gawd...this is another story.

Fall 2015_9/15_figure drawing

Out of 'comfort zone'
con·trived

kənˈtrīvd/

adjective

deliberately created rather than arising naturally or spontaneously.

created or arranged in a way that seems artificial and unrealistic.

"the ending of the novel is too pat and contrived"

synonyms: forced, strained, studied, artificial, affected, put-on, phony, pretended,false, feigned, fake, manufactured, unnatural; More

On the other hand...I was beginning to fall asleep last night seeing the way light from the window curves around the figure. Much more softly than what I can so far render, or may ever be able to. But I saw it and I got a sense of depth rather than line, as in the eye being retrained.

Huckleberry Botanic Regional Preserve

fragranced air & more...

Pacific ring-necked snake

Fall 2015 WaterColor project#1

color success

Nothing easy about this. Screwed up. Pushed thru. 

The class was LARGE this week and I hoped to get a fairly quiet spot, hoping it might stay subdued and not regress into a social gathering complete with lunchtime sounds and smells. The demos were even hard for me to focus on. I painted, then scrubbed the painting under the faucet.

Left after the second demo. Tried to paint at home. 

Went in the next week and LOADED up the brushes and dove in with abandon. Nothing to loose, I worked on the painting I scrubbed the week before. The texture of the paper was rough, maybe giving the paint I dolloped on, a place to sink in.

work area 

final result

Fall 2015 WaterColor project#1 demos

Instructor Demos_2days, 2demos per day

Day 1.1

underpainting background 1st,
in this case, then pear 

Day 1.2

Alizarin Crimson + touch of Prussian Blue

 Day 1.2

Day 1.2

Day 1.2

result

Day 2.1

stem  

Day 2.1

speckles

Mix black:
Sepia, Prussian Blue, Alizarin Crimson
Sap Green (to neutralize) + Paynes Grey

mid value background

darkest background

shadow

result

and mine

Drawing:Two, Week #6

Fall 2015_9/9_figure drawing

I gotta be me

I take classes to learn and practice, not to be perfect. I sighed up for both drawing and watercolor to push me into new seeing and techniques, to deepen the skills I have and explore new dimensions.

Today is one of those days that can both be deeply frustrating and satisfying, finding ways to push thru the challenge of doing something that is a weakness, being dissatisfied, breaking the rules, then coming back to what my strength is, hopefully enriched and not resistant.

Because there is a syllabus I start with the assignment, today, cross contour line rendering. (I can do contour and blind contour just fine.) This is what I need to do and am most challenged at, but I have found a way to explore the assignment, because Sheila has offered so many examples of expressive line to accomplish this. When I move away from the expressive it looks so contrived and weird to me that I cannot put ore than a few samples of it here.

What I posted are my solutions to the time allotted to drawing a fabulous model, not for the 'landmarks' but the beautiful poses. Sometimes it was hard to find my way when I was trying to be precise. As an alternative* I drew left handed and put the charcoal on its side for a big bold wide mark.

cross contour line rendering: 10, 1 minute poses 

I missed the first pose trying to figure out what to do. Satisfied with this...

Ack! Attempt at cross contour line rendering. 

salvaged a few lines in this forced attempt

Used white to distract from the contour mark making

LET LOOSE!

Try again...

my way