Qiang Huang ~ Day 3

A quick paint morning before the afternoon lecture about the business side of art. Qiang is a wonderful teacher, both with the artistic side and the business side. He's very clear, precise and detailed. Did I mention he's an engineer in real life? I definitely would recommend his workshops.

Today's painting is a detailed study of high-key still life from yesterday. Christa & I had planned to change it, but we arrived after our 3rd artist, who had already begun to paint it. Oh well, it felt good to sleep in a bit.

I played with the style of painting. Normally I'm pretty tight and controlled. So today I went loose. Only wiped the canvas twice (but it was in the drawing stage.) But, as they say, "No Pain. No Gain." Later, I had some wonderful and uplifting comments from Qiang and fellow artists. It was great learning experience (but, boy, am I tired!)

Qiang Huang ~ Day 2

Oh, the pain of a high key painting (light background) and a light pink rose. And Cobalt blue glass bottle? And a silver bowl.... I love a challenge, but hate it at the same time. Again, not a finished piece, but an exercise.

Qiang did a demo that included 3 different color roses. It is so beautifully done, I could weep. Here's a detail from his painting.

Qiang Huang ~ Day 1

Day 1 of a 3 day still life workshop with Qiang Huang at the Coppini. Qiang started out talking about composition & set-up. The way he presented "clicked" with me and made it easier to set-up a still life for our afternoon painting session. Qiang did a demo for us that made it all look so easy.

We worked in groups to set up a still life, then painted and squinted. We had a lovely set-up, great composition and tones. I loved my painting sooo much that I wiped my canvas after 1.5 hours of work, right after I said I would "use this as a lesson" and try, try, try. Yea. Didn't happen. That artistic/red-head temper kicked in. It was either wipe it all off or pack up and leave. Plus, I was having easel problems that caused a big problem (more later).

So, with a little over an hour left, I flipped the canvas to a vertical format and began again. Much better. It's not complete or perfect. I had to make choices about where to spend my limited time. But it's 1,000x better (and no, I didn't take a picture of the first one.)

About the easel/tripod problems, the tripod wouldn't lock the paint box upright. The box kept falling backwards when attached. This was the first time I used my new easel. I thought it was me, but several fellow artists tried to fix it and couldn't solve the problem. I ended up calling the company for help. They were fantastic and tried several things that unfortunately didn't work. But they're sending me a replacement and Charlotte is letting borrow her tripod for the rest of the workshop.

Lauren

I had a wonderful day at a workshop by Bill Kalwick today. Bill is a lot of fun, very knowledgable, and full of encouragement, especially to someone who hasn't painted in over a year. It feel so great to put brush to canvas, squinting and hoping to find the right values needed.

Our model Lauren is beautiful and poised. As happy as I am with the portrait, I wish it would have done her justice. It was such a rewarding day. It was lovely to see my paintinig friends again, just lovely. :-)

Reflection

This painting was from a photograph I took in a workshop with Gladys Roldan de Moras. We worked on a pose (picture below) for a day but during the model breaks, Carla would roll onto her back, shut her eyes and rest. I asked if I could take a picture and she agreed.

The blanket was her family heirloom and was just gorgeous. The embroidery on it was delightfully complex. I repainted it several times trying to get the tones right. Definitely needed a photograph to keep me on track.

Carla was actually reading the book during the class pose which is why her resting pose struck me as poignant. When I read a book that affects me, I do that to... hug it to my chest, close my eyes and savior the words.

Mr. Blue Jeans

This is another Different Strokes from Differnet Folks challange. This is a figuartive painting challenge; trying to get the "weight" of the figure correct, not a portrait. I am pleased with the way he turned out. The denim of the shirt and pants were a challenge being that they are about the same color and value but they turned out well. I bet you can tell from the title what is my favorite part. (Plus, it reminds me of Mr. Green Jeans from Capt. Kangaroo. I used to love that show and the magic drawing board.)

Hayden

Oh baby Hayden! This adorable munchkin is a friend's baby. He's about 6 months old in this picture. When his mama was showing me his latest pictures, I tenatively asked if I could try to paint a portrait from the photo. She said "Sure!"

I had never painted a baby, a baby with yummy checks, a baby with an intent stare.... oh those EYES! They are really that blue. And his lashes are destined to entice any female that looks at him. I just love the way the painting turned out.

So did his mama :-)