Winter 2012 Watercolor Class

Watercolor – Techniques for Texture

I love to do things that have texture and character like old wood and rusty things watercolor makes them with little effort if you just trust the watercolor.

Rust and peeling paint – Paint the color of the object you are going to add rust to, don't worry about painting around the areas because it doesn't matter, the rust will cover it up and it will actually help the final look o the object.

When the area is dry you will be using the following colors in a fairly liquid form: Orange, sienna, red and sienna with purple. Your paint should run a little bit the drips help. Have the top of your paper elevated so that gravity works for you and your paint doesn't pool up, this is just SOP with watercolor. Start with the orange in the area where you want rust. You can let it dry just a bit but it should still be dame between each color. Next add sienna and touches of red into the same area starting at the top and letting the color mix with what it all ready there. Again, you can let it dry a bit. With the sienna and purple, make a dark color, this is a shadow color and goes next to the area that is suppose to be peeling paint. If you have an angle brush or a flat brush, load it on the tip or corner and put the brush with the paint next to the area that is suppose to be paint and with the all the bristles in contact with the paper, paint in the shadow. If you use a round brush this will take two steps: first paint in the shadow then rinse and remove excess water and run the brush on the side of the paint you just put down that will be in the rusted area. You may have to do this again to get it dark enough.

To create the effect of the paint peeling up, lift a bit of color at the edges of some of the paint areas next to the rust, you can also add cracks using that dark mix and a liner brush.

Polished wood – Wood comes in all colors and patterns so do some research if you want a specific kind and color. I use the edge of my angle brush and make long "s" shapes (direction depends on the angle of the wood) just keep your strokes following the natural growth of the grain. Use more than one color and use colors you may not think about such as if it is a light wood it may have pinks and yellows, dark woods may have reds or blues or even green running through them. Let it dry and with a liner brush you can add darker grains and knots, just be sure that you follow the grain of the wood.

Old wood – Old wood can come in a variety of colors as well please find examples and keep them for reference. They are going to have a rougher surface because of weathering and they may have been just rough cut to begin with, I used shades of gray but I also added green and orange and blues for the under painting, same as above suing long "s" strokes following the grain and let it dry. When it was dry I use a darker version of the colors I used in the under painting but this time I used my angle brush in a dry brush technique with little paint and spreading the bristles at the end then wiggling the brush as I followed the grain of the wood. With a liner I added knots and cracks.

Tree Bark – Again, all trees are different have your reference handy. I used my small angle brush on its edge and made small choppy strokes down the branch of the tree using lighter colors in the sunny area getting darker into the shadowed side. On the branch that sticks out, I used short "coma" strokes because the branch is foreshortened.

Salt for texture – Salt can be use for all sorts of texture these were just three examples: Stucco, distant trees and rocks. Timing is everything with salt so you will need to practice to get it just the way you want but basically you put the paint down then wait until the shine of the water just starts to fade. If it is too wet the salt dissolves too fast and spreads out too much; too dry and it may not spread at all. It is a fun thing to use and does a lot of the work for you.

Remember to sign up for classes and bring things in for critique.

Summer Preview

I have posted the picture I will be doing in class if you want to take a look. As always, you do not have to do the project so if you aren't interested in pelicans you can find something else to paint, just remember you can learn something from every project, even ones you aren't thrilled about.

Class project link.

We have enough people to have a class but we may have to shorten it time-wise unless we get another person to sign up. I think if we do shorten it by a half hour we can still get out 9 weeks in and keep the office happy.

See you soon.

Watercolor Spring 2011

Watercolor – Utah Fall

The Torrance class basically finished up what they were working on there wasn't anything new from last time but I did do a mini demo in both classes to show how I negative painted at the bottoms of my rocks to leave white areas for grasses. I was asked if it was okay to use masking fluid – of course! What ever works for you is perfectly okay, but you do need to see that there is more than one way to do something. I just didn't want to wait for the masking to dry so I just painted around the grasses but I have in other instances used mask so feel free.

I was also asked if the grasses could be done with the liner brush, again of course! I usually do as much with my flat or angel brush as I can because it covers more ground and I save the liner for individual grasses but all of the closer grasses can be done with a liner if you so choose.

If you want to add some texture to the road, get out your toothbrush and splatter the road with some different colors, you can even splatter some purer colors up in the trees if you want though you might want to cover any areas you don't want splattered because it tends to go everywhere.

For Torrance that was the last class, the next class will start June 20^th and will run for 9 weeks not 8 fall classes will be 10 weeks again. PV classes we will be doing some studies for the next few weeks because I see there are areas we need to work on and I'm not sure we have enough time to finish a new project so please bring extra paper even some sketch paper and a pencil will come in handy. See you all soon.

2011 Spring Watercolor Class

WATERCOLOR CLASS – "Utah Fall"

PV students the one thing that I did different in your class is I didn't under paint the green and orange trees until after I had negative painted their shapes with the darker trees behind them, other than that the previous blog will apply, just add the yellow and light orange under painting in your tree areas.

Torrance, this was our last day on this painting for the most part, I started by adding more shadows to my rocks. Again the mix is sienna, blue and a touch of purple and only a little water. We are painting the NEXT DARKEST AREAS, not the darkest yet we will get there, just not all at once. This wash helps define the individual rocks even more, that first wash defined the sunlit tops of the rocks, this wash will help define the bodies of the individual. Please follow the photo where you can, it is your best resource. You will be negative painting some rock by painting darker behind them and positive painting other, just start in the darkest part of the rock and work your way out, rinse your brush and blend areas together. It doesn't need to be a smooth transition it will give texture to your rocks. At the base of the rocks remember that there is grass growing in front of them, if you want that grass you can negative paint around the grasses, mask out the grasses before you start on the rocks or scratch them out later, it is up to you, just remember it is there and proceed accordingly.

If you want ruts in your road, you might want to lightly sketch them in, simple lines will do, just so you know how your ruts go back into the distance. Remember they are prospected lines meaning that as they go back into the distance they get closer together.

To paint the ruts you might first want to first practice with a pencil doing "u"s and upside down "u"s. I want you to see that these shapes can suggest depressions – u's – and rises – upside down u's. If you connect them you will see that it visually looks like rises and falls, when you are working on a two dimensional surface like paper or canvas, you only have shapes to convey what you want your viewer to see, in this case curved lines. Flat curves will look shallow or low, deep curves will look deep or high. If you start out with a wide curve then make a slightly smaller curve on top of it and so on up the page until the shape is almost a dot, you should get the sense that the shape it going back in space. This is what we will be ding in the road and you need to under stand it so it will make sense to you.

All that said, I made a mix of sienna and a touch of purple and along the lines for the ruts of my road I made a series of shallow "u" shapes with my brush, making them smaller and lighter (more water) as I went around the rocks. The distant part of the road is too small for any detail. These marks can be rough and uneven, giving more character and texture to the road, just be sure that they aren't too deep.

Conversely, on the top of the road, using light mixes of color – sienna, orange, yellow, grey, any or all – meaning color mixed with a lot of water, make a series of convex shapes (upside down "U"s) to give texture to the top of the road. I also took my toothbrush and splattered different colors in the road area, you can use any or all you have on your palette, they should fade out around the big rocks, keep the very small detail for the foreground .

All that is left now are the grasses and bushes along the sides of the road. The bushes are done just like the trees in the back, leaving some of the light area as highlights and when you get around where you want grasses, you will have to negative paint some of the foreground grasses just like you did in the rocks. You can also positive paint grasses using the tip of your angle brush, a round brush or your liner brush, I do want you to notice that the grasses are many colors: Different greens, browns, oranges, some grays – don't be afraid to add those colors as you paint your grasses it will actually make the grasses look more natural, if they are in Nature, they can be in your painting.

Some minor details and this is done. First, you may want to put shadows on your road from the grasses, just be sure that your strokes follow the contours of the road: If a bump goes up, so does the shadow, if it goes down, so does the shadow. Next, we need to add the trunks of some of the trees. This is best done with your liner, mix sienna and purple with a little water, you want it dark but not too dark, then add tree trunks into the deciduous trees. These are lost and found lines because some of the have leaves and branches in front of the trunks, just put in a few where they will do the most good and let the viewer fill in the rest.

This was the last day for this project and Monday will be our last class. Please have something for critique, it can be something you have worked on in class or something from home or another class, any media, something current or something you have done in the past, just as long as you need a second opinion bring it in.

Registration starts soon and the summer classes will be 9 weeks and it looks like the fall classes have gone back to 10 weeks so please get signed up ASAP if you want to take classes. See you.

Spring 2011 Watercolor Calss

Watercolor Project – Utah Fall

PV Class – You will still be referring to the previous blog posts for the steps we covered in class but there is a difference you will notice: At Torrance, I under painted the deciduous trees before I painted in the tall evergreens, in your class, I just negative painted around those trees and will under paint them next class, either way is fine, there is no right way so if you are going by the blog to catch up and you see the PV painting looks different, do not panic, you are fine.

Torrance class, we worked on filling in the middle ground dark trees and the lighter deciduous trees in front of them. The brighter trees were created by negative painting around them, leaving the light area. I hope that you practice the negative painting because as watercolorists it is a very useful tool in your tool box of knowledge, by painting darker behind and area you can make another stand out so when you are painting the trees, if you want to suggest a branch coming out off that tree, you paint dark around the area you want as that branch. Go out and look at different kinds of trees, notice the light and dark areas and think of how you would paint that tree knowing that you have to save your lightest areas.

In the deciduous trees, I was using my 1/2'" angle brush on its tip, I usually start in the middle of the tree with a light color – this will depend on if it is a green tree (sap green, yellow and water) or the orange trees (yellow, orange and water), and I tapped the color on with over lapping dots leaving some of the under painting showing for highlights and worked my way to the edge of the tree. Remember that under painting is your highlights for the tree so do not cover the whole thing up, leave some of it to show the light in the trees. This is also where you can suggest branches in front by leaving light shapes in the body of the tree (see the sample I have on the picture page).

While the tree was still wet I went in with slightly darker versions of the color of the tree (more paint less water) adding that to parts of the tree I wanted to suggest were in shadow, I did not cover up everything I just did, just some parts especially towards the bottoms of the trees where they may be more in shade. And finally to that color I added touches of blue and/or purple for the darkest shadows and added this to only the areas I thought should be the darkest.

I do need to clarify something when I say I make a series of dots: I don't mean Dot. Dot. Dot. I mean dotdotdodotdoot dotdotddoot dotdodottodot. The overlap and become one shape rather than a bunch of individual dots that look like ornaments hanging on the tree. The dots allow me to leave small spaces to let the under painting show through and creates texture.

Also note that when I got down to where the weeds and grasses start I negative painted around them to suggest the weeds and grasses.

If you are going to have a path in your painting – some have opted not to have one and that is okay by me – under paint it with a watery mix of sienna, yellow and a touch of orange. Be sure to get the path in the background going into the trees. The grasses are under painted with watery versions of yellow, sap green, and orange. You can paint both the path and the grasses with water first to help the paint move and to help keep it light. This is just a wash so it should be very pale.

Last but not least, I under painted the pile of rocks with a mix of blue, sienna a touch of purple and lots of water. This is just a pale gray that I put one everything that will be in shadow leaving the white of the paper as my highlights. If you need to, re-draw your rocks so you know where you need to leave the white of the paper but everything that is in shadow get this first layer of color so don't worry about painting individual rocks, they will come out later.

I noticed a couple of things I forgot to do so I will show you, you don't need to panic if something isn't perfect, we all need to know how to fix things we don't like so this will be a good demo. We only have 2 weeks left so I hope that everyone is up to this point in class. See you soon.

Winter 2011 Watercolor Classes

WINTER 2011 WATERCOLOR – More Rocks

Torrance class: I didn't do anything different to the rocks in your class than I did at PV so the blog I wrote for them should be just about the same for your rocks. Just be patient and take your time.

Before I start the narration on the rocks, I want to talk a bit about "getting in the mood" to paint. Painting should be almost meditative. If you are in "the zone" when you are painting you should be startled when you look up and see the time and realize an hour or two has passed. As I look around the class most of you look dismayed that only a few minutes have passed since you last looked at the clock. This is not the mind set you should be in when you are trying to create.

I have mentioned before the Betty Edward's book "Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain" it is a wonderful book for many reasons, the best being explaining to you how your mind works. The two side of your brain have different functions. The left side is concerned with Time, logic, math, language to name a few, the things you use in your everyday-get-through-life state of being. The right side of your brain of you brain is more concerned with spatial things, face recognition, esthetics, emotions sort of the background program that lets you walk through a room without watching every step – everything the left side is not. Together, they make up who we are and how we see the world around us.

One of the key things she talks about is how the left brain relates to the world. It has its own short hand for everything so that anything that looks like a chair no matter how ornate, it names it as a chair and moves on to the next thing, it is very impatient, it doesn't care. Your right side is the side that can tell the difference from a garage sale folding chair and a $1000 gilded antique, it does care.

There is another important fact she discovered and that is when ever you stopped learning art such as drawing, whether it was in grade school or college or whenever, that is where you start your journey again. This is a hard concept for adults, I think we assume that because we are adults that we have absorbed this knowledge or have access to it just by living and experiencing art. Well, I've flown on planes and watched countless movies and TV of pilots working all the controls, but I don't think you'd want me flying any plane you were on. You need to have not only the knowledge but also the skill and that comes through practice and patience.

Most of you are coming from this combination of being an adult and assuming you should be able to do this, plus, for a lot of you, you are in your instant gratification, left brain. Not a real good combination for learning. You will find you have trouble getting things to look like the pictures in your mind, they will tend to be more child-like (this would be more your left brain's shorthand version) or you get frustrated and start mixing mud. You need to slow down, picture the subject in your mind, sketch the subject either on your watercolor paper or on sketch pad and concentrate more on the process than the end result. You will hear that little voice in your head saying "Are we done yet?!" Ignore it and see how much detail you can see in your subject. Whether it is clouds, rocks or whatever, look for shapes, colors, lights, darks and patterns. You will start seeing things you never noticed before and the more you practice this, the easier shifting into that state of mind will become, you just need to ignore that voice when it switches to "This is stupid! Let's move on!"

I can't teach you this, I have tried. This is something you will need to find on your own before you will believe me, I know this from personal experience. The ironic thing about the left brain is it is also your own worst critic. It can see the picture you have in your mind and if what is on your canvas or paper doesn't match, it is quick to point out those "faults". Again, don't listen to it because it will drag you down until you finally give up which is what it wanted all along. Find something in your painting or drawing that you like and concentrate on the positive. I have had my "SHUT UP!" moment when I got so tired of the self criticism I about had myself in tears. It felt like I was being attacked by an internal pack of wolves and I didn't deserve it because I was still learning and art was a part of me I wasn't about ready to give up. It was my epiphany. From that point, my art took a dramatic turn and I've never looked back. Cut yourself some slack and enjoy the process, it will come with time, patience and practice.

::::She gets off her soapbox and puts it away::::

Rocks Part 2 – This week we worked on the river rocks, the individual rounded rocks that could easily be part of a cobble stone road or wall or house as laying on the bottom of a decorative pond. It is all the same, rocks are rocks.

You can start out by doing your drawing before you start or you might want to wait until after the first step because the graphite will tend to wash out and you will have to come back over with your pencil to reestablish the lines. It is up to you, I did my drawing first and went back over the lines when the first step was dry.

The first thing I did before I started painting was to totally wet my paper. I want the paper to be wet so the paint will spread and blend and create some really lovely blends and textures. I also had this on about a 4" slant when I was redoing it at home. Very seldom do I ever work totally flat on the table.

To that wet paper, I splattered, touched and dripped different colors of paint. Anything I've got on my palette is fair game the only caution here is to stop before you create mud. Let the colors flow together by tilting your paper other directions or by using water and no paint to splatter. Also, be sure that you use a lot of water in your paint so it isn't too dark when it dries.

When I was satisfied with my splattering I let it dry until the sheen was just off the paper and I added salt to create even more texture then I let the whole thing air dry to give the salt time to work. When it was dry, I went back over the lines of my drawing.

I am always asked about controlling the watercolor, I have to laugh because even if you get out the little brushes there will always be an element of chaos with watercolors. It is like skiing: At first you feel like you are flying out of control as gravity works against you and those trees come up real fast! But the more you ski the more control you have of your body and your equipment until gravity becomes your friend - or partner in crime – then those trees really are coming up a lot faster but you know what to do to avoid disaster. Same with watercolor though the consequences are only mud and not broken bones, the element of chaos is still there, you just have more control over it. Be patient.

The next thing I did when the paper was dry was I mixed a dirt color for between the rocks. This was mostly sienna though I did throw in some blue and/or purple and while I was painting it on, I picked up touches of red, orange and green just to change the flavor of the color. I painted around all the rocks, this is called negative painting because I wasn't painting the rocks, just the dirt around them. This could be mud, or cement or what ever is between them depending on what situation the rocks are in - road, wall, house etc.

Each rock was painted individually. Some I wet the rock before I added color others I did wet on dry paper, it depended on whether I wanted the paint to spread or I needed to control it. With something like this, you can work on another rock while one dries so you can keep painting for a long time, just be careful not to paint next to a wet area or you will get blooms though in this case that might not be a bad thing.

I used my sponge to create some of the speckles on a rock and then went back in with my brush to soften and shape the marks left by the sponge to make them look more natural.

Rocks have dents and chips on them that are subtle and require a gentle hand. For dents I might wet the area first then drop in a bit of darker color making sure that the edges stay soft with just a damp brush. For the chips, I just put paint on the point of my angle brush (this can be done with a flat or round as well), placed the whole edges of the brush on the paper and painted the shadow of the chipped area. I rinsed my brush and softened the color so that it would blend in on the ends. Sometimes just a little bit of paint can make a big difference, these chips and dips don't need to be dark but they do need to be there.

I finished my rocks by getting in the darkest shadows around each rock. I even pulled out smaller rocks in the dirt area just by painting around with a shadow color or lifting color first then adding shadows around it. While your rocks don't have to be exactly like the ones in the photo, follow the photo enough to give you ideas how to finish each rock. Take your time, you can learn a lot about controlling your paint and how your brushes work doing a project like this.

This week will be our last class in both places so please bring in something for critique it doesn't have to be something you have done in class it can be anything you would like help with or a second opinion. Remember that registration is now open if you want to sign up at either Torrance or PVAC.

Winter Break Assignemnt 2010

Homework

I don't know how many of you check this blog while on break, but for those who do, I have a bit of a homework assignment for you. I found a book given to me by a friend and it had a lot of great information I wanted to pass along, I will cover more in class but this will get you started. This assignment is one that can be done anywhere and every where and you do it every time you open your eyes and that is to "see".

I know that may sound silly but it really isn't from a teaching perspective. If you are going to improve as an artist you need to be able to look at your subject and see all the elements that make that subject appealing to you. Those things include shapes, color, light, arrangement (composition), texture, shadows and reflected light. There's probably something I'm missing but those are the important things that come to mind.

In the past, you have heard me harp on drawing and many of you have taken me to heart and have been working on improving your drawing skills (YEAH!) continue what you are doing because that will help you with this next task, looking for the light, shadows and reflected light in your subject. They all have shape and their shapes helps define your subject.

These oranges are a good example (I'm experimenting here posting picts to the blog). Yes, you see the oranges and the bright light and the shadows but do you see the reflected light? Do you see the change in color on the front orange under the leaf? Do you see the difference between the reflected light in the shadows of the front orange compared to the one behind?

Because of our atmosphere, light scatters. It will hit an object then bounce back and reflect a bit of the color from the thing it has bounced off from. In the front orange the reflected highlight is cooler than the reflected light on the one behind because the light is bouncing off the leaves on the front one whereas the light on the one behind is coming from the orange in front. There is also some orange color reflected into the leaves around the oranges. Yes, it is subtle but it is there and you need to see it.

There is also light coming thru the leaf and changing the color on the orange to a cool green color. It is more evident on the front orange but it also happens on the top of the behind orange.

Now look at the shape of the shadows themselves. Because they are falling on a round orange, they must follow the shape of the object they are falling on. This goes for all surfaces. Pay close attention to the way shadows fall and how the follow the contours of they fall on be it flat, round, bumpy, shiny, dull – what ever it falls on it will follow the shape.

Now look at the highlights. I want you to start at the brightest spot and follow the change of color around the orange. If you have your value scale get it out and note the change from the lightest area into the shadows. Not counting the cast shadows (shadows which are blocking the light) from the brightest highlight to the reflected light should be about 4 steps down or 40% darker than the highlight. Cast shadows are darker still and it depends on how much light is being blocked, some of the cast shadows may be from 50 - 80% darker or more.

On this next picture, I want you to find these things. I do want you to note the difference in the temperature of the color between the back orange between the two front oranges. Color temperature is the difference between the colors that we associate with warm – red thru yellow – to those we associate with coolness – purple thru green.

Well, that is your assignment. It is all around you in every room in your house. It is outside in every sunlit patio or shaded woodland. We will be covering more of this in class but this should get you started.

Have a great holiday season, see you in the New Year.

Summer 10

Watercolor 2010 - Wet into Wet Skies



I continued along the wet into wet techniques by doing a couple of skies. There is no one way to do anything and I by no means showed all the variations on the theme, all I hoped to do was to show a couple of possibilities and other uses for wet into wet, it can be a very versatile technique in watercolor.



The biggest thing most beginners have problems with is how to create warm colors along the horizon and cool dark colors at the top. The problems occur when you bet the blue near the yellow or orange, you end up with green or brown (respectively). The problem can be solved by adding red.



If you look at a sunset or dawn, you will notice a gradual change between the light and the dark. It might start as being yellow then fades to orange then to red then blue to deeper blue or purple. RED is the key color here.



First I wet my entire sky area so that it was fairly wet, next I started with my yellow where the horizon would be - and you can turn it upside down if that is easier - next I added orange to the top of the yellow, then RED then blue and finally blue with purple. Having the red in between the orange and the blue keeps the color from getting muddy. Be sure that you are using either the napthol red or crimson and not cadmium red because the cad red tends to be on the orange side and you will get a muddy color where you have the transition from red to blue.



I do want to point out that there is a difference between a morning sky and an evening sky. Morning skies are usually cooler in color: More orange and crimson no yellows whereas evening skies can be blazing hot with color. Part of the reason for this is the fact that morning air is cooler than the air that has been heated all day plus there may be more dust etc in the air from all the activity. Also the change of seasons will affect who a sky looks depending on where the sun is in the sky. Just keep this in mind if you want to create a mood in you painting.



While your sky is still wet, you can lift out clouds with a paper towel or with your brush. These can be the framework for darker clouds but do not try to do darker clouds while your sky is still wet or you will get mud! LET IT DRY COMPLETELY before you add the darker clouds.



When it is dry THEN you can put in darker clouds. Do them quickly so you don't mix the paint underneath into the clouds or visa versa. This will keep your colors clean. You can also lift out details with your brush but remember that clouds are soft so you want to avoid hard edges.



When you are painting skies, don't be afraid to turn your paper to get movement in your paint it can add interest and it is fun. No two skies are ever alike so it really won't matter but it will give you an interesting sky.



The rest is up to you. Your job as students is to take what I give you and try to find other ways to make them work for you. It is much easier to mess up a practice piece than to have done a detailed drawing and be afraid to mess up all your hard work, it can be very intimidating and scary. Sacrifice a piece of paper to practice the things you are unsure of and it will pay off huge when you get to your real paintings.



This coming class will be our last class, bring in a few things for critique be they your best work or ones you need help on, getting a second opinion is always a good thing. Remember that registrations is open at both Torrance and at PV, get signed up as early as you can so you can get the classes you want. See you soon.

Spring 2010 Watercolor Class Week 7

Watercolor – Week 7: Borax Wagon

Torrance students you are a bit behind the PV students but you should finish the wagon up at our last meeting, so do not despair.

All classes, before I painted the dark shadow under the wagon, I used masking fluid to protect the sun streaks that are in the shadows. While this was drying, I worked on some of the detail on the wagon. Torrance students I had to paint the iron bar that attaches to the wood beam that comes from under the wagon. If you haven't drawn it in, do it now, all I has was a curvy line and used the edge of my ¼" angled shader to get the width of the bar you can use a round brush if you like. First I painted the bar with just water. While it was still wet, I picked up burnt sienna and tapped my brush into the center of the wet area and let the paint do most of the work. Then I picked up blue and lightly touched the shadowed side of the bar, again while it was wet and letting the paint do the work. I rinsed my brush and picked up some orange for the sun lit side of the bar (it should still be wet) and touched the orange to the left side of the bar. LET THE PAINT DO MOST OF THE WORK!

Torrance students you will need to look at last week's blog for the detail on the beams under the wagon and on the hub so I don't have to repeat myself, your photo will be your best reference, it is mostly doing what you have been doing – dry brush texture, adding intensity to your colors and shadowing – you can figure out what and where if you look carefully.

The bolts on the wagon and on the wheel are not long involved detail work, they are quick and simple shapes. We just need to suggest to the viewer that they are bolts or what ever and they will fill in the rest.

You may want to use a small round brush for this, I used my liner brush because it comes to a fine point and hold a lot of paint so I can do more than one or two bolts before reloading. I was using the dark shadow color and where I needed to suggest "bolt" I just drew 3 little lines like the shadowed side of a bolt and a small dot in the center. Notice where the blots are placed on the wagon: they are on the vertical boards on each side of the spaces between the long boards. I did the bolts on the wagon wheel later but in the same way. That is it! Don't get carried away thinking it is more than it is and all it is are some basic, simple shapes that suggest "bolt".

While you have that smaller brush in your hand, there are a few other things you can do with the dark color: There is a bracket on the wagon that holds the chain and at the bottom of the wagon there is a metal plate you can suggest with a couple of quick lines to indicate a shadow, this plate also has a could of bolts holding it on, two seconds and it is done.

Near the top of the wagon is an "M" shaped piece of metal, while we still don't know what it does, we did figure out that the metal bar slips over it and it acts like a lock or stop to hold the bar so the driver can handle the mules, at least that is what it looks like, anyway, with my ¼" in angled brush – you can use any small brush you feel comfortable with – I started in the dark shadowed side next to the bar with my very dark color. Near the top of the first point, I rinsed my brush and with just water, dragged tome of the color up to the top of the point. I then picked up a touch of sienna and touched into that wet area, rinsed and found some lighter version of the dark color on my palette. It just needs to be a gray color and I tapped this color almost down to the center, skipped the center then went up the side. Look at the photo to see where the dark and light areas are.

When that was done, with the same brush and the same dark color, I painted in the shadow that is under this metal strip. If you need to pencil it in before painting, that is fine, just be very aware of the shape of the shadow. I'm not so concerned with hard lines this time because the hard lines actually help give a strong sense of light to the painting. We are artists and we have a license and we need to use it upon occasion.

There is also a shadow from something off camera that looks like another metal bar you can paint in now as well as the shadow cast from the metal bar we can see. Notice that at the bottom of the wagon there is another hunk of wood that rests on the beam that hold the metal bar and the shadow from off camera changes position as it falls over it. Paint in that dark shadow while you are there that is under this hunk of wood, I think it is a support for the metal bar.

Detail isn't hard but it can be time consuming. Just keep in mind that a few simple shapes. a few lines here and there can bring a whole different look to your painting. Don't be afraid of it, just take your time.

On the beams under the wagon I suggested some of the paint on the beams, I kept it mostly to the sides and left the top light. The color was sienna, a touch of red and a tiny touch of purple and I just dry brushed it on here and there, leaving bits of the under painting showing to look like exposed wood.

There are several chains on the wagon and while it may look complicated, it really isn't all that hard. Using my liner brush again and a mix of sienna and a touch of purple, I made a series of loops and bars to create the chains. I didn't draw them in first but I did draw a line that I could follow so I knew how it draped over the bar. This "o-o-o-" looks more like chain than just doing a series of loops strung together (ooooooo) because the loop you are seeing the full shape of the loop and the bar is the loop on its side (see photo page). It doesn't matter if the loops are exactly the same, these chains were made by hand one link at a time plus they have been abused and used for over 100 years. When you get to the shadow of the chain on the side of the wagon, pay special attention to the distortion of the shapes as they fall on the wagon. Torrance students, I think this is about where we stopped, PV classes carry on.

We managed to finish the wagon in both classes at PV (yeah!) at this point you need to be sure that all the shadows on the parts of the wagon are where they should be, we have a little more to do to finish just review the photo and your painting to see if all is as it should be at this point.

On the hub, there is a metal band around it, if you have your center painted you can paint in the shadow of that band on the recessed end of the hub. If you need to paint the center, it is red, orange and sienna and starting from the outside and pulling in creating a mottled look, let it dry before adding the shadow. There is also a shadow under the next band back.

Please look at the photo before starting the shadow on the center of the hub. The wheel is canted slightly in so we aren't seeing the wheel straight on. You can see a bit of the lip of this band on the right side that is in the sun and the shadow cast from the left side. There is also a slight shadow where the wood in the center meets the lip. Just make note of this before you paint.

The lug nut in the center is created by negative painting and lifting. I negative painted the shadow on the left side of the nut and lifted a highlight on the sunlit recess it sits in. I also lifted a little off a couple of the corners of the nut and it was done! No drama here, just in and out, simple steps.

If you want, you can put in some deeper grooves on the wooden rim using your liner brush and a dark color, this is just some extra detail you can do and you can also use it on the wagon if you want, it is up to you. Also add a few shadows behind some of the paint chips to give them depth if you want, do as much or as little as satisfies you.

By this time your masking should be dry so once again I mixed up a dark color of blue, purple and sienna keeping it to the blue side and painted all of the shadows I saw under the wagon. There is a stanchion right behind the wheel that I ignored and just painted in shadows, that was much more interesting than what was there. I used my ¾" brush for the large areas and my ½" for smaller areas. Refer to the photo if you need to and while you have this color handy, make sure that all your shadows are dark enough. Watercolor dries lighter and these shadows need to be pretty dark to get the contrast we need.

When the shadows are totally dry, you can remove the masking. With a damp brush, just soften the lines of these shapes just a bit. If you want to add texture of the dirt, use the shadow color and stipple some into some of the light areas.

Some final detail are the bolts on the wheel along with lines and cracks, I also added a long metal bar under the wagon because I liked it, do or don't, it is up to you. I think that is all and from what I was seeing in class, everyone is doing a great job. This was a challenge because of the detail but if you have patience with yourself and take it one step at a time and keep a positive attitude, you CAN do detailed subjects. Don't set yourself up for failure by saying it is too complicated, or it looks tough because you have already been defeated. It is a challenge or a puzzle you need to figure out but you can do this!

Registration is now open at both Torrance and PV for the summer session. Please get signed up early so we can continue our classes. Torrance students this is especially true because we need at least 10 to keep the doors open.

PV students, I will figure out something for our last 3 weeks, Torrance students after the holiday we will finish the wheel and we will also have a critique so please bring in one or more paintings on our last day for critique, they can be your best or something you want a second opinion on what ever you want to bring. See you all soon.

Spring 10 Watercolor Class

WE DID IT!

I want to thank everyone who has signed up for classes because I have now met my minimums and then some in all my classes!

I hope you are all ready to get back to work and if there is something you would like more instruction on, please let me know.

See you in class.

Torrance 310-618-2720

Palos Verdes Art Center 5504 W. Crestridge Rd. at Crenshaw Blvd. RPV 310-541-2479

Spring 10 Watercolor Class

If you are returning to my watercolor classes next week, I suggest that you bring something to work on at least for the start of class. I know that I will have some new people who will need to understand what they need for class and depending on their experience or equipment needs, will determine how long it takes me to get them going.

Time is more a factor at Torrance but if I can get the new folks taken care of and there is enough time, I will do a short demo on adding people into your landscapes and street scenes. It isn't difficult and it kinda fun once you try it, what I would like for you to do before you come to class is to find pictures with people on streets or at the park or at the pier, they can be your own photos or something out of the paper or magazine, they are only going to be used for reference. I have a couple pictures on the picture page to give you some ideas.

I look forward to seeing everyone back in class next week.

Spring 2010

Spring Break – Homework

Guess you just can't keep a good teacher down. Even on my time off I am looking for things to show you.

While looking for something that we can do this coming semester, I found a cactus photo I took several years ago and thought it might make a good subject, however, as I started to draw it, I realized that it might make a good "homework" assignment while you have a break and are in need of something to do and it also shows you the process I go thru when I'm finding things for class.

While it is more a photo study (see picture page), I do want you to keep in mind that if you want to be a good painter, you really need to improve your drawing skills. Don't think of drawing as a chore, or that it is hard, remember what I tell you in class: Think of it as a challenge. Don't set yourself up for failure by starting out stating your defeat – "It's hard to draw!" "I can't draw!" "I'll never be any good at drawing" – think more along the lines of this as a puzzle you need to solve, how are you going to make it happen? It isn't a race, so take your time. Don't think about the finished product but only about the shapes that make up the final picture, if you want instant, get a camera, but if you want to improve your art, get out the paper and pencils and draw.

I started out by putting a simple grid on my paper so I knew where the center was to avoid it. Next I roughed in a sketch of my cactus and flowers by putting in just basic shapes. This is how I start a lot of the designs I use in class.

Once I am happy with the placement of the elements – they are just basic shapes right now, nothing more – then I refer to my photo and start looking for the shapes that make up those elements so I can start on some detail and work my way round the drawing checking and refining my shapes.

When I am satisfied with my drawing at this point, it is usually where I stop and make up the design I use in class. It is the basic elements of the picture and it is my road map for my painting.

However, this is an exercise in drawing so once I copied what I had in case we do use it in class, I used my #4B pencil and "toned" over all of my paper. I wanted a nice medium/light tone that wasn't too dark or too light. Error to the light side if you try this, it will make life easier. After I had my paper toned, I used a paper towel to smooth the tone into my paper.

Next, looking at my photo – always have it handy – I erased out my brightest areas and areas that have light. You may have to look close but the pads of a cactus are not flat, they have bumps and ridges which give them texture. In watercolor terms, I am lifting my light areas sometimes as a positive move, sometimes as negative drawing. In pencil terms it is subtractive drawing because you are removing the graphite or chalk. I have an eraser that looks like a pencil which is very handy. There are many kinds out there and they do come in handy when you need to erase small areas and not touch everything around it or you can cut a small piece off a big eraser with an Exacto knife, it will work as well.

Then I start looking for my shadows. Some are dark shapes others are very faint but all are important. All the time I am refining my shapes adding detail, looking for areas where I can do light against dark and visa versa until I have my finished drawing. Going back and forth between positive drawing and negative drawing, what ever is needed to get the job done.

If the line drawing is the road map, a detailed drawing is the scenery along the way. It makes for a much more interesting trip and you get to know your subject in all its wonderful detail, then when you get to your painting, you have a much better idea of where you are going and how you are going to get there.

I do encourage everyone to practice their drawing even those of you who think you are pretty good, it can't hurt and it can only help in the long run.

Remember to sign up for classes. See you soon. – LP

PVAC – 5504 W. Crestridge Road, Rancho Palos Verdes 90275 310-541-2479 class schedule on web at www.pvartcenter.org.

Torrance: Community Services Dept. 3031 Torrance Blvd. Torrance 90503 310-618-2720 or register on-line at www.tprd.torranceca.gov/RegistrationMain.sdi

Picture Page: http://picasaweb.google.com/artclasspics/Spring10#

Winter 2010

Last Class of Winter Semester

Picture Page: http://picasaweb.google.com/artclasspics/Winter2010##

Give me some time off and I loose all track of time!

I do want to thank everyone in all of my classes for making this past semester a fun one. A special thanks to my PV morning class for bringing all the goodies, wish we could do something like that at Torrance J

There really isn't much to talk about regarding our last session. For those of you who brought in paintings for critique, I can't tell you how proud I am of each and every one of you! You are all doing such a great job, I hope you keep up the good work during this time off.

I did a demo in all classes that was virtually the same for everyone: Watercolor and Acrylic. The technique is basically the same and it is a good one to know but you have to conquer your fear of doing something to you painting that seems more than a bit bold or drastic but there are times when that is exactly what your painting needs, something bold and drastic.

There are a couple of things I usually notice in the paintings of my students one is they are afraid of the shadows. Their paintings may be well drawn and well executed but they lack the punch to take a nice painting to the next level. Shadows create mystery they also make your light areas stand out. Remember, you can't have light without the dark. You have to have some dark darks so that you highlights will stand out; it is all in the values you put into your painting.

In all the demo pictures I did in class, I noticed that the one thing that was lacking were definite shadows in the rocks. I had gotten my dark areas pretty good, but the shadow rocks were a little weak so on all of my demos I used a wash that consisted mostly of blue and purple and went over the shadowed sides of the rocks. This should be a fairly thin wash whether it is in acrylics or watercolor, if it needs more after it dries, add another wash. What this wash does is really cool down the shadows and if you want to emphasize the warm and the cool even more, do a similar thing with a warm wash of yellow and or orange (I did this in most classes but not all). Just remember to keep it think and if you are using watercolor, put it on and move on! If you linger too long in one area, you will stir up the paint underneath and you will create mud. Rinse your brush before reloading and use a damp brush to soften edges but don't go back into an area until it is completely dry, the acrylic people won't have that problem but you should let it dry before doing anything else to the area.

The other problem I often see is people give up on a painting way too soon. Almost without exception, most paintings have a stage I call the Terminal Uglies. It is the stage when you look at your painting and you want to throw it in the trash when often times you have just gotten to the end of your under painting and now you need to start the finishing process.

The above technique can help out a lot because what I see when people are frustrated is there is no depth in their paintings, everything is the same value and there is no sense of light. You are the Creator of this world on your paper, you have to make some decisions like where is the light coming from? What is the most important thing in my painting? And how can I bring it out? Try squinting your eyes. If the values are too close, all you will see is a mass of color with no detail because the values are too close. You should be seeing light, middle and dark areas even when you squint, if you don't, you need to work on it.

Using the above wash technique will help push back areas you want to be in a more supportive role and to give depth. If you already don't like your painting, what do you have to loose by being bold with this wash? Yes, it is scary at first but once you try it and see what it does to your painting, you will find many uses for these kinds of washes.

Now you need to look for your darkest darks and shadows where things overlap or hang over other objects in your painting. If you are doing flowers or trees be sure to be some dark shadows on the dark sides of steams and branches. Look for areas where you can highlight. If you are using watercolor and an area won't lift because of the paint or the paper has been damaged from being over worked, paint the areas around it darker or intensify the local color. What you are looking for is a change in value, intensifying a color can work as well as a shadow sometimes better.

Just don't give up until you have exhausted all possibilities. If possible ask a friend to give you an honest assessment of your painting, or turn it upside down or view it in a mirror – tricks or the trade as it were – and most importantly of all, stand back from your painting at least 6 – 10' and let it sit for a few days so you can see it with fresh eyes. Don't get frustrated, it isn't the end of the world and you can always try again.

Please remember to sign up ASAP for classes if you haven't already. Torrance students remember that the Powers That Be will close classes the Wednesday before classes actually start if they are under enrolled or we may have to cut the class time back if we are short a body or two, bring a friend. PVAC students you can sign up on the day of class but I know that many students have already signed up for the next classes so don't wait too long and end up on the waiting list I want to see everyone back in class. Thank you and I hope to see everyone in the new semester. - LP