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This painting of datura--from a drawing of Carol's--was my best one of the weekend; others in the workshop may have felt the same way as all of the paintings were lovely, bold and bright.
Carol had us mask the flowers with tape and misket to apply a background wash (it was supposed to be a graded wash, oops); then she demonstrated, working back to front, wetting one blossom, painting it and waiting for it to dry before going to the next one.
The main thing she did, that I have to get in the habit of doing, was checking her values with a red screen, which she did numerous times throughout the painting.
(11x15)
I try not to whine about my paper, but this sheet really drove me nuts: too absorbent ... so I kept adding water. Which didn't help. The idea here was to have each pear a predominant color--red, blue, or yellow--but then to add the other two primaries to achieve the greatest range of colors possible within each pear. Not so easy; or, not so easy to not overwork.
(11x15)
Also from a drawing of Carol's, this was fun to work on this, adding bits of color to the bicycle and watching them mix. The shadow was a chance to get away from the usual color choices.
In the background Carol used a Daniel Smith color, Shadow Violet, which when you put it on, is a kind of dull gray but which then separates and granulates into greens, blues, and pinks. Carol uses it beautifully; I need more practice! But it might be fun to experiment with.
Fully recovered now and back to running full tilt. I'm looking forward to getting around to your blogs and seeing what you've been doing.
The bicycle is definitely my favourite. So much energy in there!
ReplyDeleteI've really enjoyed reading about Carol's workshop in your posts and Rhonda's.
Thank you for sharing your experience.
Wow! You nailed the bicycle and I love the datura, too - but for me the bicycle moves from greyed noninteresting things in the bg (which is a good thing), to the beautiful blues of the bicycle, and then gorgeous, unexpected shadows coming hotly towards us!
ReplyDeleteNow when are we going to see some of those little brown birds that have no brown? hee hee
Have a great week!
Rhonda is right, the colors here are a long way from "brown". I love them. Wish I could've been in Cincy with all of you for this workshop, it looks like everyone took away lots to chew on. I wonder how the class will impact your own work - which is already so wonderful - in coming months. We'll be watching!
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