Watercolor Society of Indiana

My work, Poppies, is part of the Watercolor Society of Indiana Member's Show at the America One in INDIANAPOLIS IN through June 26, 2009.

I spent the day in Indianapolis recently at an event with the Watercolor Society of Indiana. I was able to visit with other artists, share ideas and enjoy the live demonstration by master watercolor artist, Don Andrews. His demo was lively, entertaining and educational ... I am always interested in seeing others paint and pick up a few pointers. His work is very fresh and fluid ... I am anxious to attempt a painting with the bold approach he encouraged us all to try.

Brings a smile to my face!

I am happy to post a compliment from a fellow artist, Jackie, today when she listed my painting, "Quiet" in her visually pleasing treasury on Etsy.
Being selected by another artist is a heartfelt pat on the back.
I hope you will take the time to look at my work and at Jackie's.

Blog Award!

Thank you, Anne for selecting my blog for an award winner, now I will pass this honor on to a few others I have recently added to my favorites.
I am not computer smart enough to make links directly to these wonderful blogs but if you cut and paste you will be able to visit all of them ... they are worth the click. I may edit this blog when I have more blogs to honor.
Thanks for checking us all out.

Satin Dolly, http://www.satindolly.blogspot.com/
Dip Your Toes, http://worthburning.blogspot.com
NewCreatioNZ, jocelynfriisart.blogspot.com/
Om Shanti Handcrafts, http://omshantihandcrafts.wordpress.com
Scorpion Ice 362, http://scorpionice362.blogspot.com
Toil and Trouble, http://toilntroubleknits.blogspot.com/
Youniqielychic, youniquelychic.blogspot.com
Robynsart, www.robynsart.blogspot.com

Stone, flagstone, brick?

I taught a lesson today that was successful and I wanted to post it here on the blog so others could work with this idea.

I love to build up layers of color, whether it is with my watercolor or colored pencils. This lesson could be modified so many ways.

I was showing the student that he had the choice of what kind of textured wall he put in his drawing. We "practiced" three kinds of walls. These were small areas about the size of a business card (quick, 5 minute drills). We selected his favorite look and completed a small drawing.

Practice #1 was rounded field stones. Apply the color of the stones (mostly gray with a bit of light brown), fill in the negative dark areas and shade the lower edge of each stone with rounded or curved pencil marks.

Practice #2 was flat lime stone or flag stone. Apply the color of the flag stone (mostly light brown with a bit of gray), fill in the negative dark areas and shade some lower areas, keeping the pencil marks horizontal.

Practice #3 was man made brick. For this you apply the color of the mortar (grayish)
and then with about three or four different brick colors, randomly fill in the rectangle bricks leaving the mortar areas uncolored. Keep the bricks in line, the color placement is random, not the brick placement.

We both liked the rounded stone look the best but I suggested he try all three on his own time. We lightly planned the wall and the cluster of flowers. The base coat of stone colors were applied with soft, horizontal pencil strokes. The flower and leaf area was colored with small circular pencil strokes, light to medium in value. Sounds silly, but THINK petal and leaf when you are coloring this area, take the color to a medium value and wait to finish this area after the stone is complete.

The stones were developed as in the practice, by darkening in the negative, trapped spaces and blending a value shift on the lower edges of the stones to show volume.
The flowers were then further developed with medium and dark values of the violets and greens. I suggest implying green grass in the bottom edge of the stone wall.

After the student left, I worked on mine some more and added the light blue sky with horizontal pencil stokes. I didn't add clouds as I thought that would take the eye away for the flowers and the stones.

Have fun with this and send me your drawings, I will post and link them here if you would like me to.

Happy June!

Can it be that the calendars have all been turned and we are all on the same page? June!

This is the beginning of the open air venues in my area. Art fairs, farmers markets, painting on location, photo ops around every corner! Keep an open mind and look for places to create art and display or sell your art.

You don't have to work in a brick and mortar (helps if it rains, though) to sell your work or to promote your work, just get it out there for people to see and fall in love with.

Look for groups that are having events for families and children. Volunteer to set up and draw in front of the group or as an added attraction, provide a hands on experience for the visitors. Make sure you have contact info to hand out in case the visitors of this event would like to see you again! I believe in selling my work, if this is one of your goals as well, be prepared for it but don't count on it.

By this I mean, be ready to sell if the opportunity comes up, but don't be disappointed if nothing sells, people may just be looking. Be consistent and have a price list or stickers on the work so that you are ready to tell people the cost. A wishy washy answer to a potential buyer's question is unprofessional, be prepared to answer, even if your answer is NFS.

PARTING THOUGHT: What do you think?
I have been photographing flowers as usual but have also logged in many great shots of CLOUDS. I don't know what I am going to use this info for yet but I have snapped dozens of interesting formations and views. I will post a few here and if you have any ideas about what and where I might use them for, let me know.