(no subject)
To elaborate a bit more for the lovely Hush...
So for the past 2 years I noticed in the back of the church program it said there was a painting class at 9:30am on Monday mornings. Now I've either been working or too lazy to go in but I thought I'd better get my butt in while the going is good. So I woke up this morning and wandered over to the church (only about 5 minutes late)
There was a lovely bunch of elderly and retired ladies (and two gentlemen) being all creative in my church basement. I recognized two of them from Alpha (Jean - with her lovely Scottish Accent and Bev who helped out with the food last year) Well I wandered in like a trespasser and Bev took me right under her wing. Most were doing watercolor but Bev had her acrylic paints there and offered to share. She set me up with a palette and paints and gave me a choice of a canvas or a wood board. She said she was painting on wood and I pointed out that if it was good enough for the Mona Lisa then it's good enough for me too.
Bev was working on an island painting for a friend of hers. Apparently a friend had commented she like one of her previous paintings of an island, but Bev had forgotten it up at the cottage so she was painting her another. She gave me a bunch of nature photos that I could use as an inspiration. I picked a scene from northern Ontario, of trees and mountains and rocks and fall. I knew I wasn't that good but everyone was so nice so I kept at it.
Bev said that I could work for a while then take a break and check out what everyone else was doing. Well, after 2 hours flew by like nothing Bev and I got to wander and meet everyone else. Jean was using watercolor to paint an old fashioned tennis scene, one lady was making Watercolor Christmas cards, another was doing a flower painting, another a leaf, another a forest scene, and another water. There was a gentleman there named Abdul who apparently works in "pens" instead of paint. They said he's even done a few shows and sold his work. His specially was Birds and, ready for this, that morning he was making an OWL. I loved it of course.
After our "wander" it gave me a ton of ideas and reminded me of things I learn in art class. I'd never admit it to Bev, but I couldn’t' figure out where she got her Green paint from. I looked at all of the tubes, and no green. I REALLY think I've been doing Photoshop for FAR too long. I felt like an idiot when it literally had to dawn on me that I had Blue and Yellow paint and I was the one that had to MIX them it make Green! Wow! Thank GOD now one could read my brain! Airhead alert!
Bev gave me great tips that she had learned with her time with her art teacher. Like you are never really supposed to use real black in nature. That the darkest it should be is almost black, like a brown or dark purple. Also I had forgotten about shadowing (that's just a ‘bevel and emboss’ key in Photoshop), but here I had to round out the bark on my tree with whites and darks.
At around 1pm we washed our palettes and put away (her) brushes. Then we all went to the art cabinet and found matting to match our work. Bev said that the matting on a painting should never be lighter than the lightest thing or darker than the darkest in the picture you are matting, because it distracts your eye. She found me a great pale green. We taped the matting onto our pictures then we "displayed" them on chairs while she ate lunch (Bev shared her sandwich and hot cross bun which was so sweet of her) Then everyone in the group went down the line and commented about what they liked about everyone else’s work. It was really a self confidence boost. It was my first time out, but they were the pros. I like my mountains but my middle tree was blah. And yet Jean said she could kinda see an angel in the branches and they all wanted to know if I intended it since they could see it too. I honestly still dont' see it myself but they all did. (I'm gonna have to take a picture and post it so you can tell me if any of you see it) Then it was home time.
I still have yellow paint on my fingernail, but it was the nicest Monday morning I ever spent!
So for the past 2 years I noticed in the back of the church program it said there was a painting class at 9:30am on Monday mornings. Now I've either been working or too lazy to go in but I thought I'd better get my butt in while the going is good. So I woke up this morning and wandered over to the church (only about 5 minutes late)
There was a lovely bunch of elderly and retired ladies (and two gentlemen) being all creative in my church basement. I recognized two of them from Alpha (Jean - with her lovely Scottish Accent and Bev who helped out with the food last year) Well I wandered in like a trespasser and Bev took me right under her wing. Most were doing watercolor but Bev had her acrylic paints there and offered to share. She set me up with a palette and paints and gave me a choice of a canvas or a wood board. She said she was painting on wood and I pointed out that if it was good enough for the Mona Lisa then it's good enough for me too.
Bev was working on an island painting for a friend of hers. Apparently a friend had commented she like one of her previous paintings of an island, but Bev had forgotten it up at the cottage so she was painting her another. She gave me a bunch of nature photos that I could use as an inspiration. I picked a scene from northern Ontario, of trees and mountains and rocks and fall. I knew I wasn't that good but everyone was so nice so I kept at it.
Bev said that I could work for a while then take a break and check out what everyone else was doing. Well, after 2 hours flew by like nothing Bev and I got to wander and meet everyone else. Jean was using watercolor to paint an old fashioned tennis scene, one lady was making Watercolor Christmas cards, another was doing a flower painting, another a leaf, another a forest scene, and another water. There was a gentleman there named Abdul who apparently works in "pens" instead of paint. They said he's even done a few shows and sold his work. His specially was Birds and, ready for this, that morning he was making an OWL. I loved it of course.
After our "wander" it gave me a ton of ideas and reminded me of things I learn in art class. I'd never admit it to Bev, but I couldn’t' figure out where she got her Green paint from. I looked at all of the tubes, and no green. I REALLY think I've been doing Photoshop for FAR too long. I felt like an idiot when it literally had to dawn on me that I had Blue and Yellow paint and I was the one that had to MIX them it make Green! Wow! Thank GOD now one could read my brain! Airhead alert!
Bev gave me great tips that she had learned with her time with her art teacher. Like you are never really supposed to use real black in nature. That the darkest it should be is almost black, like a brown or dark purple. Also I had forgotten about shadowing (that's just a ‘bevel and emboss’ key in Photoshop), but here I had to round out the bark on my tree with whites and darks.
At around 1pm we washed our palettes and put away (her) brushes. Then we all went to the art cabinet and found matting to match our work. Bev said that the matting on a painting should never be lighter than the lightest thing or darker than the darkest in the picture you are matting, because it distracts your eye. She found me a great pale green. We taped the matting onto our pictures then we "displayed" them on chairs while she ate lunch (Bev shared her sandwich and hot cross bun which was so sweet of her) Then everyone in the group went down the line and commented about what they liked about everyone else’s work. It was really a self confidence boost. It was my first time out, but they were the pros. I like my mountains but my middle tree was blah. And yet Jean said she could kinda see an angel in the branches and they all wanted to know if I intended it since they could see it too. I honestly still dont' see it myself but they all did. (I'm gonna have to take a picture and post it so you can tell me if any of you see it) Then it was home time.
I still have yellow paint on my fingernail, but it was the nicest Monday morning I ever spent!