Youth Art Month-Chick One

Chick One

11" x 14"

oil

This was my first "Chicken Clinic" piece, started at the first Plein Aire Painting Workshop in Calvert last October. I've done a little finishing on it, signed it, and I'm calling it finished.

The "Chicken Clinic" is an exercise, designed to loosen up artists and to familiarize them with their palette and painting techniques. It's fast, loose, and free, and begins with shapes.

I had a little trouble because, for one thing, my Max II paints, that clean up with water , dried too fast and they were like painting with sticky chewing gum. Using a lot of turpentine with them, helped that problem some. But they were still hard to move around on the canvas.

You can use various mediums with the Max II paints, the same as you would use for normal oils, so that might help. But, out on location, we just had low odor turpentine.

Another thing that I had problems with was getting up and down out of a chair, to see the demonstrations close up. My knees just don't like that at all! So, I tried to stay put, and see from where I was. I thought I would put all my effort and discomfort into getting up, one final time, when we left the location. And I worried that my chair would turn over, or that I couldn't get up after sitting a while. Still, I thought it best to just stay put and try to see from where I was. (My knees have needed replacing for years, so that is the reason for the problem with getting up and down from a chair.)

My eyes also have problems (wet Macular Degeneration and cataracts), so I don't see colors, lines, or even things as they really are. We started with a sort of oval shape for the head. Then there was this nice curved line, going from the back of the head to the body, which was another larger oval. V...., our instructor came by to check on everyone's progress, and she commented that my curved line made my bird look like an egret, with a curved neck. It turned out that the curved line I seemed to see, was actually a cone, with straight outside edges. No curves. That was just the AMD making me see a curve when none was there.

I fixed it, but you can still see that curve, working in the neck of my rooster!

We got in the basics of the rooster, with most people coming out with a really good looking rooster. I had things placed and colors, but it didn't look a lot like a rooster should!

I thought, "I should have looked at a rooster before I tried to paint one!"

My rooster looks like it came out of one of the old cartoons that we used to see in the movies. The hint of an eye, looked like a cartoon eye, he had a little smirk on his beak, and a nice round cheek. So, after looking at it for a while, I just went with some of the cartoon features that seemed to want to come out. (I know I watched a lot of cartoons at the movies, and read a lot of funny books when I was young!) I defined his eyelid and eye, a little more, added a little more blush in his cheek, lightened his legs to show more against the dark background, added more color in his tail, added the "hangy down thingy" under his beak, and added more lighter red on his wing. Not a lot of changes, but enough to call it finished.

I'm going to have to look at what roosters look like!

The second one was better, and somewhat different. Progress.

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Barbara brought me some pictures that she took at the Plein Aire Workshops. I'll add those on my blog, now that I have them scanned. Good thing I scanned them yesterday. A thunderstorm rolled through this morning, so I unplugged the computer. Now, my scanner isn't working-again. Happens everytime I unplug this machine. So far, I've made it work again by unplugging and replugging it in, for a while and, eventually, it starts to work again. A time to get off the computer and do something else, I guess.

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Does anyone remember the old club house at the Bryan Municipal golf course-the little lake with the nice dam? I wish they would build that back. I think I found a picture of one that was in Corsicana that looks something like it, but I'm not sure if I am remembering correctly.

I want to paint the little dam, with that nice clubhouse across the lake, at sunset. I always thought that this was such a nice place to go, as we drove by. At that time of day, we could see the men and ladies, going up the steps, dressed in their formals, going to a dance or event at the clubhouse.

I guess that, if I paint it at sunset, it won't matter a whole lot about what color it was, because it would be in shadow, with the sunset behind it. I seem to remember it as being kind of a light grayish brown brick, with wide steps going up to the second floor in front. I can't remember if that led to a terrace, or if that was covered.

The canvas is ready, have a couple of photos we took of the dam, but I can't find the ones we took when the water was running over the dam a few years ago.

I think I need a little different angle on the dam, though.

Another thing that I have been staring at for a while, and "studying on"! I about decided that it might work better to go sit there and paint on location. But... where would I sit? In the car wash across the street, in the middle of a busy street intersection? That's the place I am trying to paint it from. My photos are all a little too far over so I don't see part of the dam. And, of course, the clubhouse was torn down long ago and replaced with something that looks like a long, low garage for a lot of golf carts. I guess there are clubhouse facilities in there for golfers, too, but, since I don't have an interest in golf, I don't know what is there. It's set back off the street, so you can't see it very well.

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I missed the entry time for the Art Teachers show at the Art Center in College Station. It was Friday, I understand. I had a date of the 30th, but that was when the show opened. Maybe I'll have something ready for the Art League Members Show in June.

Go out to see the Art Teachers show at the Art Center in College Station. I'm sure that there is some very interesting work.

See my sidebar for more information, or check out the calendar on the Arts Council of the Brazos Valley website.

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Chuck Norris is receiving an award tonight at the George Bush Library in College Station. I surely would like to take Ashton to see it. He has been wanting to go to those things, but most things did not seem like something he would be interested in, lately. This one should be great for everyone to see.

We probably won't get to go. You have to get tickets at the MSC on campus, and it's very hard for us to get over there since we don't have a reason to go there. We would have to pay at the parking garage in order to have a place to park, and have to walk over to the MSC, and that is just too much for us. They did have tickets at the Eagle, but now they are saying to go to the MSC for tickets.

Wish Chuck Norris would give my grandsons some lessons!

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Youth Art Month-Linda Lane Sunset

Linda Lane Sunset

6" x 8"

oil

This is another one of the small oil paintings, part of my homework from the Plein Aire Painting Workshop in Calvert. We get to see some really nice sunsets beyond the oak tree and across the open field across the street.

I did this one last week and, already, the new leaves are covering a lot of my view.

As I painted, I used V....Vaughan's limited palette of primary colors, plus white. Which is what you really need to make all the other colors. And I kept in mind what I watched her do as she painted those early morning sunrises in Calvert.

If you are familiar with Harry Ahysen's work, her colors remind me so much of what he used. In his workshops, we asked him what colors he used to get those magnificent pinks and purples. He laughed and said, "Oh, you mean Pepto Bismol Pink and that new Spanish color, Jello!" See, that stuck with me through all these years. I can't remember what he said about purple, though. I think that was stuck in the sentence somewhere.

Ahysen's paintings just glowed, too. I think it was his use of mediums. He mixed 3 mediums together, Grumbacher Medium #3 (or was it #2!), Copal, and something else that I never can remember until I see it in a catalogue. He also used some Liquin.

So far, I've just been using low odor turpentine, as V.... directed when we were outside painting. And I have been using some of the Max II paints, with Bob Ross Titanium White and Cad Yellow Light. I need to use my Liquin before it dries up, like a lot of other things that I have!

We found that the Max II paints dry out a lot faster, especially outside, making them hard to handle at times. I had to use a lot of turnpentine to make them move on the canvas. Otherwise, it was like trying to paint with sticky chewing gum!

The idea of the Max II paints was to keep the odor down since they clean with water instead of turpentine. But, they can be used with any medium or thinner, just like regular oil paints. So, we end up with some fumes anyway.

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I've learned that the circus will be in town on the day of the Sketch Crawl, Saturday April 11. Ringling Brothers will have a one ring circus show with animals and perfomers at Reed Arena, ending on the 11th. They will be here several days before that.

This might be a possibility of a place to draw, at least for a little while, during the Crawl.

Of course, you have to buy a ticket to get into the circus, but there might be an opportunity to just watch from outside and do some sketching of people and any circus performers who happen by. Just a thought.

Let me know if you want to join us for the Sketch Crawl. And if you have some ideas about getting more people involved and where we might work. We're going to start here in downtown Bryan. A group can also start at Mud Creek Pottery in Calvert.

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One more thing about Sketch Crawl. If you would like an official Sketch Crawl t-shirt, they are available on the Sketch Crawl website. http://www.sketchcrawl.com They are not required, but I thought it was a neat idea. There is time to order one if you want one for the event.

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Go over to the Art Center in College Station to see the Art Show of work by area Art Teachers. Look at my sidebar for more information. You can also attend the reception at the Art Center to honor the teachers. Check the Arts Council of Brazos Valley calendar for more information.

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Plan to go downtown Bryan Friday evening for First Friday. Lots of art, music, food, entertainment, and activities are being planned for all to enjoy. Check out the Downtown Bryan Association website and The Frame Gallery website for more information.

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Thanks for reading and sharing!

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EDM Challenge # 215

Draw Your Thumb

Every Day Matters Challenge #215

8.5" x 11"

ink

For a change of pace, I thought I would share a journal type of entry from my sketchbook. Each week, the Every Day Matters group issues a new challenge to draw something. Number 215 was to draw your thumb, and people could add what their thumb was on, etc. I probably should add a little color to this, but the drawing and note about it is done.

You should be able to click on the picture and enlarge it so that you can read what I wrote.

The practice of drawing your hand at different angles, and different times of your life, is a good exercise. I thought of collecting things like photos of the artists' hands as I meet them, beginning with the workshops of Harry Ahysen in Hearne.

Drawing my own hand is getting to be a big challenge because of all the jillions of patterns of wrinkles that are appearing. I think that would take a long, long while to draw! However, Myrna Waknov did some interesting work with wrinkled skin, using watercolors, by using tissue paper. I think it would be very interesting to take a workshop with her because of all the experimentation she does, and comes out with amazing portraits. I haven't tried the tissue paper approach, thinking that, if I am studying something, like my hand, I should examine every line, shape, and shadow!

I used a Pitt pen over pencil to do the above drawing.

This was something personal to record. Not a huge thing, but it did happen. My left thumb was giving me a lot of pain. At that time, I was seeing an Orthopedic surgeon about my knees. He wanted to do surgery. I didn't have the time, money, or the bravery to go through knee replacement, so I was getting shots every few months and taking Vioxx. That worked for me. I asked him about my hand and he did x-rays. He told me that I had arthritis in the joint and that there was not enough space between there to get a needle in for a shot. He suggested that he could fuse the bone, or remove it to relieve the pain.

Right then, I knew that I needed my thumb! I could imagine a useless thumb, either stiff as a board, or one that just dangled in the breeze, if he did surgery. I said no to that and said I would just take asprins, put heat on it, and massage it.

As I look at all the wrinkles appearing, I can also see that the joint in my thumb has sunk in. I can push on the joint and move it back in place, but it goes right back. It looks weird, to me. I think that the right thumb is beginning to do the same thing, but just a tiny bit, so far.

I know that people can get along without a thumb, a finger or two, a hand, arm, etc. But just think of all the things that you use your thumb for. You grip things, shuffle papers, type, tie, and all sorts of things. The first thing I thought of was shuffling through paper work at school and doing art work. Sculpture in clay especially. I used my thumbs a lot when I made clay heads. I thought that I might do those in wax, someday, if I ever got to the stage where I had arthritis in my hands, or became blind!

Drawing my thumb became a thoughtful exercise for me.

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If you are in this area, be sure to go out to the Brazos Valley Art League Show at the Art Center in College Station, before it closes. Check out their website and the Arts Council of Brazos Valley site for more information. This one was judged.

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Mary Ciani Saslow, from the Architecture Dept. at A&M, was getting ready for the Faculty Show at Stark Gallery in the MSC. Stark Gallery is online, as are the galleries in the MSC. And I have a link to them in my sidebar. I know that show will be interesting. So many creative people!

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Of course, we are hoping for a big turnout for the 22nd World Wide Sketch Crawl on Saturday April 11. Hope that you will join us! We are trying to get groups started all over the Brazos Valley area, Bryan and Calvert, in particular. Click here http://www.sketchcrawl.com for more information.

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18th World Wide Sketch Crawl

It's come and gone, the 18th World Wide Sketch Crawl that I've been telling you about. It was a lot of fun, and I hope that, where ever you are, you joined in drawing Saturday.

Here in Bryan, thunderstorms rumbled through at night, keeping pets and their owners awake. But after a night of little sleep on Friday, we got up early Saturday morning and drove to downtown Bryan. Fog and cool temperatures, made the landscape hazy and added a little feeling of mystery.
My sister, my grandson, and I loaded up the station wagon with our supplies for the day, and found The Frame Gallery downtown. We met Greta Watkins. and her beautiful dog, in the Gallery, and signed in there.
I suggested several interesting spots for sketching and we settled in front of the old Queen Theatre. Historic buildings, a barber shop in an old Lodge building, the Carnegie Library with a garden area and railroad tracks behind it, the LaSalle Hotel with a coffee shop that we thought might come in handy, and people on the streets were just some of the things that I had considered in thinking of where we might work. The old ice house at the end of the street was tempting, too. But our time was limited as my sister was planning to leave about noon.
My sister pulled out her plein aire painting equipment and set up in the landscaped median to work on a street scene.
My grandson and I set up a camping chair beside a bench at the old Palace Theatre (now an outdoor theatre, for those of you who are not local). We each had our sketchbooks, drawing pencils, pens, and I took along a pad of watercolor paper and my travel Winsor Newton watercolor set.
Several people stopped to see what my sister was painting. And we had quite a few people passing by on the sidewalk in front of us, including a young man who was enjoying his skate board and cell phone on a Saturday morning.
We drew to the cooing of Mourning Doves and watched the antics of tiny Sparrows on the sidewalk, and the fluttering of Pigeons among the buildings. Traffic noises were minimal on the wide streets. Chimes from the churches downtown added to the peaceful mood.
My grandson was interested in eating ham and cheese kolaches and in his latest toy of choice-light sabres from "Star Wars". So, with all that was around us, he drew a light sabre. He was also up late the night before, which usually makes him a bit on the negative side the next day. And I was so sleepy, I felt like it was all a dream and just couldn't wait until I could close my eyes. Still, it was very pleasant to be downtown Bryan, as always.
Some years ago, I was fortunate in being able to share studio space with several other artists near the Old Post Office and the Episcopal Church. It was such a peaceful place to work, especially early in the morning, I thought.
I sketched a building that was once a bank and now has a sandwich shop downstairs. A large clock in the median was also interesting as were the street lights. On top of the building, was a large American flag.
I also did getsture drawings of the boy and his skateboard, as well as a bit of the barber shop and the crown on the Queen sign.
I planned to do a sketch of the wide street, with the ice house at the end, but I couldn't see the building from our location. Instead, I sketched part of the LaSalle Hotel and the Howell building.
I did the buildings on watercolor paper, in pencil, but didn't have time to use any color. Those are ready to paint, now. I did the people in my sketchbook with a #314 Draughting pencil.
By then, it was time to leave. We checked in at the Frame Gallery, and showed what we did.
We learned that there was a mother and daughter team from Robertson County out sketching, also.
My grandson sat down on a couch and fell in love with the dog. It seemed to be mutual. Now that was a picture, with the dog's head in his lap. Of course, he now wants a sweet dog like that. Unfortunately, we forgot to get the camera out, so we just had our sketches to record the day.

As we left downtown, we saw the ladies from Robertson county sketching, and passed another who seemed to be standing up while drawing.
My sister left, and I came in and took a short nap. (My eyes were just closing!) My intention was to go out sketching again in the afternoon to the lake at the Municipal Golf Course, to the County Fair in its new home at the new Expo Center, to the Vet School Open House, or just along my street where the Indian Paintbrushes and Bluebonnets are blooming. But, "the Sandman" just wouldn't let me keep my eyes open any longer.
Later, I decided to darken up some of my sketches before I scanned them.
I noticed on the Sketch Crawl forum where people are posting their work, that there are some maps that show where people were from, and also some groups showed where they were sketching. Some had really great photos! (What hardy souls they are in places like Sweden, where they were outside sketching while there was still snow! )
From the map, it looked like there were people working in over 50 different locations around the world.
I decided that I needed to add a bit more to my sketches, so I did a little cartoon map of where we went, finished a sketch of my sister working, and the women who we saw sketching, and thought about doing a sketch of my grandson with his blue hooded sweater, sitting in a blue chair. (So many pictures, so little time!)
My sister's oil painting was wet, but she is going to send me a photo of what she did to add online.

The other local people could add their work to mine, but, unfortunately, I don't know who they are, or how to contact them. So, if you know them, you might let them know that I will post their pictures for them, or they can do it themselves, if they want to. It isn't required, but it would be nice to know who participated and see what they worked on.

Now that we know more about the Sketch Crawl , and have tried one, maybe we can get something going to involve more people in this area. The next one, the 19th Sketch Crawl, should be in another 2 or 3 months. I'll let you know. And you can be sure to check their website, register, and do the crawl where you are. I'll have a link in my sidebar , you can do a search for Sketch Crawl, or click on http://www.sketchcrawl.com/ .

After I get my pictures posted on this blog, I will work on posting them on the Sketch Crawl site. I still have to figure that out.
Anyway, the Sketch Crawl is really a fun idea and I hope that you will join in the next one. (Plan now!)

I used to enjoy taking my students out to sketch. In one elementary school, we would load up several buses and take the kids down to the harbor where several boats had washed up during a hurricane. I never had time to draw myself, but was busy with the students. I think they enjoyed it, too, and many of them had some excellent art work as a result of those trips.

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Extracurricular!

Works by Art Teachers of the Brazos Valley

Texas Gallery

Arts Council of Brazos Valley

http://www.acbv.org/

Opens March 31

Show goes through April 30

Reception: April 3 5:30 p.m.

Open:

Monday-Thursday 9 a.m. - 6 p.m.

Friday 9 a.m. - 5 p.m.

Saturday 10 a.m. -2 p.m.

See you at the reception! I have a piece in the show.

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Be sure to let me know if you sketched Saturday!

And sign my Guest Book if you haven't already. You will find it all the way at the bottom of the page.

Thank you for reading and sharing. I do appreciate your interest and your comments.

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Cactus

Cactus

2" x 2"

watercolors

This is a very small, circular watercolor that I had made into a badge to wear at times when something western was going on. I wore this with my jeans and a denim shirt or cowboy shirt for such things as the county fair. Showing my art, and the work of my students, was one thing. But, adding it as a piece of wearable art was kind of a fun thing to do. I also had a pair of ceramic cactus earrings that I made and wore at the same times as I wore the badge.

It came out a little off center, showing a bit of the badge backing, but it really doesn't show in the actual badge. And, while the colors in the background look a little splotchy, they really don't show that way on the item. I do like the colors in this and may rework it in a larger watercolor.

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Doesn't February seem like it is just flying by! It seems like I just turned my calendar from January.

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For those of you in this area, if you planned to go by and see the Brazos Valley Art League show at the P.David Romnei Center this week, you will need to change your plans. I took my entry over Friday and found that it had been rescheduled for February 29th with judging March 1. Show opens to the public at 12:30 that day with a reception to follow.

It seems that the flu struck the members of the Brazos Valley Art League along with so many others in this area, and there were not enough well members to work with the show on Friday.

This means that the Members show is also going to be changed to a date yet to be determined.

I have a link to the Art League and the Arts Council of the Brazos Valley on my sidebar under Organizations. You can check there for more information.

Actually, I'm a little glad for the extra time to do something else for the show, but I'm sorry that there are so many people who feel bad. Flu seems to be in many places, and increasing.

I don't remember that the Art League has had to postpone a show due to so many illnesses in the past.

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My computer has been unplugged a lot lately, due to all the thunderstorms around. I was really concerned yesterday, as the worst weather was supposed to be moving in. I noticed that one of the anchors for the Weather Channel was broadcasting from here. I know that they broadcast from where terrible things happen, so I had a lot of anxiety. Fortunately, it all moved east, with just some thunderstorms and badly needed rain. Tornadoes were spotted to the east, but I haven't heard of damage. I was sure glad that their forecast was off. They said that everything was set up for a dangerous situation, but we had cloud cover all day, which kept the temperatures down and prevented the big rotation in the clouds that had been expected. Only 4 more degrees, they said, and we could have had tornadoes, damaging winds, etc. Whew! Now I can breathe again, until the next time!

It's pretty and sunny today and into the 70s. Looks like spring is just around the corner here. At least, I haven't noticed the pear trees blooming, yet. The past few years, they have been blooming in February instead of April or May as they once did. Sometimes the pear and peach trees would bloom early, only to be covered with ice by a late storm. But, that hasn't happened recently.

Those of you who are sick of snow and cold, just know that there are those of us who would love to see some of it!

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Thanks for your interest and your comments. I loved getting all the comments during the One World-One Heart event!