Update on my Painting Journey

As you know, I took up painting for the first time in my life 2 years ago. Mind you, I am a newbie at art.  I started taking acrylic classes when my daughter went off to college.  There are days when I put a lot of paint on a canvas and it is disastrous.  Other days  I paint, step back and think, it’s okay.  Rarely do I love it.

My art teacher and dear friend, Joann Augur just wrapped up a 4 week session on using different application techniques.  One class we took very watery acrylic paint and a paper towel and dabbed color all over the canvas.  Then we painted in a vase and added flower details.  It was such a fun class!  I loved the randomness of it because  I had no idea where the paints would take me.  Using the same technique with different colors, I produced two totally different images.

It is so helpful to take photos of the paintings….with the one below I need to work on the vase.  I didn’t notice the distortion until I posted this picture.

For our 2016 Christmas card, I painted this snow scene.  I donated the original for a charitable event.  My husband was disappointed that I had given it away, so I painted another one (a larger version) just for him.

This colorful landscape STILL NEEDS WORK~the mountains are wrong (no life, flat). It is a rather large painting and IF I can get it just right, I will frame and hang it.

My friend Janie, who is an accomplished artist recently convinced me to sign up for a few oil painting classes at Scottsdale Artists School.  Painting with oils is completely different.  Acrylic paints dry very quickly and are water soluble.  Oils take days to dry.  It sounded so intimidating.  But nothing ventured, nothing gained, right?

The first oil class I took focused on painting blue and white vases.  The teacher, Nancy Chaboun, is extremely talented.  She creates live settings for you to paint.

Dah-DA…..my very first oil painting!

My second class (which is the first in a series of 3) is focused on painting still life.  Here is the setting Nancy created.

Below is my painting. I took some creative license with it. Painting flowers is hard work. The few times I have painted roses then end up looking like peonies.

Yesterday, was the second still life class. We learned about painting glass and metal…silver, bronze, brass. Our setting included rich tones, a brass pot and colorful sunflowers and oranges.

And here is my painting.  I am not sure if I am done with it yet….

I feel much more comfortable with acrylic, but I am learning (slowly) the nuances of oil paints.  The good news is I am L.E.A.R.N.I.N.G and meeting some incredibly talented people along the way.

I hope you enjoyed my show & tell…..Practice makes perfect so I am wishing for a summer filled with paints and canvases!

Are you learning something new?

Happy Friday!