Dark Water Reflection ... Finished Student Paintings ...

Here are the Monday night student paintings for my "Dark Water Reflections" class ...  everyone worked from a step-by-step lesson I wrote, and I also did a demo during the session. No one finished during our three-hour class, but they all completed them on their own.  As always, they each had a slightly  different approach and got different results, but I think they are all great!

By Elizabeth, who originally requested this class

By Kathy ...  one of two versions she painted

By Kathy ...  one of two version she did

Marion's painting ... she chose to do a small format

This one is by Pat.

This one is Ralph's painting

Sandy K. Painted this one.

Catching Up on Some Student Paintings

I have been catching up on some student paintings from earlier classes. 

This is Sandy K's work from the Mt. Desert Island class ...
she really caught the light!

This is Jerry's painting from the Mt. Desert Island class

This is Kathy's painting from the Becker Skies class

Kathy did this gorgeous painting of an osprey on her own ... really nice!

This is Sandy K's painting from the Becker Skies class ... love the water!

"East Door" accepted in Audubon Artists Online Juried Show

I just learned that "East Door - Baltic Mills" was accepted into the Audubon Artists 75th Anniversary Annual Exhibition!

It is a huge honor for me to be included in this prestigious exhibition!

Normally held at the Salmagundi Club on 5th Avenue in Greenwich Village, the Audubon Artists exhibition this year is displayed online from October 1 - December 31, due to the Salmagundi Club's centennial celebration, which caused the art galleries to be unavailable. 

The online exhibition can be viewed at http://audubonartists.org/annual-exhibition-gallery/.

Student work from Monday night, October 2

On Monday night, everyone began working on the autumn reflections images.  All chose to do the lesson I created for "Dark Water" (see below), which I just finished on Monday afternoon. I will post their finished paintings next week.

Here are a couple from last week's Mt. Desert Island class

This one is by Elizabeth. The colors of the sky and water are perfect, and the details of the dead tree are wonderful. 

This one is by Sandy ...  the lighting on those foreground rocks is great, and she did a fabulous job on the sun.  

Below is my final version of "Dark Water", which I did at 22" x 9".  

The ones we did in class were the usual 12" x 9" size.

There were a lot of useful techniques in this class, including: 

• the use of a clear gel pen to mask the tiny white branches, 
• using a torn paper mask to define the edge of the foliage, which was then painted with a sponge
• using gum arabic in the reflection to extend drying time and using a fan brush to blur the image
• using M. Graham Titanium White watercolor to paint the reflections of the trees

Class work from Sept. 28

Thursday, Sept 28, our class focused on images from Mt. Desert Island in Maine. 

Next week we will be working on Autumn Reflections. Painting water reflections is always a challenge.  I have lots of reference photos, and as always, painters are welcome to bring their own. 

These paintings are from the morning group. 

This lovely sunset image was painted by Mary Jo. I think she had a little bit more to do. Nice job!
I especially like the sky and the foreground ledges.

This was a small study of Bass Harbor Light, painted by Joan.  She liked this practice painting better than her larger one.
I think she really captured the mood of the image in this one.

This is Dianne's finished painting from the Summer Woods class a few weeks ago. I like the light and the feeling of space she achieved.

These shots are from the Thursday afternoon group.

Helen and Marguerite are enjoying some of my home-made Peach Tiara Cake ... judging from the smiles, I think they liked it. :)

Helen's beginning of Bass Harbor Light ... she needs to finish the ledges and add shadows to the light house.

 Maggie chose to paint one of the many beautiful stone bridges found on Mt. Desert Island

 Marion also chose the Bass Harbor Light and got off to a great start

Paulette picked an early-evening view of a dead tree and a star-studded sky. 

This the the beginning of Marguerite's painting which featured a pond with a rocky shore. She lifted out the submerged rocks and will add shadows. 

And, finally, here are some completed paintings from earlier classes

 This is Carol's painting from the Summer Woods class. I suggested that she should add a little detail to the background.

 Carol did this one on her own ...  she liked the apples but thought that the leaves needed some work.  I think adding a few shadows would make the whole thing "pop"

 This is Paulette's finished piece from the Pen & Ink with Watercolor class ...

Marion used salt to great advantage to create the foreground texture in her painting from the Summer Woods class