Summer Zoom Art

Roses, more than most other flowers, seem to intimidate artists.  Whether  you love roses and enjoy painting them or if you are scared to even try,  I promise there will be a demonstration that won’t be too hard for you!
I  will demonstrate a number of different forms and colors of roses in  different stages of bloom so you can pick one or more you are interested  in drawing or painting yourself. 
In the June 18th session I will portray single stem roses from simple bud to open, complex form. 
In the July 2nd session I will demonstrate using a portion of a rose plant with the  suggestion of its place in a landscape.  Additionally, thanks to a  suggestion from Lynne, I am also going to try portraying a group of  dried roses. 
My  goal with these sessions is to give us the opportunity to enjoy the  beautiful colors and forms of these lovely flowers. Try one or more  roses in this relaxed, non-intimidating  (hopefully!) zoom series. 

MEDIA:  I will use watercolor paint, watercolor pencil, and graphite pencils in a variety of demonstrations.

Insert the attachments here.  I will keep one with the following text:

WATERCOLOR  PAINTS: Aureolin*, Quinacridone Gold, New Gamboge,  Quinacridone Red, Quinacridone Pink, Sap, and Phthalo Green

*Note:  I  mistakenly labeled my pale yellow on the swatch as “Light Yellow Glaze”  but it should have been “Aureolin”.  Light Yellow Glaze is a similar  color in Watercolor Pencil.  Sorry!

WATERCOLOR PENCILS (Albrecht Durer):  Light Yellow Glaze, Earth Green Yellow, Permanent Green Olive, Olive Green Yellow, Light  Green, Pale Geranium Lake, Light Purple Pink, Dark Flesh, Cool Gray I,  Raw Umber, Burnt Ochre, Terra Cotta

and 2 Derwent Watercolor Pencils: Madder Carmine, and Blue Gray

GRAPHITE PENCILS: I will use a hard pencil (2H-4H) and an HB or B pencil, as an option.  You don’t need to use graphite.

These show the painting in stages, including immediately after class. On the last painting I added more detail following class.  

These are step-by-step versions of my painting.  They are followed by an  example I painted on 12”x12” canvas.   In this session I will just demonstrate on paper.  There’s no need to use on canvas in your  piece.  I am just including my canvas as an example of what you could do if you prefer.  The procedure for paper and canvas is the same.  I can remind you how to prepare the canvas if you choose that surface over paper on this one. 

Lynne expressed interest in using dried roses as a reference for roses in our class.  Thanks, Lynne, for this suggestion!

 
I  am demonstrating a single dried rose I photographed.  I am also  including a photo Lynne took of a group of beautiful dried roses as  well.  This is a more elaborate piece, but I will spend a little time   talking through and demonstrating how I would approach this piece as   well.

Because  of the nature of  dried roses, I’m using more dried media in my artwork  with these  specimens.  I used watercolor pencil, both wet and dry, in  my single  rose demonstration on white watercolor pencil.  On Lynne’s  roses I’m choosing dry media because of the dried  texture I’m trying to  imitate. 

My drawings on each of the dried pieces are still a work in progress here.

 $25 for the two classes together     ($15 if you choose a single class)

 Both  the tiny hummingbird and giant flamingo stand out with beautiful,   intense color.  Carol’s request to paint a flamingo inspired me to pair  two fun bird subjects, each of which delights me with their bright   summerlike colors.  Each of these bright birds contrasts with the  surrounding areas in their photos.  The bright colors in the hummingbird  contrasts both the darks in the bird and the low intensity color in the  nest and branches of the tree.  The brightly colored flamingo contrasts  with the low intensity and darks of the surrounding water and foliage.   We will explore ways to paint each of these photos to take advantage of  these contrasts to give our paintings lots of life and vibrancy. 

MEDIA:  In the Hummingbird in the Nest I would like to use a combination of  watercolor paints and either watercolor pencils and/or graphite for the  delicate lines and texture in the nest.  In the Flamingo, I will use  watercolor paints or watercolor pencils used wet.  This demonstration  will be a looser painting so either media will work equally well.

I  am using essentially the same paints in each demonstration.  I will use  most of the same watercolor pencils but you can see I added a few  additional in the Flamingo.

WATERCOLOR  PAINTS: Aureolin, New Gamboge, Quinacridone Gold, Burnt Sienna, Sepia,  Azo Orange, Sap, Phthalo Green, Winsor Blue Green Shade, French  Ultramarine Blue or Indigo, Scarlet Lake, and Quinacridone Red.  I may  add a touch of Quinacridone Pink, too, but I’m not sure.  

 *As  I began painting the contour of the nest I decided to add a little soft  gray, which I made by mixing Cobalt Blue and Light Red.  Most of the  contouring is in Burnt Sienna, which I already listed. 

WATERCOLOR  PENCILS for both: Cream, Light Yellow Glaze, Cadmium Yellow, Light  Green, Earth Green Yellow, Permanent Green Olive, Dark Phthalo Green,  Chrome Oxide Green, Light Cobalt Turquoise, Light Ultramarine,  Ultramarine, Helioblue Red, Pale Geranium Lake, Fuchsia, Middle Purple  Pink, Raw Umber, Burnt Ochre, Inktense Baked Earth, Inktense Dark  Chocolate, and Intense Bark.

ADDITIONAL WATERCOLOR PENCILS in the FLAMINGO: Cadmium Orange, Dark Cadmium Orange, and Fuchsia.

 --REALLY  LOOK AT THE NEST BEFORE STARTING—DIFFERENT TYPES OF NESTS ARE REALLY  DIFFERENT!  BLIND CONTOUR DRAWING MIGHT HELP IN THIS. LOOK FROM FAR AWAY  AND THEN REALLY CLOSELY.  BLIND CONTOUR DRAWING MIGHT HELP WITH THE  CLOSE-UP.

--PATTERN:  MOST NESTS MAY BE WOVEN MOSTLY HORIZONTALLY WITH SOME VERTICAL BANDS  AND PUNCTUATED WITH VERTICAL AND HORIZONTAL OUTLIERS. CAPTURE THIS  PATTERN GENERALLY FIRST

--FROM THIS GENERAL PATTERN GO IN AND ADD MORE DEPTH WITHIN THE BANDS. 

--SOME LINES WILL BE ANGLED AND SOME WILL BE CURVED.

--I WORK LIGHT TO DARK IN GENERAL, BUT I DEFINITELY GO BACK AND FORTH.

--COLOR: I LIKE TO FOCUS ON BOTH WARM AND COOL COLORS.  I DON'T LIMIT 

MYSELF TO REALISTIC COLORS (BROWNS, OCHRES, ETC) BUT “PUSH” THE COLOR.  

IF YOU LOOK AT THE NEST AS A WHOLE YOU WON'T NECESSARILY NOTICE, BUT 

THEY ADD ADDITIONAL INTEREST WHEN THE ART IS VIEWED MORE CLOSELY.