Mary B Spires Watercolor & Art Stuff

Since my last post I've had lots of stuff going on!  A few of the girls and I spent a couple of days in the Hocking Hills....painting, eating really great food and in general having a great time!  My car (new van) has been in the shop for 3 weeks trying to get a new engine.....hopefully I will be able to pick it up tomorrow.  I'm visiting my Mom in West Virginia (arriving at 8 am this moring, I left my home at 4:30 am! ).....she is still very ill and has had a mini stroke this morning.  I have registarted for  a 10 week online workshop with Daniel Edmondson, http://www.oilpaintingworkshop.com/ ....I read about him from one of the artist on the Daily Paint Works Blog.  You get 10 lesson via email which includes 2 hours of video, plus photographs and once completed a critique.  You may also contact him with questions or asking general information.  As most of you know I have a very slow internet connection so I've been waiting for the DVD (th...

Clematis 22" x 30" (Full Sheet Watercolor) Step 4 All the petal and leaves have a first layer of color.  The dark shapes come  next. Love painting the high contrast with that spring sunshine.  This photograph was taken at my mother-in-laws this past Spring.  Her pride and JOY! Work in Progess.....hope to finish this week. Clematis 22" x 30" (Full Sheet Watercolor) Step 3 Painting those shapes! Clematis 22" x 30" (Full Sheet Watercolor) Step 2 I work on the big areas first. Getting my first layer down. Clematis 22" x 30" (Full Sheet Watercolor) Step 1 I used the wet into wet technique with this painting.  I first wet the paper  then drop in Green and Purple.

Things have been very busy, but I'm hard at work, taking two classes weekly.  Monday morning is "plein air" with Deb Dawson....an awesome painter and great friend.  Tuesday is the weekly class at Donna's.....I leave Wednesday for a day visit with my granddaughter Brittney.....with her wonderful husband and fantastic kids, Haddie Girl 3 1/2 and Judah 2 1/2.....plus Levi due November 1st....then off to Columbia for a two day workshop.....painting with my friends! I have been doing a lot of research on the "Chiaroscuro"  ( skyur-o-skur) style of painting.  Merriam Webster 1:  pictorial representation in terms of light and shade without regard of color 2: the arrangement or treatment of light and dark parts in a pictorial work of art. David A. Leffel is the master of chiaroscuro, I've had the privilege of seeing him demo a couple of times at the Longboat Key Art Center in Florida.  His book An Artist Teaches:  Reflections on the Art of Painting; he was...

Still Life Set Up When setting up a still life I usually take a picture, this give me a different view.  If I'm not sure if the design looks good, I look at it upside down on my camera or look at it with a mirror.  I've heard many teachers say it really is about design and/or composition. The Sketch with Brush I usually sketch the design with a #4 filbert brush and a little burnt sienna diluted with turp.   If you sketch with this method it is very easy to correct mistakes.  I also use a view finder.  Scumbling the darks and mid tones. Three Apples 8" x 10" oil on canvas board.  

Apple Still Life Set Up  While surfing You Tube a few months ago I found a video by Impressionist Jerry Fresia.  Of couse I had to purchase his book from Blurb.  It's a great book and I have read it cover to cover several times.  He really breaks it down how to paint like the impressionist.  Today was my day to try it.  Above is the set up.  He has 5 stages and 10 steps.  "Scumbling" Once you decide on composition and do the sketch you "scumble" your darks and mid tones.  In this stage you leave the white of the canvas open. Apples 8" x 10" Final

With the age of cyber space, it's so important to get into the social networking society.  Blog or blogging is so user friendly.  Anyone can do it, believe me when I did  my blog a couple of years ago, I was one step above getting my email.  Talking to friends I've found the hardest part for them to understand is the down sizing of a photograph.  I use Google's Picasa, a free photo editing software that makes your pictures look great, plus lets you edit and down size for uploading to the Internet.  For more information and step by step how to, just "google' Picasa and go to the bottom of the page and click on Getting Started Guide. A few years ago I was lucky enough to take a workshop in Austin Texas with Carol Marine and Karin Jurick.  (check out both of their blogs    http://karinjurick.blogspot.com/     http://carolmarine.blogspot.com/   )  Both artist, plus a couple of their friends, said that once the...

I'm still working on the newsletter, but took a few photographs of the light box.  This is how it looks when I'm ready to shoot.  More details on how to build it in the this months newsletter, out later this week.