Tag Archives: abstract

Day 5 of the Challenge ~~ Be Safe

Leave a reply

Day 5 brings another experiment off my beaten path. We were told in a workshop to draw a wandering line around our canvas without looking — and then turn it one way and another to see what it might suggest. We developed and painted expressive compositions out of our simple lines. I like how this turned out. I imagined the figure on the right as a mother and the other figures her sons, heading outside. She’s saying ‘Be Safe, My Sons!’ Now she’d probably be saying: ‘WEAR YOUR MASKS — and be EXTRA CAREFUL!!’

Be Safe, My Sons! Oil on Arches Huile Paper. 15 x 11.5

Dancing Dervish – more ArtRage/iPad Sketches!

2 Replies

At our Yellow Barn class last night with Walt Bartman, our wonderful bellydancer model danced for us while we made quick gesture sketches and 15 minute studies of still poses. Exciting and intimidating all at once. We had to push way out past our comfort zones, especially those of us who aim for fairly representational paintings. I used ArtRage on the iPad, in support of my continued efforts to prepare for the class I’m teaching at Yellow Barn.

Latest Landscape Paintings

2 Replies

Some dear art buddies and I attended a landscape workshop at Deep Creek Lake last weekend, taught by Walt Bartman and managed by his wonderful wife Robyn. The entire group produced some lovely paintings and starts on paintings of the spectacular Fall foliage.

Here are a few of our works:

Vinales Finale ~~ on to Havana!

3 Replies

We had beautiful days in Vinales, sunrise to sunset. I took lots of photos and, while waiting for evening activities, made a couple more paintings. A gouache of the valley below our balcony (the black paper didn’t photograph well):

a gouache painting of the Vinales Valley beneath our balcony

‘Gauzy’ gouache of the valley beneath our balcony.

and a watercolor of a lone palm tree presiding over the pool (painted happily with a Mojito at my elbow):

A painting of a solitary palm tree with mogote background, watercolor

A proud palm by the pool at Los Jazmines,Vinales.

Here are a few more photos in and around Los Jazmines Hotel, made primarily to fix the place and its beauties in my memories:

Early sunrise at Los Jazmines.

photo of the valley with a tobacco barn under construction

Tobacco barn underway in the valley.

looking down the length of the bar

The cozy cafe-bar in the hotel.

bartender behind bar pours coffee

We DID drink coffee in addition to plentiful Mojitos!

pink hotel and blue pool

Pink hotel and blue pool made a cool combo.

waiter and guests chat in the cool evening

A casual evening around the pool.

sunset, sky and part of the hotel balcony

We sigh and snap a photo of our last Vinales sunset.

painting on a wall near the hotel

We pass a ‘colorful’ mural en route to the morning bus.

Goodbye, Vinales! Goodbye, Los Jazmines! On to Havana!

Next Teacher to Thank ~~ Natasha

Leave a reply

Natasha Karpinskaia is yet another of the outstanding teachers at the Yellow Barn Studio. Educated in her native St. Petersburg, Russia and New York City, Natasha is an exciting abstract artist working in various media: from oils and acrylic to encaustics and printmaking. She sees her art as a logical extension of her studies as an art historian. From analyzing works of art came a desire to physically participate in the process of creating.

Here is one of her original prints.

Natasha Print

Natasha's Print

It took me awhile to get semi-comfortable with the process. Abstractions were hard to imagine and the oil-based inks were hard to deal with. I may try water-based inks next time. Here’s my favorite print from the class.

Tumbling

Tumbling, oil on paper

Experimenting with iPhone and iPad Art Apps

1 Reply

We got an iPad for Christmas and I’ve been having a lot of fun (after a fairly steep learning curve), roughing out realistic ‘drawings’ and abstract images. One of my Yellow Barn teachers said I was undercutting our art, while another (the chairman of the facility) suggested that I hold a workshop at ‘the barn’ on these digital media. A lot of the other students have been very curious about the process and the apps I’ve been using (primarily Art Rage and Sketchbook Pro).

Here are a couple of my works:

a realistic one — a still life on our kitchen table after 4 days without power in mid-winter

detritus of a 4 day power outage

What is it with PEPCO?? Inept co!

and an abstract one. Until this past year I’d never tried my hand at abstraction, not having a single clue as to how to approach the task. The iPad apps have let my mind wander and have helped me develop some ideas.

triangles and lines

triangles and lines