Connecting Color and Shape

This painting is called Connemara. This is one of my favorite places in County Mayo, Ireland. Sometimes I refer to this painting style as a collage because different images are woven into a cohesive single painting. It is not easy. Color, shape, and negative painting  are the glue that holds it together. In May I will be including this type of design in  workshop at Maryland Hall For the Arts in Annapolis . The workshop is in May and is all about design and negative painting.

Blue Moon Fritillaria

I really Love this plant. It was painted  by breaking borders and letting some of the plant's leaves and roots run into the white background.   I also love playing complementary colors against each-other-- in this case blue and orange.

 This is only one of the designs I will feature in a class on design coming up at Maryland Hall in the Spring.

I actually had as much fun with the bulb as the flowers!   This is not a plant that is painted very often. Give it a try!



Getting Ready for Floral Watercolor #2 in the winter term

Registration has begun for  Floral Watercolors. This class builds on the first semester inwhich we focused strictly on painting a single flower.    Now the flowers will be included in a complete composition.   Here is an example of a challenging composition featuring yellow orchids.  The class meets Thursday nights from 6-9 in Edgewater, Maryland. Go to http://www.paintpencil/ for all the details!

Painting Vegtables and Eating them too!!!

I painted these radishes today as one of the projects for my beginner class next spring.  If you look carefully you'll see hints of pink shining through a dark, glossy black background.  This adds interest to a background that can end up flat. I'll teach you how to do it. 

I love vegetables and am a vegetarian of many years. I recently  turned vegan. I have traveled all over the United States teaching, and on my travels met many women with health problems. I am concerned that they do not know how to eat. In the United States we have become dependent on packaged foods.  If you read the label there are many words you can't pronounce. If you can't say them, please do not put them into your body. 

 There is a myth that eating meat is the only way to get protein when many vegetable's have more!

Some women believe that calcium builds bones but recent research has shown that this is not true.

Food is medicine......choose whole, plant based foods.  Dieting is totally unnecessary if you eat a plant based diet.

 Read-- "Forks Over Knives."  This is a new book and movie about a plant-based diet. You can click on Amazon Books  on the right and buy it now. It could save your life.

Color Family #4 ready to go!

Showing the Color Clock and how easy it is to use. If you missed this class at Maryland Hall For the Arts keep your eyes on http://www.paintpencil.com

Having some fun with Color and Design

 Some of  you will  have the opportunity to  paint this design in a color family of your choice next weekend in my Color Clock Class.  It is important to play with color and shape. Forget about having a finished painting suitable for framing.  You will never learn if you don't free yourself up to fool around for the pure fun of it.  This is  a step by step rendition of a simple design, It is Color Family #9 which is yellow, yellow-orange, orange, red-orange and red. Blue is the   complement of the family.   This may look easy but it takes alot of time and thought. I started with an original     drawing, but as I used darker values in  later stages of layering I made up the shapes.

This is the under-painting

Starting to define the shapes

Coming along

Getting Closer but I need those important dark values

Finished!!!!! I fussed on the last steps. It is an intensely warm painting.

A Painter and a Hurricane

I had no idea how frustrated I would be the week Hurricane Irene hit us here in Maryland!   We lost power for 7 days!   On the first day I got a little excited thinking that I would  get lots of painting done during the day. After all, there would be no meals to cook and cleaning was out of the question.TV wasn't an issue either.but I would miss the radio.

So the first day I went to my studio and realized my water buckets were dirty. UH OH--- we are on a well that isn't working... and our tub held all the water for the week--- did I dare take that precious water out. I did the first day.  

The second day  I finished a new drawing-- I placed it on my light box in order to transfer it to the watercolors paper and quickly remembered it wasn't working.    The water became a bigger issue--- day 2 and we  lost the second bath tub holding water.

Ultimately I gave up-- I  dump my water buckets frequently and  I knew it was taking a chance to use water for my pleasure when toilets were more important.   

The ultimate frustration--- the power went on 7 days later with a teaspoon of water left in the tub and I came down with a chest cold.    Needless to say, I am watching the weather channel and praying the rest of the bad weather goes out to sea!   Hope the rest of you had a better experience with Hurricane Irene.  Happy painting Jane