"Teaching Tools"

The following are a few examples I bring with me to workshops I teach.  One thing I try to express is how powerful manipulating the fundamentals can be.  It's why I believe there is room for everybody to have their "own voice".     

With this demo I painted from a photograph.  I did four different interpretations of the same photo.  Top left is a "high value key".  Bottom left a "darker value key".  Bottom center is most representational of actual setting.  Top right I pushed up the chroma on all the colors. 

The demo on the left was another example of a "high value key" exercise.  I had the model in really dark value clothing so the students would have to get past painting the values they actually saw.  The demonstrations on the right show how you can use different value arrangements for the same subject. 

This is an exercise we always start with.  Finding a simple value plan of our subject and then interpreting it in color staying as true as possible to our value sketch.   This is  really an  important part of planning a painting.

This board shows three quick demos.  Left,  a demonstration of a backlit figure using a few values.  Center, a quick light and shadow demo of the model in a studio setting.  Right, a quick demo of a backlit figure in color.  These were really to show how I get started.

I take a lot of what I call "teaching tools" with me to workshops I teach.  It gives students a good idea of what to expect over the course of the class.  It helps me explain the exercises I plan.  I have collected stacks of these and always refer to them as well as demo new ones.  This one shows the simplified planes for an adult head I use and the lower right corner shows a demo of shifting the value range up to the lighter tones.  

Busy in the Kitchen!

Yes!  I've been busy in the kitchen! sitting at the kitchen table creating more gouache drawings.  In between I've gotten a ton of laundry done, a little cooking, cleaning and addressed many other obligations.  It's so possible to continue exercising the skills in many different ways. 

"Demure Damsels"

5"x 8"

Gouache

$15

SOLD

"Swinging Ponytails"

5" x 8"

Gouache

$15

SOLD

"Dance Trance"

5" x 8"

Gouache

$15

SOLD

"Pink in Stride"

5" x 8"

Gouache

$15

SOLD

"Viva la Bell Bottoms"

5" x 8"

Gouache

$15

SOLD

"Joy Dance"

5" x 8"

Gouache

$15

SOLD

New drawings. A passion for when you have a little time here and there.

"Swing"

5" x 8"

Gouache

$15

SOLD

"Prom Night"

5" x 8"

Gouache

$15

SOLD

"In Line"

5" x 8"

Gouache

$15

SOLD

"Cha Cha"

5" x 8"

Gouache

$15

SOLD

"Pump"

5" x 8"

Gouache

$15

SOLD

"Sashay"

5" x 8"

Gouache

$15

SOLD

I am still occupied with a lot of interruptions and I am all set up at our kitchen table.  I stress this in my workshops.  You don't need big chunks of time to be creative and at least exercise your skills.  Heck, just making color charts is beneficial!  So draw!

"Shake n' Bake"

5" x 8"

Gouache

$15

SOLD

New drawings.

"Swinging Hips"

5" x 8"

Gouache

$15

SOLD

"In the Dream"

5" x 8"

Gouache

$15

SOLD

"Pink Swing"

5" x 8"

Gouache

$15

SOLD

"Purple and Orange Flying"

5" x 8"

Gouache

$15

SOLD

"Turquoise and Purple"

5" x 8"

Gouache

$15

SOLD

I had some time again to sit down and work on my drawings.  I needed to stay inside the house and juggle a lot of things and I can sit at our kitchen table and still nurture my creative spirit.  Drawing really is a favorite pastime.  It's also one of the most important fundamentals.  Again, these drawings are available only through me.  The price of $15 includes shipping! And that's a steal!  Can't beat that with a stick.  Better than a poke in the eye!  They look great with a nice mat and a thin frame.

Aquarium Brush Holder.

"One fish, two fish, orange fish, blue fish."

I've added to my supply of glazes.  Tried some on my "Aquarium Brush Holder".  It's always a surprise to see it after the piece has been fired.  Sometimes I get something totally different than what I was expecting and other times I get what I imagined. 

Mr. Purple Octopus!

Sea Horses are amazing creatures!  We went to the Academy of Science in San Francisco recently.  They have a wonderful aquarium. 

Yes!  There are mermaids.  They are magical creatures!

Something for myself.

"Double trouble"

5" x 8"

$15

SOLD

I sat down at our kitchen table with my gouache and a 5" x 8" Fabriano Sketch book, acid free paper and it's a very pale warm white. Not blue or gray! Forgive me for my poor photographic lighting skills.  The color of the paint is very close though.  I have taken hundreds of photos of our daughters and their friends dancing.  I will sit and draw from these and really have a lot of fun and it's so much for myself.  I hope to offer the collector an inexpensive way of acquiring original art.  These drawings are not in any galleries and there is no auction record like I have for my oils.  I would always rather have an original work.  I'll buy a poster from a museum for $25 and not a giclee for $500!  These are all $15 which includes Shipping and Handling!  I have framed a few with a simple white mat (at least 3") and a thin gold, black or plain wood frame.  I think they look clean and elegant.  

Thanks for looking!

"Groove"

5" x 8"

$15

SOLD

"Purple and Green"

5" x 8" 

$15

SOLD

"Orange and Purple"

5" x 8"

$15

SOLD

"Arms raised"

5" x 8"

$15

SOLD

"The Swim"

5" x 8"

$15

SOLD

"Turn Around"

5" x 8"

$15

SOLD

"Ali Twice"

5"x 8"

$15

SOLD

"Shimmy"

5" x 8"

$15

SOLD

"Double Take"

5" x 8"

$15

SOLD

A brief breakdown of process.

So you can see I have my set up with a strong source light.  I begin my drawing usually with a neutral color.  Here is kind of a raw umber.

And I continue with the drawing process until I have the shapes finished.  I am someone who really responds and loves "line".  There are those who go right for the masses and that is also a wonderful way to start.  But for my personality, I love to respond to line. I have no fear of going inside or outside of the line which helps.  Some feel trapped by a line and hence feel more comfortable with adjusting contours of masses.  It's all good. 

I was unhappy with the drawing of the spoon so I wiped it out with a transparent wash of the ground color and redrew the spoon.

Now I begin to mass my shadows in first, helping to set the darks of the painting.

 I continue to develop the shadow shapes and add more information within those darks.  When I feel satisfied with this part I move on to the information illuminated by my source light.  You can see that the spoon is more developed.

Now I put in the ground color, a light pink.  What I love about saving this for last is that I can carve in on the contours of the shapes and adjust where I want to.  A little more information on the cup and saucer and a finished painting.

And another shot of the finished painting and the set up.