May | 2013 | The Studio

Archive for May, 2013

Rangers Ballpark

Posted in Kickstarter-Painted Diamonds, tagged acrylic, daily painter, daily painting, impressionism, Landscape, MLB, Rangers Ballpark, Texas Rangers, Virginia Artist on May 11, 2013| Leave a Comment »

Texas Rangers

Just put the finishing touches on Rangers Ballpark – Home of the Texas Rangers. Seven down, 23 to go!

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New Art from Students

Posted in Art Class, daily painter, tagged Art Class, Blue Ridge Arts Council, daily painter, daily painting, impressionism, Landscape, oil painting, Virginia Artist on May 10, 2013| Leave a Comment »

Mary with her first painting

Artist Pat

I love sharing the art that my students make. Here are two of my Wednesday students. This is Mary’s first painting. She just joined us in class on Wednesday morning and we had a wonderful time making this mountain scene. Great job Mary and welcome to our class!

And you recognize Pat. She has been painting with me on Wednesday evenings for a couple of years and does wonderful work that her friends and family fight over. This beautiful painting is of her daughter’s home. It looks fabulous Pat!

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Art at the Mill

Posted in Small Town Life, Travel, tagged Art at the Mill, Burwell-Morgan Mill, Shenandoah Valley, Small Town Life on May 9, 2013| Leave a Comment »

Art at the Mill – Spring 2013

Art at the Mill-Spring 2013

I drove over to Millwood this week to see “Art at the Mill” at the Burwell-Morgan Mill. The mill was built in 1785 and is the oldest operable mill in the Shenandoah Valley. It’s on the Historic Register and is open to the public. You can learn more about the Mill and their hours here. “Art at the Mill” is a fundraiser that the volunteers put on twice a year to raise money to support this wonderful old structure. If you have a chance drive over to see this wonderful show before Sunday be sure to go. The show runs through May 12th.

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Rangers Ballpark in the Works

Posted in daily painter on May 8, 2013| 2 Comments »

Rangers Ballpark about 60% finished

I spent yesterday working on Rangers Ballpark and got maybe 60% of it done. The detail in these ballpark paintings is immense. But in order for each one to be a good representation of their location I want to get as much in as possible. Here is what I have for the Texas Rangers so far. Hope to finish it in the next couple of days.

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Successfully Funded!

Posted in Kickstarter-Painted Diamonds, tagged Kickstarter project, Kickstarter-Painted Diamonds, Virginia Artist on May 7, 2013| 3 Comments »

I can’t begin to tell you how thrilled I am that everyone embraced my Kickstarter project with such enthusiasm. All I can say is thank you, thank you, thank you!

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PNC Park on the Last Day

Posted in Kickstarter-Painted Diamonds, tagged acrylic, daily painter, daily painting, impressionism, Landscape, MLB, PNC Park, Virginia Artist on May 6, 2013| Leave a Comment »

I worked all this week on PNC Park in Pittsburgh. It has to be one of the best views from a park but all the detail makes it difficult to paint. I am almost finished with it and should finish it up today but I wanted to share it with you as the last few hours of my Kickstarter project wind down. Just to update you on where I am with the project, it appears that no one has ever painted all 30 Ball Parks during one season so I’ll be the first. Woo Hoo! And as of the writing this morning the project has been pledged at 110% so as long as this holds by midnight tonight my project will be funded. Yippee! Please know how much I appreciate everyone who has pledged to support this project. You can’t know how much your encouragement means to this painter. Many, many thanks! PNC is the 5th painting in the series and I will be starting number 6 today.

It’s not too late to be a part of this history making project. Click on this link and pledge to get in on it before midnight tonight. Thanks again!

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Little Dancer by Degas

Posted in Little Known Facts, Travel, Trivia, tagged Ballet, Degas, Edgar Degas, Little Dancer, Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Met, Travel on May 5, 2013| 1 Comment »

Little Dancer – Edgar Degas

Over the years I have posted many times about Edgar Degas and his dancers. The Little Fourteen Year Old Dancer that he sculpted in 1880 is just beautiful. Degas exhibited the original version of this sculpture at the 6th Impressionist exhibit in 1881. The wax original was tinted to simulate flesh, clothed in a fabric bodice, tutu, and ballet slippers and topped with a horsehair wig tied behind with a silk ribbon. Can you imagine seeing that???!!! Did you know that this sculpture was not cast in bronze until after Degas died. His family had it done and 69 sculptures survived the bronzing process. (You can read and see more about it here and at the link at the end of this post.)

Degas Dancer from the back

The wonderful thing about seeing the sculpture at the Metropolitan Museum of Art recently is that they have it displayed right in the middle of a gallery where you can walk all the way around it. Wonderful! And there are many Degas Dancer paintings hanging in the gallery with it. A dancer would be in heaven!

There is much known and written about Degas and his dancers. Check it out here.

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Art Camp Begins Soon

Posted in Art Camp, tagged Art Camp on May 4, 2013| Leave a Comment »

As you begin to make plans for your kids for this summer don’t forget to include Art Camp. Click here to learn more, see the schedule and download the registration form. We have wonderful painting activities planned for ages 5 – 18. See you at Art Camp!

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Representational Abstract Flowers

Posted in Abstract, Art Class, daily painter, tagged acrylic, Art Class, daily painter, daily painting, flowers, impressionism, Virginia Artist on May 3, 2013| Leave a Comment »

I had a few minutes at last nights art class to add a few more touches to the Abstract painting of flowers that I repainted from the day before. Here is “Abstract Flowers”, acrylic on canvas, 18″ x 24″, available by contacting kwalker@doubledogdesigns.com .

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Transforming an Old Painting

Posted in Abstract, Art Class, Tips for Better Painting, tagged Abstract, abstract art, acrylic, Art Class, daily painter, daily painting, flowers, Virginia Artist on May 2, 2013| Leave a Comment »

Adding a Table to an old Abstract

At class last night I decided to transform an old abstract painting into something else. You can paint right over some paints and make an entirely different creation. If the paint is especially thick you can sand it down lightly with a fine sandpaper. I am working in acrylic paints with this one that didn’t need sanding. I started with an abstract that I did back in February (you can read about it here) and started painting in a table.

Next I started thinking about where I wanted to add a vase of flowers so that I could paint in a background all around where the flowers would be. And I added a vase and started firming up the shapes of the flowers. Tonight I hope to continue putting in details that will finish it off as a “representational abstract” painting.