Posted in Art Class, daily painter, tagged Art Class, art lessons, daily painter, daily painting, impressionism, Landscape, oil painting, Shenandoah Valley, Virginia Artist on March 24, 2010| Leave a Comment »
Valley View Lesson I is an oil on canvas panel measuring 9″x12.
Valley View Lesson II is an oil on canvas panel measuring 11″x14″.
Both of these were lessons for Wednesday Night Art Class. I just completed these recently. New students almost always start with a landscape similar to these because it gives them a chance to learn about color mixing, tones, and composition as well as becoming comfortable with putting paint to canvas.
Posted in daily painter, Dogs, tagged Art Class, art lessons, daily painter, daily painting, Dogs, impressionism, Landscape, oil painting, Rescue dogs, Virginia Artist on March 22, 2010| Leave a Comment »
Best Friends is an oil on canvas panel measuring 12″x9″ and is available for $145. We did it in art class a few months ago and I just finished it. Often in class I will begin a demo piece and then I start moving from student to student to help and I never get back to my painting to finish it. So this last week I had a chance to finish a few and I’ll show those to you over the next few weeks.
The dog reminds me of my Jed sitting staring out at the world. Jed does that often.
Here he is waiting at the cabin to go run and play in the snow a few weeks ago. I think he was trying to decide if he got stuck in the deep white stuff if he would ever get out!
Posted in Art Class, daily painter, tagged acrylic, Art Class, art lessons, daily painter, daily painting, Landscape, shadows, trees, Virginia Artist on March 10, 2010| Leave a Comment »
This painting was a lesson in Trees and Shadows for my young students. They did a great job grasping the concept. And this was how my painting turned out.
It is a 9″x12″ acrylic on canvas panel available for $145.
Posted in Art Class, daily painter, tagged Art Class, art lessons, barn, daily painter, daily painting, Landscape, Shenandoah Valley, Virginia Artist, Virginia wineries on March 5, 2010| Leave a Comment »
The Fenced in Barn is an oil on canvas panel. This is a piece that we did in art class recently. There are many lessons to be learned on a painting like this from color mixing, shading, perspective, etc. We try to choose ideas that allow the student to gain increased knowledge so that they may advance their painting skills.
If you’d like to join us and paint along, contact me at kwalker@doubledogdesigns.com . We’d love to see you in class!
Posted in Abstract, daily painter, tagged Abstract, acrylic, art lessons, daily painter, Virginia Artist on March 2, 2010| Leave a Comment »
Abstract Lesson in progress…..stand back! This piece is a lesson that we are working on with a private student in abstraction. This particular canvas is large, 30″x40″. Often when you think or see abstract work it is very big. This style lends itself to a large format.
When working with an abstract piece you can work it flat on a table or on the ground if it is very large.
Or on an easel if you have an easel large enough to hold the canvas.
This is my student, Marlene. She came to me several months ago wanting to learn to do abstract work. Now some people think that sounds funny because all an abstract painting is seems to be paint slung on a canvas, right?
Well no. You must think about color theory and shapes in order to make a successful abstract work.
With this one, Marlene is well on her way.
Posted in Art Class, tagged Art Class, art lessons, daily painter, Virginia Artist on February 25, 2010| Leave a Comment »
We always have a lot of fun on Wednesday evening at art class. Last night each student was working on a different painting. It’s great to see the challenges that everyone has taken on. And I think we all learn from one another as we progress on our journeys to be better painters.
I spend a lot of time talking about the color wheel and color mixing because I feel that learning 
color is at least half the battle in becoming a good painter.
This palette is one of our painters from last night as they continued to mix to find just the right color for a floral painting. The best way to learn is to experiment and practice and that is exactly what this student did. Good job!
Pat has been painting with the class now for a little over a year and has become a very good painter. What I love about her is that she is open to trying anything to learn new techniques and improve her skills. She’s doing great!
If you would like to join us just email me at kwalker@doubledogdesigns.com . I’ll be glad to give you more information. Painting is a great outlet for stress; it’s a wonderful hobby; and in a class setting it’s loads of fun. Come and try it.
Posted in Art Class, daily painter, tagged apple, Art Class, art lessons, Books, daily painter, daily painting, fruit, impressionism, oil painting on February 17, 2010| Leave a Comment »
Teacher’s Pet is an oil on 9″x12″ canvas panel and is framed and available by contacting me.
I love this painting. We did this a few weeks ago in our Wednesday Night Oil Painting Class. See what you could do if you came and painted with us????
Posted in daily painter, tagged acrylic, art lessons, daily painter, daily painting, impressionism, Landscape, New York City, Rockefeller Center, Rockefeller Plaza on February 15, 2010| Leave a Comment »
After a week of posting crochet on my blog I’m back to art. But first I want to say thanks to everyone who responded so positively to the crochet. I was shocked! And many thanks to those of you who purchased items. With your encouragement I have taken some things to Delilah’s so if you are interested in hats, slippers, or bags, stop into the shop and take a look.
Now back to art. Rockefeller Plaza is an acrylic on canvas measuring 24″x18″. This painting began as a lesson for a private student who was interested in doing a “representational abstract” of this view. We had fun working on it. As you can see it was a Christmas view. It is SOLD!
Posted in daily painter, Trivia, tagged Art Class, art lessons, daily painting, Landscape, oil painting, Shenandoah Valley, snow, Trivia, trivia question, Virginia Artist on January 14, 2010| 1 Comment »
“Miniature Snow and Fence” is an oil on 3″x5″ stretched canvas. This painting is available for $40 by contacting me at kwalker@doubledogdesigns.com .
Today I am introducing a new series. Each Thursday I will try to answer a “trivia” question about art. I get questions all the time about little things related to painting. This is where I will address those questions. Who knows? Maybe we will learn something on Trivia Thursday!
Today’s question is about the different length of handles on brushes. Why are some brush handles longer than others? The short-handled brushes are generally for watercolor painting or painting where you sit close to the piece you are working on. Long-handled brushes are used mainly for oil painting. When painting oils you want to try to stand up at the easel. That way you can stand back from work and look at what it needs. If the brush has a longer handle then you can put paint on the canvas by standing back from it and seeing where it needs more work. Many instructors teach new painters to put one stroke on the canvas and walk back a couple of steps. Then decide where the next stroke of paint should go, put it on and walk back. This is why you see painters on tv stepping back and looking at the work, generally with their head cocked to one side. The head cock is optional. 🙂
Posted in Art Class, Small Town Life, tagged Art Class, art lessons, daily painter, self-portrait, Small Town Life on December 17, 2009| Leave a Comment »
Congratulations to Charlee, my art student who did this self-portrait as part of a contest at her school. They chose one student from each grade and will be putting their portraits on the front cover of their yearbook. Charlee won!
Great job girl and keep up the good work!
The Studio 