Posted in Art Class, Dogs, Pet Portaits, tagged Art Class, Blue Ridge Arts Council, Dogs, impressionism, oil painting, pet portrait on September 24, 2013| 1 Comment »
Pat with her painting
Reference photo of dog
Several months ago Pat came to class excited about this dog she had met recently at her family reunion. She said it was the prettiest dog she had ever seen. “It’s pretty as a cow!”, she said. 🙂 That’s high praise from Pat – she loves cows! Here is the beautiful painting she just completed in art class of this pretty dog. Great job Pat!
Posted in Serendipity, tagged oil painting, post-impressionism, Van Gogh discovered, Vincent Van Gogh on September 10, 2013| Leave a Comment »
New York Times photo
After being considered a fake for almost 100 years this painting has been declared authentic. Exciting news for art lovers and especially Van Gogh enthusiasts. You can read more about it in this New York TImes article.
The value is probably tens of millions of dollars. It will be exciting to see what happens with this one. Hopefully it will end up somewhere where we can see it in person rather than in a private collection hidden away. Guess we will just have to wait and see.
Posted in daily painter, tagged commissioned painting, daily painter, daily painting, impressionism, Landscape, oil painting, Virginia Artist on September 9, 2013| Leave a Comment »
Finished the commission painting of the Dock yesterday. Here it is!
Posted in daily painter, tagged Commission painting, daily painter, daily painting, impressionism, Landscape, oil painting, Virginia Artist on September 8, 2013| Leave a Comment »
I have been so busy painting ball parks that I haven’t let myself paint much else over the last few months. Yesterday I decided I needed a break from the ball diamonds to do something else. I started a nice little painting of a dock by the river that is a commission piece for a lady who is having it done for the owner of the property. I am painting in oil on an 8″x10″ canvas. I got a good start on it. Maybe I can finish it up today.
Posted in Farm Animals, tagged daily painter, daily painting, farm animals, goat, goats, impressionism, oil painting, Shenandoah Valley, Virginia Artist on August 28, 2013| Leave a Comment »
George’s Goat, oil on canvas, 8″x6″, available for $135. After taking the workshop last weekend on “Painting Animals” it reminded me that I need to paint more animals for the Farm Animal series that I did several years ago. (You can see more about it here.) Many of these have sold so I need to come up with some more of these cute faces to add to the series. Stay tuned….next, a Llama!
Goat Reference Photo
Posted in daily painter, Plein Air, Tips for Better Painting, tagged daily painter, daily painting, flowers, impressionism, Landscape, oil painting, Oxbow Farms, Plein Air, Shenandoah Valley, sunflowers, Virginia Artist on August 23, 2013| Leave a Comment »
Set-up to Paint
Sketch
Sky and Distant Mountains
Distant Trees and Meadow
Foreground Greens
Sunflowers – Painting about 90% complete
View from Easel
Beauty in Sunflowers
Yesterday I had the most wonderful morning painting “en plein air” at Oxbow Farm. There is the most beautiful field of sunflowers there that just needed to be painted. I tried to take step by step photos to share today of one of the paintings that I did. When I work outside I can usually get a painting about 85-90% finished and then after a day or two of letting the paint “rest” I will complete it in the studio.
I call this “Oxbow Sunflowers 1“. It is an oil on canvas measuring 9″x12” and is available framed for $275.
Being outside and painting sunflowers was such a treat after painting all the ball parks I have been doing the last few months. It was a nice break.
Posted in Art Class, tagged acrylic, Art Class, impressionism, Landscape, oil painting, Virginia Artist on August 22, 2013| Leave a Comment »
Drema with her first painting
Yesterday I shared a demo painting that I did this past week with a new student. Yesterday, Drema, my newest student, completed her version. This is her very first painting. And didn’t she do a wonderful job?! I met her recently when she told me she had always wanted to paint but just wasn’t sure she could do. My answer was, “Of course you can”!
Sam’s abstracts
And we said farewell to Sam yesterday. She spent part of her summer break from school painting with us. She is a delightful girl and we will miss her. See more on Sam here.
Posted in Art Class, daily painter, tagged Art Class, art lessons, Blue Ridge Arts Council, daily painter, daily painting, impressionism, Landscape, oil painting, Shenandoah Valley, Virginia Artist on August 21, 2013| Leave a Comment »
Here is a demonstration painting that I did last week with a new art student. Often I get questions about how I teach new students. What I try to do is just help them “jump right in”. We start with a simple painting like the one shown here but it is detailed enough that they can get the feel of the paints and brushes and what they will do. I think the hardest thing for most new painters is to just get started. They don’t know where to begin. By having them follow along with me as I paint they see exactly what to do and how easy it can be. If you have ever wanted to paint you CAN paint. Just get started. Take the leap. Join us at art class on Wednesdays or Thursdays at the Blue Ridge Arts Council. You Can paint!
Posted in Tips for Better Painting, Travel, tagged Beverley Street Art School, farm animals, impressionism, Nancy Bass, Nancy Bass animals, Nancy Bass Workshop, oil painting, Staunton Va, Virginia Artist on August 19, 2013| Leave a Comment »
Nancy Demonstrating Stage 2 in the process – Cow
Nancy’s Cow after the 2nd Stage
Nancy demonstrating a full body painting – Sheep
Nancy’s Demo Sheep
My Donkey at Stage 2 in the Workshop
I think the best thing an artist can do for themselves is to study artists whose art they admire. Taking a workshop or class if it is available is a great way to hone skills and develop as an artist.
This weekend I got to do that with a wonderful animal artist, Nancy Bass. Nancy’s art is beautifully expressive and has layer upon layer of color that makes the animal jump off the canvas. You can see her captivating work here on her website.
Each day of the workshop Nancy demonstrated her unique process with the eleven artists in the class and then helped us individually as we attempted her technique. Nancy works in layers so we had to work a drawing and under-painting the first day of the workshop. Then the second day she showed us how she begins laying paint onto the subject and explained that she sometimes lets it dry and layers 4 or 5 times. It is a process of patience.
It was an intensive weekend of painting…..and concentrating….and developing into better artists. It was interesting to see the style and work of each artist in attendance and getting to know some new artist friends from around the state.
Thanks Nancy for sharing your talent with us!
Posted in Art Class, tagged Art Class, art lessons, Blue Ridge Arts Council, daily painter, farm animals, impressionism, Landscape, oil painting, Virginia Artist on August 16, 2013| Leave a Comment »
John’s 1st Painting!
Katie’s 1st Painting!
Joy’s Latest Paintings
The students in my adult art classes are doing great work. Some have been with me a couple of years and some are new students to my class. We have a great time painting together. And I like to share their finished work with everyone to see. Here is the latest from the Thursday evening class. Great job Joy, John and Katie!
The Studio 