Uncle Bud's Art Colony

Saturday, January 28, 2017

These paintings are on Canvas board, and all are done with acrylics. I was interested in the backgrounds of each one.

Starting from the left to right, the fence post is a reddish sky blended to the white and Light side. The flower painting was under-painted with a teal color very wet, then with an air bottle I sprayed the wet paint around to make drips and "weeds" going different direction.

Next the Chicken / Rooster, I painted the checker board after I did the painting and used burnt sienna to rub an antique look on the board.
Finally the sunflower where I painted a violet back ground. Violet is the complement to the yellow and draws your eye to the flower.

Why did I use canvas board? Well, simple, at the time I wanted to save the cash for some better paint. I used the liquidtex Basics, again because it was less expensive. If you go to the Hobby Lobby store they have a great art supply area and you can spend what you want to or can afford.
or go to : www,hobbylobby.com

I'll be talking more about this in the coming days. Well go buy some brushes and get them wet!

What Paint on What Canvas

8:55 AM

Kathy

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In my Toastmasters club we were taught to have an opening line or phrase for our speech. Everything starts somewhere.

These geraniums pictures came to be with the spring planting two years ago. They bloomed in my flower beds way before they bloomed on the canvas.

But more importantly you must have a way for your viewer to enter your picture and an opening to travel the painting. For example the painting on the left, I used a circle for my opening, first the red flowers on the left then the right and down to the daises. Then back up to the red flowers. the focal point is in between the "V" created by the stalks of the Geraniums.

The painting on the right is more of a spiral or "S" formation. See how the reds start and then curve down to the white of the daises. This keeps the viewer in the painting. If your interested in the "Happy Buck" these painting sell.

You must have an opening but if you do please take them somewhere, Well lets say it together, "Keep your brushes wet." Good!

What is Your Opening?

7:33 AM

Kathy

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My son Andy drew this little flower. We were in our chemo in Columbus at the OSU Wexner Cancer center when Andy said he could draw something as well.

This is true of everyone, you too can draw you just have to start!You can pick up a book on drawing or painting. Take off on a doodle, (people who doodle make more money because your mind is free to work on problems.)

Andy handled this flower very well, he turned a pedal up, as well as picked out some neat details.

Encourage everyone you know to draw! It's fun and maybe profitable.

Also We have our Coloring Books for Cancer patients in full swing right now, $10.00 covers a book and pencils or crayons. If you want to be part of our project email me at this blog and we will get your name on the list for donors.

Thank you and keep your pencil sharp!

Another Artist - Andy

8:25 AM

Kathy

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This is a place that is no longer there. I drew a picture of this dam in 1968 our family vacationed here since the early 50's. This is Northern Michigan near Honour and Big Bear Dunes.

I painted this yesterday in oils just to see if this would work, its fine not a knock out but fun to do.

It is sad to think that so many places are just gone, if you go now to this spot, its just rocks and no lake above. I have caught fish, and swam here, and played for hours not to mention drawn the place a dozen times.

This is oils on board, I think that is a hard set to make do. Acrylics probably would have been better. Watercolors also would have worked but if you don't experiment you never know what can happen.

Well lets dip in and keep them brushes wet!

The Betsie River Dam

5:55 PM

Kathy

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Rule number 1; Don't put anything (Main Subject) in the center.

Rule number 2; Break all rules, Crazy!

This painting layout is an example of Thirds, Top third is Sky and Back ground, second third is the main subject and the electrical house of the dam is in the far right third.

The foreground is the bottom third and the left third is the tree and other brush.

Imagine a hashtag # only bigger, that is your thirds, dividing up your canvas.

This is one way to give the best composition to your paintings and drawing. There are other ways to draw the eye into a painting. The spiral, and the "French" Curtain are just two of many. The spiral is simply that, on the out side of a painting you begin to build objects in the circle toward the center and it spirals to a main subject. The French curtain is a group of trees or other objects on one side or the other, left or the right, being pulled back to reveal the painting.

Whoa big dog, like the man said." don't ask if you don;t want to know,"

Well lets divide in to thirds and keep our brushes wet! #thirds LOL

Question about Thirds?

8:02 AM

Kathy

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Chromatic Harmony:

The use of chords of different but harmonious composition. Bach used it in his composition and it was very effective.

In this painting I have used colors in the same family but different hues and values. Almost an abstract splash around the bird. Roosters are fun to add this color harmony to because you can accent certain values.By using and highlighting the teal, oranges, and reds,the Browns look deeper. The Yellow sharper.

Glazing or light washes of color also add depth. This gives the rooster an added depth and more than an arts and craft look.

Make it fun and sometimes it just happens. I sometimes feel like just adding color so I do!

Like I always say keep your brushes wet!

Chromatic Harmony

8:30 AM

Kathy

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I was a president of a Toastmasters International Club in my local town, and a District Governor for Ohio, West Virginia, and Kentucky USA.
Toastmasters is a club to help you become a better speaker, so... you have to speak ( oh no) yes!

I would hear all the time, "What do I speak about?"

Now that I paint and have this blog people ask me, "What do I Paint?"

I Say what do you know? What do you see, and what do you want people to know about you?

What do you want to give to the world? In Toastmasters I told people to look in the junk draw and randomly pick some thing out and talk about it. A friend of mine spoke on peanut butter and I learned more in 10 minutes about peanut butter than I ever wanted to know. LOL

I was very sick last winter and could only look out my window, but my view was of a Blue spruce and my bird feeders, guess what I painted. Yup!
If you can see it you can paint it. Frank Clarke from "Simply Painting" on PBS ( simplypainting .com) said, "Start with and easy subject paint that." Then add harder and harder subjects.

Vincent Van Gogh said, "I paint what I see but I leave out the obvious."
Monet "Looked for the light and atmosphere,"

I know in Toastmasters they said find your voice, I say in painting find your style, and build on your subjects. paint what you know,

Well kids lets "keep our brushes wet!" You could paint a paint brush!