I got pretty good feedback on my colorful still life, although the drill sergeant didn’t love the white table they were sitting on. She wanted me to have done more with the shadows. (Geez lady, I thought this assignment was about the colorful objects!) She did say that that was an “advanced” concept and that my painting was “very good.”

We then moved on to learning all the different ways you can manipulate watercolor paints to achieve different effects. Everything from rubbing alcohol to wax to salt to Saran Wrap to sandpaper was covered. It was a very long demonstration and the British lady was absolutely driving everyone nuts with her incessant questions and interruptions. I’m shocked that the drill sergeant hasn’t snapped at her yet.

There are TWO major homework assignments. I just finished the first one:

This took many hours. And I still have another very difficult assignment to do by Tuesday.

The drill sergeant has revealed a distinct bias towards realism. She feels that abstract artists who can’t draw and paint accurately aren’t “real artists.” (She’s OK with abstract art by artists who have proven themselves able to draw and paint realistically.)

Truth be told, I’m enjoying the challenge and it’s keeping my mind off other problems and concerns.