Spring is springing here in Greater Boston. Hallelujah!
I took a shot at drawing and painting these purple crocuses in my neighborhood.I tried a bunch of different techniques and colors. Some worked. Some didn’t.
I’m realizing now you really just have to paint a lot to truly improve. Watercolors require a great deal of trial and error. And now that good weather has returned, I’m not sure how much I’ll keep painting outside of the class I’m taking.
Honestly, I’m still not sure what my life is actually going to look like longterm in retirement. We are still in a transitional period. My husband’s knee surgeries have been such a huge feature of the past year. We don’t know how much he’ll continue to work once he’s fully recovered.
I feel like my retirement travel budget is not going to be as significant as I had hoped (thanks Trump) but who knows…maybe we’ll become road trip people.
I’m trying to focus on Good Things today:
It’s 73 degrees F and sunny here 😎
I have a screen porch, which I just cleaned.
Hungary dumped Trump & Putin’s buddy Viktor Orbán.
I get to see my cutie 🥰 tomorrow.
Dessert – last night I had the genius idea to sprinkle flaked coconut on two Salted Caramel Mochi from Trader Joe’s. So good.
Warning: This is likely going to be a boring post to anyone but me.
Also, don’t you hate it when people say they’re on a “journey” of any kind? My husband and I were joking that I’d much rather be on a “watercolor journey“ than a “knee replacement journey.” His journey is so much more painful than mine!
As I mentioned, I decided not to continue with another session of the paint-a-long class with Diane because it felt too prescriptive. Still, I wanted to continue learning in a class setting, so I ended up enrolling in another session of “Loosen Up With Watercolors” with Sandra (my first teacher) at the fancier, more expensive community arts center. The classrooms are much nicer there—real art studios with big tables, lots of light, and sinks.
The only problem is that Sandra gives practically no formal instruction. She considers herself your “coach” rather than your teacher, so you have to come up with your subjects yourself. She circles the room giving each person individual guidance. This is honestly hard on the total beginners. They have no idea where to start.
I spent a lot of the first class of this term struggling with my materials. I had purchased tube paints for the paint-a-long class and they’re a different brand from my old pan paints. I decided I liked working from the pan better, so tried to match up the tube colors to refill my half empty pans. Some of the colors had different names for the exact same shade.
I trashed the actual painting I worked on in favor of color identification. I think I have a better idea of what I’ve got now.
I don’t actually have “Opera Rose” in either of my sets. Sandra gave me some of hers. (That’s a color I might want to buy.)
Sandra made a big deal about investing in professional-level paints (this is new—last time she emphasized good paper), which I have not as yet done. I have two “student/hobbyist” level paint sets: Winsor & Newton Cotman pan set ($65) and Royal & Langnickel Essentials tube set ($25). I’m worried that the Royal & Langnickel paints are low quality, but whatever…I’m no Winslow Homer. I’m going to keep using them for now.
I did buy one little tube of professional-level Winsor & Newton Payne’s Grey ($15) and refilled my pan with it. It’s definitely a stronger pigment. A tiny bit goes a long way. Also, the consistency is different. It’s more like honey or syrup and takes longer to harden in your pan. Maybe my strategy will be to replace my current colors with professional-level colors, as needed.
Oh, and thank you to everyone who weighed in on my Artistic Dilemma. I decided to leave the police/ICE officers unpainted, mainly because I kind of liked them unpainted and didn’t trust myself to paint them monochromatically in a way that I liked better. (And once you’ve painted something, it’s hard to undo it.) So here’s what I submitted to the “Art for Democracy” contest:
I’m calling it “Woman in the Teal Bathrobe, Minneapolis 2026”
OK, now I have go back and get my husband at the Physical Terrorist Therapist office. He still can’t drive himself anywhere.
OK, last farm animal from my 5-week paint-along class and it’s not a baby! It’s a full-grown cock 😜
The teacher asked me point blank if I plan to return for the next session, which was awkward. I mean…I had some fun and learned a few things, but this paint-along-with-the-teacher style class is not really for me. I asked her to “please keep me on the mailing list.” Maybe I’ll return if she chooses a subject I really want help with, like sunsets.
Thank you to my very awesome WordPress blog friends who have patiently looked at all of my BFAs.
🙏🏼
By the way, “Old MacDonald Had a Farm” is one of my granddaughter’s favorite songs and I absolutely love singing it with her. It’s fun to take a long pause before you sing the next animal’s name. It adds drama and excitement!
Next week is the last week of my paint-a-long class. It’s been fun, but I don’t think I’ll take the class next session. I prefer to choose my own subjects.
I decided to try painting something to submit to an “Art for Democracy” contest being run by my church. It’s open to professional artists throughout New England and there are cash prizes, so I’m not getting my hopes up. I’m thinking of it as an “artistic prompt” (like the daily writing prompt here on WordPress).
Here’s the actual prompt:
Art is a powerful tool for social change. Unbound by age, culture or social location, it sparks the imagination and promotes meaningful dialogue. With the goal of encouraging civic engagement, artists across New England are invited to submit works on the theme of protecting and strengthening American democracy. Artworks should express the goals of promoting unity and the common good, which underscores the American ideals that all voices are important and that our strength lies in welcoming diverse perspectives. Our goal is to spur productive dialogue; showcase the work of New England artists; and celebrate democracy.
Like many people, I was inspired by the people of Minneapolis who bravely stood up to ICE in the frigid cold to try to protect their community, even after Nicole Good and Alex Pretti were assassinated. There was one viral photo by an unidentified photographer that really struck me. A woman went outside in her bathrobe and slippers to join a crowd of others documenting ICE actions in their neighborhood:
So I decided to paint that.
Here’s where I’m at with the painting now. I still need to paint the faces, pants, shoes, phones, etc. in the crowd.
So here’s the dilemma: Should I perhaps leave the two Police/ICE agents as unpainted line drawings? Do you think it might be effective like that? From my perspective, they are unwanted invaders in this community. Maybe the contrast with the good people of Minneapolis would be greater if I leave them unpainted. Ghosts in the Machine, so to speak. OR should I paint them monochromatic in shades of grey? What do you think? Which would make a better painting?
Week 3 of my paint-a-long class and I’m definitely getting flashbacks to high school—probably because the teacher is a retired high school art teacher. She talks to us like we’re 16, rather than 60+, sometimes. You can tell that she was one of those slightly grouchy teachers that was easily annoyed. It’s actually funny some of things she says to people: “Your perspective is totally OFF” or “I see you’re doing it your way—again”
Nobody seems to care. They’ve all known her a long time and they like her. They sign-up for her class semester after semester.
So far, she’s been pretty nice to me. No major criticisms and some nice compliments on my work. Just like in high school, art teachers like me.
Oh, and she plays the radio in the background while we paint. The station is perfect for us…it’s all soft rock from the 70 and 80s (our high school years). Some people sing along quietly.
I’ve been through the desert on a horse with no name…
I’m participating in a two-hour creativity workshop on Zoom today. The focus is on “exploring our art making process,” not learning particular techniques. It’s described “as a time to feed our souls and learn with and from each other.”
To prepare I need to:
Find a piece of clothing or textile with an interesting pattern or texture and bring it to my artmaking space. Assemble a bunch of different drawing tools such as any drawing paper of any size, pen, markers, pastels, colored pencils, watercolor, charcoal…
OK, I’m good on drawing supplies, but a bit stumped on the textile. Maybe I’ll bring my favorite skirt. It’s reversible so it has two cool fabrics to choose from.
I’ve gotten lazy painting things that I didn’t draw myself, so I experimented with a Calla Lily yesterday.
Drawing is hard and can be tedious, but the only way you get better is to practice. Painting is the fun part, in my opinion.
I was mainly trying to draw/paint the flower. The scene behind was me not wanting to waste the paint and paper.
Update:
In the creativity “playshop” (rather than “workshop,” get it?) we looked at a section of our textile, and experimented with it in some way.
I experimented with changing the colors and layering the colors. The shapes were giving me sea creature vibes.
I started my 5-week class at a very nearby community arts center yesterday. I don’t like the set-up as much as the fancier arts center where I took my first watercolors class in the fall. The room is nice and sunny, but it’s quite crowded and no sinks. You have to use the restroom in the hall to get water and rinse your brushes.
The people seem nice. It’s a similar vibe to my first class. Lots of retired people who re-register each semester because they like the teacher and have gotten to know one another.
The difference is that we all paint the same subject each week, with the teacher giving a demo for each step. It’s not exactly a recipe for developing one’s own unique creative voice, but I’m sure I’ll learn some stuff by painting along with a pro.
It’s surprisingly hard to make a chick’s face look “not mean.” I think the spotted Easter eggs help a bit.
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