The Challenge for June: Turn Your Back

This month we are challenged to pick a subject, study it carefully, then turn our back on it and draw or paint it. With no peeking.

Kathy's response to the challenge:
Source Photo: Grabbed this photo found on one of my favorite Facebook sites: "Birds." 

Process: Studied it. Turned my back.  Drew with some fun Tombow Dual Headed Brush Pens on 6"x4" Strathmore Toned Blue paper ... all from Ralph's Art Supply.
This is pretty much my default behavior. I usually study a plant, animal, etc. and then stylize without looking at the source, especially if it's a photo. Since I put him a little too close to the right of the paper, added a few weedy stems for him to add to his nest.

Kathy Garvey 

For more little birds, visit my Etsy shop. 

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"Adeline and Jake"

by Denette Schweikert

This is a "painting" of my grandchildren who live in Seattle.  As you tell, I don't do well painting without seeing a photo right next to me.   

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Carmen's response to the challenge:

I stared at this photo and thought I could remember all the elements in it, but in looking at my painting, I was surprised that I forgot all about the proportions of the building and the tree. Both are too tall! Also, I didn't remember that the treeline tapers down to the left of the tree. 

It's amazing what you don't remember even though you were concentrating. It can shake one's belief in eyewitness testimony!

Carmen Beecher

carmensart.etsy.com

carmenbeecher.com

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 Mary answer to the Challenge.  I loved this challenge as it really teaches one to be more observant.
I didn’t love my result, I need more practice.  For some reason the pictures will not upload.

Not Elegant, but Definitely Fun

In August someone shared a video of Karlyn Holman demonstrating how to use the "Elegant Writer" calligraphy marker made by  Speedball. Karlyn is a fantastic artist and creates demos for Cheap Joes Art Stuff - a widely popular store for artists' supplies frequented by the Pieces of 8 if we are in their neighborhood  -  Asheville, Boone or Charlotte, NC! (They once loaded us up with some free supplies because they asked if we were there to paint - of course we were - but they meant to paint in their class that people had paid for. We can be so naive. And appreciative!)

Anyway, the artist was so good, as was the video, that I decided to give these markers a try. They come in sets of four or you can buy them individually. I bought one, the 1.3 mm tip and started drawing with it at one of our Pieces of 8 weekly meetings at Ralph's Art Supply. We were drawing cups! The magic of this marker is that if you wet what you've drawn with it, it oozes (yes it oozes) all kinds of marvelous colors. Totally beautiful blues, pinks and greens. That makes it awful and totally non-elegant if you worked hours on some beautiful calligraphy piece only to splash a drop of water on it. But, if as in the video, you wanted to wet it, then all kinds of FUN happens.

I love all the little squiggles happening on their own and the pretty mauve and blue shadows.

I made three more small  8x10s using the pen and wetting my paper afterwards. I realized why they were popular with people who make those pre-painted brightly colored journals. Stored the pen away with my colored pencils for journaling and got on with other things.

But, thinking they would be fun for the Pieces of 8 to experiment with in 2016 (we like to experiment but we call it a "challenge"), I ordered sets through Ralph's Art Supply that I was going to give them all today at our annual Christmas party. Which, unfortunately, I had to miss due to a bad cold. So, this is their notice, sets are waiting for you.  

Hope you will all have FUN experimenting. Here's is what I learned...

First of all, they only run when first "activated" by painting over them with water. Once a spot has spread, it doesn't spread again. It's really great for creating a background by painting around your object. Here's the start of one after activating, at the end I've put the final version of this in. (I deliberately left the center of the flowers blank so that I could put some pure yellow in and draw the stamens with a marker that doesn't bleed.)

You can sprinkle salt into any wet area for a grainy effect - shown above.

Then there's the fact that you can lightly spray your piece to get all sorts of lovely "bleeds" running every which way, especially if you tip and turn your paper.

You can carefully go over fine areas with a thin brush to keep them from spreading later. This is vital if you want to keep areas for pure color later. And I love how the colors that run are perfect for leaves!

And that's another great thing, you can paint or color over them. I've used gouache for all of these, but watercolor, acrylic, inks, colored pencils and markers will all work.

And you can go back and add new areas and bleed them. (Here I went back and added some background leaves with a Micron and others with the Elegant Writer. Then I sprayed water on it to get all the little spreading splotches.)

Or, in my case, where I want detail to not get all fun and wonky, I use a Micron pen over top. They don't bleed - ever! Below, the final centers on the lilies were drawn with a Micron pen.

Here's a link to that inspiring video if you've got 25 minutes to spare.

How to really paint well with an Elegant Writer Pen

And my dear Pieces - I missed you all greatly today! Hope to see you all before next year!

The Big Holiday Sale!

Three more days till our big sale! This is the eighth year for this event, and we have moved from Carol's garage to Ralph's Art Supply on Highland Avenue in Melbourne. The sale starts at 3 on First Friday, Dec 5th and you will have another opportunity the next day, Saturday. Dec 6th, from 10 to 4.

We are so excited to be at Ralph's this year, and we have lots of original paintings, ornaments, pillows, clay art, jewelry, prints, and, best of all: affordable prices! If you're looking for something different, this is the place!

My paintings shown here will be on sale. I painted them joyfully from our group's trip to Silver Springs.

Carmen

A Little Side Trip to Local Art Spots

by Kathy Garvey

On Thursday of this week, Denette, Donna and I got together at the Ruth Funk Center for Textile Arts (on the FIT campus) to tour the current Florida in Fabric II exhibit. What a great show! If you haven't been yet and you love fabric art, try to take the time to stop by. The art quilts were so gorgeous that we had trouble trying to decide on a favorite. (You get a little form when you enter the museum that allows you to pick your favorite.) There were only three of us, but the following four shown here were our top picks. The beauty and workmanship on all of the pieces deserve accolades. As the exhibit information states "Art accepted for this exhibition exemplifies innovation in quilting and surface design techniques as well as excellence in artistic composition and craftsmanship."  (Click on any image to view it closer.)

Orange Topiary by Margo Hucklebery Hicks of Palm Bay, Florida

Seagrape Leaf by Barbara Walter of Pembroke Pines, Florida

Sunshine State of Mind by Susan Rienzo of Vero Beach, Florida

Sweet Florida Blue by Lisa-Marie Sanders of Cocoa Beach, Florida

There were actually two exhibits. Besides the Florida in Fabric exhibit, there was a very interesting display of large beautifully made quilts by Eleanor McCain (a practicing Internal Medicine Physician in Fort Walton Beach, Florida) titled Oil Stains. You have to go see it to appreciate the workmanship and the meaning of her unusual quilts.

If you haven't visited the Ruth Funk Museum before, you may not know where to park to access it. The easiest way is to turn into the parking lot on the west side of Babcock Street that is right across the street from University Housing. There are a number of free parking spots over against the wooded area of the Botanical Gardens. The red marked parking spaces are specifically for visitors to the gardens or the Ruth Funk. After parking, follow the long covered wooden bridge that leads directly to the glass doors of the museum. One of the many great things about this beautiful little museum is that it is free to visit - and it's right next to a botanical garden with paved walkways, an old school house, pond complete with fish and turtles, picnic tables and a gazebo.

After leaving Ruth Funk, we went straight to the Eau Gallie Art District to tour the very interesting exhibit "Infinite Mirror: Images of American Identity" currently at the Foosaner Art Museum. (And while all of us are members, the Foosaner is also free to the public every Thursday.) And no matter what they are exhibiting, there is often a marvelous work by local artist Frits Van Eeden that is worth a trip all by itself.

We then crossed the street to check out many of our fellow artists' great work at the Fifth Avenue Gallery and walked down the street to stop in at Ralph's Art Supply where whatever you need to know about anything to do with art media, Ralph can answer. And if there's something you need and can't find locally, Ralph can find it.

If you get a chance, take a visit to all of these places. Click on the name of each in this article to see more information about each.