February Challenge for Valentine's Day: Love

The challenge for this month is to use the word "Love" in whatever decorative way we choose.

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 Carmen's Entry:

I decided that in these strange and dangerous times that I would put a message in my "Love."

carmen beecher.com

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Kathy's Entries

I had my sketchbook handy during a slow time at the Robot Love exhibit and doodled a few ideas and have just been using those to play around with different media. But, more importantly, to force myself to use my new laptop and all the newest versions of Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator.

Just a few ideas for our challenge...

First one I tried watercolor with Elegant Writer Pen

Second try with Micron Pen and Markers

Third try with my CS6 Adobe Illustrator (it's going to be hard to give it up!)

Fourth try, channeling Peter Max in the newest CC version of Illustrator
playing with it's new gradient options.

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Jean's Idea

Tried my hand at Procreate. This was fun to play with the pen tool?

Hug the one you love!

Challenge for January 2021:CMYK

 The challenge for the Pieces of 8 for January of 2021 is "CMYK" suggested by member Jean Thomas. Jean left that wide open to interpretation so here are the results!

Kathy's response to the challenge:

Small 6x7 inch mixed media (postage stamp, micron pen, colored pencil, watercolor) 
on 140 lb hahnemuele sample paper from Ralph's Art Supply.

Small 6x7 inch mixed media (postage stamp, micron pen, colored pencil, watercolor) 
on 140 lb hahnemuele sample paper from Ralph's Art Supply.

10x10 inch acrylic on wood board

I had a little fun just playing with only three colors and black in each painting above. 

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Carmen's response to the challenge:

I used one of my paintings as the background, then cut out letters over it. This was all done in Photoshop. I spent two weeks in ICU at Holmes Regional Hospital and the nurses were amazing. I resolved then to do something for them, so today I finally felt good enough to make this banner on the computer.

carmenbeecher.com

carmenbeecher.blogspot.com

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Jean's response

Lately I've been doing small sketchbook watercolors, and did a series of fish. 
I looked at this one and thought, "cyan, magenta, yellow, and black."
With a graphic arts background, this format is very familiar to me. That is what makes everything in print, "full color!"

He's not any type of fish, just a CMYK fish!

Challenge for November: Hyper-realistic Painting

 The goal of the Pieces of 8 challenge for November is to paint something hyper-realistic. And oh, there are so many definitions of what that could mean! Is it something that looks totally real, like you could pick it up off the paper? Or something that looks real but has an added dimension? As the term has many definitions, it's up to each artist to determine what "hyper-realistic" means to them and paint accordingly. 

Carmen Beecher's Challenge Entry

Glass and it's shadows and reflections are always a challenge!

Kathy Garvey's Challenge Entry

I totally love, follow and admire the works of great hyper-realistic artists like Marcello Barenghi. Accomplishing that level of realism eludes me. But, I'm practicing for this challenge. Here's my progress so far...

First attempt: I tried to recreate my eraser in my sketchbook
(before I realized I had zero interest in hand drawing text).

Second attempt: That's a real Oak leaf on right top. A real pond snail shell is on the left bottom.
My attempts at realism are opposite each. 

The results here make me realize I stop myself before going dark enough. Since this is watercolor, I need to be patient and add another 10 or so layers of color to match reality.  Patience is not a virtue of mine, but maybe, I'll keep at it for this challenge. If I improve, I'll post it below.

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"ELIZABETH'S KITCHEN"

by Denette Schweikert

I painted this picture from a photograph I took while staying with my son and family in Atlanta.  Since I paint hyper-realistically anyway, this is my hyper-realistic painting. 

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Donna Vines

Rocky

Realism is so not my thing but I do have one painting that fits the category.  My brother-in-law has always had cats and when I was visiting once I took some photos of the majestic "Rocky".  I decided that I would surprise him with a portrait for his birthday.  He really treasured this painting not because I painted it but because he really loved Rocky.

Rocky 

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Herb Series I

A few weeks ago I decided I wanted to try watercolor again and especially with a collaged background. I used a special water paper ground to prepare the paper on which I had already collaged artificially aged pages from a book about the use of herbs in the Middle Ages. Quite an enlightening book. Now all I had to do was make some art, in this case, Basil.

Herb Series I by Fay Picardi

Well, this is it: the most realistic you are going to get from me. Not Surrealistic, hyper-realistic or even Photo-realistic, but lots of fun. I will be redoing this painting because the background is too light and the movement of the watercolor is not to my liking. 

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August Challenge: It's Golden!

For our August challenge we were to work gold into a painting or collage.

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Carmen Beecher's Gold Challenge Painting

Golden Earrings

I did my painting in oil on gold gesso, which is a very nice surface to work on.

CarmenBeecher.com

CarmenBeecher.blogspot.com

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Denette Schweikert's Gold Challenge

I used a piece of Carmen's gold gesso that I have had forever to make this painting. When I finished this piece, I realized that make it distinctive I needed to put navy blue around it.   

GOLD

Denette Schweikert 

denette.net

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Donna Vines Gold Challenge

This challenge was great for me because it gave me a chance to use some of my beautiful papers.   Using the orange and gold and the blue and gold added  just that bit of highlight the collage needed. 

Cupcake Collage 

16X20

This close up shows the gold in the papers.

donnavinesart.etsy.com

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Kathy Garvey's Gold Challenge

 

During this month's challenge, I bought a small can of anchovies to add to a pizza I was making for my brothers who both love them. The can was adorable - and gold inside! It inspired this King Oscar golden anchovy and his fellow can-mates. I debated making them with a variety of materials but settled on the easiest, polymer clay. Wish I had taken more time with it, but I was having fun with the idea itself. Next can will get a more distinct looking crew!

For my painting, I had in mind a scarab for this gold challenge so studied some images of how their wings worked open and closed and then did this closed wing version in watercolor using some gold acrylic ink for accents.

Green Scarab Study, 6"x7" Watercolor on 140 lb Cold Press Paper

Tried an open winged version on an acrylic board. This version uses gold leaf, gold paint and gold powder for accents.

Green Scarab in Flight, 8x10 Acrylic on Canvas Board

More Paintings by Kathy Garvey on  www.snailflower.etsy.com.

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Mary Warnick's Gold Challenge

The picture title is Gilding the Lilies. It’s watercolor on watercolor board. The gold is Holbein antique metallic gold watercolor paint. I applied it after the rest of the painting was done.

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A Gold Sketch using Procreate by Jean Thomas

This was inspired by Klimt's "Women in Gold", which now resides in NYC. I am still learning Procreate. It is an amazing app, especially with the Apple pencil. 

Can you paint a watercolor in 50 strokes?

by Kathy Garvey

Many of the Pieces of 8 have been working on our December challenge to create a painting in 50 strokes - or less. Simple! How hard can that be? How long can that take? No problemo!

My resource photo was this adorable Splendid Fairy Wren in a photo taken by Australian photographer Terry Booth in February of 2017. (If you want to see amazing photos of birds, find "Birds" on Facebook and click Like. Almost every day someone posts a spectacular bird photo.)

I thought I could do it with something simple and by roughing it in first, which I don't usually do. Below are where I was with this photo at 17, 37 and 50 strokes respectively. (Click any photo to enlarge it.)

Left: only 17 strokes, Middle: up to 37 strokes, Right: I reached 50 at this point!

Obviously not there, yet! Should have been the end of it. 50 strokes was the requirement!

Not content to leave it at 50, I tried to finish the painting by continuing beyond the requirement. I mean, how hard could a few more strokes be? 

Below are at 100 strokes, still not finished. Then I was up to 300 strokes - birds have to have soft feathers. Oh, and tails! And more realistic branches.  I quit at over 400! Obviously I could keep going! What would I be up to if I actually added some detailed leaves and a few bugs that are my usual?

Left: up to 100+ strokes, Middle: up to 300+ strokes, Right: up to 400+ strokes

Conclusion: BIG FAIL!

While I didn't manage it here, and haven't managed it yet after three more attempts, I can't wait to see what everyone else has painted. Watch for the results on the last day of December on our blog!

Dibble the Dragon Children's Book by Carmen Beecher

Purchase on Amazon

My children's book makes a great gift item for your little ones who like books one can actually hold, and pages one can turn rather than swiping. This book is about a little dragon who has doubts that he is really a dragon, because he can't breathe fire.

Carmen

Challenge for October, A Gift from the Sea

This month's challenge is called "A Gift from the Sea," and can be any medium.

This happy fellow, is my idea of a gift from the sea.

oil on canvas

After all, I can never look at a dolphin, without smiling, and joy is definitely a gift!

This particular dolphin, lives in the area of Key Largo, FL.  I hope you are viewing this, with a big smile on your face too!

www.CarolSchiffStudio.etsy.com

www.CarolASchiff.com

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A Gift From the Sea, 8x10 

When I lived in Bermuda I collected old bottles. There's not much topsoil in Bermuda, and long ago there were two ways to dispose of bottles: toss them into the sea or bury them in shallow holes. It's hard to find bottles intact, so I prize this one. The driftwood came from Bermuda too, and the shell from our very own beach a block away. 

Carmen Beecher

https://carmenbeecher.com

https://carmensart.etsy.com

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                                                                "Spirit of the Sea"

This is a spirit painting of sea creatures.  It is watercolor techniques using fracturing and graphic shapes.  It is a fun and challenging type of work that I enjoy.

                                                                     Mary Warnick

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"A Gift from the Sea"

This watercolor was inspired by my trip on a sailboat to St. Maarten. Kept a conch shell from years ago and combined it with the image of a sailboat. 

Used a technique where the background colors are saturated with a spray of water; lots of it! It lets watercolor be watercolor! It's a look that contrasts the method used in painting the shell.

Thanks for viewing!

Jean Thomas
ozworks22@cfl.rr.com 

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Calico Crab
16x12 Watercolor on 140 lb Arches cold press paper

I truly felt I had found a gift from the sea about 30 years ago when I visited Sanibel Island for the first (and only) time. This little bright red treasure of a baby crab had passed away on the beach. I picked his remains up and carried them back to our motel to paint. After discovering he was a "calico crab" I thought I'd place him on a background that merged the look of a calico postage stamp quilt with the local sand and shells. The penny indicates how tiny he was. I had to toss him before completing the painting because he really stunk up the room. I just recently found the old watercolor in my stash of unfinished work and tried to complete it for this challenge.

Kathy Garvey

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The sea is so good to us, it provides, transportation, adventure, food and most of all beauty.  In this mysterious realm there are many fearsome creatures but also creatures of startling beauty.  This collaged Lion Fish is my gift from the sea.



Lion Fish

Donna Vines
donnavinesart.Etsy.com
donnavinesart.blogspot.com

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Ginkgo vs. Sycamore

By Kathy Garvey

On my third day at my month long retreat at Furnace MountainZen Center, I realized that the spindly little tree near the Tea House was a Ginkgo Biloba. The leaves have such a fascinating shape that I first decided to paint them and then to play with one of my photos of them in Photoshop.

Watercolor 9x12 Ginkgo Biloba

Ginkgo Biloba, Photoshop (I like to use the shapes of leaves to make brushes in Photoshop. I'm building quite a nice set of them from this trip. The small pale purple ginkgo leaves in the image above are from a brush used as a mask to the layers below.)

On the fourth day's walk, a pretty little leaf with very obvious fuzzy veins on its backside dropped right into my path. I think it's a sycamore leaf. It inspired another watercolor which I enjoyed painting out on the front porch of my cabin.

The cabin sported a shady open porch with room for a table and four chairs.
Squirrels, skinks, deer and birds checked in on me every now and then. 

 And, naturally, the same leaf had to take a few trips through Photoshop.

The woods of Kentucky are awesome. So many trees - a lot of them ones I knew growing up in Maryland. The hillsides are covered with every size and shape and every shade of green imaginable. I'm still working through my collection. More to come.

Kathy Garvey

etsy.com/shop/snailflower

spoonflower.com/profiles/kgarvey

Twenty-Minute Challenge, Small Paintings

Donna Vines introduced me to artist Mary Gilkerson's 20-minute challenge, which means doing a small painting in just 20 minutes. Here is my first attempt, a scene in Florence, Italy. I learned from this one that the subject was a bit too complex for a 20-minute execution!

This was my second attempt, and it went much easier. No buildings or people!

I was more deliberate with this last one, and stopped panicking over the time ticking by.

If you want to paint more loosely, this is a great exercise. One important tip: mix up your paint before you set the time.

Below is a page from my sketch journal, starting with my gym class the other day. Jean Thomas's class really inspired me to sketch more about everyday happenings.

Carmen

Mixing it up with Elegant Writer Pens!

by Kathy Garvey

Our Pieces of 8 challenge this month was to either create a mixed media work or use a media we seldom used. I decided to collage, something I rarely do, and mainly because I wanted to finally use some wonderful circuit boards that I've been saving for ages. (Some of them are from the 70s and one seems to be a magnetic tape controller circuit for a Univac III. I used to be a tape librarian at the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers. Brings back lots of old memories!) Watch for our mixed media blog entry on the last day of the month.

In trying to mix the media as much as possible for the challenge, I also got out my Elegant Writer Pens. And then, after meeting the challenge, I continued to use up my 1970's circuits and the Elegant Writers. I like these Calligraphy pens for the random way they run and bleed colors when you spritz them with water. (Though why someone who does calligraphy would want a pen that bleeds when wet I haven't figured out!)

Anyway, here's the process using three different examples. (Click to enlarge further and be able to read the text.)

When I ran out of circuits, I went back to the birds! I should really quit and work on getting my house ready for Christmas. But painting is so much more fun!

Ralph carries the pens at Ralph's Art Supply and I'm hoping if this process looks fun to you, you'll get some and give them a try.