Class Catch Ups

I wanted to spend today catching up on the lessons for my two classes. In the Mixed Media Landscape class with Karyn Gartel we added trees and a bottom edge to our canvases. Next week - well, THIS week really, because the lesson will arrive on Monday, we will be adding houses to this little vignette. After today the rest of my time off will be spent finishing up the quilt for our Aunt and getting my lecture stuff ready for next week. I hate last minute panic - so I am trying to have everything ready to go - so that my stress level will be as low as possible!

Last Monday was the final installment of Paulette Insall's "All About Faces Class". I had a great time working on this little piece and am looking forward to many more painting using some of Paulette's great techniques! I find I love her way of using watercolor crayons. Fabulous! This last lesson was about adding elements to tie the painting together. I added flowers, butterflies and the words "Focus on love, light and truth". Now I look forward to Paulette's "Organic Backgrounds"class that begins on May 19th. I think it will really be fun for me to learn more about making my backgrounds textural by using a variety of effects.

At the end of June my class through Joggles with Sharon Boggins begins - and I am really looking forward to it !

All About Faces Lesson 5

I finally got around to finishing last week's lesson. We added highlights and shadow with Caran D'Ache Neocolor II water soluble crayons. I really like the technique Paulette uses for this. It's very effective. The face got added highlights, shadows, & blush ; the lips were "plumped" with color and shading & the hair got some added texture. I am ready to do some more with the background now. Better yet - I am ready to start some new faces! I am learning a lot & enjoying Paulette's class very much. Her second class on creating mixed media backgrounds begins on May 19th. Yay ! I DID sign up for Sharon Boggins class through Joggles at the end of June - it should be a great experience!

All About Faces: Lesson 4: Hair & Eyebrows

Lesson 4 this week was just about adding hair and eyebrows. I think I will probably work a bit more on both - but as you can see - they make quite a difference. I was surprised at the eyebrows. My own are extremely pale - and my "coiffist", Allison, is always telling me about how eyebrows frame the face - and telling me that " I should "do something" with mine. Now, I see what she is speaking about - they did make a difference in this painting - though I am still not overly comfortable about "doing something" with my own !

All About Faces Lesson 2

This weeks lesson from Paulette Insall's class ,"All About Faces", concentrated on creating a very simple background and then painting the face shape onto the canvas - and shading. Paulette calls this the "rough under-painting" - which will be enhanced and completed with her technique that utilizes Caran d'arche Neocolor II . I am SO looking forward to learning this technique - and am sure that, once I learn it, I will want to go and get a full set of Neocolor II's.

It was interesting to make the backgrounds and I had a lot of fun just priming and painting canvas'. I am also finding that I enjoy carrying my smaller sized sketch book around - nd look forward to finding a few minutes to sketch. Paulette has already taught me quite a bit. Small things that I wouldnot have even thought to ask about - or wonder about before.

All About Faces- Lesson 1

This was week one of the class "All About Faces" by Paulette Insall. Her video was well done, class notes that she provided were helpful and our homework was to draw apges of eyes, noses and lips. Well, I can't seem to JUST a single eye. So theses were my exercises in drawing eyes. Same issue with lips only - so I had to draw the lips ON something! Noses were easier than I thought and it was fun to see how just a slight variation made the structure wider or more narrow. Ostensible the 'full' nose will be completed with paint. I am intoxicated with paints ...I want them all - alas, at their current cost - I can have but a few ! I am having fun and can;t wait for Lesson 2 !