BLOG PAUSE

Painting a fire hydrant in our dog park.

   As I grow older I try to listen more and talk less, so taking my own advice  I think it is time to paint more and write/blog less.

The value of my art blog was to keep me focused and learning but the time has come to pause and prioritize my time usage.

I bid you well on your artistic ventures.

Mary Ellen

ANTIQUITY WARRIOR POET Mixed Media

AVACADO SEASON

     It is August and our avacado tree is full of ripening green teardrop orbs. I take them to share with my painting group and Silver Sneakers exercise class. So why not paint the bounty of home grown.

    I pre-painted the canvas with acrylic paints to create the design and then finished it with oils using a palette knife to up the texture factor.

     This time I made myself create a mother pile of color with  warm and cool sub color piles. The value of the warm/cool paint went from dark to light to capture harmonious values.

I used a different photo that captured some foreshortening of the stem.

I like this one better than my finished product. When will I learn to stop painting?

Oil over lay.

COLOR CONUNDRUM CONTINUED

     Let me refresh your memory; I am reading Color by Betty Edwards doing the individual lessons. I chose a fabric, divided my 10x10" board into six sections. Section #1 I glued the original fabric to the board. ( It was supposed to represent all of the major colors in the fabric).
The design in the fabric is way too detailed and it is driving me a bit crazy trying to match up the hue and color when I am directed to paint. It is transparent so it is next to impossible to determine value changes.  Not fun!

STEP 1

STEP 2 & 3

Step 2, lower right, I was to paint matching color and value. Step 3 paint the compliment of the original colors. This step would have been easy if I had not picked a mind boggling design.

Step 4

 Step 4, paint the opposite value but the same hue of the colors.(upper right)

Step 5

     Now I am starting to take liberties with the colors within the design; I just want to finish this lesson. Step 5 added the compliment of the original color to point out how a neutral is important to a final painting.

Step 6

Step 6 goes back to duplicating the original color and values.
In all honesty I did not do justice to this lesson.  I truly see the value in this exercise and I will repeat the lesson with a simple design.
Much to be learned.