PAINTING IT AHEAD

     I have an excellent and dear instructor for my Silver Sneakers class; Pam. She takes good care of us "old folk" by gently pushing us out of our comfort zone to reach the max. of our individual potential.

      Unlike the rest of the worlds mothers, Pam likes to hike up big mountains, go kayaking and all sorts of other extreme physical activities while visiting her son!
For her birthday I wanted to try my hand at painting her a watercolors on Yupo which is what I have been experimenting with lately. ( See previous blogs)

     A few weeks ago Pam flew out to visit her son who lives on the Pacific North West.  I can tell from the look on her face that she was relaxed & enjoying precious time with Joey.

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I simply must learn to paint with the least number of brush strokes necessary. The Yupo paper is forcing me to do that but I still have not learned the lesson. In fact I am over this Yupo/ Terraskin phase.



Pam was so appreciative that I took the time to paint a picture of her on her vacation. Instead of Play it Ahead I titled this one...Paint it Ahead.

Pam & Joey.

MID CENTURY MODERN TAKES A TURN

     I had designed the figure, the mid century interior, the primed hot pink canvas so off I go on a large  project.

First touches of black.

Almost done.

     I was all set for a mid century modern scene but no matter what I did it did not please me.

Here comes the turn that even surprised me and I'm on the paint brush side of the canvas!
I saw a picture of a model in a magazine and imagined her on this very canvas. Many times I paint over works of art and love the peek through color and shapes.

When I get a mental image that is strong I know I have to paint it and I have to paint it NOW.

So....That turned into this:     

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Step 2

Contemplating flowed out of me spontaneously; .........THIS IS MY STYLE!!!!!


Can you pick out some of the elements of the original painting?

Done.

AN INVITATION TO VISIT MY NEW WEB SITE

     I am proud to  announce the launch of my new www.koseroriginalart.com web site. 

Please log on, peruse and leave a comment.

 Check back often! 

       Mary Ellen

ARTIST AT WORK

     Here is my latest Polly Hammett attempt. I designed a figure pose, added background details on vellum paper. The advantage to the see through paper is that I am able to visually determine where the design best fits on my painting surface. Ah, the little things I learn as I entertain myself with art.

  Next I did three different value studies to see which option I liked best. As I look at my sketches I did not choose any of them. Somehow I had a mid century vision of a white lacquer bench seat with a balance of white objects. I still seem to be on my black background kick but I can see that wearing thin very soon.

I blocked in the colors I was sure about and guessed at the rest. It does have a distinctive vibe to it but I have a ways to go before I sleep.

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Here is my final product from this session. 

PLEIN AIR IN A TEAR DROP CAMPER

I admit that not all of my ideas are practical but they are fun to think about, I'm a dreamer.

Wouldn't it be grand to have a group of traveling Plein Air painters who used little Tear Drop campers as their painting studio?  Park that puppy in a beautiful setting and everything is ready to go. A table for a palette, storage for easels, umbrella, paints, lunch and maybe dinner with friends around a camp fire.

Instead of this......

..... use a Tear Drop camper for plein air painting.

I could not resist filling my imaginary camper with my supplies. Like the touch of my new web site address on the side of the camper?

                                         

                                         

I need a name for this band of artists traveling to catch the best light of the day or the best scenery around or stopping at a local restaurant to discuss a day well spent out of doors.

How about "PAINT ABOUTS", instead of a walk about...well you get it.

No logic went into the formation of this idea! I don't know how much they cost and I could not back it up if my life depended on it.  I'm in my dream time.