Swiss pasture

This painting was an experiment with using acrylics. Acrylics are a challenge because they dry quickly thus preventing the mixing on the canvas that often happens with oils. It is also difficult to get the same color twice as they dry on the palate quickly also. I am not displeased with the way this mountain pasture came out. Maybe I should have added some cows.

Trying acrylics again

I went to an art club meeting last night and watched a young man, (sorry I don't remember his name) paint with acrylics. I have acrylic paint, but haven't used it in years. So I pulled it out today and painted this. It is a scene of a pasture in Baulmes, Switzerland that I took a photo of last fall. Acrylics are fun to use because the paint dries fast and if you thin it down, you can get all the transparency of watercolors. I painted it quickly and really enjoyed it.

pictures for yesterday's blog

Well, let's see if I can get these photo's on the blog. The first one is of the inspiration painting, the second one is in sepia tone (the demonstration painting.) I hope this makes the blog clearer.

Oil Painting Class

Groceries are for the body, art is for the soul. I taught a class today in oil painting to a couple who are in their 70's. It is their first attempt at oil painting, so we chose a small 5x7 canvas. My focus for the lesson was self expression while learning to handle the medium. Our photo, generously supplied by my friend, Jan, as the basis for the painting was used as an inspiration only. We tried to focus on what it was about the photo that inspired us to paint it. The old barn was from another era when people made a living off the land. It supplied their food and their money for extra things they couldn't grow on the land. As these buildings slowly decay, so does the way of life they represent. It is a way of life that was good for the people who lived it, but it was a way of life that most of us would not volunteer for. (Our vision of the past, it seems to me, is usually through rose colored glasses. ) The trees that crowd this barn are like the weeds that take over the neglected garden. Without constant vigilance and hard work, the trees and weeds and time will erase all our hard work. Some day, the trees and weeds and time will erase this barn and so many others, our painting will be all that is left. Our first draft or underpaintng, will be done in burnt sienna only as we draw with our brush. The drawing is easy to change at this point, as solvent easily makes the changes of an eraser. Next week we will apply the color. In the mean time, we will have time to look at our work and see if it says what we are trying to express. I love it that each one of us in the class is painitng from the same inspiration and each painting is different....ah art!

Groceries are for the body, art is for the soul.