Sunday, September 27, 2009

Lesson 50 Aspen Trees

We are beginning classes again after a long break. For this first exercise we began with a wet-in-wet under-painting. The goal was to let several colors grade into each other by tipping the paper, and to create a light pathway through the work. Next we considered interesting placement of aspen trunks. After these were drawn in we painted around each trunk with a glaze dark enough so that the trunks stood out but light enough so that the under-painting showed through. We repeated this again and added dark accents and background foliage. We didn't have time to finish but here are a few part way along.

Even without linking dark shapes and background foliage, Leslie's painting has a real sense of depth.

Lynn's under-painting suggests shapes and gives this piece a mysterious quality.

Nancy used a wide range of colors in her under-painting and was able to maintain the bright hues as she added glazes.

Rita worked with yellows and greens in the initial stages and later added the oranges and browns for contrast.

Alexander's Fine Art Gallery


Here is a picture of me painting in the window during a reception at Alexander's Fine Art Gallery, Pleasanton, CA.