Kathyglennstudios
  • Home
  • Artist Statement and Bio
  • kmsGlenn blog
  • Daily Paintings
  • Gallery
  • TeddyRBoston Bags
  • Confident Color Class
  • Looking back
  • Daily Paintings
  • Confident Color Class

Half of the Creative Process is Collaborative

4/22/2018

1 Comment

 
1 Comment

More FUN!  Crazy creatures and Zentangle.

4/8/2018

1 Comment

 
Last week we tried blobbing paint onto our paper using either pouring or eyedroppers.  Then looking at what we created and cropping, turning, adding negative shapes, and whatever to find something interesting.   

This week we'll be taking that one step further.  We'll be dropping paint, then finding creatures which we will enhance with ink pens.  And then - Zentangle!

Every artist that ever existed and many who weren't artists can relate to the doodling they used to do when they were in school . Or maybe do now when onm a phone call waiting for the real human to answer.  

That doodling can be a wonderful source of relaxation.  So we're going to try it this week to get us ready for a relaxing summer - if it ever decides to come!
Picture
1 Comment

Preserving Watercolor Without a Frame

3/26/2018

1 Comment

 

Some good websites about framing
all of these are on youtube
Preview/watercolor with Bright OConnor: Framing Without Glass

protect and Present Your Watecolor Without a Frame.             RBAnderson Studio

How to Preserve Your Watercolor Paintings
​       Maria Raczynska

Picture
1 Comment

Creative Watercolor!  Yeah!!

3/23/2018

1 Comment

 
So what type of art do you want to produce?   That may sound like a silly question - do I mean media?  what?
Not so long ago, it would have been a major decision for the artist.  How would the art you produced be given to the viewer.
First there was art produced for advertising or commercial purposes.  This today would be graphic art.  This type would mean the artist must make many sacrifices to ensure the customer was satisfied with the product.  Art was a product. 

Under this category, a sort of 1a, was all the areas of craft.  The making of products.  It would include pottery, jewelry, and fabric.

Second there was art as hobby.  Usually produced by artists who had other means of supporting themselves - wealth or retirement, usually.  Today we can see the great benefit of using the creative side of our nature.  This is FUN art.

And finally, the Big One:  art as Art.  To be taken very seriously as creative self expression.  It underline an existing condition in society or just exist for its own sake.  

As an undergraduate it was always stressed that there was a very distinct distinction between art that was produced for mass consumption and Art as serious business.  Are you familiar with the Keane eyed children?  They were so popular in the 60s, sold like hotcakes, and were heavily scorned by the serious Art community.  

We are very blessed to live in an age where we can have our work be a part of all of these!  
Picture

I don't think there is any media  quite so explosive and exciting as Watercolor = unless maybe it's alcohol inks -  but that's for another time.

Don't get me wrong - I love working with oils and they are exciting in their own way.  And so capable of subtlity.  So relaxing to work with.  And pastels are so like meditation!  Each medium has its pluses.

But for sheer joy and expression - watercolor does it for me.  The immediacy of the colors and the lovely mingling of pigment.  I usually have a general idea of where I'm going but I always end up somewhere not only unexpected but also better than what I'd envisioned.

I'm not suggesting there aren't times when I want to recreate something more representational or that there aren't plenty of great watercolorists who don't carefully plan and then execute their plan in wonderful ways.  

But here we are, in a spring that can't seem to make up its mind to be spring.  We're ready to burst forth as the daffodils and Madonna Lilies in my garden are starting to do.  And we're ready to have some fun!  Aren't we?

I'm so excited about this class.  What a super mix of people/artists!  Everyone is ready to let go and let the painting take them to new places.  Plus they share!
So useful for artists to share their work and ideas and methods - what they've done that works and what hasn't worked for them.  It's truly a blessing to have a group of experimenters and sharers.  

This next week we're going to talk about figures and have some fun creating quirky personalities.   These things would be nice to bring to class:  if you have small plastic shot glasses or eye droppers.  Not necessary but fun to work with.
Watercolor paper.  The student grade will work as well as the professional grade.  Plus all the usual stuff.

I'll be showing you the first step in mounting your small paintings on a board.  Don't worry about bringing the board to class - it might be better for you to do at home, actually - so you can weigh them down and leave them undisturbed.

​And you'll have the opportunity to continue any work you are presently painting.   Happy Spring!
​
1 Comment

Watercolor - Materials info

6/13/2017

1 Comment

 
As I was decluttering my studio I pulled out a stack of watercolor paper.  At some time I must have been afraid of a dystopian future where paper wouildn't exist because I have the market cornered.  I've sorted before but this time its getting ready for a move so I really have to thin and sort deeply. 

In the stack beside different weights were also different manufacturer's papers and texture.  Many were from workshops that I've attended and were the favorites of the artist/instructors.  

As I used some of the Fabriano Artistico, bright white, from the stack, I found it to be really not something that worked well for me.  The surface seemed to suck the paint up and make the whole painting much softer edged than I would like.
So, on the surface, I could say, this is an awful paper!  No one should use it!
But this is where individual artists' preferences come in.  What won't work for me may very well work for you.  In other words, I guess this is why we have so many different types and manufacturers of materials.

In this month's Watercolor Artist is a very good example.  Laurie Goldstein-Warren warrenwatercolors.com) uses Fabriano Artisco for a still life with glass.  The overall effect is soft edges and the paper is perfect for her work.
Lynn Ferris (lynnferris.com) uses Arches to paint strong shadows and hard edged values.  Her work would be completely different were she to use Fabriano.

The moral is:  in the hands of the artist the materials either enhance your vision or fight that vision.  Your experimentations will help you find out what works best for you.  ​

Just a word about brushes: Its usually said that the better the brushes you buy for watercolor, the easier your painting will become.  And it does hold in some cases.  But you can happily find some where this isn't true.  I happened to come across some round brushes at an art store sale that were for sale under $10.  They hold water and color beautifully and hold the point when wet.  I thought I could always use them for masking if nothing else.  But they're terrific.  The brand is Princeton  and the type is Snap.  A very good buy!
1 Comment

Summer!  Watercolor and Pastel

6/5/2017

0 Comments

 

Intermediate and Advanced Watercolor



No matter how experienced you are as an artist, it never hurts to review some of the 'elementary' concepts. And as you become more familiar with other artists in the media, you can easily see that there is not one approach.  But, believe me, there is at least one approach that will speak to you.  Just as we aren't all alike as people, we aren't all alike as artists.
So, for the next few weeks, lets use this summer to relax, check out some new approaches and experiment to find what will work for you.  A goal of easy growth.

This first week, we will be going over fundamentals looking at materials.  Brushes, paper, and paint.  Properties and Usages.
We'll be using Birgit O'Connor's words on these.  You can find a lot of tutorials from her on youtube or NorthLight.  

Birgit paints in a very relaxed and flowing style.  Not to say she doesn't plan carefully.  She does a lot of advance work so when she places her brush on the paper she has a very good idea of what will happen.  But if there is a bloom, she either fixes it or lets it contribute to the overall painting.  

​So relax!  Take a deep breath and I'll see you on Wednesday.



Plein Air Pastel

Before we go outside, let's discuss our materials.

​

0 Comments

More About Flow ... and washes

2/1/2017

1 Comment

 
Washes are all about flow.  The more you paint, the sooner you will feel that you are in control of what seems to be a random movement across the paper.
But here are a few hints about washes and your paper:

Please use an artist grade of paper to practice your washes.  If you use a student grade, you will never receive the same results as in your finished work.  Arches, Fabriano, Saunders Waterford and some of the best ones.  Of course, they come in different weights, and textures.  Again, use for practice, the type you will be using in your finished work.

​

A word about 'wetness'

Full wet:  The paper is covered with water but not so wet that it moves across the paper or puddles. You will be able to see the shine where the paper is wet. Perfect for graded and flat washes.  A good way to start a painting with an atmospheric beginning.  After this wash has dried other washes can be added on top.
Semi-wet:  This comes from making patches of the paper wet and leaving others dry.  You can reserve areas for the sharp edges of realistic detail and wet areas for atmospheric and softer effects.
Damp:  The paper is wet but has no shine.  Great for drawing with water, scraping out or spattering.  You'll be able to make a clean circle by touching a finger to it.  This is not the time to try to mix color into the paper.
Dry:  is suitable for all forms and textures.  Makes sharp edges which may be difficult to undo.

"It is just a matter of timing, but timing in watercolor,as in life, is everything."  Jeanne Carbonetti
​



1 Comment

Watercolor is a Flowing Art

1/23/2017

0 Comments

 
"
              "How can a man's life keep its course
                    If he will not let if flow?"

                                                    Tao-te-Ching



Flow is central to Eastern schools of the inner arts as well as to the watercolorist.  Think of the flow of a river as it moves along its course.  The water flows over shallow sands or rushes over rocks in its path.  It is ever moving as well as ever changing.  
To the Tao or Tai Chi master flow is at the heart of life.  "All is one, all is flow, all simply is."
To the artist, watercolor is flow. There is nothing so beautiful as the way those tubes of color pour from your brush onto the sparkling white paper.

In Eastern thought, all things have their own special essence - how a thing is naturally is how it's meant to be  and cannot be improved upon.
Unfortunately, we Western artists often become stuck in the frame of mind that whatever we paint must be perfect or the exact mirror of what we have envisioned for that paper.  We plan the values, the composition, the photograph we are painting from, and the color theme.  
Some of us are masters at producing detailed paintings and that is wonderful!  But I'm wondering at what cost to our artistic spirit?
What I hope to accomplish through the next few weeks is to help you relax!  To help you see there is a way in which you can let the color flow and be satisfied and happy with the results.  In this world we are constantly bombarded with noise - spiritually and physically.  Hopefully we can create an oasis where we can just be .... and flow.
And as you continue to work in a more detailed manner, some of the painting you will have experienced will sneak into that work and you will begin to see the flow as you work.

​Take a deep breath........







0 Comments

Gouache!!

12/1/2016

2 Comments

 
Picture
Lets start with a pronunciation - gouache sounds like gwash rhyming with squash.   The name is Italian meaning "water paint".  Gouache appears to go back 800 years  and was used to illuminate manuscripts. European painters used it to sketch outdoors and it was used for magazine illustrations because of its fast drying properties.  It is now used in the film industry as well as by painters. It declined for a few years but is now seeing a resurgence in interest.  Perhaps by the introduction of contrasting opaque with transparent for emphasis.

Gouache, just as any other medium, can be used in different ways as the artist works differently and has different experiences with it.  Some of these artists are:  Erik Tiemens, Nathan Fowkes, Thomas Paquette and Marc Hansen.  These have websites and blogs that you might find helpful or inspiring.

It has unique properties unlike other watercolor paint.  It dries quickly both on the palette and the painting.  And the colors dry to a different value than when they were originally applied.  In general lights appear lighter and darks dry darker.  It dries in a matte, suede-like finish

It generally works best on a rigid surface.  This is a good area to explore and experiment as there are many new surfaces now being offered by manufacturers.  Each of these will have different results and texture when finished.  The entire painting can then be finished with varnish.

​
Using varnish is a matter for exploration as to the texture and result.  It will allow you to place the work in a frame with a glass pane.  Krylon Matte Finish spray appears to work well and provide protection without a glossy finish.  
Some artists appear to love this way of completing the painting and others range from simply not preferring it to completely opposing it.  You can experiment with some smaller works to see what works best for your style.

An artist who is doing quite a bit of experimentation with gesso is New Mexico artist, Deborah Secor.  She is most known for her pastels but has explored with small sizes of gouache paintings.  Her website is: ://www.deborahsecor-gouache.blogspot.com 
2 Comments

TrashBin Paintings

10/6/2016

0 Comments

 
​
When we start a painting what is the first step we take?   
That answer will vary from artist to artist.  But the answers I hear most often are  "I have to be inspired" or "i go through my photographs and find one that looks good to me"  Or maybe even, "I start with a value sketch and a color map."
All good answers.

But one thing that often happens to me when I'm about to start a painting or a series of paintings is that I have moments (even days) of apprehension.  "What am I going to paint!"  "What will inspire me?" and I usually run around  thinking it through and wasting valuable painting time.

But what if we use that time to experiment  -  with our paints or colors or brush strokes?  What about wet on wet, throwing paint, ink pen, watercolor pencil?   

We usually have small pieces of paper that are laying around - too small to be a good painting but also too big to throw away.  So what if we use them up learning things about our media.  

​This is where trash bin painting comes into play.  

Use those end pieces of paper to experiment with triads.  Pick three colors only.  Choose one as the dominate color.  You can create many more colors by mixing, either on the palette or on the paper, these three.  Don't have a preconceived idea of what you're going to be creating.  Just play!
Then do another:  trade out one of the three and do it again.  
Try to be as loose as possible on this.  Create only with the idea that if it isn't any good, it can always be tossed into the trash bin.

But i usually save these - just because looking back through them, I can see something that worked or didn't work and with time, it becomes obvious why.

​And the best part, it loosens us up and sparks our creativity.  No judgement - no pressure.   



0 Comments
<<Previous
    Picture

    Author

    Kathy Glenn
    Art Center

    Picture
    Picture

    Archives

    April 2018
    March 2018
    June 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    September 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    June 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    June 2013
    January 2013
    October 2012
    September 2012
    April 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011

    Picture

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

Proudly powered by Weebly