Shiny Things

So my intention was to focus on black and white painting for a while.  Then something new and sparkly came along.  I saw that Lynn Whipple's Big, Bold Blooms class was on sale on Carla Sonheim's site, and I couldn't resist.  I really enjoyed Lynn's Making Faces class, which I wrote about here, and thought I'd like to play with this one too.

Lynn is so free and playful in her painting that it is highly contagious.  She also has lots of interesting ideas that I hope to incorporate into abstract painting.  She, for example, might start with a toned canvas of bright orange, then paint a layer of very dull colors on top with bits of the orange popping through, and then move to a layer of bright colors, with some of the dulls showing through that.  It all makes for a rich canvas full of depth.

I am just getting started with the class and only have paintings of very ugly looking flowers.  I like to watch Lynn's videos, go and paint, and then re-watch them to see what I did wrong.  She makes it all look so easy.  I'm trying hard not to look ahead to the next lesson before I finish the one I'm on, so it's kind of a blind process of working in stages without knowing where you are heading.  I'm already wanting to go back and re-do now that I understand the process a little better.   I don't know if flower painting will ever be my thing, but I do love the bits of abstract close-ups I find in them.

And some new, odd color combos. that I wouldn't have come up with on my own.

I like when a little flower appears without looking like I tried too hard.

 Right after I started the class, Lynn's new book arrived at the library.  I've just taken a peak, and it looks really good.

Making Faces

I love a crazy, fun workshop in summer.  I just want to loosen up and play.  I found the perfect one in Lynn Whipple's Making Faces class.  It's offered online through Carla Sonheim's site.  Lynn is so playful and creative, it's impossible not to get into the spirit.  The whole point is to work quickly, loosen up, experiment and produce a mass of faces.  I still have one lesson to go but already have piles of them.

 Some are bigger and some are small little 4x5" ones.

Lynn gives some instruction on realistic placement of features and shadows, and we refer back to that, but the whole idea is to experiment.  We did drawing while switching media.

Worked in all neutrals.

Mixed shadow drawings with loose painterly ones.

 Cut and reassembled many faces.

Worked on patterned backgrounds.

Created different personalities.

Went wild with mixing and matching elements.

Added magazine features and patterns.

I don't think I'll do a thing with all these faces, but I had a blast making them.  It was a really fun way to loosen up and explore all sorts of media.  I highly recommend the class!