Wiegardt Workshop Day Two

Another great day of learning from the "Master of Loose" (my terminology) Eric Wiegardt.

You can see his website here Top left is my photo reference. Top right, the value study. Today's challenge was to paint beyond the boundary of the objects in the reference photo creating new shapes, and to use fresh color. Normally, I do a very detailed drawing which takes hours and spend over 20 hours on a half-sheet sized painting. In Eric's workshop after a morning demo by him, we do a value study which takes about 20 minutes, and then spend two hours on a full-sheet sized painting which is approx 21" x 30." No time for too much detail. Really forces you to concentrate on the important shapes and colors. Plus it's fun! Eric is a great teacher. Has great advice and good individual instruction for each workshop participant. I recommend him highly.

Watercolor Workshop with Eric Wiegardt

I'm taking a wonderful 4-day workshop with Eric Wiegardt, AWS NWS, author of "Watercolor Free and Easy." Today was day one. We brought our own photos of boat scenes to paint from. Eric stresses that values are more important than the color in a successful painting, so we all did value sketches before beginning. Also, today's challenge was to be more free when mixing colors....to merge colors on the palette and on the paper, rather than creating a finished color to put directly on the paper. Top left is the reference photo. Top right is the value study. We all did very loose, wet-in-wet paintings on full-sheet, 21" x 31" 140# rough watercolor paper. Eric's style is loose, yet skillfully controlled. We tried to emulate. He instructed to find the pattern first of light and midtones. Think about the design of the painting. Refer often to the value study over the photo. You can't think about design when your mind is on the photo. My work today resulted in a 2-hour, approximately 70% complete painting. Most of the values and shapes are in. Some detail in the figures and shadow strengthening are yet to be finished. All-in-all a fun and informative day. Looking forward to tomorrow.

San Fran Can Man

This is another Karin Jurick "Different Strokes for Different Folks" challenge. The reference photo is at the right. It is a Victorian house so familiar in the San Francisco landscape. I had taken a photo of a homeless man collecting cans in a shopping cart the last time I was in San Francisco. I changed the scene to evening, and thought he would fit perfectly under the street lamp. To see more of my work visit my website http://www.dianemorganpaints.com/

In Memory of my Father

This is one of my father's paintings. He passed away last week after 86 long and happy years. He was an artist and musician and enjoyed golf and travel in his retirement. He was a very kind, gentle and loving man. My mother died 5 years earlier and he missed her dearly. I miss both of them very much. Cherish the time you have with your family. It is precious.

Monument Moon

This is the latest challenge from Karin Jurick's Different Strokes from Different Folks blog. The photo of the Jefferson Memorial was provided by Karin. I added the moon. Her challenges get me to paint something totally different from my normal subject matter. New challenges are stimulating and good for the brain. This 7" x 10" watercolor on 300# Arches watercolor paper is available matted and ready for framing for $475 on my website http://www.dianemorganpaints.com/

Two Awards in Palm Springs Art Show

"Heaven is a '57" won Second in Show at the 2009 City of Palm Springs 11th Annual Art Show. "Moooonlight" won 3rd place in Watercolor. Purchase information for both pieces is available on my website http://dianemorganpaints.com/

Blood Rose

This painting was for a monthly challenge posed by my friends and co-artists at ArtColony international artists group. This month’s challenge required using one tube of paint only. More difficult than it might sound.
I called this Blood Rose because it felt like I was painting with blood, and it also seemed like drawing blood to do it. This was hard! I guess because we're used to black and white or sepia photos, those colors fill in our imaginations more easily. Red is a toughy. My favorite color has always been Alizarin Crimson. Maybe I'll have to rethink that. This is 6" x 8" on 300# Arches cold press.