(255) Night Wath Tower

Tonight I completed another wet-on-wet style painting. My technique was good (I was pretty excited that I remembered had remembered because I had not painted for a while), but I coated the canvas with too much liquid and got a little bit of a sagging effect in the paint which I was battling with through the process.

Regardless, here is the results:

(289) Beach Serenity

Tonight I have a class wet-on-wet oil painting style (Bob Ross). The topic of the class is Beach Serenity. I am not a huge fan of beach scenes (as I am not yet very good). It is the last class I am registered for this summer.

There is another class I might take in September painting the "Waterfall in the Woods," but I am going to wait until the last minute to register as I want to see how stressed I am with the wedding. Time seems to be soaring and before I know it the wedding day will be here. Two months and I will be getting married.

In the meantime I should stop blogging and go find my camera equipment. Tomorrow I head to the coast for my annual celebration of randomness. We started the new event to celebrate my job last year, and I decided to continue the tradition this year so Chris, Cara, and I are headed coast-ward.

~~~
A copy of the instructors version of the painting.

My fluffy clouds.

Add a little placid water.

My version of the image in its final state. My rendition of Beach Serenity!

(302) By the Sea

Outside the sun was shining, but my mood was somewhat dim. Despite the bright light and vibrant weather even some days have a dark edge...

This weeks Bob Ross subject was strange, a seascape set against snow covered mountains:


Here is the one the teacher painted during the class:


I was not feeling the picture as it seemed somewhat odd. My work took a turn and I decided to do my own interpretation of the weeks painting and chose a darker palette to reflect my mood:


Much of the class followed my lead. The instructor commented that it was one of the most amusing classes she had taught. Here are some of the images of the other students:


During the class we got off on a side bar discussion about Bob Ross’s final works that he produced after finding out he was terminally ill with cancer. Apparently they were never released the paintings to the public, but the instructor said there were really interesting and dark. I think it would be interesting to see these works someday.

(306) Cypress Creek

My third wet-on-wet (Bob Ross style) oil painting class was a slightly darker swamp screen called "Cyprus Creek."



Unfortunately I forgot my camera to capture the process, but essentially the work was painted from the back forward. The main difference was starting with a black base resulting in a much darker image.

Though the picture does not do the piece much justice, it is in my opinion a bit more interesting than the pastel works. I think I will try my next pastel with a darker palette.

(311) Winter Haven

Today marked my third wet-on-wet painting class.

Our subject was a winter scene, which seemed rather odd given the rather warm Spring day. Before class Mom and I grabbed a bite for lunch, then went for a walk around Gladstone. The weather made it difficult to motivate to go to class.

Here is my Winter Haven:


After our session we headed to Chris and Jason's to watch the Blazer game. On the way the painting got damaged so I had to do some emergency repair, which turned out okay with the limited painting tools available.

After enduring the painful game and eating some delicious BBQ another evening found its end.

(325) Fantasy Seascape Oil #2

Tonight's topic was seascape fantasy.

Here is the set of tools we set out with: a knife, fan, line, filbert, a pair of 1 inch brushes and a duster. There was also a neat little tool used to remove paint (which I can't remember the name of on the far right).


We started by separating the horizon by marking equal sides of the canvas and putting tape across. Then we dampened the canvas with liquid white all over and added the blue sky. The fluffy clouds were a blend of the Prussian blue and crimson red. Using the filbert brush you pluck the sky with the formation of clouds. Then you go back over the top in a swirl motion with the fan or filbert and lastly blend with the 1 inch corner by tapping the canvas.

It was good practice, but I needed to spend some more time to get my clouds more depth (they look a little sad). I think it was the combination of the lack of paint and layering. So clouds might be a good subject for my next painting (my clouds did not look as happy as I would have liked).


After the sky peel back the tap and follow the straight line on the horizon with the blue water line then move down the canvas to a greener tone and then a sandy toned beach. Again the 1 inch larger brushes work great for blending any transforming colors. Then add the waves with the fine line...remember waves come in at an angle. Use the fan and stoked the waves upward at an angle to get the misty effect. Try to get a fairly similar angle to keep the waves looking realistic. A couple blended smudges of brown with highlights and you have a simple ocean scene. For effect I threw three birds in the image.


Though maybe the sign of being super critical of myself. The painting did not turn out quiet how I wanted, but none-the-less it was good practice. Maybe someday I will have a seascape that I like and that would be a seascape fantasy.

It is interesting to see how different artists approach the same subject. So it will be neat to see as my mother and I take the classes how each of our paintings evolve on the same subject. Watching the class evolve together is an experience all unto itself.

(330) Wilderness Waterfall

Today my mother and I took a class in Gladstone through CCC called "Paint Like Bob Ross."

The class walked through step-by-step to help you learn techniques based on Bob Ross. So we attempted to mimic his piece Wilderness Waterfall.

Photo of Wilderness Waterfall:


I particularly like that they show you how to use different brushes and styles and the table was setup (and minimal clean up was needed).


In one session we were able to create our own oil painting rendition of Wilderness Waterfalls. I would highly recommend it!


Here is a close up of my final painting:


And here is a close up of my mom's with her final painting:


It was fascinating to see how different everyone's work came out even though we were painting the same subject!