"Sophie" ~ watercolor figure by Texas Daily Painter Nancy Standlee

"Sophie"
17" x 23" watercolor with acrylic and collage

I drew this last Tuesday at a drawing session with Michael Mentler at the Society of Figurative Arts in Carrollton. Do I feel way out of my league? Oh, yes. Google Michael Mentler and images and you'll see why. His sketchbooks are fabulous. The morning session was portraits (a young man posed) and the afternoon was an undraped figure. He will have an intensive weekend class sometime after the first of the year but until then it has inspired me to get out my Bridgman and other drawing books. How I need to draw some each day from the book examples. O.K. so we need to exercise a little, draw a little, paint a little, cook a little, sleep a little... there is just not enough time in the day to do all of this. I don't know how I ever found time to work.
"Sophie" may not be finished yet. Once you get your painting on the computer screen you see some areas that need some work. Also, an experienced painter that I respect suggested I break up some of the thigh area with some collage and I may do that.
During the afternoon, I kept drawing these little figures in the middle of my sketchbook page and I could hear Liz Hill saying "Fill that page up with the figure. Make it touch the edge." So I got out my biggest Strathmore Watercolor pad, held my breath and drew directly on the paper and then did the painting at home using watercolor, acrylic, Daniel Smith gold gesso and lots of hand printed collage paper.

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BLOG.............Nancy Standlee Art Blog

WEB SITE ........Nancy Standlee

WEB SITE ........Canvas By Canvas

Other blogs where I post:

Daily Painters of Texas

Daily Abstract Painters Gallery

Daily Painters Marketplace


TEXAS CONTEMPORARY ABSTRACT EXPRESSIONIST FINE ART DAILY PAINTER
NANCY STANDLEE ARLINGTON, TEXAS ART FOR SALE

Contact: NancyStandlee@sbcglobal.net

"Connie" ~ watercolor figure by Texas Daily Painter Nancy Standlee

"Connie"
15" x 22" Watercolor and Acrylic with Collage

I took a photograph of one of my Canvas by Canvas "sisters" at a bridal shower this summer and I have been wanting to paint it since. Several days ago I got out my Carla O'Connor Daniel Smith Gold Gesso (I love this stuff) and looked over my Liz Hill notes and got to work and finished the painting today. Liz likes to draw in charcoal and that's what I did first before I used watercolor for the features. I did not spray it and Liz says use a light hand and it won't smear. I used some stamping and some collage papers that I'd printed. I usually like to give my ladies red hair but Connie is a blond so I opted for some lavender tones and exaggerated the amount of hair and the color.

You will probably be seeing more paintings of Connie and Maryann, another "sister", as we had a model/photo session yesterday and played dress up and tried to pose like a "real" model. We had hats, long black gloves, scarves, strapless stuff, long skirts and head wraps. We laughed so hard it's a wonder our chair didn't fall off our prop stage, but the model fee was modest. At age 74 just how serious can it be if you're in your San Miguel ruana and a strapless old KMart top. It just cost Connie and I Maryann's lunch since it was her birthday. The Mexican restaurant even threw in a Happy Birthday serenade and a sopapilla with whipped cream and a cherry.

Wanna have some girl friend fun and it doesn't even have to be your birthday. Get your friends together and have each one bring some outrageous clothes, dress up and take some photos for later paintings. Be sure and include someone in a do-rag. Connie has already named the painting where I was wearing one of Maryann's scarves around my head in a do-rag fashion with my Terminator arms exposed as "Waitin' for Willie". On second thought we may want to hire a model next time.

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BLOG.............Nancy Standlee Art Blog

WEB SITE ........Nancy Standlee

WEB SITE ........Canvas By Canvas

Other blogs where I post:

Daily Painters of Texas

Daily Abstract Painters Gallery

Daily Painters Marketplace


TEXAS CONTEMPORARY ABSTRACT EXPRESSIONIST FINE ART DAILY PAINTER WATERCOLOR FIGURES
NANCY STANDLEE ARLINGTON, TEXAS ART FOR SALE

Contact: NancyStandlee@sbcglobal.net

"Jessie" ~ watercolor figure by Texas Daily Painter Nancy Standlee

"Jessie"
15" x 22" Watercolor, acrylic, charcoal on paper

In October I took a 3 day figure workshop with Daily Painter, Liz Hill, in Houston. Each morning we had a different model to draw and then we'd paint in the afternoon after the model went home. The models allowed photos to be taken. I've had three more workshops since then and haven't been able to paint and use anything I learned at the figure workshop. So Saturday and Sunday right before the Western Federation November 15 deadline, I finally had an opportunity to paint "Jessie" from one of my photographs. Liz draws from live models about three times a week but at this stage in my figure painting I need a photograph. I really enjoy mixing up the media and combining it with the charcoal. I want to pursue this way of working and schedule another Houston trip for the next Liz Hill workshop. Western Fed is a juried art show and allows 3 entries per person and artists will be notified if they got in after the first of the year.

I'm in the throes of studio cleaning and organization and aren't we always? In the Lana Grow workshop she had 2 of these buckets filled will art supplies and don't we always want what we see another artist use? I know I do so I placed a Cheap Joe's order for the Neatnix Stuff Bucket and it was so much fun to fill. Now to carve out some time to use it after the turkey carving. A Happy Thanksgiving to all of the readers of this blog and carve out some painting time during this holiday season.

Contact NancyStandlee@sbcglobal.net

Nancy Standlee Art Blog

Sandi D'Alessando Workshop Part 2 ~ Texas Daily Painter Nancy Standlee

"The Dressing Room"
16" x 20"
Acrylic and collage on gessoed foam core

This has been a busy workshop schedule with Liz Hill, Lana Grow, Fealing Lin, and now Sandi D'Alessandro and a daughter's wedding on Saturday, Nov. 7 at a Burleson winery. The wedding was still very much on my mind when we came to the project with the foam core and I remembered the dressing room area with curling irons, girls in stages of dress, and wine and I painted and collaged some of the memories.

Here is a slide show of some of Sandi's work and student's work and the disclaimer. Some of the student's work was very abstract and when you're snapping photos quickly I may not have them turned correctly and some were taken in an overhead mirror and the image may be reversed and I didn't include names of the artists. (Mouse over for captions in the beginning)

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WEB SITE ........Canvas By Canvas

Other blogs where I post:

Daily Painters of Texas

Daily Abstract Painters Gallery

Daily Painters Marketplace


TEXAS CONTEMPORARY ABSTRACT EXPRESSIONIST FINE ART DAILY PAINTER
NANCY STANDLEE ARLINGTON, TEXAS ART FOR SALE

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Sandi D'Alessandro Workshop ~ "Harmony" Acrylic on Yupo Paper by Texas Daily Painter Nancy Standlee

"Harmony"
Acrylic on heavy weight full sheet yupo paper, some collage

"Creating the "WOW" in Your Paintings: A Graphic Design Approach to Composition"

This is my today's effort in the Sandi D'Alessandro three day workshop at Artists' Showplace with 24 other artists and I will probably give it a few more "hot licks". I wanted just upper body figures but I think the figure on the right comes off as a full figure with a very large head. For awhile today this person looked like a very disgusted guy saying " I do not want to go to this party dressed as a girl." At the end of the day some of my friends suggested a too high forehead needed a hint of some hair and that helped.
This has been great experimental fun. I didn't have any reference material and was influenced by the painted surface of the yupo and worked intuitively. First we put gloss medium on yupo and painted it with liquid acrylics and scratched and made texture marks. I was so caught up in the process I forgot to take a photo at this point. Sandi said it didn't matter what color we used because we'd probably cover it up anyway and there was not a right or wrong way to do this. Sandi said this is the procedure when you go into the studio and you don't have an idea or know what you want to paint.
We let that dry while we took acid free foam core (I used a 16 x 20 sheet) and trowled on thick white gesso and let dry. Take the dried yupo sheet and begin painting. I turned it all directions to see if any images appeared or ideas. I went with the idea of two figures and began to negative paint around those images and come back and paint positively on the image. The foam core is for the Tuesday's project but to prevent curling I added a light gesso coat on the other side before leaving for the day.
Sandi is a teacher from Hardy, VA. near Roanoke and works with the high school and college, member of N.W.S and A.W.S. and is a very pleasant helpful instructor. Her teaching experience makes her a very good workshop instructor. She also paints on canvas and on board. She provided positive helpful suggestions to each of us when we hit a snag while working on our yupo. It will be fun to see class member's work on Wednesday. I'll make a slide show for you readers.

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BLOG.............Nancy Standlee Art Blog

WEB SITE ........Nancy Standlee

WEB SITE ........Canvas By Canvas

Other blogs where I post:

Daily Painters of Texas

Daily Abstract Painters Gallery

Daily Painters Marketplace


TEXAS CONTEMPORARY ABSTRACT EXPRESSIONIST FINE ART DAILY PAINTER
NANCY STANDLEE ARLINGTON, TEXAS ART FOR SALE

Contact: NancyStandlee@sbcglobal.net

A Watercolor and A Wedding by Texas Daily Painter Nancy Standlee

Watercolor Framed
28" x 20"
My daughter's painting is finally framed. I ordered the frame from Frames by Mail where you get it all, frames, mat, hangers, plexi - everything but the wire and you put it together. All you need is the dimensions for the work to be framed and start doing the math on the site and even I can figure it out so I'm sure you can. The actual framing part goes better if you can get some holding help. But the real reason for the post is her wedding, Saturday, November 7, 2009 at the Lone Oak Winery.

The new family

Daughter and Mom

The Girls

Some of the Standlee crew

Combined Crew
and everyone had been patient for photos but now it was silly face time. The weather was beautiful and it was a perfect day for a wedding or a watercolor.

"Small Gifts" an Acrylic Painting by Texas Daily Artist Nancy Standlee

"Small Gifts"
22" x 30" acrylic on paper

In most of the workshops I take there is a small gift from Cheap Joe's. Sometimes there is a white eraser in a clear plastic bag, a 3B pencil with his name on it, a pencil sharpener, a sponge that when wet swells up to mattress size. I love these freebies and use them and look forward to a Joe surprise. In one of my orders I received a little square coaster that is imprinted with one of Cheap Joe's own watercolor images of a red barn, some sheep and trees. I see that he paints trees better than I do. I've become very attached to this coaster and use it to sit my morning cup of coffee on and sorta freak out if it's not around. That early morning sound of my mug hitting the table is just nicer muffled with one of Joe's coasters.
Someday I'll go to Boone and meet Cheap Joe and tell him how much I enjoy his small gifts and his catalogs and most of all ordering his art supplies. I'll tell him I think he's a very lucky man to be able to sit in all of these Boone workshops with all of the famous teachers. But, Joe, for the rest of us please keep sending us these small gifts. I love surprises.
The above painting was done recently in the Lana Grow workshop in Granbury. See blog post HERE.

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WEB SITE ........Canvas By Canvas

Other blogs where I post:

Daily Painters of Texas

Daily Abstract Painters Gallery

Daily Painters Marketplace



TEXAS CONTEMPORARY ABSTRACT EXPRESSIONIST FINE ART DAILY PAINTER
NANCY STANDLEE ARLINGTON, TEXAS ART FOR SALE ACRYLIC

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Fealing Lin Watercolor Workshop ~ Watercolor Portrait ~ by Texas Daily Painter Nancy Standlee

Self Portrait by Nancy Standlee
11" x 15" watercolor

Fealing Lin, N.W.S., from California was at the Artists' Showplace Gallery for a 5 day watercolor workshop October 26-30, 2009, on landscape painting but we had a delightful one day devoted to portrait painting. I am so glad as I did the above painting on Wednesday and my cityscape and landscape are too pathetic to post and are headed to the turkey pile for a future coat of gesso. Trees are just not my thing and all my buildings lean but I haven't given up. (Fealing has a web site but it is under construction at the present and when it gets online again I'll post the url so you can see her other lovely work.)

Fealing is a traditional watercolorist and she desired for us to have fun and relax and gave us some tools to apply to all mediums, stressing not to paint objects and hold on to the biggest brush as long as possible. She used a 3", 2" and 1 1/2" brush for most of her landscape and cityscape painting. She doesn't always squeeze out fresh paint and her palette was not pristine nor did you find her wiping it out after a few strokes. The choice of a photo is very important and she designs her compositions from several photographs, wanting a strong light and shadow pattern. Black isn't on her palette and she prefers mixing her darks, likes painting on a nearly upright easel and is not narrow minded about her pencil lines. She doesn't paint within the lines but lets the color "invade" other areas and in the beginning stages of a painting she wants her work to look messy.

I met Fealing in Italy at a Ted Nuttall portrait workshop in 2005 and it was a treat to paint with her again and I foolishly thought I'd have at least one great cityscape or landscape but think I'll stick with people for awhile. She uses a separate palette for her portraits and begins with a very light wash of several colors over the entire paper. When I discovered we'd do a portrait, I took the easy way out by painting myself and not alienating friends by taking a timed photo and sent it to Sams to be developed into an 8 x 10 and left off the glasses and some wrinkles. Since I'm in need of cataract surgery soon, maybe I'll be able to throw the glasses away. In any event, anyone will need dark, dark glasses to view my cityscape and landscape. I think Fealing is glad I'm not posting them so they won't be connected in any way with her name.


Slide Show:
Mouse over for captions and some of the photos were quickly taken and were reversed in the overhead mirror. I used F. L. for Fealing Lin and just Class under the student's work instead of giving individual names. The watercolor portrait by Fealing was a start and is not finished and she will email us the completed piece. We were just so very fortunate for her to include a day of portrait painting for us.

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BLOG.............Nancy Standlee Art Blog

WEB SITE ........Nancy Standlee

WEB SITE ........Canvas By Canvas

Other blogs where I post:

Daily Painters of Texas

Daily Abstract Painters Gallery

Daily Painters Marketplace


TEXAS CONTEMPORARY ABSTRACT EXPRESSIONIST FINE ART DAILY PAINTER
NANCY STANDLEE ARLINGTON, TEXAS ART FOR SALE WATERCOLOR

Contact: NancyStandlee@sbcglobal.net

Lana Grow Workshop ~ Granbury TX ~ Texas Daily Painter Nancy Standlee

Gold Leaf Floral
(This wasn't painted as a floral but it reminds me of a floral.)
10 x 10" Illustration board
This is one of my favorite pieces I did while at the workshop and will probably try some others later. It is very difficult for me to get a good photo of anything with gold in it without it getting a bad glare. In the painting below I lifted up the edge so the painting is not square and the acrylic gloss medium made it shiny.
Abstract Landscape
10 x 10 in. Acrylic on illustration board with tissue paper collage
This is a great technique and Lana had some stunning pieces on a large piece of Strathmore. I didn't get to the workshop with my large piece but I used this 10" to learn the technique. This has lots of gel and gesso from a squeeze bottle for the lines.
Lana with one of her symbol pieces on Strathmore Illustration board 10 x 30. At the end of the post you can find other work in a slide show.

About the Lana Grow workshop:
Two friends, Pat and Marie, told me about the workshop in Granbury, TX. October 19-23, 2009, and I'm so glad I made the effort to go and it was an effort as I came home from the Liz Hill workshop on Sunday evening, unloaded and loaded and drove over early Monday morning. Lana, A.W.S. is an excellent teacher and gives the kind of workshop she says she would want to take and I would recommend this one to anyone who wants to pursue some experimental abstract using acrylic paints. She won me over when she handed out a 3 ring binder of approximately 50 pages filled with wonderful notes about the techniques we'd be covering this week. She and her husband Norm, drove down from Minnesota so she brought lots of work to show us and all kinds of supplies to share.
In many workshops on the last day about 10:00 A.M. the instructor starts packing up and many do not have a demo that day. I could tell you some stories about some of the experiences. This class began on time at 9:00 A. M. and it was push, push all week and because she knew some would need to leave early on Friday and she wanted us to get our "money's worth" she had us all arrive at 8:00 A. M. Friday the last day of the class. Lana was always upbeat and sharing of all of her techniques and if you want to learn about acrylic or abstracts try to take one of her workshops.
Slide show and mouse over for captions:

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BLOG.............Nancy Standlee Art Blog

WEB SITE ........Nancy Standlee

WEB SITE ........Canvas By Canvas

Other blogs where I post:

Daily Painters of Texas

Daily Abstract Painters Gallery

Daily Painters Marketplace



TEXAS CONTEMPORARY ABSTRACT EXPRESSIONIST FINE ART DAILY PAINTER
NANCY STANDLEE ARLINGTON, TEXAS ART FOR SALE

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Liz Hill Workshop Day 2 and 3 ~ Texas Daily Painter Nancy Standlee

Patricia with Hat
Watercolor, collage, charcoal on hot press 15 x 22 in

See my previous blog post about the Liz Hill workshop and the 3 days I spent in the Houston class where we were encouraged to add anything that will make your figure pieces more exciting. In the upper left corner this piece has some newspaper collage and peeling back of the layers and the hat is collage paper made in a previous workshop.
Patricia (seated)
Watercolor on hot press 15 x 30
One technique we tried on Saturday was to make some large loose shapes before drawing the model. First thing was to paint and get the paper prepared so it could dry and we used charcoal and were instructed to draw with a continuous line which is sometimes difficult and we'd forget. The above 1/2 sheet hot press paper was my attempt. This was an exercise to get us out of the habit of drawing and then painting within the lines as in a coloring book fashion.
In the slide show there are several photos of some of the student's work and just mouse over them for the captions. This was an exciting workshop and I learned several new techniques besides needing more drawing instruction and my concern was - it wasn't long enough. I want to go back so Liz, send me an email when your next 3 day workshop will be as I loved this one.
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Liz Hill Workshop

"Gloria" by Nancy Standlee
15 x 22 in.
watercolor, collage, charcoal on hot press paper

I joined Daily Painters of Texas and discovered Liz Hill's work and it didn't take me long to get signed up for a workshop, Figure Painting in Mixed Media, October 16, 17, and 18Th in Houston at the WAS-H building. Check out Liz's blog and web site and you'll see some exciting work using watercolor, acrylic and collage.
We had a model each morning to sketch and would spend our time getting warmed up on sketch paper and then taking a longer time to draw with charcoal on 140 lb. hot press half sheets of paper in preparation for the afternoon of painting. Liz works in an intuitive and very exciting method of applying washes of color, and going back in with more charcoal, using gesso and collage. I don't know how long or if ever, it would have taken me to produce something even similar to "Gloria" without her instruction and supervision. She was fun to paint with and she shared her knowledge with about 12 of us in demos and while walking around the room giving individual attention. If you enjoy working with figures and collage check out Liz's schedule for her next workshop but she is a busy lady drawing from models 3 times a week.
An added treat for me was a visit the Archway Gallery where she and Susan Sheets have a show, Double Vision and I was able to view several of Liz's recent works. One particular painting called my name and is making the trip back to Arlington with me, Liz's painting "Patricia".

In this painting above you see some of Liz's award winning style of texture, pattern and exaggeration and how she pushes traditional watercolor a step beyond. I have enjoyed this workshop very much and seeing the beautiful facility and meeting new friends and painting and learning some new techniques. In a later post I'll try to show some of the other student's work.

"Pears" ~ Acrylic Painting by Texas Daily Artist Nancy Standlee

"Pears" by Nancy Standlee
8 x 8 in. Acrylic Painting on Canvas

This painting is one of several works that can be seen at the Dutch Art Gallery and the opening reception will be Saturday October 17. It is a celebration of artists across the state of Texas and the Daily Painters of Texas.

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BLOG.............Nancy Standlee Art Blog

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Other blogs where I post:

Daily Painters of Texas

Daily Abstract Painters Gallery

Daily Painters Marketplace


TEXAS CONTEMPORARY ABSTRACT EXPRESSIONIST FINE ART DAILY PAINTER
NANCY STANDLEE ARLINGTON, TEXAS ART FOR SALE ACRYLIC

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"The Board of Directors" ~ Watercolor ~ by Daily Painter Nancy Standlee

"The Board of Directors"

9 x 12 inches Watercolor
Strathmore Bristol Smooth 100 lb.
Watercolor and collage and charcoal

Liz Hill:
I've been busy gathering supplies for the 3 day Liz Hill workshop. I know I'm taking too much "stuff" but when the supply list has watercolor, gouache, acrylic and collage paper, isn't that just about your whole studio? We will be working on hot press watercolor paper. Liz from the Woodlands, is one of the Daily Painters of Texas and that is where I first saw her work and love what she does with line and wash.
Alex Powers:
Liz said in an email that she liked Alex Powers work and his book, "Painting People in Watercolor" so I've revisited the book and have gotten weary of packing and had to try out some charcoal line drawing (6B soft) on a Strathmore Bristol tablet I had. (Alex uses Strathmore 2 ply in the book.) His take (probably) on my attempt "Read the book again". He will be in the area in 2011 and I plan to take his workshop then.
The Model:
We will have a model each day and I thought I might need a little warm up to keep the anxiety to a minimum level. In the small piece above, I added some collage pieces of a metroplex map from the newspaper, a stamp, a piece of gold paper, a hand decorated paper and some text, then I can't leave the gold pen alone. I should be spending time on improving my drawing skills. I hate to be drawing figures in a group from a live model. I'll try to stay in the back and cover my work when anyone gets near. And I'm really not comfortable when the model takes a break and walks around to view how I've drawn her.. and then trying to explain that unflattering something ..hummm, well, I ... I haven't drawn in a while or I need to warm up more...I wonder if she'll believe those old lines. Visit again to see the work from the workshop and I think you'd enjoy a visit to Liz's blog and an exhibit.

Liz's Blog: http://lizhillart.com/LizHillArt/Blog.html

Liz has an exhibit at the Archway Gallery now..

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BLOG.............Nancy Standlee Art Blog

WEB SITE ........Nancy Standlee

WEB SITE ........Canvas By Canvas

Other blogs where I post:

Daily Painters of Texas

Daily Abstract Painters Gallery

Daily Painters Marketplace


TEXAS CONTEMPORARY ABSTRACT EXPRESSIONIST FINE ART DAILY PAINTER
NANCY STANDLEE ARLINGTON, TEXAS ART FOR SALE WATERCOLOR

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"Candy Corn Dreams" ~ Acrylic Figurative with Birds ~ Daily Painter Nancy Standlee

"Candy Corn Dreams"

10" w x 12" ht.
Acrylic on paper
Contact NancyStandlee@sbcglobal.net

O.K. you say "About this title?" - is it the color or shape or the season? Or am I Halloween candy corn hungry? It could be all of the above.
I've found that candy makers consider some of the same principles that artists think about. Watch this delightful YouTube video on the making of Candy Corn and listen for the statements about color, shape and texture (or mouth feel in this case).
YouTube Video
Do you have a favorite Candy Corn story? I have a friend who buys Candy Corn on sale the day after Halloween and freezes it for the year ahead. Now that's loving Candy Corn.

This could be a "Lylas" with birds or on steroids (I just had to say that). More "Lylas" Love You Like a Sister can be found on my web site HERE - http://nancystandlee.com/Lylas.html


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BLOG.............Nancy Standlee Art Blog

WEB SITE ........Nancy Standlee

WEB SITE ........Canvas By Canvas

Other blogs where I post:

Daily Painters of Texas

Daily Abstract Painters Gallery

Daily Painters Marketplace



TEXAS CONTEMPORARY ABSTRACT EXPRESSIONIST FINE ART DAILY PAINTER
NANCY STANDLEE ARLINGTON, TEXAS ART FOR SALE ACRYLIC

Carole Barnes Lecture/Critique ~ Day 3, 4 and 5 ~ by Daily Painter Nancy Standlee

"Tina's Abstract" by Nancy Standlee
SOLD
22" x 30" acrylic on paper
Nancy painted this on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday and sold during the workshop.

I spent last week at Artists Showplace in Dallas taking the Carole Barnes "Watermedia and Collage: Making Your Paintings Stronger and More Personal", September 28 - October 2, 9:30-4:30, $375.00, and I ended my first blog post about the class with a plea "I hope on Wednesday we can see Carole painting more on her demo. We are all needing help and asking questions like "Am I doing this right?" "Help"!!" and on Wednesday morning as we were gathering for our morning lecture I repeated that I hoped she would spend more time on a demo on Wednesday than was spent on Tuesday. Carole said, "I rarely finish a demo painting in class." Then why am I in this workshop and spending $375.00?




Carole's Monday Start

Carole's Painting Progress on Tuesday on the demo



Carole's last work on the Demo on Thursday.

One of the finished pieces she brought to show and your guess is as good as mine as to how the demo gets to the finished stage shown here. That information went back to Colorado with Carole.
You can view some of her other finished work HERE.


If you've been a reader of this blog for very long, you know I love taking workshops and meeting new artists and learning new techniques and I report back with posts about the daily activities. I take workshops to see instructors paint and discuss their work and share their methods of paint application. I've taken about 75 workshops since 2002 that range from a one day to 2 weeks in length and I've taken from some favorite instructors more than once. O.K. I confess I've taken from Robert Burridge 6 times. On the occasion of a new instructor the days before the workshop contains some anxiety as packing begins and the unknown comes to the surface with questions like - Where will I sit? Did I bring the right supplies? (always a concern if you're out of town) Do I have the correct reference material? If you're an artist and have taken a workshop then you can relate and you may have your own personal group of anxieties. I know from talking with many fellow artists few sleep well the night before and a lot are packing right up to the last minute and many fight heavy traffic jams and pay a costly workshop fee. Why? For the love of learning, fellowship and the chance to try out new techniques. Now I must add to that list of concerns - Will they demo and for how long?

On Wednesday her demo was super short and she showed us how she creates a sharp straight line by putting down two pieces of blue hardware painters tape and rubbing briskly with an alcohol soaked tissue or paper towel. The rest of the time (Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday was lecture and she made appointments with individuals for a critique on previous work they brought in and we enjoyed lots of "good painting time" . I belong to a critique group that meets once a month and I pay for this privilege. In a workshop I appreciate critiques on what is done then and there and not on past work. On Friday we had lots of "good painting time" after our morning lecture and at 2:00 p.m. met for our group show and tell under the large mirror.

In a workshop I anticipate and expect a demonstration each morning to set the stage for the days' work. That is all I've known. Various teachers may vary from painting a full sheet morning and afternoon, leaving less time for the participants to paint. Others teachers begin the day with a full painting and by the time they are finished the class is excited and ready to paint. Sometimes after lunch, we regroup and have a short lesson or a time for questions then more painting time.
I was very disappointed that Carole didn't complete a painting during the five days so we could see her steps of problem solving and how she arrives at her stunning pieces.

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BLOG.............Nancy Standlee Art Blog

WEB SITE ........Nancy Standlee

WEB SITE ........Canvas By Canvas

Other blogs where I post:

Daily Painters of Texas

Daily Abstract Painters Gallery

Daily Painters Marketplace



TEXAS CONTEMPORARY ABSTRACT EXPRESSIONIST FINE ART DAILY PAINTER
NANCY STANDLEE ARLINGTON, TEXAS ART FOR SALE

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"Do You Come Here Often?" ~ by Daily Painter Texas Artist Nancy Standlee

"Do You Come Here Often"
12 x 12 inch
Acrylic and collage on canvas

This was one of several paintings delivered today to the Dutch Art Gallery for the Daily Painters of Texas Show that will open soon. Click HERE for more information and please save the date for a visit.

Please visit my website and comment on my blog.
Find me on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.

BLOG.............Nancy Standlee Art Blog

WEB SITE ........Nancy Standlee

WEB SITE ........Canvas By Canvas

Other blogs where I post:

Daily Painters of Texas

Daily Abstract Painters Gallery

Daily Painters Marketplace


TEXAS CONTEMPORARY ABSTRACT EXPRESSIONIST FINE ART DAILY PAINTER
NANCY STANDLEE ARLINGTON, TEXAS ART FOR SALE

Contact: NancyStandlee@sbcglobal.net

Carole Barnes Workshop ~ Day 1 and 2 ~ by Daily Painter Nancy Standlee

"Sun Shrine"
Acrylic full sheet watercolor Aquarius II Watercolor paper
The image may be off as I'm viewing this on my laptop monitor and it is not adjusted correctly. I worked on this today in the workshop. You can take alcohol and wipe down to a near white and add new color. When do you stop? That's Friday. I've got way too many small designs and images going on here I think.
Here's a tech hint:
Awhile ago while I was more than half asleep I placed my camera memory stick in my laptop DVD slot. That woke me up and it is on this side on another weightier laptop I have so it was habit. I called HP and my guru said he'd never heard of such a thing. My laptop doesn't have a button to push eject and the DVD drive didn't recognize a SD card! Fellow did say I could stick a piece of paper in there to fish around as you can't see anything with a flashlight with the little fuzzy entry teeth and he said it wouldn't ruin the laser. It worked and you are witnessing the pictures that were on that said SD card. I'm awake; however, a little rattled.
Starts that are explained below.

More full sheet starts. Large sheets of plastic were placed on the floor for us to place wet pieces of watercolor paper.

This is the Carole Barnes workshop. Click HERE to see her web site and other paintings.

Five days painting with acrylics with Carole Barnes with 18 other artists and it is educational and fun. Carole said on the first day, Monday, that she wanted this workshop to expand our boundaries and find out what you have to say and then how do you say it. This is a first for me to take 5 sheets of Aquarius II watercolor paper and cover with acrylic medium and get paint on all five sheets. Some are working on half or quarter sheets but I decided to live large this week. We used Hake brushes and 1" flats and Liquitex transparent colors: Yellow Orange Azo, Acra Magenta, Thalo Blue, Turquoise Deep and Prism Violet. On the paint application she usually begins with some Yellow Orange Azo as she likes the foundation color that gives a glow but as other colors are applied there is no plan and just the instruction of see what marks can be made and Carole said "Consider this your sandbox. Play and have fun". We made marks with anything from erasers, palette knife, anything with an edge, sole of a shoe, blue tape, hair curler, and homemade stamps. Carole even took the Cheap Joe free gifts from the plastic bag, pushed her hand inside and made marks on her paper. O.K. thanks, Carole, we get the idea to try anything to personalize our marks and develop our style. Day one we did get some paint down but now can all of these colors and shapes be pulled into a cohesive anything? Stay tuned.
Day 2 we added more color and started trying to bring it around to a painting after a lecture on design elements. Carole is spending time this week with each artist to discuss their personal work. I hope on Wednesday we can see Carole painting more on her demo. We are all needing help and asking questions like "Am I doing this right?" "Help"!!

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BLOG.............Nancy Standlee Art Blog

WEB SITE ........Nancy Standlee

WEB SITE ........Canvas By Canvas

Other blogs where I post:

Daily Painters of Texas

Daily Abstract Painters Gallery

Daily Painters Marketplace



TEXAS CONTEMPORARY ABSTRACT EXPRESSIONIST FINE ART DAILY PAINTER
NANCY STANDLEE ARLINGTON, TEXAS ART FOR SALE

Contact: NancyStandlee@sbcglobal.net

Red Rock Abstract ~ Texas Daily Painter Nancy Standlee

"Red Rock Abstract"
6" x 6" squares

Abstracts:
I have a page on my web site filled with small abstracts with a little texture, http://nancystandlee.com/small_original_paintings.html. I really like their simplicity and the fact they are small but can make a statement. This week I saw one of Carol Nelson's abstracts, Shining Through, talk about texture, oh, wow. I've been emailing her and she was kind enough to share some of her "texture ways" and besides I've read or skimmed her blog posts about the geologic paintings. She works large and is having a workshop in October in Colorado but I can't make it so I tried using some modeling paste on these minis. Carol likes liquid acrylics and I have some and tried them but I don't have the handle on them yet so I went back to my tube acrylics. These started out with a figure but the subject changed several times and there are numerous layers and some metallic and pearlized paint somewhere in the layers.
These may be going to the Dutch Art Gallery for the Daily Painters of Texas show and since it will be nearing Christmas I decided these gallery wrapped edges needed to be red.
Thanks, Carol, for your time and emails. I will get to one of your workshops yet.

Please visit my website and comment on my blog.
Find me on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.

BLOG.............Nancy Standlee Art Blog

WEB SITE ........Nancy Standlee

WEB SITE ........Canvas By Canvas

Other blogs where I post:

Daily Painters of Texas

Daily Abstract Painters Gallery

Daily Painters Marketplace



TEXAS CONTEMPORARY ABSTRACT EXPRESSIONIST FINE ART DAILY PAINTER
NANCY STANDLEE ARLINGTON, TEXAS ART FOR SALE

Contact: NancyStandlee@sbcglobal.net