Donna Zagotta Workshop ~ Artists' Showplace Gallery ~ Watercolor and Gouache ~ La Cima Chef

"La Cima Chef"
6 1/2 x 8 Watercolor and Gouache on Crescent #115 watercolor board, hot press
This is the first painting I did on Wednesday and Thursday. The other one will be posted with the slide show of student work so please check back. Read HERE for our CBC paintings at the La Cima Club.

Donna lecturing to us about "Design Ideas for Maximizing Creativity" at the Artists' Showplace Gallery for the July 13-17 workshop.
Donna has a blog now so she can continue to dialog with her students and reach out to them. She invites you for a visit.

One of Donna's Paintings.
Donna and Nancy. I was showing off my new Wal Mart tee shirt that shows Texas and the rest of the US as everything "NOT Texas" and that includes Michigan where Donna is from. I took from her two years ago and you can read about that workshop HERE.
There were 20 eager artists/students to learn from artist/instructor Donna. We didn't get our brushes wet until Wednesday and Monday and Tuesday was an in depth study of our "personal relationship" with Shape, Value, Color, Line and Texture. There is no right or wrong way to use the elements and there is only one way and it's YOUR way. She has been on a 25 year quest to become more creative in her painting style. Donna said "I can't teach you how to paint. The best way to learn to paint is paint, paint, and paint." The medium must match your personality. She doesn't like oil because they take too long to dry and acrylics dry too fast and gouache dries up too easily so what works for her is regular watercolor paints with the W N white designer gouache.
She has numerous articles in magazines and her studio was featured in a recent August 2009 Watercolor Artist and if you have the April 2008 Watercolor magazine you can follow along with our workshop with her article Make a Statement. See other articles listed HERE.
Each student arrived with some of their current work and photos of artists' work they admired. I arrived with Gustav Klimt and Toulouse-Lautrec books and some recent acrylic work. These discussions were to help us develop and work toward connecting an image to our name and our style. She cautioned about never going beyond the style of our early teachers but to continue on a personal journey of who you really are. "Who you are is found in who-what you love, " Donna said. "The painting is done when you love it" another quote we heard during the 5 days.
We learned to use shape and value for the structure of the painting and color, line and texture for pattern embellishment and decorating and when we reach this stage we were told to forget the reference material. . There was discussion out of context as it's hard to juggle all the elements at one time during the painting process. The painting is hard to visualize in the beginning but confidence builds as you continue painting.
Donna uses transparent and opaque watercolor (likes Holbein) with Winsor Newton Permanent White Designers Gouache on Crescent Board #115 Hot Press watercolor board. She likes "stiffish" brushes and prefers Winsor Newton Regency Gold series 500. She prefers working smaller than 11 x 15 except for her show pieces and likes to mat the smaller paintings in wide mats.
Donna "Creativity trumps accuracy."
David Friend "The Creative Way to Paint" "According to the experts, we all have more creative ability than we can ever use. Most of us realize only a tiny fraction of our hidden talent."
Watch for the next blog post to see a student work slide show from the workshop.

Nancy Standlee
a Texas Daily Painter &
member of Canvas by Canvas
Texas Collaborative Artists

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ARLINGTON TEXAS ~ ARTIST NANCY STANDLEE ~ DAILY PAINTER ~
CONTEMPORARY ~ WATERCOLOR ~ ACRYLIC ~ COLLAGE ~ GOUACHE
ABSTRACT ~ EXPRESSIONIST ~ ART FOR SALE ~ FIGURATIVE

Burridge Workshop, Day 2 ~ Mendocino, Ca. ~ Art Blog

8"x 8" Acrylic on canvas board "M" Man Sitting"

6" x 8" Acrylic on canvas board, "Lady Sitting on a Stool"

See this post to read about the Mendocino Acrylic workshop.

Tuesday, Day 2, we had "M"., a undraped male model to pose for us from 10 – 4 (Friday will be a free day with no model) with timed sessions to draw as yesterday. One of my drawings/paintings evolved and I decided on a red haired woman instead of the male model.

1. Before we began, Bob said he’d give us the fastest course on the color wheel with the instructions to use a triad color scheme today plus black and white.

2. He says contrary to what some say, “Black is our friend”.

3. Today use big water, big brushes.

4. Get color down. Start wet and loose. Draw into the wet paint with charcoal, stick, wet paper towels and you can wipe away.

5. Don’t plan on getting it down the first time. You will need to rework and go back and put in pure colors in later stages.

6. We are using the models as a starting point and not to use as anatomically correct drawings.(This statement is significant in my case as I'm not the best drawer around and I prefer imaginative drawings!)

Today we didn’t have a group demo but he invited us up to watch him paint if we wanted to.

I placed cut off sections of pvc pipe under each table leg today to raise the table to a more comfortable height. It helps the back not to bend over and paint all day. The stress was a little less today. First day of a workshop is always hard with people finding their place and wondering if they have the correct supplies, etc. Very few sleep a sound sleep the night before. It was easier for me as I had all my art supplies and just had to lug a huge 51 pound suitcase into the room. I am back in a corner and placed the case on 2 chairs and have a window ledge and the back wall to use for props - a very comfy situation. A day spent standing up, concentrating on new processes calls for a good dinner.

We drove south about 2 miles to Little River and dinner at Little River Inn and ate in the bar area with the door open in view of the waves of the Pacific crashing on the rocks. Later we drove back to the waters of the Headlands of Mendocino to join others sitting in cars watching the sun go down. One more stop for coffee at the Headlands Coffeehouse, (with a jazz piano and a bass combo to entertain us) read the handouts for the next day and prepare mentally for the next day of intensive drawing.

Mini Portrait ~ Port Bolivar Red Dress ~ BlogRush ~ Art Blog

$30.00
5" x 7" Acrylic on Canvas Board, mini portrait
This is the second mini portrait to post painted while some of the CBC group painted at Port Bolivar. See this post to see where we stayed.
I may not may not look at reference material when painting these mini portraits as they usually don't look like anyone I know when completed. But they are fun to do after finishing a project for our collaborative group, Canvas by Canvas. While at our rental beach vacation home, we painted pigs, lures, chickens/roosters, and cats in preparation for fall shows and some of these have already sold. Click HERE to see what is on the easel. I believe all of the lures have sold BUT we will always take orders and we'd be glad to discuss a personal mini you'd like to commission.
BlogRush

BlogRush is still the talk of the blogosphere. The talk is when you add the BlogRush widget to your blog, your post titles will immediately start showing up across a bunch of related blogs that have signed up for BlogRush themselves. I signed up for the Art/Design category. If your blog gets 100 page views a day, your links will show up 100 times on other blogs. If it gets 1,000 page views a day, your links will show up 1,000 times. I don't understand exactly how this works or will work out, but I will try it for a week or so and see if my stats show more traffic to my blog. That's the goal of all bloggers to increase traffic to their blog. A list of related Art sites will be showcased in the widget with the idea of clicks to other sites.
And what’s even better is that if you refer another blogger to BlogRush, your links will be shown even more based on the traffic they receive. That is done by sending invitations to your blogger friends that might be interested in installing it on their blog.
It is estimated that more than 20% of blog readers are also bloggers! Go to the help tab Step-By-Step Video Tutorials For Installing The BlogRush Code for different blog types, Word Press, Blogger, Type pad, Movable type as they show you exactly how to add your BlogRush code to your blog if you'd like to participate in this experiment. It is all free. I have recently added the BlogRush widget to my sidebar. It's a new way to promote your own blog across other relevant blogs (i.e. in the same subject area) and its free. In the widget you'll see links to other Art and Design blogs participating in BlogRush. You can find out more by watching the BlogRush video on the homepage. If you join, one question is throwing some of my friends... You will not be able to complete the registration process until you know the address of your feed. In Blogger, at the very bottom of the page is this statement: Subscribe to: Posts (Atom), click on that and the URL address will appear in the address bar, copy and paste into the blank.
Thanks for visiting my blog and come back anytime to visit other blogs where I post.

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Eat Well ~ Paint Your Food ~ Laugh Often

Self Portrait ~ Donna Zagotta Workshop ~ Port Bolivar Vacation ~ Art Blog

Not for Sale
6" x 9" Watercolor and Gouache on Hot Press Watercolor Paper
The photo was taken at the CBC's beach rental on Port Bolivar and the head wrap was to cover Gulf Hair and I was painting Pigasus, a CBC mini painting, while waiting for the group to go restaurant looking. We returned late September 11 and I packed for the Donna ZagottaArtists Showplace Gallery and hosted by the SWS organization. I had found Donna's work online several years ago and knew if she were ever in the area, I wanted to be in her workshop. I was more interested in her figures and her use of gouache. This is the painting I did in the workshop using watercolor and white gouache.
This particular workshop was "Developing Ideas for Creative Paintings" and was held September 12-14.

In this workshop, the emphasis is on finding methods and ideas for turning ordinary subjects into creative and imaginative paintings. Expanding possibilities for spontaneity through design and personal expression will be our focus. Workshop topics include: composition strategies, improvisational painting, developing a personal visual language, and exploring watercolor’s full potential as a transparent and opaque medium. This workshop will invigorate you with equal parts inspiration, information, and direction. All levels are welcome.

This is the statement on SWS's site about Donna:

Donna Zagotta is a nationally recognized artist and teacher. She is a signature member of the American Watercolor Society, National Watercolor Society, Watercolor West and Midwest Watercolor Society. Her work has appeared on the cover of Watercolor Expressions and The Artist’s Magazine, and she was selected for Watercolor Magic’s “Ones to Watch” in 2001. Donna Zagotta’s paintings have evolved from an early emphasis on traditional watercolor techniques and traditionally influenced realism to an unconventional use of the watercolor medium and the exploration of the area that lies between realism and abstraction. She finds inspiration in the works of Edouard Vuillard, Henri Matisse and Richard Diebencorn, masters who were more focused on expressing color and spatial ideas than in rendering the particulars of subject matter.
Thanks, Donna, for a great workshop. We hope you come back to Texas soon and bring us more Michigan truth.

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Eat Well ~ Paint Your Food ~ Laugh Often

Figure with Flowers ~ Diadem ~ Wotartist ~ Facebook ~ Art Blog

NFS
18" x 24"
Acrylic on watercolor paper
This week I was notified that my art work been accepted from the http://Wotartist.com site. Wotartist was voted one of the top 50 web sites in the Times poll, a roundup of the most interesting sites of the year. At Wotartist you can search for an artist by genre or by the artist's name. For a ex-librarian this is hard to understand but their entries are alphabetical using the first name. So I would look for me by Nancy Standlee instead of Standlee, Nancy. Here is my listing http://www.wotartist.com/directory.asp?Author=Nancy%20Standlee

When you mouse over the painting an image will appear. If you click it takes you to the blog site. If you’re interested in looking at art of any kind, it can probably be found at Wotartist.
My big objection to the Times site was that I could never find a way to print their poll off. I ended up doing a print screen to get them down on paper as I think this would be a very good list to refer to.
If you want to vote for Wotartist you can here. You can rank the Times' picks.

This elegantly designed portal is a beautiful introduction to artist websites from around the world. Listings are organized by region (Americas, U.K., Europe, Australia, Asia/Middle East) and directory pages list types and genres (sculpture, painting and photography; Figurative, Surrealism and Expressionism). They are clues that are to be explored—moused over, really—so you can discover who, and what, lies beyond. Trigger the pop-up windows to see the artist's name and a sample piece. One click takes you to that artist's website, where you can see more images of their work, learn about gallery shows and get other information. Whether you're a serious collector or just plain curious, it's fun to hop from Nick Milliner's animations (listed as "Weird" on the U.K. page) to bright clay pots by Pippin Drysdale (ceramics, in Australia). But if you're looking for a particular artist, just Google him or her, as there's no search-this-site option. If you're an artist who needs help designing a website to showcase your work, Wotartist has a Wotdesign team for hire. Another site that can quickly suck you in: Getty Images' 10 ways, 10 separate, uniquely structured virtual paths through one immense collection.

Who could resist reading about the 25 sites we can’t live without?

Scroll down and you’ll see the 5 worst web sites. Wouldn’t you love to have the time to explore the 50 best, 25 that we can’t live without and yes, even the 5 worst.

From the Wotartist web site:

About wotartist

Wotartist is unique in being an artist directory run voluntarily by artists themselves. It is a non-commercial site, with the sole aim to promote some of the best artists currently exhibiting on the internet. Designed with ease of use foremost as a consideration, we hope that the buying public, publishers, art students and art agents will all find wotartist a useful tool. Please contact directly with individual artists if you are interested in their work and send selective artists e-cards - which can be used for all occasions. New artists are actively sought out and added to this site daily, so please visit frequently to discover new and exciting art work.

Locate an artist

• Use continent region links to browse for artists.
• The drop down list of genres allows for a more specific look at the artists listed.
• A further detailed search can be made by using the search box. Try searching by using the first few letters of a name, or a specific location and e-card to select all artists with e-cards to send.

I found it interesting that FaceBook was not listed in Time's top 50 web sites but it was included as #9 as the 25 we can't live without. Some of us from Canvas by Canvas have joined Facebook and we would welcome you as a friend. To find more information about Facebook, click HERE:

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Eat Well ~ Paint Your Food ~ Laugh Often

Calypso Dancer Series #10 of 10 ~ StatCounter ~ Daily Painting

7.5" x 5.5" image
Acrylic on 140 lb. watercolor paper
The Calypso series #10

The Dancer will be the last one in the series and then on to a new project. This is the only horizontal piece in the series and she reminds me a dancer surrounded by long swirling scarves. And congratulations to the art collector in Austin, Tx. who purchased 2 of my favorites from the series. Thank you.
If you’re new to blogging as I am, I love the StatCounter, a free reliable program that shows visitor counts to your site. Basically, it will let you know if there is anyone out there in the Blogosphere that ever looks at your created posts. Oh, yes, and that reminds me, we love comments to our posts. That is available directly below the post, close by the white envelope and sometimes it may say 0 comments or if we've done a favorite, it could say 4 or 25 comments.
How to add StatCounter:
*Register an account
*Create a project
*Insert the code on your website
*Analyse your stats

How to add the HTML code from StatCounter to Blogger:
Dashboard/Template/Page Elements/
Add a Page Element/ HTML/Java Script/
Add HTML from StatCounter/Save

Now email your best friends and your relatives about your blog regarding the black sheep in the family, and watch your little counter climb. Hope it works for you.

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Calypso Dreams Series #9 of 10 ~ Daily Acrylic Painting

7.5" x 5.5" image
Acrylic on 140 lb. watercolor paper
The Calypso series #9

These other worldly figures look as if they were off in their separate dream world of colorful surroundings. One more to go in this series and then I will post all of them in a slide show so you can see them all together. I hope you have enjoyed these impressionist figurative small paintings.

Other blogs where I post:
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