Burridge Workshop Slideshow ~ Mendocino CA ~ Art Blog

These are some photos taken around the Mendocino area, Mendocino Art Center, Avenue of the Giants, Little River, Fort Bragg, and Point Arena.

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.

Burridge Workshop, Day 1 ~ Mendocino, CA ~ Art Blog

Mendocino, California October 1 – 5, 2007

I’m not in Texas anymore! I’m taking an acrylic painting class, "Contemporary Abstract Figurative Painting" in Mendocino, California and Monday, October 1 was the first day. Robert Burridge is the instructor.

The class description:

"This is a class for drawing and painting the contemporary nude. You will learn expressive painting techniques for the modern painter. If you have ever wanted to learn how to paint the free style abstract figure, this workshop is for you. Color theory explained and explored. You will learn the 12 Design Compositions for a successful painting. “Drawing the nude” skills are not a prerequisite. Variety of poses with the undraped model. Lots of paint sketching, gestural wet drawing and finger painting techniques. Be prepared to paint loser, bolder, freer, lighter and more intuitively. Plenty of time for action-filled painting exercises, demos and personalized attention. All eater-soluble paints are welcomed.”

ROBERT BURRIDGE paints almost every day in his country barn studio located on California’s Central Coast along the beaches of San Luis Obispo County. His style explores and interprets “real life” in his own passionate, painterly voice. Art critics describe his work as “vibrant, beautiful, masterly done and just a little tweaked;” and “His use of bold, rich color and adventurous texture, while complex, is uplifting and Pop.” His current subjects feature “the Good Life,” as seen through his life as an artist. He is the President of the International Society of Acrylic Painters. His work is featured on Starbucks Coffee mugs, Pearl Vodka bottles and on eight commercial tapestries.

The class is being held in the Mendocino Art Center and it is an educational, exhibition, and resource center for the visual and performing arts founded in 1959 and it overlooks the Pacific.

Mendocino County’s most visited city, Mendocino, a quaint New England style town with many of the buildings dating to the turn-of-the-century. The Mendocino Coast is one of the most picturesque areas of the state. Main Street is filled with dozens of shops on one side as the other side is left for a spectacular ocean view. There are art galleries and lots of restaurants and B&Bs. Many of the small towns along the Northern Coast region had their beginnings because of the logging and sawmill industry. Mendocino started as a logging town and has become an art colony and in the center of the village is the Mendocino Art Center, which hosts classes and seminars each year.

Classes run from 9:30 to 4:30 each day. Our model, G., arrived about 10:00 a.m. and we drew and painted all day except for a lunch break and short model breaks. These sessions ran anywhere from 2-3 minute poses to two 45 minute drawing and painting sessions. The room set up is not ideal. There are 2 adjoining rooms and the model stand is in between. The class is full with about 20 students and 30 on a waiting list. My biggest concern is there is not a table and chairs set aside for Bob to do demos – the main reason I take a workshop is to see the instructor paint. I hope this situation improves. We are the only class this week in session and I hope later we can have a demo set up on the patio area.

Some Bob instructions:

1. Maintain a GOOD attitude. Don’t expect to do a great painting. Paint the way you’ve always wanted to paint. If you end up with a lousy painting so what. Do hundreds of paintings and drawings.
2. Try to find a theme or series. For example, at present he’s doing a circus theme. He’s just finished a Wingland/Lovers theme. He recommended the book “Water for Elephants”. A theme is something closest to your heart. Know and trust your heart and develop a theme and place a model in your theme.
3. Nothing is original. Everything has been done before BUT not by you. That’s what makes it your original.
4. Experiment with your drawing. Draw with twigs, paper towels, big brushes, pens, charcoal. You can include more than the model.
5. For the gesture drawings, do not put in eyebrows or fingernails.
6. Most people make the head too large. Try to exaggerate a feature.
7. We used very little color and started with black and white paint or gesso and then added one color, and later added one more color just as a highlight color.

After the class, I visited 2 local art supply stores and just looked. You never think you have enough supplies but I restrained myself and settled for a wonderful dinner, upstairs and overlooking the city, in Fort Bragg at the Mendo Bistro. for fresh pasta and wine. Too tired for any homework and fell asleep reading my handouts. I'm being courageous posting this initial attempt but I'll work on her later.

Mr. Rooster Tail ~ BlogRush Update ~ Word Verify ~ Blogger ~ Nancy Standlee Art Blog

$40.00
6”x 6” acrylic mini painting on gallery wrapped canvas
Mr. Rooster Tail is available on our Canvas by Canvas easel. Later he will be moved to the mini painting page. He was painted on the same Port Bolivar trip as Pigasus.
Did I mention we've sold all of our lures? But we can paint more for Christmas gifts. Orders are available through the Canvas by Canvas site or to inquire about placing an order email canvasbycanvas@gmail.com.

For some reason the Google spam robots thought this blog was spam and began making me put in word verification at each post and it prevented me from saving a draft. If this happens to you and you've noticed you have to start putting in LETTERS before you can post, but not when you make a comment, then click on the little question mark that appears by the letters and a human will look at your blog, apologize and you'll be back in business. This is the letter I received from the Blogger team and the problem is usually corrected within 24 hours. Thanks, Blogger Team.

Hello,

Your blog has been reviewed, verified, and
cleared for regular use so that it will no
longer appear as potential spam. If you
sign out of Blogger and sign back in
again, you should be able to post as
normal. Thanks for your patience, and
we apologize for any inconvenience
this has caused.

Sincerely,
The Blogger Team

I continue to invite friends to BlogRush even though I've never seen one of my posts appear in the widget; however, I've seen other recognizable blogs several times. This truly is a mystery to me. If you're thinking about joining, read here, http://blogrush.com/faq, for some frequently asked questions, before joining. To join and give more traffic to the mentioned blogs, click on the BlogRush.com tab at the bottom of the widget on the Nancy Standlee Art Blog, CanvasbyCanvas Art Blog, or Artist Food Network. Wait, hold the presses! I just viewed on my site on the BlogRush widget, a blog entry "Card Sharks" from my good friend and fellow CBC painter, Mitchell-Taylor and her blog, Do You Blog Before Breakfast. Congrats, BT, you've conquered the BlogRush widget.

Other blogs where I post:

· http://artistfoodnetwork.blogspot.com

· http://canvasbycanvas.blogspot.com

· http://myspace.com/nancystandlee

· TO VIEW MORE PAINTINGS OR PURCHASE: Go to Paypal on http://nancystandlee.blogspot.com

· Eat Well ~ Paint Your Food ~ Laugh Often

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.

http://artistfoodnetwork.blogspot.com

http://canvasbycanvas.blogspot.com

http://myspace.com/nancystandlee

TO PURCHASE PAINTINGS: Go to Paypal on http://nancystandlee.blogspot.com

Eat Well ~ Paint Your Food ~ Laugh Often

Donna Zagotta Workshop Slideshow

I hope you enjoy some of the photos from the Donna Zagotta Workshop held at the Artists' Showplace. Click HERE to read another post about the workshop. Notice to all the painters.. I get dibs on painting Gail's wild shoes. Now I wish I'd taken a photo of everyone in the workshop.

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.

http://artistfoodnetwork.blogspot.com

http://canvasbycanvas.blogspot.com

http://myspace.com/nancystandlee

TO VIEW MORE PAINTINGS OR PURCHASE: Go to Paypal on

http://nancystandlee.blogspot.com

Eat Well ~ Paint Your Food ~ Laugh Often