Hummingbirds and rhododendrons - student display, adult art class, 6/4/18

We started with practice sheets of eye, bill and forehead marks lined up across the page. First one direction in the first line, the other direction for the next line. We also did continuous line drawing arrangements of the bird and flower configurations in yellow colored pencil or crayon. These were to be colored in as desired. The yellow line was to remain showing. The final drawing was to continue working on the yellow line style, or to start something of one's own choice.

Red Dog at play, direct watercolor - 30x30 challenge, 6/3/18

I had made a list of ideas I could use in the direct watercolor 30x30 challenge. I have done 10 or 11(?) already on the daily basis tho the challenge officially is for June. It feels as if no sooner has one done a painting than one must turn around and do another. I don't want to burn out with this. And nothing on my list was moving me at that point.

The motivator or purpose in this one is to fill the hole I saw. I made a red cat with florals and a black cat with florals. And there was the black dog with florals, who happened to face the other way from the cat paintings. They were almost a set. A red dog facing as the black dog makes that set!

#30x30DirectWatercolor2018

Dog with ball, black ink painting, 6/2/18

First, once I remembered what I did want a painting for today, (a birthday greeting), this was to get a banner. This may not get that far! But at least it is something for the day.
#30x30DirectWatercolor2018 -
That 30 paintings 30 days, direct watercolor, (in June), challenge.

Black cat with florals & critters, 6/1/18

Silhouette style black ink painting #30x30DirectWatercolor2018

Warblers, direct watercolor painting, 5/31/18

Had made a list of ideas on exercises to practice painting faster, in my recent blog post. To try one of these ideas, I tried setting up a brief slide show to work from. Hah! Much too dizzying and frustrating for painting I found immediately. In fact I started feeling queasy right away. Weird.

Ok, so I picked 4 reference photos from CCNAB, (Classic Collection of North American Birds). My paper already had some frames or large thumbnail boxes drawn out. Each one also had a couple paint marks where I'd made my first attempts. From there I just painted directly in watercolor without under drawing.

#30x30DirectWatercolor2018

30 + ideas for painting exercises to practice working faster, 5/31/18

Ideas for exercises to practice doing faster art, as a counter action to the impulse to get hung up in overworking art. Tues, 5/29/18 Catinka Knoth ...continued through 5/31/18

One page of notes is transcribed to text here. The other pages are photos of notes. Maybe I'll transcribe at some point. I write in pencil but at least had them converted for cleanup. Still hard to read....

1.  set timer at one minute, two minutes, five minute, etc.

Work from references: 

art examples 

subject pics

2. make slideshows with preset timed changes

3. work from Videos, TV shows

4. take pics from the book and make into a slideshow

5. Print ref pics onto cards to turn over with timer

6. work with others – change refs with neighbors at timer signal

7. do memory sketches from a walk, a days experiences

 8. Sketch on a boat ride, harbor tour

9. Sketch on a walk

10. Create a scavenger hunt with others, that is a timed return. Sketches of the finds are the validation

11. Work/sketch at various activities, events, locations:

Farms

Market

Cafés

Classes

Musical performances

Festivals

Fairs

Zoo

Sports events

Parks

Landmarks

1. Limited parameters for ones exercises:
2. Make a list of limited parameters for art exercises
3. Choose one of the exercises by desire or choose by lottery/chance

Made version #1 list earlier. Should be lots of overlap between the list!

More notes on the subject, need transcribing to text.

Flamenco dancers and music, direct watercolor, 5/30/18

Listening and watching some flamenco music and dancer videos. Have loved those rhythms and sounds and dancing since youngest age. It dawned on me now that it is that horse culture one hears in those rhythms. The hooves beating and thundering.

#30x30DirectWatercolor2018