~Imaginary Trip to the Japanese Garden~

From Greece, I'm off with the art group to a Japanese Garden.  This class is only 4 weeks.

Lesson 1~Going Green
 We began the class making color charts, mixing various blues and yellows to make GREEN.  I soon learned that not all blues & yellows make a nice green.  I think green is the color most artists struggle with.  We were shown how to let the colors blend together on the paper rather than blending them on the palette and applying to the paper.  This is not easy.  You must learn the strength of the various pigments.  Some blues are very strong, so you only need a little added to yellow.  This was a very good exercise!

   ~Know your colors~

Lesson 2~ Lighting the Way

The lesson began with another color chart~mixing grays.  I had a hard time at first, all the combinations were coming out green or brown.  We were to use the grays in the painting of lanterns in the garden.

I did end up with some beautiful grays made with colors I never would have tried or thought would make gray.  My favorite was the combination of Moonglow & Cobalt Teal (Daniel Smith Watercolors)~it's the swatch in the lower right-hand corner (below).

The goal for this lesson was to paint our lantern in 30 minutes.  Laure asks us to use a timer.  At the end of the 30 minutes we post our painting, then we can finish at our leisure.  The first painting is my 30 minute one.

It took an additional 15 minutes to complete.

 Lesson 3 ~ Structurally Sound

For this lesson our reference photos were the buildings found in Japanese gardens~teahouses, temples, etc.  I went way over the time limit because I got a bad start; I didn't plan very well.  Choosing an ambitious scene for 30 minutes is not a good idea.  I end up more concerned about the time than the art.

I was able to do most of the temple in the 30 minutes.  I needed an additional 10 minutes for more details and contrast.

Lesson 4 ~Nishikigoi


  Nishikigoi is Japanese for "brocaded carp".
I was excited about this topic.  I've always wanted to paint the koi that are always present in the watergardens.  We learned how to put fish "in" the water; also, how to create the various appearances of the water (reflections, shadows, ripples, and rocks beneath the water).  It is actually done in 5 steps (layers).  This was a great lesson.  I'd like to do the koi again using different colors~I'm not real fond the green "swamp" look.

This was a really fun class.  The artists who participate learn as much from the other artists as from Laure, our teacher.  When we post our paintings, we include how we approached the painting, the problems we encountered and how we like the outcome.  Others can comment always focusing on what they really liked about our painting and offering suggestions from their own experience.  Laure critiques our work and always makes wonderful suggestions~she is an excellent critic.

I'm not sure where I will go next.....Paris or San Francisco.... I love to travel and I love to paint so there is definitely another Imaginary Trip in my future.

~Imaginary Trip to Greece~

I'm taking another Imaginary Trip with Laure Ferlita....this time we are going to Greece.  I am looking forward to seeing more of this beautiful part of the world.  My first time in Athens was only for 2 days.

Lesson 1 : ATHENS
For our first lesson we were supposed to do our journal page in 30 min.  I chose the theatre but decided to do a sketch first to see how long it would take.  I realized I had to leave out the detail if I wanted to get this done in the allotted time.

This is the original (above).
Below:  After I added the shadows which were suggested in the critique.

This painting of the Acropolis is from a photo that my niece,Nicole, took in Athens.

Lesson 2: Kalamata


We moved on to Kalamata.  I chose the ancient olive tree with a small inset of the olives.
We had 40 min. to complete this lesson.

I made this pen sketch in 30 minutes.

This first attempt is a bit 'anemic'.

Laure showed us how to see the values by printing the reference photo in black and white.  I tried the second painting using the black and white reference.  A much better result.

2nd try on the ancient olive tree

Lesson 3: CRETE and people

Here we are in Crete and we are going to paint 'people'.

Drawing and painting life forms is very intimidating.  We were given a brief lesson on drawing people using the rule of fourths (or 8 heads).  This is such a neat little trick.  Our assignment was to do 3 scenes and one had to include a person.   I was surprised that my man looks like a man.  Each scene was to be done in 20 minutes.

 I did the next painting just because I liked the scenes.  All the reference photos for Crete were beautiful and very diverse.

I liked the textures and warm colors and thought these 3 scenes worked well with each other.

I wanted to include the design elements from the reference photo of the Knossos Minoan Palace.  I picked several parts and included them on my page.  I'm not thrilled with my color choice.  The gray is really wrong.

The next 3 paintings I did from photos that I found on Paint My Photo.  It's a site where people submit their photos for artists to use as reference copyright-free.
The taverna and man mending the nets were done in the allotted time...that is why they really aren't complete.  I do not like to paint with a time restriction.  I feel pressured and get sloppy....but the idea is that you are painting a 'journal page' on site; and sometimes you don't have a long time to capture a scene.

This painting took a whole lot longer than the 30 minutes suggested.

Lesson 4:   Food and Celebration  with a 'theme'

For our next assignment we were allowed to pick our own time limit.  We were to paint from the reference photos and try to incorporate a 'theme' to our page.

The instrument is not a mandolin as I thought but a Bouzouki.

If you can't tell, my theme was 'blue'.   The little restaurant with the trailing bougainvillea was another of Nicole's Greece photos.  I've wanted to paint it but was intimidated by all the detail.  That's the best part of this class; editing out the unnecessary elements.

Lesson 5: Thessaloniki   Pen sketching with the addition of one color only.


This was my favorite lesson. We were to draw with pen and embellish with one color only.
Using a pen that is not waterproof allows for the ability to move the ink around.  We also found out that some black pens are made with a red base(warm) and some with a blue base(cool).  So if you know your pen and ink, you can create a painting with different shades of gray in addition to the watercolor.

Amazingly this took only 25 minutes...the limit set for the lesson

In case you are wondering what this is...it's a large outdoor sculpture of umbrellas.  I chose a part of the photo that I thought would fit on my page.

This is pen only~a composite of 2 photos.

For the page below, I used 4 different brands of black pen....(the scanner exaggerated the pink).

This was begun in pen but I added the blue watercolor to make the boat stand out.  Done in less than an hour.  Also a composite of 2 photos.

 6.  Santorini


This was the most difficult lesson.  We had to use paint only.  No sketching.  No drawing. No pen. No pencil.

Pages were to be done in 25 minutes.

The first painting (above) took about 40 minutes.  I got lost in all the angles and shadows.

I wanted to paint this cat because it looks just like my cat Raji and I have never tried to paint him.

I was shocked that I got it done without sketching and in the 25 minutes.

The next three I did just because I liked the photos so much.  They were all done with paint only, no sketching.

 7.  Last Lesson:  Glimpses of Greece


For our last lesson we were to draw boxes of various sizes and shapes on our page.  Then we had 5 min. to capture some aspect of Greece from any of the class photo references.   This was a wonderful lesson.  If you define your space and simplify the subject to fit the space and paint for only 5 minutes it is amazing how much you can do.
I liked this so much that I did two pages.

 Of all these little snippets, only 3 took longer than 5 minutes;  the byzantine church windows, the rocky beach and the olive oil jars.

This was a wonderful class!  There were so many talented artists who participated.  Several I know from previous Imaginary Trips.  And now.......

I'm off to the Imaginary Japanese Garden.

~Imaginary Trip to the Beach~

Another on-line art class with Laure Ferlita (Imaginary Trips).  This time we are going to the beach.
What better way to get inspired to paint beach scenes.

Lesson One~Waves

This was a good lesson; capturing the action of the waves.

Lesson Two~ Sea Gulls
Before painting we had to sketch birds in a sketch book.  This exercise was to familiarize us with the action and anatomy of birds.  We had to do the sketching in PEN...no erasing.  So you really had to pay close attention to what you were drawing....this was a good exercise.

For this one I chose to give the birds a 'sundown' background~colors could be brighter.

This is supposed to be in the morning when I the light is a bit more subduedl


Lesson Three: Lighthouses


Laure had pages of lighthouses photos to choose from.  I liked this one because the atmospheric effect of fog and that it was green. Not the usual lighthouse color.  I researched it and found that it is on the coast of France in Brittany.

I've painted many lighthouses so I chose to only do one.


Lesson Four:  Lesson four was problematic for me.  The subject was Hibiscus and I really don't think that fit into the 'Beaches' subject matter.  So I chose a Beach Morning Glory.  It has the same trumpet shape as the hibiscus and it is actually found growing on the beach.

We were only given one lesson a week and I was enthused to paint so I did another seagull.
This one turned out really well and I have used it as a new design for note cards.

The Four week class went much too quickly.  The classmates are fun and helpful.
I'm already for my next trip~"Imaginary Trip to Greece" at the end of April.

Until then wishing you a Happy Spring!!!!