~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 Visit to the Garden~

This is the second "imaginary trip" that I've taken with Laure Ferlita.  The class is for 6 weeks with just one lesson a week.  I looked anxiously forward to each week's lesson and while waiting usually paint more than one "page" for my journal.
Lesson One: Wildflowers
I thought this would be easy because I love flowers but my first page had a lot "flaws".

I was really unhappy with the lettering.  I'm learning that lettering is an integral part of the journal page. It's not all about the painting.

Lesson Two:  Window Boxes

I really had trouble with the shadowing on this painting.  After my critique, I painted a second page from a photo that I took in Paris.

This was a window that I had photographed in Montmartre.

Lesson Three:  Water features

I really liked this subject though my first painting turned out to be harder than I thought it would be.  The second painting was done from a photo that I took when driving cross-country.  I was amazed that it turned out so well.  Had it not been for the "Trip to New Orleans" and the lesson where we had to paint people, I never would have taken on this sculpture.

Lesson Four:  Garden Tools
I composed a "set up" with my gardening gloves and hand trowel as my subject.
The second painting is from a photo that I took in Paris.  It is a small garden shop in the Tuileries Gardens.

The lettering style is "bungalow".

After the critique, I went back and softened the white pen lines on the watering can.

Have you noticed that the lettering has improved?  I bought a couple "how to" books and they have really helped (along with practice)!

Lesson Five:  Garden Critters

When  I first saw this topic I just cringed, ugh! ~bugs.  I do NOT like bugs.  But then when I was looking through the choices of photos to paint, I was mesmerized by this one....these are not "bugs".

These Checkered Skippers  looked like two Tiffany creations, so delicate on top of the pincushion flower.  This is one of my favorite paintings.  I didn't put any journaling on it, though I did add the scientific name last (Pyrgus oileus).

 

I mentioned practicing my lettering skills.  I made a "sampler" page~for fun and reference.  The styles "draftsman" and "bungalow" are my favorites

 Lesson Six:  Last class~ Dew Drops

 

This lesson would have been a whole lot easier if I had chosen not to paint in my little 5" x5" journal.

My little rain drops were so small my hand cramped and my eyes crossed.  Some in the class just did a "how-to" page; one large raindrop.  They were the smart ones!

I might have spaced my drops a little better but I was pretty pleased with the end result..certainly learned a lot about light dispersion on a drop of water!

Laure gave us a "bonus" lesson because there were a lot of "computer issues"; but I was out of town and by the time I got back was just too tired to get it done.  But I did print out the photos because the subjects were absolutely stunning~Asian Gardens!

This class, like the last Imaginary Trip, was just a joy. I've learned SO MUCH!  My classmates, and there were quite a few (32), were delightful, talented, supportive and fun.  By the end of the session you feel like you have made new friends.
Laure will be taking an "Imaginary Trip to Italy" and I have signed up~I am ready to go!!

Wanna come along???  I can promise you it'll be great fun!

 

~Maclay Gardens~

Alfred B. Maclay Gardens State Park in Tallahassee.

The gardens are just a small part of this 1,200 acre State Park.

New York financier Alfred Barrymore Maclay bought this land overlooking Lake Hall in 1923 and created this beautiful garden for his family's southern retreat.


Entrance to the Gardens.

 Late winter is the best time to see the splendor of the gardens.  There are several varieties of Japanese Magnolia.  The spanish moss adds a romantic feeling to the garden.

Japanese Magnolia

Brick path to the Maclay house.

The camelias had been in bloom for awhile and the wind had blown many of the petals off the trees. But there were still many to view.



 So many different colors~

Red Camelias next to Japanese Magnolia

Canopy walk to the Maclay house.

Huge oaks with silvery spanish moss formed the canopy along the path to the house.

Lake Hall

 We made a brief stop at the family residence; a small, unpretentious and exquisitely decorated home. The house sits on top of a hill overlooking the lake.

 From the house we followed the Camelia walk arriving at the Walled Garden.

The walled garden

A view of the Reflection Pool from the south portal to the walled garden.

From the walled garden we continued to "the pond".

There is a lovely path that encircles the pond.

 More Magnolias...

The attendant at the Visitor's Center identified a few flowering trees that we were not familar with and also told us that the Azaleas would be in bloom in 2 weeks.  That will be a spectacular sight.

What a magnificent winter retreat!

Carmel Bay~ Start to Finish

In 2010, the US Open Golf Tournament was held at Pebble Beach in California.  While watching the 4 rounds, this scene was shown prior to most of the commercial breaks.  The Big Sur coast and Carmel Bay is just beautiful and I wanted to paint it.  So I grabbed the sketch book and while watching the golf, sketched the coastal view over the 4 days.

(My sketch didn't copy very well....I don't do detailed value thumbnail sketches.)

Once I got the basic composition worked out, I chose my color palette for the painting. Over the years, I have made and accumulated a lot of color reference swatches.  I used the following swatches to choose the palette for this painting.

I chose the sky color (windsor blue and pthalo blue), the ocean colors(cobalt teal and ultra turquoise), the rock combinations( all the different umbers and violets), the colors for the sand(buff titantium) and trees (several combinations of blues and quinacridine gold) and shrubs.  Usually,  I would put all of these choices on one sheet of paper for reference while painting and then keep it with the sketch for future reference.

I also look through my library of art books to get ideas for the different effects that I may want to create.  For this painting, I needed to review wave action so I looked through lots of seascapes.

I referred to this image for rocks, foamy water and wave action.

I faintly sketched the horizon line, then the trees and rocks coastline. Then, as I always do when I start a landscape, I put in the sky and clouds first.



Then I lay the first wash of the sea, rocks, beach and trees, shrubs and foliage.

I continue to layer on color, creating the light and dark areas.  For this painting, I got this far and got stuck. The background is not too bad but the foreground looks very pale and undefined, I didn't like the water color and I wasn't sure how to proceed.  I was liking what I had so far and didn't want to mess it up...BUT I didn't know what it needed or what to do next.  So I put on top of my bookcase and studied it ....a lot!

I wanted this area of the water meeting the beach to be foamy.

After a week or so, I decided to take a photo of the unfinished work and send it to my art teacher, Dani Tupper; asking her to critique it and offer suggestions.

"Carmel Bay"

This is the finished painting.  (It's pretty obvious that it is definitely a better photograph.) The sky is the same.  I changed the color of the water by glazing with different shades of turquoise so that there would be more of a color difference between sky and water.  The foamy rush of sea to shore is created with negative painting and also adding white gouache (This is where the reference photo was most useful).  Adding the purple to the beach, suggesting wet sand, provided the contrast of water meeting the beach.  Dani suggested deepening the values of the rocks and having them less detailed in the foreground so that your eye would travel down towards the point where the rocks meet the water.  I removed some of the deep greens in the background trees and shrubbery.  I also scrubbed out the sandy paths between the rocks leading down to the beach creating the needed value contrast.

When I posted this painting on Fine Art America, I received a comment from a Californian saying that this was exactly how it looked....I thought that was the best compliment.

~Flowers, I love flowers~

I love nature.  I love flowers.  It seems that when you start taking art classes flowers are a favorite subject.  When I took my first watercolor classes the subject was Daisies.

I look at this and am still amazed that it was one of my first paintings.  The lesson: learning to layer washes of color or "glazing" and preserving whites.

Then I moved on to Poppies.



I took dozens of photos of the Oriental Poppies in my garden; then using the glazing techniques taught by Arleta Pech tackled this painting.  I loved the finished product.  I entered it into an art show; the entry criteria included that the painting be available for sale.  I didn't want to sell it, so I put a ridiculous price on it.  Someone didn't think the price was ridiculous.  I am so glad that I had photographed the painting before entering it into the show.  (Now I hold on to paintings until I'm ready to give them up.)

Then came Irises.
I have always loved the gracefulness of irises.  Again, I took dozens of photos in my garden and at the Denver Botanic Gardens.  My sketchbook is filled with " Iris studies".  I wanted to really understand the structure of this unusual and beautiful flower.

"Purple Irises" won a third prize in an art show.

When I left Colorado and settled in Florida, I discovered tropical flowers.  The colorful flowers and shrubs bloom profusely.  Hibiscus, Bird of Paradise, Bougainvillea and Orchids.  I became very fond of orchids!  We also had the most interesting cactus in our backyard~a Night-blooming Cereus.  The cactus blooms once a year and the blooms last one day and they only bloom at night.

I took this picture early in the morning;
the flowers are already starting to close.
They are as big as plates!

My painting "Night Blooming Cactus".

I then tried Hibiscus.  We had several varieties in our yard and the neighbors had even more=more photos!!

These next 3 are small watercolor "studies"; same flower, different colors.



 

Bougainvillea.
"Eze" was done from a photograph that a friend took while on vacation in the south of France.  I liked the warm colors and the bright fuchsia bougainvillea.  Preserving the little hints of white are what makes this painting work.

 Orchids.
It's no secret that I love orchids, but they have been the most challenging to paint.   The first one is a collage using rice paper for the textured background and irridescent paint on the flower petals.

Mixed media Orchid

This variety of orchids are Paphopedilum (paphs or "slipper orchids").

"Paphs"

"White Phaleanopsis"

This is my favorite orchid painting. The photo that I used for reference was taken at the Miami International Orchid Show.

"Orchid Duo"



I have many Peony sketches in my sketchbook but Peonies don't grow in Florida~maybe I will have to go back to the Denver Botanic Gardens. 

They have the most beautiful peony garden!