Ready to Paint

"Ready to Paint"  (Watercolor)  C. Eastwood, 2012

Ah, watercolor class is back in session, and we've been working on some composition skills (which in my case were so rusty as to be practically non-existent).  The assignment?  Dig around in your purse or watercolor supplies, find some "stuff," and turn it into an interesting composition.  Six thumbnail sketches later (as required), I'd finally found a mix of objects that provided an acceptable composition and it was time to paint.  Of course, once the painting was done, there was a tad too much space on the right and so I ended up (heels dragging the whole way) adding in some paper clips.  And guess what!  The instructor was right (imagine that).  I'm a lot happier with it now and I feel like I've learned some important lessons about positive/negative space, rhythm, balance, and movement.  Not too shabby for a painting about painting!  Hopefully I can translate all that into future work.

Charcoal Values

Charcoal Value Sketch  © C. Eastwood, 2012

Do not attempt to adjust your screen...there's nothing wrong with it.  The picture is black and white and shades of grey (no...not that kind!).  I'm taking a second on-line class taught by another wonderful artist and teacher who goes by the name of "Gritty Jane" (J. DesRosier -- Portraits and Papers) to add some additional portrait skills and mixed media techniques.  Before we get to the paint and other fun stuff, I get to go back to drawing with charcoal.  I haven't done anything like this since high school, and I am NOT admitting how many years ago that was!  (Let's just say that if I count decades, I can still do it on one hand -- barely, yikes.)  Anyway, since I'm sharing this journey, I figured I'd go ahead and add this one to the batch.