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More on the Frank Baggett painting class: We are painting scenes of Tennessee creeks and roads and here are 2 of my paintings. The top one is from the first class I attended and I like the way the lower 2/3rd of the painting turned out. Learning to create water with rocks and lichen and sticks and logs in it was really fun. I like the background trees, too. Not crazy about the pond & bright grassy area toward the back; it catches the eye but seems too bland compared to the rest of the scene. This one I will keep for myself to think about and use as a reference for my own plein air creek paintings.  The second class we did another creek and I'm way less excited about how my painting turned out. I'm not sure why I rendered the creek banks like straight, rigid zig zags and there's not much going on in all that water. Sometimes I will revisit a painting and do corrections, but I haven't felt so inspired with this one. Still, there are things to learn, even in our mistakes.  Thanks for viewing my art and for reading my blog!!
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Sometimes I get asked if I take lessons and my answer for the past couple of years has been no, at least not weekly classes. I have been blessed with some pretty great teachers since I began painting. The first couple of years I was in a weekly class and learned so much about the basics, got familiar with the language and meaning of the art terms. As a matter of fact, I was exhorted to take lessons when I first confessed my deep, secret desire to paint. Oh my goodness, I was so nervous to make that phone call and go to my first class! One thing that is great about a weekly local class is the friendships and camaraderie that develops. One thing that is difficult about a weekly class...and I'm just going to be honest here...is the friendships and camaraderie. It can be both a blessing and a distraction, an encouragement and a barrier to growth. So for the next couple of years I used my education dollars to attend 1-3 day workshops. These were taught by master level artists, some local and some from other lands. There were workshops I was dying to attend but for one reason or another, did not. I learned to trust God for the path I was being led on and have had such wonderful experiences with amazing artists. Currently, I have the great privilege to be in an painting class that is much like a workshop in tone and teaching, but also meets almost every Saturday. It's taught by a fabulous Tennessee artist, Frank Baggett, and attended by clearly motivated, enthusiastic learners, like me! Frank chooses (or lets us choose) a scene from our beautiful area of middle Tennessee and paints a demo while he teaches us his colors, techniques and skills.  Above is a photo of his demo painting and you can see the perspective developed with lines of sight and atmosphere. See how it's brighter in the foreground and grayer/less distinct toward the horizon? That is atmospheric perspective. He also used only 3 or 4 paint colors, so the drama is in the values instead of color. Below is my painting from the 3 hour lesson...we are getting faster!  And here is the really awesome thing: Frank draws a name out of a hat and gives the winner his demo painting. This week, I won!! Thanks for viewing my art!! |