The Gallery at Main Street

The Gallery at Main Street will be exhibiting art by local artisans on June 1, 2012 at the gallery located in First Baptist Church, Knoxville, TN which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The address is 510 West Main Street, Knoxville, TN.

This month's exhibit is titled "Graced with Floral.". Exhibition hours are 10:00 a.m to 9:00 p.m.

The painting above is one that I will have on display at the exhibition. The following is a link to the artists who will be exhibiting: http://www.galleryatmain.com./index.html

If you are in the area, stop and enjoy the exhibit!

Happy Painting!
Karen

A Special Painting of a Special Building!

The watercolor painting above is First Baptist Church Fisherville. I have been planning this painting as a surprise for our pastor there since we moved from that area last summer. I was given a photo CD with various shots of the church building, but when packing the CD for safe keeping during the move, I did too good of a job of packing it and it took me awhile to "find" it.

Often painting a building can be difficult simply because it does not allow for "artistic" interpretation, but for an accurate representation of the structure. However, there are aspects of the painting that allow for an artist's personality and style to show through. For instance in the painting above, the photo selected was one that emphasized the angles of the roof as well as the steeple. The steeple itself points heavenward and the top of the steeple is not seen in the painting which implies that it goes infinitely to heaven. The stained glass windows allowed me to show my Impressionistic painting style by implying shape and design rather than photo like detail.

Working from a photo is a great way to try one's hand at painting buildings....take several different photos from different angles and let your creativity show through.

Happy Painting!
Karen

Amapolas Roja (Red Poppies) - finished at last!

The poppies are finally finished! As you can tell from the painting above, I finished this painting. I completed the second poppy using the same techniques as the first one and then added a little greenery. I put only a small amount of greenery in this painting allowing the focus to remain on the colorful poppies. After a final review, I decided against doing any additional painting on the brick/tiles. Again, for the same reason.....I wanted the focus to remain on the poppies, not on the background.

The stems and leaves were painted using several shades of paint. I used green mixed with brown, blue, and yellow to achieve a variety of shades of green to show shadow and light. I used the brown/green for the stems, the deep green/blue for the shaded areas and the yellow/green for the green areas reflecting light.

I found some interesting facts about poppies to share (in case you are a fan of Trivia Pursuit):

-The California poppy, Eschscholzia californica, is the state flower of California.
-In Mexico, Grupo Modelo, the makers of Corona beer, used red poppy flowers in most of its advertising images until the 1960s.
-A poppy flower is depicted on the reverse of the Macedonian 500 denars banknote, issued in 1996 and 2003. The poppy is also part of the coat of arms of the Republic of Macedonia.
-Poppies (Amapolas in Spanish) are commonly featured as the central flower in Puerto Rican weddings.
-Artificial poppies (called "Buddy Poppies") are used in the veterans' aid campaign by the Veterans of Foreign Wars, which provides money to the veterans who assemble the poppies and various aid programs to veterans and their families.
-Canada issued special quarters (25-cent coins) with a red poppy on the reverse in 2004, 2008 and 2010. The 2004 Canadian "poppy" quarter was the world's first coloured circulation coin.
-Poppies are often symbolic and can symbolize the sleep and peace. This symbolism was evoked in the children's novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, in which a magical poppy field threatened to make the protagonists sleep forever.

Enough facts....pick up that paint brush and finish your painting! I'll see you in my next blog with another fun painting to create!

Happy Painting!
Karen

Back to the Poppies!

Back To the Poppies!

With a few interruptions in my work, I am finally back to working on my poppies. The background was completed first. After looking at the background, I have decided that I am satisfied with the results and will evaluate after my poppies are complete whether to do any additional work on the background brick/tiles.

Now for the poppies.......

First prepare your palette with all the colors you will need to blend to execute the painting. I used several colors of red as well as orange, yellow (both light and dark), burnt sienna, black and white.

There are two ways to paint the poppies:
-Paint the entire flower first with a base coat of color and then work in highlights and shadow or,
-Paint a few petals at a time, completing the petals as you work.

Both ways are good ways to paint, just find the one that works better for you.

-Using a paintbrush that is smaller than the area you are painting, dab the tip into your mixed paint and rub the excess off of the sides of your brush. Paint the petal or the entire flower this color, except for the stem and any pollen areas. You will want to add shadows to your flower as well as light sources. Figure out where you want the light to come from. Add a little bit of white to your base color for the highlights and a little bit of darker base color and/or burnt sienna for the shadows.

Layering the colors on the petals will give texture and a realistic look to your flowers.

The center of the flower was base coated in a yellow ochre. The surrounding stamens were dabbed in burnt sienna and black.

The painting above shows one of the poppies completed. During the next session, I will finish the one remaining poppy and give instructions on the leaves and stem.

Happy Painting!
Karen





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