What People Say – December 22th Edition
“CCP Videos are the best instructional videos I have used and your selection just keeps getting better!.”
Sara R., Farmington, MA
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” I have been suffering creative block this season and getting this dvd lifted my spirits and has motivated me to get back to work/play. Thank you for all that you do and please keep making more of these
great dvds.”
Mandi B., Austin TX.
Masking Fluid Tips
Masking fluid can be tricky to use. Here are a few pointers from the pros.
Harold Walkup, NWS, Watercolor Society of Oregon’s President, recommends storing masking fluid inverted. It help keeps the seal, thus reducing the wad of scum in the bottle. I’ve tried it and it works!
Susan Bourdet, Bold and Beautiful: Backyard Wildlife in Watercolor and Inspiration From the Garden, has several tips:
1) First, use an old or inexpensive brush to apply masking fluid. 2) For smoother edges, work from the inside of the shape outward. You’ll have more control. 3) Soap up your brush before starting. It will be easier to wash out excess masking fluid. 4)Wash your brush often to prevent globs drying on the bristles. 5) And finally, don’t shake the bottle before using the fluid. It creates small bubbles. It they are transferred to your work surface they will pop and permit small points of color to penetrate the mask.
Be sure to check to see if you need to soften the edges of the whites after the mask is removed. Otherwise the white may look foreign to the rest of your painting.
Eye Demo from Craig Nelson
View a quick clip from Craig Nelson’s Painting a Portrait in Oil from Life. Nelson uses just a few strokes to set the models eyes in place and establish highlights. Nelson uses just a few strokes too create a beautiful portrait of a sitting model in less than an hour. It is his “Quick Studies” method as applied to a life subject. Enjoy!
Interview with Virginia Cobb
This week we are delighted to offer an interview with Polly Hammett’s sister, the abstract acrylic artist Virginia Cobb. Click here to enjoy a 2008 interview. Cobb’s creative process includes creating problems to solve in innovative way. It keeps her work innovative and new, even to her.
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
You can download it to your MP3 player or listen to it on line.
Download the clip in mp3 format (zipped for quicker download).
Un-warrented concerns?
Last Tuesday my critique group met for a casual Christmas get together. Talk around the table drifted across many topics but there was one of special interest to artists. It concerned atomizing pigments and health issues. One artist said that anything atomized presented a health hazard. He wears gloves while working in pastels and only when suction removes all pastel dust. He leaves the room when ever oil is brought out. And of course he does absolutely no air brush, even with a ventilator.
Is this paranoia or good sense? Does this mean NO atomization or only no atomization of cobalts and cadiums?
One of my favorite tools is the mouth atomizer. I love the effect it creates. I’m bummed.
Lynn
The Two Best Things I’ve Learned
I’m wrapping up a year of From Behind the Cameras with the two best things I’ve learned this year about paintings.
The first one is: Do the value study first.
Why? Because if you have a strong value pattern you are three quarters of the way to creating a strong visual image. And there is much more creative freedom in that last 25%. You can go crazy with color, line, shape… all the other elements of design. And you can rest assured that your painting will probably be fine because it have a strong value pattern.
The second is: Trust yourself.
It has been scientifically proven that self doubt occupies part of the functioning brain that might otherwise be put to good use. Plus, it’s the hunches and urges that take us to our own unique creative expression. If we are busy doubting, we cannot hear that quiet little inner voice that is us. Taking risks is part of what makes painting a fun daring adventure. We have to be willing to let some things fail in order to experiment and find our own visual expression. And if we’ve done a value study, our work is likely to be just fine.
That’s it. Have a great Holiday and please take advantage of the one free day on ArtWorkshops.tv. There you can see how many of the CCP artists do their value studies.
All the best from everyone here!
Lynn Power and crew.
What People Say – December 15th Edition
“Whenever I need a lift, there are three things that are guaranteed to do the job: a cup of hot tea, a chocolate chip cookie, and one of your DVDs!”
Jo W., Cummings, GA
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“Haven’t had one dvd yet that has disappointed me. They are fabulous!”
Wencke T., Nanoose Bay, BC, CA
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Polly Hammett’s Special
Learn Polly Hammett’s multifaceted design approach to help encourage your unique expression. Polly teaches a step by step method to analyze your composition before it is painted. Learn how to: interact with models; contour draw; figure placement and its impact on the meaning of your painting; how to develop a background; how to manipulate dark and light patterns to achieve a strong visual statement; lifting lights; adding texture; exaggeration; distortion; the importance of transitions; and stamping. Polly shares insights on subjects integral to being an artist, including how to most benefit from critique groups. Polly’s approach to design is applicable to any subject.
OUR GIFT TO YOU
For one day only, January 1, 2010, all Creative Catalyst workshops on www.ArtWorkshops.tv will be free to view online to newsletter members only. Register now (by creating a login and password) on ArtWorkshops.tv and be ready for a full day of free viewing. It’s a great way to get 2010 off to an inspirational start.
Note: You will need a broadband internet connection.
Workshop Clip & Interview with Polly Hammett
Click here to view a short clip of Polly taking a short break from painting to discuss the difference between an opinion and fact as it pertains to painting.
For the in-depth audio interview with Polly, click here. You can download it to your MP3 player or listen to it on line.
Download the clip in mp3 format (zipped for quicker download).
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Critique Group Tips
When we filmed Polly Hammett in 2004, I was already a member of a critique group. In fact, the group is the very-silent-in-studio audience Polly addresses while painting. It was fortunate to have everyone there. We were able to work Polly’s suggestions into the formal structure of our group almost immediately. We all benefited.
If you don’t already belong to a critique group, I recommend joining or forming one. Here are a few things I believe make a group a healthy, valuable experience.
• Keep membership between 7 and 9 artists. You need to know your members well and understand their goals. More than that and your meetings can take forever. Fewer and you have too much depending on too few people.
• Members should be similarly serious about their art.
• Have regular meetings, once a month if possible.
• Limit the number of paintings to 3 from each member. This permits discussion and not just a show and tell.
• Have a mix of styles and media among your members. You will have a larger variety to insights and points of view.
• No single member should dominant the group. Everyone needs to contribute as well as have paintings for critique, if possible.
• If a member has nothing for critique, they should be encouraged to attend anyway. Their input is important to others.
• It helps if you enjoy one another.
• Everyone needs to take responsibility for the group’s success.
Twice, over the course of several years, we have each formally stated our artistic goals to the group. That helps us help each other achieve our goals. A gift indeed.
One of the principle benefits of a critique group is that participants learn to put their thoughts and feelings about a painting into words and then struggle with the possible solutions. This in turn helps identify the dynamics taking place in our own paintings and makes us become better artists.
There is so much more on this topic, but this is a good start.
Cheers,
Lynn Powers
Kahn Interview Part 2 now available!
Sherrill Kahn is a high energy craft artist. She has written book and articles, taught all over the country and represented a line of paints. Listen to her Interview with Kelly Powers, Mixed Media/Craft editor and Offline Editor here at Creative Catalyst. It’s free.
What People Say – December 8th Edition
“I love your dvds! THANK YOU”
Penny H., Adelaide South Australia
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“All your DVD’s are very well done, also the picture quality is superb!”
Hema S., The Villages, FL
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“I have just finished playing, for the fourth time, John’s (Salminen’s) video A Designed Approach to Abstraction….. and again, I have learned so much, as I do with each viewing. I think he is an incredible teacher. His value system suddenly made perfect sense and I now feel so much more comfortable with colour… And many thanks to you all for producing such professional, clear and inspiring DVDs.”
Jean D., Devon, UK
Art Classes for Children
We’ve been asked repeatedly, “Do you have any art classes for children?” Our search for just such a resource led us to Coyote Creek Productions. Coyote Creek produces educational and instructional videos for children of all ages in a variety of fields, including art, designed to assist teachers, parents and other educators who teach art. The three series most interesting to artists include:
Art Lessons for Children – Used both in schools and homes, these videos allow students to create beautiful works of art using readily available materials. VHS or DVD.
Drawing Lessons for Beginners – A series, which covers drawing simple shapes, nature, people, and animals, that has gained enthusiastic reviews from teachers, librarians, and parents. VHS or DVD.
Collage Art for Kids – A series to give the aspiring artist instruction in how to select and position various materials and objects in order to create pleasing, original collage compositions. DVD.
SPECIAL OFFER: Through December 31, 2009, enter promo code: “CCP” at checkout on www.coycreek.com and receive free shipping on all orders over $75. In addition, you will receive a 60-day money back guarantee if you are unsatisfied for any reason.
We would like to hear your opinion about carrying more art videos for children on the Creative Catalyst website. If you are a public school teacher or a home school parent, please let us know what video resources you have found valuable for teaching art.
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