Saturday, March 28, 2015

Recent paintings

I just finished an online art class that lasted 10 weeks. I made 6-10 paintings a week following the lesson instructions/techniques. Here are my favorites:

Lesson 1 (lines and layering):

Lesson 2:




Lesson 3:

Lesson 4 (black and white with a variety of marks) - the first one is my favorite:





This was a portion of one of the paintings - I really like these white circles on a black background:

Lesson 5:


Lesson 6:



This pretty pink and green one was actually the beginning layers of what turned out to be the one right above (with the hexagon thing) - I really loved the hot pink and lime green combo and wasn't too satisfied with the finished result but it was interesting to see the transitions and in some paintings I loved the outcomes.

Apart from the lovely colors in the top left of this one, and the turquoise circles in the middle, plus the pink marks and other interesting marks, I really like the turquoise colored scraffito in the lower left in that pink zone - you might have to click the image to really see it.

This was just the beginning layer of what turned into something entirely different - but I liked this just as it was and would love to have some pillow cases made with this print:



This might have been my favorite painting of all I did for the class. I love the light to dark gradient, the marks, the colors, the circles on the top left, the silver dots over black and blue in the lower right, and the texture from the collage layers underneath. This reminds me of an abstract depiction of outer space.

Lesson 7- these ones were really simple monochromatic exercises - they're lovely and were hard for me to do since I love to fill the page with ALL the colors:


I like how this turned out with the stencil work fading into paint in the lower right:

Lesson 8:



Lesson 9:



Overall, I was glad for the productivity that resulted from having a regular assignment. I didn't follow all the rules (and they were some pretty strict rules) 100% of the time, and in some cases deviated quite a bit. But I learned some new things and enjoyed it. The main points I took from the class had to do with creating transition areas, quiet areas, layering, and not being afraid to cover over something you think is fabulous.