Well, here it is blog-writing night, again! It's been a busy week here and the time seems to have  passed by faster than usual.

You know, it's funny that I don't feel any older than I did when I was much younger, but certain things are starting to put it into perspective for me, whether I want to know or not. For example, I have a number of nieces and nephews. In my mind they are still my young nieces and nephews, but apparently they have graduated from college/university and are getting married and having their own children. How did that happen? Okay, I know how it happens... just seems that I wasn't really paying attention and it happened!
 
So, I now have two brand new nieces... not sure if they are great-nieces or grand-nieces or nieces once removed though... well, they are great, but I'm not really familiar with the terminology, having never had to deal with it before. Can someone please explain it to me??
 
And, this past weekend a whirlwind trip to Toronto the Good was in order to attend an absolutely delightful wedding that saw another nephew commit to a lifetime with his beautiful bride. It was a garden wedding and my nephew was standing at the front waiting for his bride to join him. His dad, my brother-in-law, escorted his own mother to her seat in the front row and it suddenly occurred to me that this was not my sister's wedding but her son's. Wow, that was the definition of not being as young as one thinks! By the way, my nephew has a strong resemblance to his dad so I'm not totally delusional! (Just sayin'! Okay?)

Personal stuff aside, it's also been a busy week for my art business too. Fall classes are coming up and need to be promoted, but also, I've been working on some special workshops coming up this fall, winter and spring.

I have arranged a very special workshop with Charles Spratt, a well known Canadian Artist, for October 20 and 21, from 9:30 AM to 2:00 PM. Charlie paints in acrylics and has a whole world of knowledge that he is willing to share with students. The complete information will be posted on my website shortly. Please check out Charlie's website at http://www.cspratt.net/, and be sure to watch the video!

Also, I have booked Denise Pelletier for a knife painting workshop in February 2016. Those of you who have attended her previous workshops know what a phenomenal teacher she is, and how much you learn from her workshops. Check out Denise's website at http://www.dpelletier.ca/en

Coming up in March 2016 there will be two, two-day workshops in Botanical Illustration, with certified botanical illustrator, Frank Andrus, from Alabama USA. What Frank teaches can be applied to other media and offers a lot of expertise in the various media that he uses. If you work in realism then you can learn much from these workshops, even if you don't want to paint flowers! Frank's website is http://frankandrus.com/.

Today's Painting Tip:
Artists have a very serious advantage over photographers and should use this advantage every day. Photographers are limited by the abilities of their cameras. In photographs shadows always seem to be darker than they actually are. The artist can lighten the shadows and make them much more interesting by applying artistic knowledge, such as using complimentary colours to create great shadow colours.

As an artist you can also make adjustments to the composition of the photograph that you are working from. This is a luxury that photographers do not have because they shoot what is before them. As an artist you can move a bridge a little to the left to improve the composition and add some trees to "frame" the painting and enhance it.

So, the next time you start a new painting, give some thought to how you can improve the composition of the image you are working from, create more depth by using aerial perspective,  and take the artistic experience beyond copying a photograph. It will move your abilities forward.

Painting Update: Dusk

After the new layer of gel medium, used to create additional texture for the foreground trees, dried, I was able to apply dark and light paint to create some depth in the trees. Once the basic colours had dried I applied some interference orange to the side of the branches that were highlighted by the evening light.

That done, I applied a metallic gold finish that was applied quite lightly, using a flat brush that was merely dragged across the artwork to highlight the high portions of the painting. It's a technique that I particularly like to use.

Next week Dusk will be finished and then I'll be on to something totally new! Lot's of fun! If you want to follow along please go to my blog at www.susanashbrook.com and subscribe.

For those of you who have already subscribed, if you are enjoying the blog posts I would appreciate it if you would tell one person, who may also enjoy my blog. Spreading the word is important to me, and your help would be very much appreciated. Thank you very much.

Best wishes,
Susan

Would someone please remind me that I need to install an air conditioner in my studio for next summer... please??

I have been out in the studio working during this heat wave, but for short periods of time, then back to the coolness of the house, while I wait for the paint to dry.

Acrylics dry by evaporation. Part of the content of acrylic paint is water and when the water evaporates the paint forms a hardened film. When the atmosphere is humid the water in the paint is not absorbed by the air as readily and the paint takes longer to dry. Alternately, when the air is dry, as in an air conditioned space, or a desert, acrylic paint dries much more quickly.

Conversely, when acrylic paints or mediums start to get thick or stiffer than normal, it's very easy to "re-hydrate" them back to their original consistency, as long as they are not too far gone. It's just a matter of adding some water to the containers, sealing them up and letting the paint or medium absorb it. I suggest that you add a small amount at a time to gradually get it back to the consistency that you prefer.

Also, when you have problems with tubes of paint... the tube splits or has started to become hard due to an ill fitting cap, I suggest that you find a small container with a lid that provides a tight seal (250 ml mason jars are one of my favourites), cut open the tube and squeeze the paint into the jar and if necessary, add water to return it to it's original consistency. So there you have it... First Aid for Acrylics!

I have been looking for the perfect clock for my kitchen for over a year now, and the other day I found it... okay, it's not really perfect, but it has what I want and can be made to be perfect!

This all started when I painted the gable end of my kitchen cabinets, beside my fridge, with blackboard paint. It looks pretty modern, especially next to the stainless steel fridge. So, I decided that the basic clock, which I believe was left by the previous owners... for obvious reasons,  had to be replaced with something much more suitable and the search began. I had some ideas about what I was looking for and regularly searched, alas to no avail. Then, a couple of days ago I was poking around in a home decor store and found a rather forlorn orphan with a lot of potential. The packaging was mostly gone and what was left was damaged, the clock hands were slightly bent and there was no price on it, but it spoke to me (not quite like the Pier One Imports TV ads though!). Of course I had to ask and was pleasantly surprised to have it offered to me at half price! Wow, it had so much potential that I took it... and surprisingly it is also keeping time!

Currently it's a rather rustic rusty colour but I'm going to use silver leaf to bring it into the current millennium and make it stand out against my blackboard wall... maybe even add a little bling to it! This is going to be so much fun! Perhaps even a project to share with you in my blog!

Today's Painting Tip: Consider your light source

I find as I work on paintings and other projects that I think about what I'm doing and how I would explain it to others... typical teacher stuff! So, while working on "Dusk" I started thinking about light and it's effects on the subject matter.

In landscape painting there is usually one source of light... the sun (okay the moon if you're a vampire and prefer to work at night). As a light source it affects everything it comes in contact with... generating highlights, shadows, reflected light, rainbows and interesting effects in clouds.

When you start a painting think about where the light emanates from. Is it from the high left, the back centre, from behind the artist or somewhere else?  This information will effect where your shadows fall, where the highlights are on your vegetation, buildings etc. It will also effect your colour selection for the various areas of your painting.

Clouds, well clouds are particularly interesting because the light source is above them and therefore the shadows are on the underside of the clouds, with the billowy white highlights at the top.

In still life and portraiture there may be several light sources because the stage is artificially set, but only one is the main (brightest) while the others are supplementary to create interest in what might become dark dead areas.

Without light we see nothing, so it's worth taking an up close look at how light effects what you are working on... My best advice... paint what you see, not what you know!

Painting Update: Dusk

Last week, for all intents and purposes, I finished the background of the Dusk painting. This week I started working on the foreground and painted in some trees. I started with Burnt Sienna and when that was dry I used Burnt Umber, leaving the Burnt Sienna showing where the light hits the trees. I am treating the light source as central in the painting. Then, to create additional dimension I applied a layer of Gel Medium to the trees, creating texture to increase visual interest down the road. I applied the gel with the back side of a painting knife, which gave me excellent control.

So now I'm back to waiting for stuff to dry!

Best wishes,
Susan

On my way home this afternoon, after teaching a class at one of the retirement residences I do programs for, I found myself sitting in line at a red light next to a Chapters Bookstore. After checking traffic I made a quick lane change  and headed for the parking lot... time for my art magazine fix!

Chapters, Canada's largest bookseller, carries a great selection of art magazines and I wanted some! Rather than the usual fare, today I walked out with three totally new magazines: Professional Artist; Artists & Makers; and Cloth Paper Scissors.

Here's a few of the featured articles in Professional Artist (published by Jannett R Roberts, Orlando, FL): Can Creativity be Taught?; Become an Artist Author; Teaching from Home VS Renting a Space; Ten Secrets to Selling Art on Etsy and more. An interesting sounding lineup and I'm looking forward to reading them all, but I was immediately drawn to " Can Creativity be Taught?", by Vicki Krohn Amorose, because I believe it can be and should be.

It has been suggested that when Alan Shepard became the first American in space, on May 5, 1961, math and science became the focus of schools and the arts were phased out as nice but not necessary. I suppose it seemed like the right decision at the time, I mean we are human and prone to making tiny errors in judgment from time to time. Now, however, it seems that we are seeing the benefits of teaching the arts. I've seen it over the years... as Executive Director of the Visual Arts Centre, Orleans, in Ottawa, I was often asked by groups with various disabilities to put together art programs for them. This is called "Therapeutic Art".

A regular program involved a group of adults with acquired brain injuries. Art helped the brain's neuroplasticity to create new pathways around the ones that were damaged. It's actually quite amazing and if you are interested in reading more about this I can suggest the book "The Brain That Changes Itself" by Norman Doidge, MD, published by Penguin Books, ISBN 978-0-14-311310-2.

Art has also proven it's value to therapists, particularly when dealing with children who are unable to express their issues in words. This is called "Art Therapy". I took a summer course, some years ago, on this subject, thinking it was about therapeutic art, but found it so interesting that I completed the course and it really helped me with developing therapeutic art programs.

Albert Einstein said "You can never solve a problem on the level on which it was created." The magazine article also quoted Sir Ken Robinson, an advocate of updating the education system, putting creativity on the level of literacy, as saying "The more complex our world becomes, the more creative we need to be to meet its challenges."

The article ends with this final paragraph:
"Creativity is not a single skill and cannot be taught with well-tested models. The teaching of creativity must be a creative act in itself: reframing the problem, asking new questions, and making novel combinations. This is why artists are the prime candidates for becoming teachers of creativity. By advancing our collective creative abilities, we advance culture. Artists can do a world of good."  Something to think about!

So I still have to read the other two magazines, but Artists & Makers (published by F+W Media, Ft Collins CO) looks very interesting too. Lots of articles on marketing and selling your art and the business of art.

Cloth Paper Scissors (published by F+W Media, Ft Collins CO) is outside the box of traditional art, featuring mixed media, collage and some neat crafts, which for me gets my creative juices flowing to find ways to incorporate some of the ideas into my own work... creating creative thinking!


Today's Painting Tip: Loosen Up, Gain Confidence
“And if you ever do a survey, you’ll find that people prefer illusion to reality, ten to one. Twenty, even.” (Judith Guest)

There is something magical about a painting that leaves something to the imagination and somehow viewers connect with that because it allows them to fill in the blanks using their own filters and familiarity. When I was painting realism I had to keep reminding myself that I was creating a painting... not a photograph. It's a hard habit to break!

Okay, so how to loosen up? First start with larger brushes to get your painting blocked in. I suggest, if you paint in the 16" x 20", more or less size, that you should start with a minimum of a 1" brush, but a 2 1/2" brush would be even better! Using a flat brush you can learn to use both the fat side and the thin side to your advantage.  It is possible to do an entire painting with a large brush, but if you must get into some detail, gradually decrease the size of the brush you use but skip the really small ones.

Here's an exercise that I use in my classes to help students loosen up. Set up a still life, a plant, a bowl of fruit, anything. Use only large brushes and work quickly. Set the timer for 30 minutes and GO! Also pay attention to how you can manipulate brush strokes to create, say a leaf, with just one stroke. If you do this once a week you will find yourself finishing faster as you gain more confidence and experience. As this happens, set your timer for less time. Have fun with it. It's just an exercise and can be easily painted over!

The pear was a really quick demo, I think about 5 minutes, but it will give you the idea of what we are going for in this exercise.

I hope you enjoyed last week's guest blog by Michelle Casey. I certainly did! Attending her Vision Board Workshop, a few years ago, was a totally liberating and enjoyable experience for me. I hadn't finished my Vision Board during the workshop and that evening I worked well into the wee hours finishing it. It felt like my dreams were driving it's completion. My vision board now hangs in my studio and serves to inspire me regularly. I especially love the dream studio floor plan and architectural rendering of it. When I'm having a bad day I just sit and look at it and start to remember my dreams. It's better than a therapist and no where near as expensive!

Well, it seems like Summer has just arrived and here I am thinking all about Fall and setting up classes. Having lost some of my regular teaching venues because of changes in the way that they operate or closure of locations, I'm exploring new venues and business models. I will be offering more small classes at my studio, for three to five students. These offer a more personal learning experience and because class sizes are small, they are quick and easy to set up... so, if you want to get a few of your friends together for a certain subject or media, give me a call and we can set it up. If there are only one or two of you I can still try to set it up by letting other potentially interested students know so they can also register.

I'm also setting up more specialty workshops and workshops with visiting instructors. Currently I'm working on setting up two guest instructor workshops... one this fall and another next March. If you have any ideas or suggestions about classes, workshops or specific instructors that you would be interested in attending I would love to hear from you. Please send me a comment from my website or email me directly at mailto:[email protected]. If there is enough interest I would be happy to set things up.  

Earlier this week a video splashed into my inbox and I find it so fascinating that I just have to keep watching it. It's about digital art software which is quite amazing, but it has really inspired me to see what I can create using inks in the same way that they use digital watercolour... using wet-in-wet and dripping techniques to enhance the original image. Take a look at it and see if it inspires you! Oh, and it absolutely the best viewed at full-screen! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HHEXBiH0TRU&et_mid=773717&rid=236234077


This Weeks Painting Tip:

Aerial (Atmospheric) Perspective
Aerial Perspective is a phrase coined by Leonardo da Vinci to describe a phenomenon caused in nature by the water vapour and dust in the atmosphere.  

He observed that the further things are away the more atmosphere there is between the eye and the objects, causing them to be more hazy and indistinct the farther away they are.

da Vinci concluded that:

Distance alters colour
• Colours become cooler and take on a bluish gray cast in the background
• Foreground colours appear bright and warm and are at their
   fullest intensity

Detail and contrast diminish in the background
• Darker forms become lighter
• Lighter forms become darker
• Contrasts between values become less towards the horizon

To apply Aerial Perspective think in terms of foreground, middle ground and background and paint what you see, not what you know. Aerial Perspective will allow for a greater perception of depth and distance in your paintings.

Aerial Perspective Exercise:
Paint a series of objects at an increasing distance from the eye, changing your tones and colours according to the observations of aerial perspective.

Painting update:

The three photos below are about the application of colour over the base colour coat, which you will remember, was Payne's Grey and metallic gold gesso. Then I added the gel texture medium. Once that was dry I applied a rough coat of Cerulean Blue Deep, a delectable deep green-blue colour, over the lower Payne's Grey portion and lightly over the gold gesso at the top of the painting. Then I applied a regular Cerulean Blue over that layer at the bottom as well as at the top, bringing the blue down and eventually adding more white to create the gradation of the sky... yes it is a landscape! Not only that, it's a landscape at that moment just before dusk when the sky has a magical glow.  By layering my colour and using the texture to my advantage, I was able to create the magic of that sky and added red as my last layer to the horizon drawing it up into the sky by catching it on the ridges of the texture.

The lower portion of the painting then got a rough coat of Cerulean Blue mixed with Titanium White, still letting portions of the Payne's Grey and Cerulean Blues show through. With a few more layers this will become snow. Aha, it's a winter landscape at that moment just before dusk!

Layers are the key to the way I work. Letting paint dry before applying another colour keeps the colours fresh and those blues and warm peachy colours that we see at sunset don't mingle to become mud! The texture also allows me to expose areas of all previous colours applied, which I like, and I find that each new layer requires less paint because of that. That said, I constantly seem to be waiting for paint to dry! Who said acrylics dry too fast? I beg to disagree!

Have a great week, be creative, and let me know what class and workshop subjects or instructors you would be interested in attending.

Thanks and best wishes,
Susan