Landscapes and Seascapes

More studies from my Gouache Landscape Painting class. All are 4" x 6" and were done with a limited palette on-site with some minor touch-ups back in the comfort of my own room. We open up to a full palette tomorrow. I can't wait.

Nicole

9" x 12". Three hours.

Heather

Four hours, 11" x 14". We're working with a warm/cool palette of seven colors (titanium white, lemon yellow, yellow ochre, cadmium red light, alizarin crimson, ultramarine blue, ivory black) in my figure painting class right now. It's liberating to work with so many options.

Landscapes

I'm still alive. This quarter has kept me very busy - I've got four night and weekend classes on top of an already hectic workweek at the office. One of the courses I'm taking over at Concept Design Academy is a gouache landscape class that's being taught by Jackson Sze. The objectives of the course are to study light and develop a sense of color and design. We go out every weekend and paint small 4x6 studies en plein air (i.e. on site). The class started off doing black-and-white value studies and has now moved on to a limited palette of the three primaries plus white.

I really enjoy this class because I love to explore and be outdoors. A couple of weeks ago I found this amazing park trail just minutes from my house that offers incredible vistas of the San Bernardino mountains (the first several studies above were done there). It's funny, I've lived here all this time and had no idea this sort of treasure lay in my backyard. Makes you wonder what other kinds of secrets you might discover if you just took the time to look around...

Stephanie

Four hours. 11" x 14". Here's my last alla prima for 2009. Looking back through my old posts this year, I'm thrilled to see I've grown a lot as a painter. I wonder what the new year - and new decade - will bring? I can't wait to find out. See you folks in 2010!

Sarah

Three-and-a-half hours. I kind of went overboard here and gave her a Farrah Fawcett 'do!

Eddie

Three hours. This dude was pretty fun to paint. Every time his eyelids flipped up and down, it felt like umbrellas were opening indoors.

Doodle Before Sleep #2

Two hours on and off. Used reference for the hair. I wonder how long I can keep this up.

Doodle Before Sleep #1

45 minutes. No ref. I should do quick doodles like these before I head to bed every night to exercise and strengthen my imagination. As vital as drawing from life is, it is also equally important to devote time to draw from memory as well. The two will build upon each other.

Amy

Four hours. 11" x 14".