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1/8 Sheet Watercolor
Arches 140#CP
Jean's long anticipated workshop began on Saturday with Jean reviewing her philosophy and approach for painting watercolors, materials, paints, paper, brushes and the like.
Our first task was to warm up by 'painting for the bin'. In other words, our task was to paint simply to get the paint flowing freely and with abandon -- and all the time, WATCHING and LEARNING what pigment and water do on the paper. We reviewed the use of splatter (oh yes, I do LOVE to splatter!! LOL), adding salt, moving the paper around, adding water, trying colors that we normally don't use, using saran wrap to create textures, and the like. (One of these warm up exercises created my recently posted "Wash Out" (www.flickr.com/photos/linfrye/8151852150/).
After several of these, Jean suggested we visualize and paint a tomato ...simply, paint a tomato. The purpose of this exercise was to use water and pigment to create that fruit all the while learning -- and more -- ENJOYING -- again what is happening on the paper! To learn what each different pigment does on the paper, how it reacts to water, to salt, to the addition of more water. To learn to have a playful attitude toward a particular subject, to paint with that kind of joyousness that most often results in spontaneous, fresh and marvelous works. And we were to accept our painting events - the blooms, the runs and the like. Then Jean gave each of us a real tomato to paint the subject once again ... again painting with the same attitude and joy.
The tomato above is my tomato attempt using the tomato I had in front of me as a guide. It was fun! And more, the pressure was off to 'produce a frameable' painting - since we were 'painting for the bin' ... with nothing more pressing than to simply enjoy AND LEARN from the process.
(Painting like this is so INVIGORATING and REENERGIZING and RECREATES the reason WHY we paint watercolors in the first place!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Bless you, Jean, for this gift!!!!)
The workshop continued with Jean demonstrating flowers, eyes, dogs, people and more. I cannot truly express what her enthusiasm and artistry gave to that room of watercolorists !!! We all were painting tomatoes and marveling at Jean's demos --- and each of us trying to replicate what we were learning with images of our own. (More on the next post.)
Jean's 'tomatoes' are shown below along with some of her demonstrations in process.
Jean suggested that we paint a tomato every day -- that doing so would teach us everything we needed to learn about watercolor, and all that we needed to learn would be in that single painting - and by the continual painting of the same subject day after day after day ...
(To learn more about Jean's philosophy, exercises, demonstrations and the like, please see:
www.jeanhaines.com And try her books and DVDs ... all of them marvelous!)
I will be offline much of the rest of this week and weekend as the annual Art of the Carolinas is going on in Raleigh. If you've never had a chance to enjoy this awesome event filled with workshops, a trade show with prices that are to die for, demonstrations and the like - hurry over or see www.artofthecarolinas.com/ for more information.
More to follow ...
This is Detroit Michigan as seen from Windsor, ON.
You have to believe the best days for the city are in the future, I sure hope so!
The image is best viewed on black / large. In fact, it's really best as big as you can get it. It's a lot of fun looking around at all the small details. You can actually read the signs for the Free Press Building, the post office, etc.
Shot with a Canon 5d mk2 and 100-400L. This was made from a collection of 10 or 12 HDR images that I took from a large park in Windsor.
If you make the trip across the river - head for the "Tunnel BBQ" for some really great food and fun. It's really close to the Tunnel exit / entrance and is reasonably priced.
Have fun!
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The Iowa Capitol Building contains both the State House of Representatives and State Senate. This is the House of Representatives.
It's been restored to its original glory as part of a larger restoration project. One interesting fact, there is no wall paper in the entire capitol building. Everything is stenciled on by a group of talented (full-time) restoration painters.
The Iowa House of Representatives is the lower house of the Iowa General Assembly. There are 100 members of the House of Representatives, representing 100 single-member districts across the state with populations of approximately 29,750 for each constituency. The entire chamber serves two-year terms and then goes up for re-election as an entire group every even-numbered year.
There are no term limits. Each congressmen will earn $25,000 in salary plus per diems.
More Info:
More drive by shooting...As we travel I sit with my camera in my lap and capture scenery as it changes...using shutter speed of about 1000 usually gives something OK..not frameable, but a nice memory of the variations along the way...I love the pastel layers in the sandstone hills on this part of the route in Wyoming. If you ever fly into Denver to drive to Jackson now you will know what to expect on this particular route :-)
In the central gallery / main entrance to the Detroit Institute of Arts, you will find the William Randolph Hearst armor collection. This is supposed to be one of the most complete collections of Medieval armor in the country. The suits of armor vary in age and type significantly. You can see above that they line the walls on each side.
The DIA is owned by the city of Detroit (who is ironically broke) and ranks as the second largest municipally owned museum in the United States, with an art collection valued at more than one billion dollars. With over 100 galleries, it covers 658,000 square feet; a major renovation and expansion project completed in 2007 added 58,000 square feet.
If you get some time in Detroit, you should definitely visit museum and enjoy the artwork, architecture and history found there.
More information:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Detroit_Institute_of_Arts
www.flickr.com/photos/thoog/sets/72157605121749376/
www.yelp.com/biz/detroit-institute-of-arts-detroit
Shot as a 9 image Pano using CS4, Lightroom3 and a Canon 5dmk2 and 17-40L lens
Chris Smith and I went shooting at Pritzker Pavilion a few weeks ago. We had the place to ourselves (except for the security guards) and had a great time.
There are so many cool ways to shoot the pavilion. The overhead structure adds a lot of interest, the lighting is constantly changing colors, and it's right next to "the Bean" (and the bathrooms). This is all part of Millenium Park - so allow ample time for exploring.
Definitely add this place to your shooting list next time you are in Chicago.
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Another image from the series taken at the Bellagio. I managed to catch one shot of the fountains before they turned them off for the night / morning.
This image was made with a 15-85 lens and Canon 7d. There was no photostitching here, it was all one image.
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I was cleaning out some old files on Flickr and noticed that I had several that were missing keywords and geotags. I thought the "New Year" would be a good time to do some upkeep on my stream.
This is an image that I took earlier in 2012 of the Iowa State Capital Building. The image was taken directly in front of the State Senate Chambers from the second level. The law library would be on your left and the House chambers would be straight ahead.
Above you can see the dome and the artwork at the top. Believe it or not the flag and eagle are actually made from wood and suspended by steel cables below the sky mural. You can see more details of this here: here.
I made this image with several HDR images shot in landscape and stitched together vertically using CS4.
There are these cool blue LED lights underneath the elevated drive going to the Bellagio that I had never noticed before this trip.
Into the woods on a lonely stretch of highway. No cell phone signal, no city lights; just the rustling of trees dampened by the fog and mist.
Available as a
fine art print or poster in any size and a frameable greeting card
At the center of Detroit's riverfront is "Hart Plaza". It's a concert venue, but is also an important gathering place for Detroiters during marches, protests, festivals and of course the Fireworks. Unfortunately, the fountain wasn't running when I was there - but when it is you can cool off in the mist from the many streams of water.
This was shot with a Canon 5d and 17-40L. I created the pano using 7 HDR shots and splicing them together in CS4.
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From one of my favorite reference photos (based on a much smaller version I painted last year) I wanted to recreate the 'Solitary Tree" on a larger, frameable scale. Original photo by Flickr member Ambientlight (thank you again!)
This is photo is a very large compilation of more than 25 individual HDR images taken from the back of the church.
I especially like the floor tiling and the incredible frescos on the ceiling. The light in here is deceiving - it is actually too dark to shoot hand held. Fortunately, there seemed to be no issues using a tripod.
If you are visiting New Orleans - this should be one of your first stops.
One final tip - the legendary "Cafe du Monde" is only about a block away. This is an excellent place to take a break and have a cup of coffee and a beignet after your tour.
More information:
stlouiscathedral.org/tours.html
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Louis_Cathedral_(New_Orleans)
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Into the woods on a lonely stretch of highway. No cell phone signal, no city lights; just the rustling of trees dampened by the fog and mist.
Available as a print or poster in any size, and as a frameable greeting card in the shop.
Taken at Pritzker Pavilion - Chicago, IL
If Millennium Park is not high on your list of Chicago locations to shoot, it should be. Millennium Park includes such icons as "Cloud Gate" (The Bean), Crown Fountain, and Pritzker Pavilion just to name a few spots.
It's also only a short walk from Navy Pier and the Museum of Modern Art. As I've mentioned in other posts, and my friend Chris Smith points out in his blog, there are also free public restrooms here.
Depending on the time of day you visit, you may get to see the pavilion lit up (at night). The lights change colors from cool blues (pictured here), to deep reds, and bright white / silver.
Camera settings:
Canon 7d
15-85 lens
7-shot panorama (each shot was a set of 5 HDR images).
For another angle of the pavilion, click here.
Special thanks to Chris for showing me this spot. His version of this image is here.
More Information
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pritzker_Pavilion
www.cityofchicago.org/city/en/depts/dca/supp_info/millenn...
www.cityofchicago.org/city/en.html
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