Springfield Art Guild (SAG) Show and Sale

As a new member of the Springfield Art Guild, I am very excited to participate in their annual juried show at Green Spring Gardens in western Alexandria.

I am thrilled to have two pieces jury in and one of those received an Honorable Mention. Both paintings are in soft pastel. To the left is Green Spring's Poppies in the Rough; it can be viewed in the horticultural center. To the right is Skyline Stands, Honorable Mention, which is hanging in the manor house. The poppies are on 4x6 watercolor paper treated with Golden's Coarse Pumice Gel. The trees are on 9x12 UArt 800 with a watercolor underpainting.

The show runs from August 31 to October 25, 2009. Please join me for the reception September 13 from 1-3PM in the Atrium of the Green Spring Gardens Horticultural Center, Braddock at Little River Turnpike.

Saturday Paint Out: Oatlands near Leesburg, VA

Saturday beginning at 8:30 is a MAPAPA Paint Out at Oatlands Plantation near Leesburg hosted by the Virginia contingent, what I call VAMAPAPA. If you are interested in MAPAPA or are a member already, please join us in the parking lot; please use the Little Oatlands Gate. Admission is free for artists, but each must register at the gift shop after 9:45AM.

I've not painted at Oatlands before and I am quite eager for a good dose of Colonial architecture, although chances are I won't be painting it!

Lake Ridge Point

After mulling over this quaint painting, I believe I will share it as is and hope to develop it more fully over the winter. It's a good basis.

There are many ways to begin and pursue a painting. When doing pastels, I can choose tinted paper, a watercolor start, a pastel underpainting, or even one combining techniques. Once I begin, I tend to work all over, developing many areas at once.

My oil technique is similar. I often have an orange family basis and work the painting all over, making sure to develop the proper values in relation to each other.

Another way is how my talented friend Ariel Freeman works. She does detailed drawings and then paints sections almost as if they were pieces of a puzzle. (See an example here.) Her technique inspired me while doing this oil. Although holding to my loose style, I painted sections and then filled in. I like how it turned out, so it'd be fun to both do it again as well as do it on a larger scale.

Oil
5x7