(I wrote this post earlier this year, but then did not want to publish it, as my mum was declining. Now that she is gone, I feel I can honor her by publishing it. She liked the painting and had a print of it made and kept it in her kitchen).
I miss her. This painting brings me good memories.
Oil on Canvas Panel, 16 x 20 ins
This is a painting of someone very dear to me. She was widowed at age 74, survived a lymphoma at age 79, and here in this painting at 86 is still living a brave, determined and out-ward focused life.
The painting won First Place in Oil Painting at the Wabash Valley Art Guild Spring Show this year.
(I wrote this a couple of months ago, but a lot of October and November has been taken up with the end of life of my mother. She has now passed away, and I’m attempting to return to my ‘usual’ practices).
Following on from the Mastering Composition Course (Ian Roberts) which I took in January-March 2023, I then signed up for the Bold Brushwork Course (April-June). This was only open to people who had taken part in the Mastering Composition Course.
The first lessons and exercises were to practice value scales, edge scales and gradations in paint—(Ivory black and Titanium White). Most students used oil paint, although some used acrylic, watercolor, gouache, or pastel.
Then we painted compositions in black and white, concentrating on values, shapes, and edges, using a ‘Paint It and Leave it’ approach.
The next step was to consider color temperature, and to do this we added yellow ochre to the palette to indicate warm light, and used the ivory black to indicate cool light. (Our paintings were limited to warm light and cool shadow situations for the learning purpose).
In the final part of the course, we added an extra color dimension and used Ultramarine Blue, Cadmium Orange and Titanium White. Now there was more intensity to deal with, either to mute or to use in small amounts as an accent.
It was a very rewarding course. I felt I improved at putting on thick paint and ‘one touch’ brushstrokes, and gained a much better understanding of color temperature.
marymayhewart 