WELL CARLY IT'S JUST YOU AND ME BY THE LOOKS OF THINGS. IS ANYBODY THERE?????????

Sorry not quite sure why the writing went hay wire!!!

Alice

At last I have finished. Sorry I have taken so long. Alice here and I have had a love hate relationship going but I am quite pleased with the result so she finally behaved herself. I used I suppose what you would call stippleing technique which I haven't done before and I really enjoyed it. I started off thinking of pointalizm and I suppose it could still be that but in quite a smudged form. The skin has layers of colour and as I added them they seems to blend but also add depth which I found really good. It remined me a bit like working with pastel as they are easy to blend on the paper and this worked in the same way. What I really did enjoy most of all was identifying certain likenesses that have been passed on by Alice, who by the way is my Nana.

I could see my Mum, sisters, daugthers, neices and grandaughter. It was amazing. I started to like doing portrate as I feel the spirit of the person and I am going to concentrate on doing more. The meduim I used was acrylic and this time I didn't find them dull, practice I suppose....

Facing Your Worst Fear

What is your fear?
Look at it, face it and paint it in any medium.
(Child birth not included)

Enjoy!!!

From Wendy (She couldn't sort her blog thingy out)

Sweethearts

I have painted my girls using the a pointillist/stippling technique.

There are a lot of layers! I think Cinty is finished but Maddi might need a bit more work yet.

Painting my childrens portraits in this way enabled me to use colour emotively, I added specks of a colour that I felt represented each of them; Cinty has a lot of purple in her portrait and Maddi has a lot of yellow.

Thanks for this project mum, I really enjoy this technique and I am going to try using it to paint Landscape.

Who is choosing the next topic????? is it Aunty Wendy???

Sketchbook on Identity

Identity

I've given my students the subject of identity to work with, particularly relating that to clothing.  This is a sketchbook entry relating to my identity in a rather abstract way.  I started with drawing and water soluable crayons.  I added acrylic paint and stencils.

portraiture in art

So, with yet another deadline looming I thought I'd take the time to lead you down a path of exploration and inspiration. After reading Megs's last post about wanting to incorporate different mediums I started thinking about artists who shy away from traditional ideas, concepts and processes. I was thinking of Abbey McCulloch and her famed portrait of Toni Collette, finalist in the 2007 Archibald Prize. What I really like about McCulloch's work is the 'drawn' quality. Her subjects are stripped back to bare basics. Looking at a collection of her work there are some I like and many I don't. This one, however, I think is brilliant.

You can view more of McCulloch's work here.

I came across the web page for the Achibald prize and was able to view the finalists from this years exhibition. I read a few reviews and agree with the assertion that too many artists rely too heavily on photography to produce their work. To me, the thing is what it is, meaning this: Why paint a photograph? If a painting is no longer recognised as a painting is it a good painting? Or merely an imposter? Personally, I like to feel the paint, to know that a brush has traversed the canvas. Sure I understand the skill and the patience required to master realism, but to adulterate a quote by Gertrude Stein: 'A painting is a painting is a painting'.

You can be your own judge and see how contemporary Australian artists are interpreting 'portraiture'. View the 2007 finalists and the 2008 finalists.

Trying some other mediums???

Now i realise this is a 'painting' club but could we stretch ourselves a little bit further by exploring new mediums? i havent really gone out side of using paint and would really like to incorporate other mediums to the topics...what do you all think??

Monument

Pics of the paintings in my latest exhibition can be viewed at: http://carlylecerf.blogspot.com/

Divisionalism and Circulism

Circulism techniques and an amazing portrait by Chuck Close (Lucus)..AWESOME!!

The next theme is 'Portrait '
A portrait a representation of a person, in which the face and its expression is predominant. The intent is to display the likeness, personality, and even the mood of the person.

But thats not all !!! You are to use a method of painting such as Pointellism, Cubism, Stippling or Circlism. I found lots of examples on the net but with my limited knowledge with 'bloggs' I have not been successful in down loading them. Take a look at Lucas (1986 - 1987), acrylic on canvas. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, New York, great portraite using pointellism. And it's huge!CIRCULISM is an interesting techniques using toothpicks. artist SACHA (fineartamerica.com)has found away to mix the colors by making circles, scratching the surface of the canvas and bringing out the whiteness of the canvas with a simple toothpick. These circles of movement are brought out in a new technique which SACHA calls CIRCULISM. Up-close you can see and feel the texture of the tiny and large circles. You can also see how SACHA, with just one color can create shades by just applying more or less circles. With CIRCULISM, SACHA has been been able to use all types of paints and has used them on all types of surfaces like canvas, wood, cardboard, paper and glassAre you EXCITED!!!! Well I am anyway!!! Work to be on the the blogg by October 28th so get cracking

the spaces between: reflections

I've been thinking alot about the spaces between: finding a place to fit; a pause, a breath, a moment.

Upon Refllection I, II, III. Oil on Linen 400x600

These works form part of my current exhibition, 'Monument'. The reflections you can see are trees around a salt lake.

The work explores the fragility of the remaining landscape after massive clearing, and asks the viewer to 'reflect' on how we use our environment.

The linen was beautiful to work on and because of its weave, it suited the horizontals of the water ripples.

I don't think I have ever spent so much time messing about painting as I have with this subject. I really enjoyed cropping photos and looking at some of the beautiful colours and effects. The painting above although it isn't a brilliant job I loved the colours. I painted it from a photo that I took somewhere at the top end of Australia. I have used acrylics on melamine board. I'm not sure if I like painting with acrylic, I find it a bit flat. Any suggestions?? The following are in watercolour also from photos from up north.

TRANQULITY

My water painting. "TRANQUILITY" by Megan Taylor.

i used acrylic on canvas. with texture paste.
My pallete consists of White titanium, nimbus grey and smoked pearl.
I chose these colours to give a calm feeling. the background is created using texture paste then applying paint in a criss cross pattern. after that had dryed i did a white wash over the top.
Water to me is my relaxation weather i am in it, feeling it, or seeing it, i love it! i got this effect from pouring water into a pan and taking still shots of it...
i am going to do another painting simular to this to make a set. let me know what your thoughts are.

Water paintings by Becky Blair

I absolutely love the work of UK artist Becky Blair. Many of her paintings are seascapes and often feature people. I love the broad layers of colour; it is at once so simple and so complex!

It's interesting though, that her oil paintings lack the luminosity of her acrylic paintings. In my experience oils are often richer and more vibrant, but hers however seem rather heavy and dull.

But these acrylics are simply divine! I wish I could paint like this...In the meantime I'll be begging for a rather expensive birthday gift!

edit: Just discovered she is exhibiting in December this year at the Gadfly Gallery. Oh Yayness!!

Some Tree Paintings

Here are two different paintings relating to trees.  One is a mixed media piece, a bit experimental with the angle.  The other is an oil.  I  was interested in capturing the branch silhouettes and the lighting.  I'm not really working on trees at the moment but I'd love any feedback.  

Albany Art Trail

So, I'm wasting time on the net, as you do, and I come across this:

Fri 19 Sep - Sun 12 Oct
ART EXHIBITION: Monument by Carly Le Cerf 11:00pm to 5:00am: Carly’s work is primarily about solitude within the landscape, a personal experience that she finds both wonderful and overwhelming. Currently using painting as a way of exploring and gaining knowledge of the history of the rural environment, Monument encompasses the idea of what once was and what now remains. An emerging artists living in the regional town of Cranbrook, Western Australia, Carly gained a Bachelor of Arts (Visual Arts) at Edith Cowan University in 2000. Monument is Carly’s 3rd solo exhibition. Opening 6pm Wed 18 Sep. All welcome.

Congrats to Carly...is this the third exhibition this year?
I really hope you give us a sneak peek of your work, especially for those of us who can't be there.
Good luck with getting it all finished in time, and remember to breathe!
Proud of you...again.

Living Water Paintings by Suzanne Cartwright.....

Oh and these, just love the intense colours used.