Susan's wild horses.

Well done Susan. The changes Susan has made are very successful. I think that she has captured the spirit of these horses and animated the scene beyond the feeling of the photo. She has done a lot to bring a dully lit photo to life.

Susan's first pass.

Lonna's seascape at Pacific Grove

Lonna has captured the energy of the ocean at this familiar spot in Pacific Grove. I like the painting of the trees as it reminds me of the post impressionist era painter of the Nabis like Vullard and the painter Maurice de Vlaminck. She has simplified the of the houses and stuff to essential shapes that fit really well stylistically with the painting of the trees. I think that this could be done as is.

Just for teaching purposes I have a few points below.

This is Lonna's beautiful photo.
1. Notice the relative values of the trees on the spit and the darkest areas of the clouds. The trees are significantly darker.

2. I've indicated several areas where to observe the change of planes.

3. look for the big shapes of objects and as indicated here, ares of of foamy water that help describe the contours of the undulating water. The large spaces between these whiter shapes are light blue, reflecting the blue sky.

4. Another example describing the undulating water.

5. Notice that the areas of vertical spray are small relative to the overall scene.

Given that, Lonna's painting is more vigorous and exciting, the scene in the photo is a bit more tranquil.

1. This area of clouds could be a little lighter.

2. This area of ocean might be lighter.

3. I could see this area be a little beefier and more connected to the dark side shape. The color in this area and some of the other light stone areas might be cooler.

4. Maybe a little more refinement of the supporting horizontal plane and the transition to the spray.

5. Again, I really like this area.

This is nicely done Lonna.

Barbara's lily pads.

This is such an interesting painting. I like the drawing and the grouping of the lily pads. Though I might consider cutting into the shape, I really like the painting in the large blue shape as well as several other ares of the painting. Barbara is developing a really nice style of mark making. The flowers are very well rendered in her style, integrating nicely with the whole painting.

Here is one of Barbara's photos. I prefer it to the photo below because of the nice sienna colored and green colored growth in the pond.

  1. There are areas of darker water that set off the lilies and other foliage nicely.

3. Look to the characteristics of the shapes of one thing as it meets the the adjacent shapes. That is, the rounded sienna and green foliage as they impose on the dark and reflected blue water.

3. ( 3 number 2, oops) Notice that the color of the lilies is a bit cooler in the photo than in the painting.

1. I love the way Barbara has painted the stems of the lilies. The color is great and the flow in the drawing them is fantastic.

2. If Barbara were to consider adding the dark water, getting the shape of the smaller green leaves drawn accurately is important.

3.—4. A similar point made here.

5. Nicely drawn flowers and lily pads!

6. Another reminder of the cooler green color typical in lily pads.

I like this painting as it is. It has a lovely rhythm and a real stylistic integrity. Great job Barbara.

Lonna's Iris and teddy bear updates

Here is Lonna's second pass on her iris. It's beautifully done.

If something is really complex, sometimes the best strategy is to just kind of transcribe the visual information in the most basic ways. That is, light areas and dark areas first and foremost. Within this general shape there are slight variations of value and temperature.

1. and 3. These are some of the slightly darker shapes. Notice that even the darks of most of the flower's darker shapes are not close to as dark as the dark greens of the background. This helps to pop the flower. Look for opportunities to set off both the light and dark areas of the flower with background light and darks. Everything is relative.

2. There are a lot of white or close to white areas that when painting in watercolor should be left white.

4. Notice that the bright orange shape and the space near it is larger than in the painting.

The blue-violet color in Lonna's painting is really beautiful.

So if I were to do this painting I would push the darker spaces of the flower just a bit as well as leaving the lights really light. And then I'd look to really push the darks and lights of the background to strategically push the flower foreward.

   Lonna has darkened the browns of her bear to great success. A very sweet peace.

The only idea I have to take Lonna's piece a bit further is to set the context of the stay at home bear a little more by adding some panes. I also am not sure what the shape is on the arm of the bear and I might consider leaving it out of the painting. I might also add a slight smile to the bear.

Fun stuff.

Georgia's sunflower and grapes still life

Hey All, this is how you paint grapes. Another beautiful alla prima painting by Georgia. Nice light and brushwork and I think that the colors harmonize well.

  Here is Georgia's set up.

A few notes to consider below:

1. In the photo, the petals appear longer and cooler in color. The ratio of the longer petals to the seeds in the photo is a bit more elegant. Painting the spaces between the petals to cover the orange under painting makes the cooler petals feel cooler and separate from the background,

2. The seed shape in the center of the main flower is larger than painted and shows the light side of the concave shape.

3. A cooler background also makes the yellow pop. I did a quick digital painting of the background. Notice that I left a lot of the warm under painting coming through.

4. Nice grapes!

5. I like the multiple colors of the side plane of the table. A nice subtle value change from the top plane.

6. I might consider knocking the purple reflection down a little. Look again at the photo.

7. Notice the darker and warmer seed shape here.

8. I'd consider finishing off the shapes of these nicely rendered grapes. I like think that the mass works really well.

Georgia has done another really nice piece here.

Hiedi's vegetables

I think this new painting by Heidi is my favorite of hers so far. The rhythm and the marks and the subtle differentiation of color are all really interesting. I like the beautiful chromatic greys of the background as well. I would just like to see more.

Here is Heidi's photo inspiration. As she has been so far, Heidi can select be selective when choosing a few more things to include in her picture.

A short list  of things to consider when going forward:

1. Raise the bottom of the bottle a little.

2. I'm not sure what the warm little spots of light are on the table but I like them and think that they're a great device for enhancing the rhythm and leading our eye through the painting. Additionally they add warm colors to a predominately cool painting.

3. This is just a note to maybe add more stuff.

4. Look closely at the reflections, highlights and transparencies of the wine and the bottle. There could be a few more dark areas seen through the bottle. This is a place where adding a few things in the area beyond the bottle would be helpful because you could distort and color them to sell the effect.

5. Push the darks in the negative spaces in the bowl and between the artichokes. Also the color of the copper bowl is nice in the photo and Heidi might consider using it here.

6. These figs are really nicely done but again, I'd consider adding a bit more between them. There could be  a little more overlapping here.

Such a great start. So many elements are beautifully done. I'm looking forward to seeing this after another session or two.

Marilyn's round table in the garden

A really sweet new one from Marilyn. It feels super fresh and feels like one of those rare ones when you just kind of nail it out of the gate. I believe that Marilyn has caught her spring groove.

I have only three quick suggestions to consider:

1. As with the last table painting, if the structure under the table is shielded from the light by the table top and therefore in shadow it would generally be darker than the top and the other objects in the light. Also the flower pop more when the main post of the table's value isn't competing with them.

3. The same issue here on the underside of the white bowl though there would be light reflected on it from the table.

2. Marilyn said she knows that the seat of the chair is tilted up and a little long but she's considering leaving it because it's fun. Here I've changed it a bit to split the difference. The thing is, in this painting everything else is pretty regular so the funky angle of the chair jumps out as anomalous more than it would in a painting with lots of tilty stuff.

I think that Marilyn nailed this one and I wouldn't touch the beautiful flowers or the fun table top. Great job.

Leah's sunsets

Leah has made further adjustments to her sunset painting. I think that the values are set up pretty well here. I like the silhouetted trees. The top cool cloud may be a little too uniform for this painting but it's a very nice lead into these beauties...

Leah has a real knack for abstracting forms. I like them both but the ground plane on the left is just so beautiful so it's my favorite.

I did just one little thing in Photoshop—extending the light across the horizon and starting the break up the shapes of the foreground trees. The purple hill color is really lovely though I might keep it on the lighter side in both the oil and watercolor versions. And as in the oil versions, lighten the darker colors in the sky and keep the tree colors dark.

In the watercolor on the left, if Leah just pushed the darks on all of the foreground tree shapes it would make the sky seem lighter and be perfect for a frame.

Nicely done.

Susan's Carolina red barn second pass

Susan has done a new version of her red barn. I like how she's punched the color up and emphasized the barn more in the composition. Really solid drawing here without feeling stiff.

I did just a few Photoshop suggestions below:

1. I might consider taking a larger piece of the foreground for the road (or driveway or plowed field). It's a shape that can make the piece a little more dynamic with a sharper angle that leads us into the painting. I might also make it a warmer color to differentiate it from the silo and roof color.

3. The direction of the clouds can be a nice counter angle to that of the driveway. Both shapes kind of lead us to the silo and...

2. the shadow shape being cast by the barn which curves back to the barn and the surrounding trees behind it.

4. I like the variations in the warm and cool trees. This could be taken a little further and it would be nice to see a light and dark side of the trees indicated. The light and dark sides of the barn give us the general direction of the light and it would be seen in the trees. It's also what indicates that the barn is casting a shadow on the silo and lighting it's left side.

The red of the barn, though beautifully done, might be knocked back just a tad.

With a few simple changes, I think that Susan can enliven the composition and with a little more of her magic brush/knife work, make this a sweet little piece.

Barbara's flowers round two.

Barbara has done a great job of establishing a scale hierarchy for her flowers and lemons and also balanced her composition while retaining a nice energy and rhythm.

I have only a few suggestions for Barbara to consider as this piece is nearly there. Her flowers and lemons are looking great.

1. I might break up the invisible line constraining the leaves on the left side by altering the size of a few of the leaves.

2. On the vase I'm sure that Barbara simply hasn't finished it yet but I'm just suggesting to make sure to give it some volume. I might also consider changing the color to the dark blue of her original set up as I think that the reddish purple color may be stealing a little juice from the red flowers.

3. Though reflections mirror the colors of the objects being reflected, shadows are generally a silhouette of the shape of the object casting the shadow onto another surface or object. So, the color is a darker version of the color of the surface the shadow is cast upon, in this case the table cloth. It's often a warmer or cooler version of the color of the darker surface color depending on the light and atmospheric conditions of the environment. Please don't use my hasty shadow shape as a template. It's just an indication.

4. The iris may have a little more impact if it were darker again.

5. I might consider altering the tablecloth color a bit so it isn't so close to the color of the leaves.

I think that Barbara's painting is looking fantastic and is only a few adjustments from being finished.