Loose Weight By Learning to Paint

Now that I have your attention, let me tell you about my trip to Tuscany for Artists and Friends on Cct 10-17 and Oct. 18-25, 2015.  Your home for the first week in Tuscany will be a 4 Star hotel in the historic hill town of Cortona. Every morning we will enjoy a multi course breakfast in the garden of the hotel complete with fabulous local food and your coffee or tea served in an individual china teapot.  After breakfast I will teach a short lesson  on watercolor and drawing for travel painting in a small journal and then we will go out exploring. We will take some trips in our own chaufeured mini van and explore the off the beaten track small towns and highlights of Tuscany, lunch, sip wine or sparkling water and savor the sights and tastes. Our trip will take place during olive harvest time so we will learn about the olive harvest, different brands of olive oil and do some tasting too.  For those who enjoy wine, we will visit the unique wine caves in the region where you can taste wines of any price range using a special credit card that you put into the wine dispenser and you choose the amount of wine you desire. We will also visit the towns of Montelcino and Montepulciano both of which produce their world renown brand of wine.  We will visit and lunch at an Agritourism farm restaurant, where we will dine of local products produced on the farm and dine out of doors with a view of the Tuscan valley, on a 7 + course meal and much more. The cost for this week is $3,200 which includes escorted travel from Florence to Cortona, lodging in a shared room (single rooms are available for an additional fee), all day trips, daily art instruction, cocktail and snack hour and all breakfasts.

A $500 deposit will hold your spot and the deadline to sign up is March 8th. 

Oct. 18-25, 2015 Umbria

Our second week's workshop will be based  in Umbria, the region that neighbors Tuscany and is filled with picture perfect walled villages, vineyards, hillsides of olive trees, castles, wineries, pine forests and food that is delicious, healthy and unsurpassed. This region is off the normal tourist route, so it will be a unique experience to discover the tiny hilltop towns that date back to  the Roman and Etruscan settlements.  This week we will have daily painting instruction, lots of time to stroll and  explore the wonderful towns of San Gemini, Todi, Spoleto, Trevi and more.

The price will include a nice discount if you sign up for the first week in Tuscany as well. The cost for the week is TBA but will include lodging, breakfasts, tours  and art instruction.  

LOVE Your Own Artwork

Valentine's Day is a great day to remind yourself to love the artwork you create and not be concerned with judging your finished product.

If you enjoy the process of making art, the splashing and brushing on of the paint, the feel of the pencil as it scratches the paper,  the adding a bit of this and that  and the choosing of where and what to add to your work, then that is more then enough.

In our fast paced society it's fortunate and stress reducing to make something with our own hands, based on our personal designs and choice of materials. Do we really need to judge our work after we have finished, washed our brushes and stored our paints? Perhaps a healthier alternative to criticism might be to congratulate yourself for taking the time to do something creative, for trying, for thinking out of the box, for taking a risk and exploring the world of art.

From now on, remember to be an "Artistic Explorer" not an  "Art Critic".  The next time someone asks me what my job is, I might answer, "I am an Art Astronaut." 

Happy Valentine's Day

How to Find Time to Practice Your Drawing and Painting

It has come to my attention that many aspiring artists do not have enough time in their days to practice their drawing and painting due to their other obligations.  Can you imagine that there could be a more important way to spend one's time other then drawing and painting?

Apparently, some people (including myself) have mysterious people in their lives that expect them to prepare meals, clean house and probably do other things like buy their dog food and drive them to their doctor's appointments. This is an outrageous situation.  How can our artwork improve if our lives are filled to the brim with useful, responsible activities?

I have an idea on how to solve our time crunch. Please print out the pass I have provided below and present to anyone requiring you to do something that cuts into your drawing and painting time.  Let me know how this works for you.  If it does not, I will come up with something else.

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Painting and Drawing Online Class is In Session

February classes began last week. All students are doing well. I post each of the 4 monthly lessons every Monday morning. 

This is the finished drawing from today's lesson. Students can practice all the techniques explained in teach lesson 18 minutes or more as often as they want each week. 

If you missed signing up for February and can't wait till March to get started, contact me at anywhereart4u@gmail.com and I can arrange for you to purchase the last 2 weekly February lessons. 

Drawing & Painting Daybook Assignment #3

The most requested subject that my students want to learn to paint and draw is a cat. I thought I could review lessons 1 and 2 and teach you lesson 3 by using a cat as our drawing subject.

It's especially easier when drawing a cat to use a photo because cats move move around too much when you are trying to draw them. 

Start your drawing by finding the basic shapes and drawing them with a light pencil line on your paper. 

The next step is lesson 2, find a unit of measurement (I am using the height of the photo cats head). 

I measured the number of head heights in the photo cats height and width. Then adjusted my drawing (below) and marked the number of head heights in the length and width of the drawing to get the correct proportions in my sketchbook drawing.

Lesson 3 is learning how to use guidelines to get everything to look good.

The vertical line above helps me see that the chest touches this line but the side of the head does not. 

The next line I measured was a horizontal line on the tallest part of the cat's back to see where it intersected his face.  Then I drew this on my cat drawing.

Then I used drew guidelines (picture below) to find the angles of the cat's head and features. 

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You can add more guidelines if you find them helpful. They are a little humiliating at times because they can point out where our drawing is off, but that doesn't mean our drawing is wrong at all. It means we have another tool passed down to use by age old artists to make accurate sketches. No one sketches perfectly by sight. The experienced artists I know, use these guidelines to shape up their work. 

A good teacher is in touch with her students learning emotions and gives them encouragement when they are frustrated or stuck. So if you are feeling like this is a lot of stuff to know about and might want to quit. Please don't, just continue practicing and these concepts will become 2nd nature to you and your drawings will improve. 

Here is this weeks assignment. 

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Drawing & Painting Daybook Assignment 2

After you have found the basic shapes it your drawing subject, the next you have to do is make sure your drawing looks like it has correct proportions.  

Proportion is making sure the head is not to small for the body or the legs too long or the tree you are drawing may have too small a trunk. Basically if your drawing doesn't look quite right you need to measure it to make sure all the parts are the right sizes.  

I found a hippo in my studio willing to pose for me for a reasonable fee. 

You need to decide on what you want part of the hippo you want to use as a "unit of measurement". I decided to use the length of the hippo head from is the front to the back of his cheek. I measured this by holding up my pencil and measuring the length of the head and marking the length with my finger on the pencil. Then I used this length to find how many heads long the hippo is. Then I drew a head on my paper and marked the length on a piece of paper and so on. 

Then I used my pencil and measured to find out how many heads tall the hippo is. Then I sketched out the rest of the hippo in pencil on top of my measuring marks. He/she looked ok. Your subject doesn't have to be perfectly measured unless you are going to build it and send it into space.

Here is your assignment #2. Email me if you have any questions at anywhereart4u.@gmail.com

Patti Does Her Homework

Patti Ladd is student of the week. She attended my Friday afternoon "Watercolor and Drawing Fun 4 Every1 workshop this week and showed me her sketchbook in which she practiced the week's assignment #1. 

Modern Technology Teaches Old Dog New (Drawing) Tricks

This morning I saw my sketchbook on the kitchen counter. I thought that I would love to practice my basic shape drawings BUT I had too much work to do.  Then I remembered the drawing assignment. The requirement for the drawing practice was 18 minutes and I could spare 18 minutes before I went off to work. I set the timer on my smartphone for 19 minutes, grabbed a pencil and looked out my window for something to draw.

Doing the drawing was actually stress free because I remembered I only had to practice seeing and drawing the basic shapes. Usually I have a zillion drawing techniques running through my head when I draw and don't remember the basic steps to drawing and use them as building blocks to a finished drawing.

While I was drawing a little bird landed on the rim of the pot. Usually, I would think, I draw lousy birds. Today, I shut up my inner art critic and said, I can draw a birds basic shapes. Success, from the tyranny of that omnipresent art critic!

The timer went off just as I was finishing the drawing. I think being able to set the timer on my phone could have been crucial to my making time to draw.  I knew the timer chime would remind me to stop. Without it, I would have lost track of time.

If you have a timer on your phone, use it for your drawing practice sessions. If not, use your oven timer or one of those kitchen timers. Let me know if modern technology helps you find time to practice your drawing. 

Free Drawing & Painting Daybook Accessories

I decided if I was going to spend 11 months carrying around a sketchbook to do my weekly assignments in, then I would make it look pleasant. I made an interesting cover out of a drawing I did, ran it through my laminator and pasted it on

My Daybook is now stain-proof and virtually indestructible. I also made tabs for it and laminated them too of course.

if you would like a my cover and tabs, just let me know and I'll send you the file so you can print them out at home.  

By the way, how's your sketching basic shapes going? If you send me a copy of your sketchbook page, I will send you a gold star to reward your efforts. 

Beagle Basic Shapes

Socks has basic shapes beneath his exterior shapes!  Who would have guessed? It made drawing him much easier except he changed positions before I had time to finish his picture.  I am doing my drawing and painting assignments myself.  Sometimes when I arrive late to class or don't do my homework I have to stay in at recess to finish my work.

Drawing and Painting Day Book

I listened to you when you said you wanted to learn to paint and draw better.

You said you like drawing and painting, but can't seem to fit it in to your busy life. 

I had some ideas about how to help you do more artwork.   I thought making small portable art studios out of recycled mint tins would allow you to paint & draw whenever you found some spare moments. Then I thought if I taught some classes so you could learn more drawing and painting skills that might help you draw and paint more often.  These ideas didn't work for most of you. 

I have another idea that has been percolating in my head for a while, swirling around trying to fit all the concepts together into a concrete method you could try.  It took a while to fully form but this morning it jelled and popped out of my mind like a 1950's jello mold dessert. 

 You will need to buy a sketchbook similar to the one pictured here. I bought 2 of these this morning on sale at Aaron Brothers. 

You need to get a sketchbook with paper that is 93 lbs or more so that you can paint in it with watercolor paint and the paper won't disintengrate. Choose whatever size you like and will use. This one has 60 pages and I think depending on how big you like to draw, you can use an entire page or divide it into smaller sections.

I know what you're thinking. "I've bought sketchbooks before and they never helped me find more time to draw and paint, and I am not going to listen to Barbara and go out and buy another one!" But just hold on a second, I am not done explaining my new motivational idea yet. 

Take your new sketchbook or grab an old one, open it.  On the blank page write with the first pencil you can find,

The  Drawing and Painting DayBook 2015

Here is your first assignment, tape, staple or glue it in your sketchbook, that way the dog won't eat it.

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Here is an example of finding and drawing basic shapes.  I looked at a china salt shaker that was sitting on my kitchen table and drew a box first about the size of the salt shaker.  Then I went about finding and drawing the basic shapes in the china chicken.

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I drew the biggest shapes first.

I drew circles on the outside of the chicken to get the curves.

Once you have refined your basic shapes and erased your excess lines, you can add a few details and you are done!  Your next assignment will be given next Monday, Jan. 19th followed by the 3rd assignment on Jan. 26. I suggest that you try to practice this drawing concept as often as you can find 18 minute periods of time during this coming week. The more you practice the better you will get at seeing and drawing. Plus you will get comfortable with this foundation drawing skill. 

I would love to have your comments if you buy a sketchbook and practice my drawing concepts for the next 3 weeks.  Starting FEB. 2, each month I will be offering a month of guided drawing lesson assignment for $20. per month or 11 months of drawing and painting lessons for $150. Every week you are entitled to email your drawings to me for help, advice and complements. By the end of 2015, if you follow my assignments weekly, I will have you drawing and painting like the cat's pajamas.

My Yellow Painting Period

Since I started my yellow period, I am finding yellow everywhere. 

First I found twelve tubes of yellow watercolor paint in my office.  In my continuing quest to become an organized artist, I decided to make a paint sample of each color yellow and compare them. It was somewhat interesting to see the color range of yellows, from egg yolk to pale lemonade. If I manufactured paint I don't think I would call yellow orange "hansa yellow dark" I would call it something we can all relate to like "old mustard". 

I found lots of yellow subjects to paint hanging on my Meyer lemon tree in our backyard. The tree was filled with fruit in all ranges of yellows.

I painted 🍋 three lemon paintings this weekend and I think this is just the beginning of my yellow painting period. My husband is happy because my interest in painting lemons has led to me developing an interest in baking cookies, cakes and breads using the painting subjects.

DIY Gift Tags and Last Minute Gifts

Suppose you are invited to someone's holiday party and forgot to shop for a gift for them. My mother's words come back to haunt me at this point. Mom shouts down from heaven, "Never go to someone's house empty handed." Sometimes I also hear her advise, "Take a sweater", but that  advice doesn't apply to bringing hostess gifts.

Here are my directions on how to find gifts around your house and how to make gift tags for them: 

Supplies you need for gift tags: a manila file folder, hole punch, scissors, piece of twine, ribbon or string, a pencil and earaser and a thin tipped felt pen ( colored pens are optional). 

Cut the manila folder into rectangles the size of a standard business card. Snip off the two top corners at angles. Punch a hole near the top in the middle of the card. Draw elipses (squashed circles) with a light pencil line to get the shapes for the bottom and shoulders of the bottles. Draw over your outlines and write your message with a thin tip felt pen.  Color with colored pencils if you want.  Thread a ribbon or twine through the hole and attach the gift card to your gift. 

Cutting and drawing your gift tags

Another design using elipses and how to attach the ribbon loop

Look around your home for items you can assemble into quicky gifts. Do you have an extra of a favorite pen or an old cream pitcher whose sugar jar mate has disappeared? Imagine the possibilities.

The pen and pencil were gifts I received and was quite happy to get. Every artist I know loves to receive art supplies

Don't go overboard finding imaginative gifts and wrapping around your home. I think Mom once advised me to use stay within the limits of good taste.

Happy Holidays to All! And best wishes for happy art making and good health in 2015! 

Some might find these gifts and wrapping questionable

Finding A Balance Between Sleeping Beagles and Painting

It's a chilly winter night in Upper San Diego. I am seated in a cozy corner of my family room between 2 warm, dozing beagles (top picture above). 

I don't want to disturb the beagles by getting up but I need to go into my studio because I want to paint.

Instead I have decided to stay sandwiched in between the 2 warm beagles and edit pictures from France on my phone for painting tomorrow. 

I guess I have found balance.

Little Shop of Watercolor

Do you know that I have a shop? Its sort of like the one in the photo below, except its not in Italy and I don't sell fresh fruit.  

You can find this shop in Castelina en Chianti in Tuscany

My shop is on etsy.com. If you want to stop by my shop and browse or window shop, just go to etsy.com and in the search box at the top of the page type in AnywhereArtShoppe and you will be wisked to my shop page.  My shop is open 24/7 and I am always in the shop to wait on you.  I have plans to add more to my shop very soon.  I am thinking about selling art kits, sketchbooks and bags to take your art supplies anywhere, in addition to my paintings. What would you like to see in my shop?

I painted this yesterday afternoon when the rain was falling in San Diego.

Careers for Artists Riddle

What do these items have in common?

Question: What does an eraser, a sketchbook drawing, a shoe shine kit and photographs have in common?

Answer: all of the items are tools used in careers, vocations and jobs that involve applying paint. 

Career Advice: if you enjoy applying paint as much as I do, you might want to research careers that involve paint and some form of applying it: manicurist, house painter, sign painter, hair colorist, shoe shiner, furniture refinisher and art teacher are some I can think of. 

I Wrote Articles for Pages Winter 2015 Magazine

I was quite excited to see the new issue of PAGES magazine because it is a wonderful magazine full of ideas for making books and art journaling. I was also excited because the Winter 2014 contains two articles that I wrote.  It was very nice to see my ideas about painting and journaling in print.

I wrote about making color choices for your art journal pages and about how to set up a cozy corner for art journaling in your house, so you can get more journaling done.  I sent some of my journals to Boston and the designers there took photographs of them and published them with my articles. I also took some photos in my house to show my actual journaling corners and they are in the magazine also.  So are the beagles, Sox and Ollie, who just happened to be in the cozy corners when I was taking the pictures. 

If you want to see the magazine, I believe you can find it in the magazine section of Barnes and Noble or you can find it online at http://www.interweavestore.com/cloth-paper-scissors-pages-winter-2015-grouped?source=igodigital 

Let me know what you think. 

Painting Fog in Watercolor From the Inside Out

We have gotten some much needed rain here in San Diego the last few days. The usually sunny view out my family room window has been much grayer.

I have been experimenting with painting cool grey skies outside in the distance and warm interiors in the middle and foreground of my paintings. 

The results are in the above photo. With my newly organized painting supplies at my fingertips I am able to paint more often. I have to admit that sometimes I don't return my art supplies to the studio and we have eaten some meals with the paints on the table, but there have been no complaints...

Test Run for the Organized Office/Art Studio

It's Sunday afternoon. The sun is shining on my patio. I look out through the back windows and think, "It's beautiful out there today. Look how the light is shining on our roses. If I were an artist I would paint that scene."

Ok, so I am an artist and I have been working on organizing my studio so I can find my materials when inspiration strikes.  Apparently, it is striking right now. 1,2,3, go. Where is my sketchbook? On the shelf, lined up with the other moleskine sketchbooks.  Can I easily find it? I find it quickly. Now, I look around for my pre-assembled box of art/painting stuff, amazingly I find on top of my desk. According to what I am reading in the engineering textbook, all my watercolor journaling tools should be stored together. Now if look in the basket under the desk for my paints, they are way in the bottom of my basket. I locate them after a few moments of searching and take everything into the other room with the view of the roses. 

I sit down to paint the view. No pencil is to be found. I have just flunked my first run of organized painting. Oh well, I grab a pencil, sketch the scene loosely and paint for an hour or two. It is quickly apparent that my painting isn't perfect, but I am happy. My intention is to paint regularly ,explore more new ideas, and improve my techniques. In today's painting I wanted to work on having a range of dark, light and medium tones in my painted images and I wanted to concentrate on contour drawing. I have done both. A good time was had by all.

Organizing/Engineering For Better Painting

What do watercolor painting and engineering have in common?

Top left, finished painting done with organized brushes.

They have a lot in common, I am discovering. My husband is an industrial engineer by training. He learned in his college courses how to make manufactoring and other business' more efficient.

Every now and then I ask him questions about how I can improve my painting using engineering ideas. 

I am fed up with the time it takes to search through my office and car for my favorite brush when  I want to be painting. Plus this year, I started teaching 4 classes a week in 4 different locations, so I must be able to find my art supplies, put together lessons, and arrive on the correct day at the correct time in a relatively presentable outfit.

I now am motivated to look at how I can improve my organizational skills.  I am looking at everything that goes into my teaching and travel painting tours to see how and what I can do to create an efficient life so I don't sink into a vortex of papers, pens, brushes and triple appointments scheduled on the same day.

This morning I sorted out the tangle of brushes I had in my brush holder. I put the duplicate brushes somewhere else and only put the brushes I usually paint with into a sophisticated and very expensive DIY brush rack. You can see my brush rack in two views on the bottom row of the picture above. My husband tells me organizing your tools is an engineering concept, so I am reading his textbook, pictured above top right, to learn more engineering secrets I can share with you to make our painting easier for us.