Summer Painting Classes

Can you see yourself under the pink striped umbrella at the beach with me this Summer? 

It's not as difficult as you might think to paint a beach and ocean scene. When I first moved to San Diego, I thought I couldn't paint seascapes. The trouble was I thought I needed a special education on oceanography and wavology to be able to sit on the beach and paint. However, after studying the beach while walking, gazing and sitting I realized that to paint beach scenes all you needed to do was look at the ocean and the sand and put marks on your paper with paint to describe what you saw.   

I am going to teach at the beach this Summer and share with you how to paint what inspires you at the beach. Want to sign up for a class with me? Email me soon with your thoughts at anywhereart4u@gmail.com

Under the Pink Striped Umbrella . Acrylic painting by Barbara Roth

Creative Cookie Arranging

This could be my artist bio. It says so much about me. I like cookies, I like vintage fabric and I like to make art anywhere.

Yellow Orange

I never really appreciated the color yellow orange before now.  I was painting some color charts the other day for a local class when I stumbled on yellow orange. It's the color of school buses and the yellow traffic light and marigolds. It looks good with when it goes out with blue violet. They complement each other because they are opposites on the color wheel.

What do you think? Have you got a favorite color couple? 

How to Find the Time to Paint in You Daze

Lately I have been finding the time to paint more. People have actually been asking me how I am able to accomplish this. 

I don't want to be like a certain dear relative of mine who only quit smoking in her old age when her hands could no longer grip the cigarette but then lectured to others on how they should quit smoking.

Part of the reason I am getting more painting done is fear and belief in my work. I am working on a commissioned project that has a deadline. I am fearful about meeting my my deadline on time. This fear is motivating me to find the time to paint. 

The fact that I have been comissioned to create this artwork gives me credibility and a bit of confidence. This new confidence motivates me to paint more, it makes me feel like painting is a legit way to spend ones time and not a leisure time pursuit I am obsessed with. 

So here are some strategies I have found to work for me to create more painting time: 

1. Say no nicely to nice friends who want to spend time with you. Reschedule friend activities to other less hectic days in your schedule. You cant work all the time, so you do need to have some time to see your friends. 

2. Make a list of your priorities with painting near the top of your list. You have to follow this list and not blow off painting. 

3. Pretend you have a deadline, high priority and confidence tto complete a sketch/painting of the flowers below. Then send your work to me and I will post it on this blog and send you more confidence and a green star.

Organizing Tool for Artists

A lot of creative people struggle with organizing their art supplies including me. I know this because I have googled this topic and found lots of info about this online.

I am a fan of "just enough art supply organization". Its a term I just made up. It means not spending all day organizing your crayons in alphabetical order by color. It also means putting your supplies in some kind of of easy to organize form so you can find them quickly when you need them. 

I am pleased as pie to tell you about an excellent artists organizing tool you can purchase at your local market.

The Artists storage sack. It comes in all sizes, closes at the top so your stuff won't fall out and its recyclable! See picture below. 

Artist's storage sacks can hold a variety of artists tools and supplies. 

I somehow decided I needed this metal palette with 56 1/2 pans waiting empty for me to fill with watercolor paint. I found the palette lying collecting dust on a shelf in a small art shoppe in Sarlat.  So you could say I rescued this palette box from obscurity, couldn't you? 

My rationale for buying this paintbox was my need to find my colors quickly and have them easily available to me when I am painting in a travel location or have limited time. What do you think? 

How to draw like a Cave Person

I was very inspired by the Cromagnon cave paintings I saw in France when we toured the caves in the Dordogne region of France during our workshop. 

Cromagnon inspired sketches found in San Diego cave. 

We toured the museums of Lascaux and Pech Merle and saw artifacts and exhibits that taught us some facts and theories about cave art. 

We learned that early men and women created their own tools from the materials in their environment. We saw reindeer bones sharpened to be used as weapons and engraving tools. 

We learned that no one knows the exact reasons for the paintings on the cave walls. Scholars believe the images may have been drawn to increase the numbers and varieties of animals they hunted for.  Some believe the drawings were done for religious purposes or  to increase fertility. 

This morning I decided to draw like a cave women. I looked around for tools to shape out if what I found in my environment. I found a drawer of chalk and a pen to use on my kitchen counter. I found a pad of mixed media paper on our kitchen table. 

I needed animal subjects to paint. I found two beagles in the family room. I used a blind contour drawing technique for my sketches and added chalk lines for color and shading. The beagles shifted positions constantly while I drew them, hence the multiple sketchy lines.

New French Style

One can't go to France, the fashion capital of the world, without picking up some style tips and accessories.  How do you like my new look? 

My daughter described this look as 1960's flight attendent chic. I'm not exactly sure that is the new look I am going for as to represent Anywhere Art LLC and take it to the next level.

Returning to Real Life

After being at home a few days, you gradually move out of your post trip daze. 

It's necessary to pick up where you left off before you left on your trip. Hopefully your outlook has broadened, you have aquired some knowledge of the culture of the place you visited and you have some new ideas you want to integrate into your old life.  

So when you cook your breakfast egg you no longer see a poached egg. Instead you see possibilities about what else that egg could be: en coquette, an omlette, a quiche ingredient, or a topping for a crepe. This gives new meaning to me for the phrase, "Imagine the possibilities."

A crepe with cheese& ham & egg in Giverny

I am also looking at my paintings I did on my trip in my sketchbook with "fresh egg eyes."  

Maybe this will be a theme for a series of chateaux paintings, a larger oil painting or a gift tag? Imagine the possibilities I tell myself. 

How to Avoid Post Trip Depression and Jet Lag

Returning home from a great trip involves a lot of mental juxtaposing. On one hand you are glad to see your family and relax in your familiar surroundings. On the other hand you miss the excitement and alertness of experiencing a different culture and having daily new sights, tastes and sensory alertness.  

My solution is to relax. I try to talk about my new travel insghts and show my photos only to those who are truely interested. 

The fatigue from jet lag usually protects you from reality for at least a day or two.  

If you find you miss the incredible French food you ate 3 meals a day while on vacation, do not imediately get out Julia Child's cookbook and try to cook something French. I can tell you from experience this doesn't work. Instead if you can, eat your favorite foods that are found near or in  your home, like maybe sushi and whole wheat toast.

Do not bore your friends with your new interest in Cro Magnon man, quietly go about resarching the topic by yourself. By all means organize your art supplies, start a new painting and wear the new shoes you bought in France. If anyone asks you why you didnt submit something last week, it is permissible to say, "I'm sorry I could'nt submit that form, I was in France."

Let me know if you have discovered any more efficient ways to cope with jet lag.  

What We Did in France

Everyone is on their way home from our France workshop to different spots around the U. S.  In addition to travel journal painting we saw some amazing scenery, visited some beautiful small villages , tasted some delicious regional French food and made some good new friends.

Sunday in Sarlat

Today was Liberation Day in France (also known as victory in Europe day). There were celebrations and decorations in the villages. 

V E decorations on the monument in the Square of May 1945 in front of our hotel.

We visited a few of France's most beautiful villages today, the final day of our workshop.

We enjoyed our two weeks together painting and touring. 

Post Trip Travel Painting

I saw this shop today and thought it might make a nice painting. I didn't have time to sit and paint it right then but I will when I return home. I will print it out and fold it into quarters then draw quarters lightly in pencil on my watercolor paper. Then I will sketch what I see in the photo in the corresponding quarter. Once I finish the drawing I erase the quarter lines and paint the painting. You can do it too if you print out this photo.  

The Most Perfect Shoes!

This morning while wandering through the streets of Sarlat we found the perfect shoes. I must buy several pairs. 

What A Day In Sarlat

Imagine a day in a beautiful medieval town like Sarlat. You wake up eat a breakfast of fresh bread from the neighborhood bakery with some yogurt, jam and coffee. Then you stroll into town and find there is an animal faire going on with lambs, cows, rabbits and pigs to visit with. After that you stop by a cooking shop filled with shelves of your favorite Le Cruset cookware. Then you saunder around town through the twisting and turning small streets and alley ways visiting art galleries etc. 

Cave Paintings

Today we visited the Pech Merle Caves in the Lot region of France.  The paintings depicted horses,  mammoth elephants, reindeer, bison, hand prints, a pregnant woman and a man. They were painted by Cro Magnon men and women. They are not sure of the purpose  or meaning of these paintings. They might have been created for religious purposes or for fertility purposes or for success in hunting for food.

Whatever the meaning is for the painting, they are awesome proof that the urge to draw and paint has existed for a very long time.

Cro Magnon man's paint brushes. They were made of wooley mammoth hair. 

Castles and Colour

We learned that there are 1,492 castles in the Dordogne region of France where we are touring and painting right now. Today's lesson will include castle painting tips. 

There has been discussion on what paint colors to use to paint the honey colored stone in the sunlight as well as the shade. What color do you suggest?

Castlenaud

Entrance to Castle Beynac

The Wonders of the B & B

If I posted a picture on this blog post of the bathtub in my hotel room you might think I had too much absinth to drink last night in France. 

The B & B's we are staying at are wonderful and each one had unique details that make it special. I can't post too many photos here that I've taken of hotels or you might wonder if I am giving up painting to become a hotel critic.  

You find amazing images every where when you travel that you may want to make into paintings later. Snap a photo of anything that inspires you, anywhere from a grand cathedral to a bathtub.

Top: Notice the pillow in the bathtub, the toast stacked neatly in it's own rack and the view out the window of the French countryside. 

French Time Clocks

These grandfather clocks caught my eye in the back of a hall filled with French antiques near Giverny. I take lots of pictures of things I see during my trips to paint when I return home. I let the picture percolate in my brain until an idea for a painting pops out. 

They don't make clocks like they used to. 

French Time Clocks

These grandfather clocks caught my eye in the back of a hall filled with French antiques near Giverny. I take lots of pictures of things I see during my trips to paint when I return home. I let the picture percolate in my brain until an idea for a painting pops out. 

They don't make clocks like they used to.