I really had fun creating this painting of a small corner of an imaginary forest. Since I love solving puzzles and sudokus, I think it is not surprising that I never get tired of the negative painting techniques and love to carve stem after stem, leaf after leaf into a colorful background. It is like working in a maze:-) I hope you don't find the result too chaotic.
I have been very fortunate to have taken several workshops with the "Ambassador of Negative Painting", Linda Kemp. Last summer, I took a one-day workshop with this great lady and just over a week ago, I attended the Holbein Vermont Event and attended 3 half-day workshops with Linda. What a treat!
The same week, I took a half-day workshop with the well-known American landscape painter, Ken Muenzenmayer. His landscapes are so luminous. He paints as many as 50 layers on ampersand panels to achieve a wonderful glow!
In early June, I signed up for my first ever portraiture class...I had never even tried to draw a face I think...I certainly was more than a bit apprehensive:-) The class was being offered by a visiting artist from France, Monsieur Habib Chamat.
Habib was a wonderful teacher and in four days he had me sketching faces and painting portraits in acrylic. Don't laugh at the portrait below of an imaginary man: this is my first ever portrait and I am proud of it:-) My next attempt at portraiture will be the portrait of my 96 year-old mother...
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| My First Portrait |
Wishing you a great month of August!
Christiane
My goodness! You've been learning and growing in so many workshops lately! I'm excited to see how they impact your future works. I really like the Forest Glow abstract with all the stems and patterns. I know exactly what you mean about finding that type of creating to be mentally stimulating. You used such gorgeous color combinations too! I The portrait is very well done, and I'm especially admiring the skillful way you did the background to compliment the face, and the different skin tones in different areas of the face. It all fits together as a working composition. You're an inspiration to all of us, for stepping out of your comfort zone and exploring different things!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much, Katherine, for stopping by and taking the time to leave such thoughtful comments!
ReplyDeleteI cannot believe I managed to paint a portrait...it is far from perfect, but it is a great start considering my phobia of drawing human faces:-) The negative painting is totally addictive and I can't wait to start another.
I have certainly stepped out of my comfort zone lately. My only concern is that I am going in too many directions at once. We will see where that takes me.
It is always a pleasure reading you!