Butterfly Contest & Summer Painting Contest!

 

Dear Readers,

I hope you had a wonderful Memorial weekend.  Here I am with the Mastermind girls on Memorial evening.  We had a great time as always.

I worked on finishing the new butterfly and daisy painting this week.  Last week we left off with the shadows in the butterfly and flower symbol below.

Next, it was time to move onto the blues in the butterfly.  To achieve dimension in my washes, I always create a variant palette of the same color to add texture and variation.  I used three very different shades of blue to make the desired effect.

Here you can see a close up of blending the three blues.

Adding shadows creates depth and life to your paintings.  Remember to always include your background/sky colors to create a feeling of unity in your paintings!

If you keep your washes light, you can layer them and create a feeling of movement.

For the finishing touches, I create a palette of Gauche and watercolor mixes for the details.

Accents on the flower symbol create highlights.

Here is the finished piece.  Now it’s your turn!  CONTEST TIME For a great TITLE!  I always enjoy the amazing response to naming the originals, so let your imaginations run wild and send us your ideas.  Next week, we will let you know the new title for the butterfly and flowers.

I had another class with Audra this week, and I wanted to show you the progress on her painting.  She added a salt glaze to add texture to the cats fur.  After these washes, she decided to start with the flowers.

She chose the opposites of yellow-orange and cyan.  Here she is applying a water base before adding her colors for the wash.

See how great they flow together.  If the paper had been to dry, she wouldn’t have been able to blend these two colors together.

Once she finished with the flower washes we were done with our lesson for the week.

Here is Audra with her mom Robin.

Last night, I visited my beautiful daughter Sky.  Here is is with her newest creation that she painted this week. I loved it!  It is amazing how her talents have blossomed.

During our visit we enjoyed a light dinner with one of ky’s friends at the Namrestaurant on 4th in Vancouver.

Practice and creation are always the best way to express ourselves and develop as artists. After visiting with Sky, I decided it would be a wonderful adventure to have OUR FIRST PAINTING CONTEST FOR ALL OF YOU ON THE BLOG.  I encourage all of you to get out your paints and enjoy the arrival of summer!  

CONTEST INSPIRATION AND GUIDELINES:

The subject is flowers!  Please make your entries 8 by 10 inches.  Guidelines:  I would like for all of you to use “repetition with variation”, “opposite colors”, and the “salt glaze” technique and shadows.  You can search any of these methods in my blog if you need a reminder of how to use them!  Deadline:  June 30, 2009.

I will look at all of the entries and narrow the contest down to 5 winners.  Then, I will post the final 5 and the top 3 winners will be up to you!  

PRIZES:  1st Place:  $100 Bergsma gift certificate.  2nd Place:  $50 gift certificate.  3rd Place:  $25 gift certificate.

Remember to let your imagination and creativity blossom!  I look forward to seeing all of your creations.  I hope your weekend is an inspiration and enjoy this beautiful sun!

Blessings, Jody

~ by jodybergsma on May 29, 2009.