Finishing The Hummingbirds & Jody Bergsma’s First Oil Painting

Hello Bergsma Painters!

It was a beautiful week here in Bellingham!  Here I am riding on my property with Erin Baker owner of “Erin Baker’s Wholesome Baked Goods”.

Erin Baker & Jody Bergsma

Check out her website for nutritious yummy goods!

Welcome to this weeks painting tips blog.  I wanted to give you a peek into my paint box and tell you it all starts here.  A musician uses an instrument to create their art and artists use paint.  Don’t be afraid to play with color and get your paint on the palette!

I use mostly Windsor Newton tube watercolors…but really any professional watercolor will do… there are several manufactures and pan paint is good too.  I love the simplicity of watercolor, its neatness…and no fumes!  I put my paint on a glass sheet for my palette.  I have 3 in the studio so that I can change from one palette to another.

 

Here I am mixing several shades of gouache for the final details for the new hummingbirds.

 

 

The final touches of gouache at the end add a top layer of paint that creates details and foreground.

If you look closely you will see several shades of gouache (White watercolor ) in the fine brushwork.

I also use these lines to create movement.

Hummer Wind is now finished and will be created into many new Bergsma products including a new puzzle!

Last night, I attended the 3rd of 10 oil painting classes with my daughter Jessi.  This is a life long dream of mine… to paint my early abstracts in oils and this is my first attempt.  We are having a very exciting time… we came home at midnight and had to stay up talking until 1 am!

 

Jody Bergsma with daughter Jessi

Our teacher, Barbara Sternberger, is a famous abstract impressionist and she is instructing us how to paint in layers…

This is the base for my oil.  I painted the image above on Tuesday and on Thursday it was dry enough to begin the next layer.

Here I am adding more energized brush strokes to create top notes to the piece.

I will let this layer dry and work on it more next week.

Jessi is working on a memory abstract of her trip to Tonga in the South Pacific.

This represents two layers of color… and there is more to come.

Here is Jessi with our teacher Barbara Sternberger.

 

Barbara Sternberger & Jessi

I hope Jessi and I have inspired you to paint your dreams too!  Remember about our WATERCOLOR CONTEST!

• Submissions due by July 31st, 2009
• Approximate size of the piece 8″ x 10″.
• Subject matter: Floral
• Use…”Repetition And Variation”, shadows, opposite colors and wet on wet wash backgrounds
• LOT’S OF PRIZES..GO AHEAD AND START PAINTING
• Please submit all your jpegs/jpgs and title contests to Heather at wholesale@bergsma.com

I leave you with these images of my friends and I boating on Chuckanut Bay in Bellingham.

 

Sylvie, Heather & Jody

 

Jody Bergsma at dusk on Chuckanut Bay

We live in a beautiful world!  Have a wonderful summer weekend!

Love, Jody

~ by jodybergsma on June 12, 2009.