Personal Art Blog

Sharing the lessons I teach at the Artist Guild and the personal discoveries in my art.

Friday, September 6, 2013

Farmers Market #20 Handy Hint #2



Farmers market #20

6x6in oil on canvas panel  $100.

Day 6.

Lots of color at the market.

Artist Note.
Yesterday, I mentioned how I used a piece of glass to help fit
my still life on to a small sized canvas.
Today I will show how I use the glass every day.
After blocking in the painting with base shapes I decided I
needed to place another figure, but where and what size etc?
Out comes the glass. I have tried clear plastic and other ways but
the ease and CLARITY of glass beats them all.

Figure standing straight
was tried first.
Painted on the glass.
It is just as clear as
painting right on
the canvas.


The back of someone was
tried next. I changed a bit
of the values around the
figure too.














I left in my
hand here
so you could
get the idea
of how well
it works when
holding it
close.








I moved
the painting
just to the side
so you can
see it clearly.
IF I had wanted
to see if a red
top would be
better than the blue
- this would
be the easy way
to tell.





When teaching and doing the rounds helping the artists,
I do all the suggested corrections on glass. This way
they see how I would do it, but end up doing their own
work and learn better that way..
I encourage all the artists to try solutions on the glass first.
It prevents many an overworked area.
Below are the different sizes we use in the guild studio.
Works with acrylic and oil, but sorry - not watercolor.
I use colored paper shapes for that one.



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23 comments:

  1. This confirms what a clever artist I think you are! What a handy tip which makes perfect sense now that you explain it, but I would never have thought of it myself! How fun!

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  2. You are so clever! Thanks for sharing, even if it doesn't apply to me, I love knowing. Paper shapes with watercolor, I will try.
    The market is full of color and makes a beautiful subject. I love the foreground figure's red apron and her pose, feels very natural.

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  3. Thanks for the sharing your tip. I can't believe that this is a 6 x 6, so well done. It really stood out in the collection of small images.

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  4. Fascinating! I thought I had heard it all. This is such a clever way to make corrections and best of all, solves that age old problem of painting on a student's work! Bravo!

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  5. Again, brilliant! I have seen that done in a more basic way with saran wrap. I use a plastic sheet protector with grid lines for placement of the initial work on canvas. But, the idea of testing out colors and objects prior to placement is quite smart. Great tip (and painting of course!).

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  6. Holy Cow, did I call this brilliant before? It's genius! What a great way to deal with that! I'm going to have to pull some glass out of my old frames!

    Wonderful painting once again! So much movement and fun texture! I would never get tired of looking at it! Love it!

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  7. Your painting turned out beautiful Julie. This tip is SO great and right away it made me think of a recent exhibit here in Wichita...Ray Turner's "Population". It is a series of portraits and they were all painted on glass. For some of the portraits he painted part of the portrait on other layers of glass beneath the top layer of glass so that part of the face looked to be a deep colorful crater. It was so interesting and he's painted nearly 500 portraits now. It is still growing too. He paints members of the community where he exhibits and then their portraits join the others he's painted and travel onto the next exhibit.

    I love your glass idea. I plan to use it from now on! Thanks Julie!

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    Replies
    1. I went and looked and was thrilled i did. I recommend looking at his work. Amazing. thanks lisa.

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  8. Thanks for another great tip! The product for watercolor is Wet Media Dura-Lar.

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    Replies
    1. Thanks so much Twinklw. I tried to reply but could not get past google plus.

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  9. What a great idea and help that is. I've done similar for watercolours using a piece of acetate, but never thought of using glass like this. Thank you so much :)

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  10. Julie, Just had to come over and see your blog, and just LOVE, LOVE this teaching suggestion!! I'll definitely be back!!

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  11. I continue to be amazed at how you add so much color, yet it is all harmonious. I see how you use the glass to help you determine what color works best, but I also imagine you keep in mind whether the painting is largely cool or warm. Could you write a bit about that?

    Here's another thing that amazes me: Umbrella perspective is hard. Yet you seem to paint them with ease.

    Keep it up!

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  12. Another tip from a genius. Thanks. I've used clear plastic but I always lose it. Glass should be easier to keep up with esp. since you can lean it on a shelf.

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  13. wow---that is really interesting! I have never seen anyone else do this. Such a great way to see changes without committing 100% (and possibly mucking up) It's cool to think about 'previewing'---I will try this! Beautiful painting. :)

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  14. Great idea, Julie! Thanks for putting it out there. I've got so much old glass from cheap Ikea frames that would be perfect for this.

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  15. Julie, I am always amazed at the detail in your small paintings! Thank you for sharing how you use the glass. I will certainly try that sometime.

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  16. I never tire of seeing your Farmer's Market series...you capture the energy and the beauty of people shopping for those precious fruits and veggies. Your colors always draw me in. So truly lovely.

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  17. So creative, I feel I am in a real farmer's market.

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  18. Julie I don't thing you have done a painting I haven't liked... this one is fab!

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  19. Oh my, I've run out of words to describe you and your wonderful paintings, smiles. Thank you Julie for sharing so much.

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  20. How much fun is that tip.I will be seeking out those pieces of glass in the closet tonight. And I loved the red shirt! But I can see it might not work in the whole painting. My favorite is the shopper checking out the produce. So familiar. So well done. thank you Julie, you remain so generous.

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I love that you are taking the time to comment and thank you for it. I am sure other readers will enjoy them too. If you cannot comment through this format then email me at juliefordoliver@gmail.com
Cheers,
Julie