Personal Art Blog

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

Monday, January 20, 2014

Denim and Broom





















Denim and Broom

16"x12"  oil on canvas  unfinished

My demo piece from yesterday.

It was my husband who asked me to do
a repeat of a small painting I did last
January. It was one he had always liked

It was a warm and friendly group.
I relaxed pretty quickly when some of
my support group turned up and made
me laugh.














The pressure I had shared was because I
donated a one-day workshop for
a fundraiser next Saturday.
Some of the sign-ups had come to see
me at work.  Can you imagine if they
decided to cancel based on what they
saw!!! All the wonderful and supportive
comments made me feel good, but
we all recognize that anyone using
hand/eye coordination can have a not
so good day. I saw David Hockney
walk out of one many. many years ago.
Anyway, I did some parts very well
and some parts not as well. All in all
a typical Julie demo.

Artist Note
I had two sheets of canvas.
One black gesso
and one white oil primed linen.
I wanted to show the difference in the
finished appearance between the two.
Unfortunately I did not finish the linen one.
The painting at the top was done on
black canvas.
It gives a solid appearance quickly. I used
opposing strokes to give some variation
of value and laughed with the audience
about the popularity of paintings on
black velvet -  back in the day.

I do not have much recollection of of
the steps I took but I remember














someone asked me
what brush I used so I took out my
fan brush to show the type of brush is not
as important in the beginning because
it should be all about getting down the 
basic shapes.
You can see the big shapes clearly below.

















I wanted them to see the glow you can
achieve by using transparent colors first.
They peep through here and there as you
apply thicker paint.
This is as far as I got on this one, but am
looking forward to finishing it.
I should have asked someone to take
step by step photos but I will make sure to
take them as I finish this one

22 comments:

  1. We all have to do things that are uncomfortable in our working life and this seems to be yours but I am sure you did better than you think!! I love this piece, it reminds of your aprons painting from last Jan.

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  2. I love the effect the oil has with the black under painting. I was taught to never use black because it robs color, instead your final work is just full of light and color! If I would have watched your demo, I would have never quite painting with oils.
    Your painting of a broom is gorgeous and it reminds me of the movie, Fantasia. The scene with all the dancing brooms.

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  3. How is it different all the way to proceed with your oil painting! It 's like a world unknown to me which is nice to see what happens. Research of light is always the goal, but with such striking differences. I am always very happy to see how it performs your magnificent painting process.

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  4. Thanks for sharing Julie, you gave me a great idea how I can use my art and teaching experience to raise money for a soup kitchen I volunteer in.
    By the way your work is beautiful!

    Karen
    The Adventurous Art Teacher

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  5. Julie, how do you manage to make the most mundane of items look so beautiful?! I loved when you did that series of "mundane" items awhile ago. Heck...you even made me want to vacuum. I don't do vacuum! LOL

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  6. I think the demo was a success, a very nice piece! =)

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  7. looks like a winner to me. Love the painting, especially the denim jacket hanging there.

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  8. Unfinished or not, I learned! Thank you. Underpaintings or first layers are so important. Love how you share so generously.

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  9. Wouldn't it be nice to have a "Julie" demo on video for those of us too far away to attend. What fun that would be. Done with no pressure, you would be talking to all your friends.

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  10. Your work never ceases to amaze and inspire! i love this painting and the demo information as well. thank you for sharing this!

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  11. Love your demos, Julie... I always learn something!! This is a wonderful piece..Love the colors and light....

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  12. There's a really beautiful golden light on the top one , you made the painting come so alive, love the subject.

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  13. beautiful painting! you are very brave! what about doing a painting of various steps in advance and say 'see this is what it will look like at this step' as a back-up! But you probably look as cool as a cucumber on the outside even though you did not feel like it on the inside! I'm so sure!

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  14. Thanks Julie, lots of great info here. Thank goodness how we feel inside doesn't stop what we do outside! Well done, and I want to try the one on black, one on white to see for myself the difference.

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  15. I can see why it is a favorite of your husband's....the subject(s) have such a nice feel.
    It almost makes me want to go clean something...haha just kidding! So...do you often paint on black? When you finish the 2nd...would you post a side-by-side for comparison? You did a wonderful job here. I bet your students really enjoyed seeing the paintings coming together. :)

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  16. Love the glow of the transparent colors in the beginning. A wonderful point you make in emphasizing them for the early stages. It's a great reminder for me as I don't always do that consistently. Thank you once again!
















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  17. Lucky students. Thanks for posting this.

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  18. Your finished piece just takes my breath away--I simply love how you have made absolute beauty out of something so ordinary. Thanks for sharing your lessons for your students--I feel lucky to come here and be able to pick up a pearl or two!

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  19. Wonderful old fashioned broom...plus great insight into technique...and thanks for taking the time to add your kind words to my sketch with new fashioned (curling) brooms in action.

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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