Young boy watercolor portrait COMMISSION

Here is my most recently commissioned portrait. I included a closeup of his face to show more detail. I'm very happy with the final product. 

Self-portrait in watercolor -- Student work

Here are some watercolor paintings of another student of mine. It was interesting to see how much the portrait changed simply by altering the color of the background. Well done!

Oct. 3 Oil Painting lesson step by step

I used cadmium red medium, naples yellow, white, and burnt sienna to paint in the flowers. I mixed equal amounts of Liquin and white; you need a lot of white for this as you will be applying a lot of paint. 

I redrew my flowers, or rather, I drew in the negative spaces between the flowers, with charcoal. (You could also use a soft conte crayon for this.)

I then applied paint thinner to this so as to wash it around a bit and increase the texture in the negative spaces. 

Then I painted various shades of peach in for the flowers. You can apply the paint any way you like. I worked with a palette knife, but quickly graduated to my fingers. I used very light pressure so the paint stayed thick. I lightly stamped a little of the negative space with my finger to make subtle areas of texture. If you enlarge the picture, you should be able to see it. 

Next time I should start photographing the palette. The mixture ranged from very light peach to a little more intense where I mixed in more cadmium red and burnt sienna. This made a beautiful shaded area. 

Next lesson (October 10) you will need something to scrape with. I suggest one of those plastic tools. They carry them at Hobby Lobby, but our store is out.

If you have questions, feel free to email me at annwinn4234@charter.net.

Watermelon Girl, Current Watercolor Portrait Painting Assignment

This cute little girl enjoying her slice of watermelon is our current watercolor portrait painting assignment, which we began on September 14. Students can choose to paint on either 1/4 or 1/6 sheet of our usual watercolor paper. It's going to look great!

Next Oil Painting Project: Geisha painting

Here is our next oil project, which begins September 19. Everyone is excited about painting this Geisha, which is from a poster I found at Hobby Lobby. Working on an 18 X 24 canvas, there will be a lot of texture in the background, and an aged patina over the entire painting. 

Painting Roses with Backlighting assignment

Here is Ken with his roses. There is supposed to be a windowsill in this, but I don't know if he will include it in his painting or not. We'll paint the roses with the same high-contrast look we see in Ken's painting. The light shining on the roses from behind (backlighting) creates quite an impact--the roses really pop! I plan to use this assignment with both my oil and watercolor painting classes.

Oil Painting Class -- Student work

I am so excited about what the students in my class are working on. In the first photo, Betty Nelson is painting strawberries and an amazing gauzy tablecloth on a black canvas. 
Photo #2 shows A'Ree Hunt carefully shading her flowers. Looking good, A'Ree! And in the last photo, Francis compares her reference photograph with her own painting. Francis, who is homeschooled, is only 12 years old! 

Student receives National watercolor award

Congratulations to my student, Shirley, who was awarded a juror's award from the Society of Watercolor Artists (SWA) for her watercolor painting "Uley and Me," which features her grandson and his dog. 

The SWA is a Fort Worth-based watercolor association which now accepts international submissions. This most recent show featured paintings from Texas artists, as well as artists from a variety of locations, such as Colorado, Malaysia, and China. 

Way to go, Shirley!

Samples of Friday watercolor class paintings (Cheetahs!)

These paintings turned out so well; my students seemed to really like painting these guys. We worked with both watercolor and ink on this assignment. The animals all seem to really come alive in the paintings. Good work, guys!

My students often work on their own projects outside of class, and this watercolor flower painting is just one example. I really like how my students are taking the initiative to work on their own projects at home--they are coming up with some really great work!

Oil painting exercise #3, End of May

This is a picture of the sample of our oil painting class exercise. It's coming along nicely!

Oil painting project

This is the next stage of our current project in oil class. In this picture, the paint was applied thinly and was mixed with paint thinner. For a view of actual painting by John Waterhouse, refer to this post: http://annwinchester.blogspot.com/2013/04/oil-painting-lesson-for-may-2.html  (click on the link to be directed to the post.) 

Silly dog--students' paintings

Here are some of my students' "silly dog" paintings. There were so many good ones, I will post a few at a time.

Oil painting lesson for May 2

I am really excited about this upcoming project, which will be to paint a copy of this Romantic, Impressionist painting by John Waterhouse. We will start on May 2nd.

Baby in Yellow Chair - Commission

There are a lot of things going on in this painting. The pink hue in the baby's hat, along with the soft yellow on the chair are repeated in the skin with the exact same pigments so as to enhance her skin tones. Using pink and yellow together produces an interesting effect called "halation," which means they (the colors) make each other seem to glow.

Also, notice the "perfect triad" of color in the pink, yellow and blue of the hat. The blue is a warm, sweet kind of blue, just perfect for babies. And I love the way she is leaning in toward us, the viewer. Makes you wonder what she'd like to tell us!

Silly Dog watercolor lesson

This slightly awkward-looking dog with a "who me?" look on his face is what my watercolor classes are working on now. We all just fell for his offbeat charm and I can't wait to see what my students' paintings look like--it's going to be fun!

Calli - Pet Portrait

This is Calli, a gorgeous Schnauzer. Her humans have provided her with an almost perfect life and I'm sure that she appreciates it!

I placed subtle bits of cadmium yellow to make the gray colors sing. I also used quite a bit of white ink as well.

Watercolor Portrait (Girl in Chair)

Little Girl in Chair, watercolor portrait

Student work samples of Lions watercolor painting

Here are some of my students showing off their paintings of lions we worked on in my Saturday watercolor class. 

They did a super job!

Jaguar oil painting, part 2

This past week, my students worked on the jaguar underpainting, which was created using black and white acrylic paint with burnt umber applied on top of that. Next week we will begin the next layer. 

The below photo shows a closeup demonstration of how I mount a piece of Mr. Clean sponge to a stick, and then use this to lift off some of the color to create highlights within the painting. 

Jaguar oil painting project

On February 14, my Thursday oil painting class will be painting this fiercely beautiful jaguar, whose photo appeared in the National Geographic magazine. The project should take 3 or 4 weeks.  We will mostly be working on a 16" x 20" canvas.  If students want to paint on a larger canvas, they need to let me know ahead of time so I can make a larger tracing sheet for you. For anyone who would like to join us, class time is from 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. Come check us out! 

Seascape project in watercolor class

We are currently working on this seascape project in the Wednesday watercolor class. This seascape has a lot of dry brush technique in it, as well as some granulating paint, which creates a wonderful textured look. Come check the class out! Visit the Hobby Lobby in Arlington, Tx, on Wednesdays from 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. 

Irish Girl: Painting People exercise

Painting people watercolor exercise