Friday's Finds: Certifiable deals

You know that feeling you get when you walk into a store and discover that the dress/suit/coffeemaker/whatever that you purchased last month now costs a fraction of what you paid?

That's how I felt when I got an e-mail promotion titled "$11 Bargains for 2011" from North Light Shop.

Three of the twelve advertised books reside happily in my studio bookcase, and although my initial reaction was a kick to self for having paid too much, I decided a healthier approach was to pass on the tip to fellow painters.

Brief reviews
Paint Watercolors that Dance with Light by Elizabeth Kincaid. This is the book that taught me how to create a free, loose background by using Frisket film and fluid to protect the foreground subject. But that is only one of many great techniques. Beautifully illustrated, the 128-page book offers the experienced painter inspiration and tips on composition, color and light while providing the beginner critical information such as the balance of water to pigment, which brush to use for different tasks, and how to transfer a drawing to watercolor paper. The book's suggested retail price was $22.99.

The New Creative Artist by Nita Leland. This 2006 edition updates Leland's 1990 work of a similar title; its art, text and activities could lead any artist out of a creative doldrum. More than 100 activities are organized around eight chapters covering creativity, art and craft, drawing, design, realism, abstraction, experimentation and adventure. I coveted this book a long time before shelling out $29.99, so I'm pretty sure anyone will be really happy to get it for $11.

Finding Your Visual Voice by Dakota Mitchell with Lee Haroun. Not limited to watercolor, this book offers demonstrations, interviews with artists, informative text, questions and exercises to help readers develop their own styles. It, too, can nudge you out of a painter's block. In any case, it will make you think differently about what it is you are doing when you are creating your art. Its original retail price was $29.99

How to order
I couldn't find a direct link to the $11 sale, so here is what I suggest if any of these titles interest you:

Go to http://www.northlightshop.com and type in the item code for any book that you want in the Catalog Quick Order box on the left of the screen.

• Paint Watercolors that Dance with Light: Item # Z2791
• New Creative Artist: Item # 33423
• Finding Your Visual Voice: Item # 33486

For orders less than $25, North Light Shop charges $3 plus 99 cents per item. Shipping is free for orders over $25.

Friday's Finds:

I found this bumper sticker in Preston Arts Center in Louisville, and thought it was a good reminder to support our local economies. The sticker is part of the Louisville Independent Business Alliance's campaign to "preserve the unique community character of the Metro Louisville area by promoting locally owned businesses and to educate citizens on the value of shopping locally." For every $100 spent at a local business, $45 stays in the community, according to LIBA's Web site, whereas, only $15 of every $100 spent at a national chain remains.

Check out http://www.artshow.com. In an e-mail exchange about juried shows, Deborah Rush recommended the site, and I second her opinion. It lists hundreds of art shows, juried exhibits and competitions for artists in chronological order of application deadlines. Links are often provided for prospectuses, and the site allows viewers to search for shows within a geographic region. Plus, this section offers a link to Tips for Entering Competitions . In short, you can get tons of info in one place!

While you're at www.artshow.com, look at the tabs for "art workshops and classes" and "tips, tutorials & resources for artists." The workshop/classes listings are searchable by medium, theme and location, and the tips section offers so much I'm almost hoping for a snow day so I can explore it.

That's it for this Friday, the final one before the semester starts. I'd like to enjoy one last day before the hectic schedule starts, but already the "To Do" list beckons.

Friday Finds: When you can't paint ...

This past week has not been conducive to painting. Family circumstances dictate a lot of time in places where one cannot just open up a palette and go at it.

However, watercolor hasn't been off my mind. I've just had to limit my watercolor activity to reading. Here are a few gems I've picked up:

1. Signature Canvas has a new watercolor surface called Aqua-Fuze. It's a 140-pound Arches cold-pressed paper bonded to foam core and acid-free Gatorboard.The product gets a good review in the February 2011 issue of Watercolor Artist magazine. I've looked for it in Louisville and Bloomington and haven't found it yet online, but I'll let you know as soon as I do because this looks interesting.
2. Clearing the wrapping paper and ribbons from the studio was on my to-do list, but my cleanup now has new purpose since reading "A Place for Everything" in the January/February issue of The Artist's Magazine. Michael Chesley Johnson writes about organizing one's studio according to workflow. He suggests setting up work space with areas dedicated to raw materials, production line, inventory, shipping and waste disposal. It makes a lot of sense. The article offers good advice and recommendations for new and used organizational pieces.
3. Putting my Preston Arts Center gift card to good use, I bought Watercolor Painting Outside the Lines: A Positive Approach to Negative Painting by Linda Kemp. The book was published in 2003 but it was new to me. It is an excellent instructional resource for negative painting. I often start with a negative painting approach but too often I slip into painting the positive shapes. I intend to work through several of the exercises before incorporating some of the activities into upcoming classes.

Friday's Finds: Food, Friends and Family

Too much Food to prepare for Friends and Family. No time to blog on Christmas Eve.

Besides you all have your own Food, Friends and Family to enjoy right now.

See you next Friday.

Merry Christmas, everyone.

Friday's Finds: And the winner is ...

... Pantone 18-2120 Honeysuckle!
Earlier this week, Pantone LLC named Pantone 18-2120 Honeysuckle the color of  the year for 2011.
The color authority Pantone describes Honeysuckle as a "vibrant, energetic hue" and as a "dynamic reddish pink."

I'm a bit confused because where I come from anything called honeysuckle evokes the Yellow Family. So here is the color swatch.

Now my challenge to you is to identify the name of the watercolor paint that best approximates Pantone 18-2120. Click on Comments below and register your opinion.

In the Favorite Quote category
My nominee for Best Quote about Watercolor would be: "Watercolor is a swim in the metaphysics of life... a mirror of one's own character. Let it be unpredictable and colorful." I stumbled across this anonymous quote on the Painter's Keys Web site: http://painterskeys.com. The quote captures the allure of the medium for me.

And finally, here's my entry in the Best Bumper Sticker contest:

Success! Moving Ahead



"P'ri Hagafen" wins 3rd place in KWS Show

 Success
Last week ended on a high note! The Kentucky Watercolor Society presented a third place to  "P'ri Hagafen," which is part of the organization's New Member Show. I'll have fun spending the $30 gift card to Preston Art Center. Thank you, Preston Art Center and KWS.

Actually, the prize was just the icing on the cake. The painting sold within an hour of being posted on this blog. So now I can say I have sold online.  I am also very pleased that the painting "spoke" to my friend, Lynne.

About the title: "P'ri Hagafen" is the transliteration of  the Hebrew words for "fruit of the vine." It is part of the blessing said every Shabbat over the wine.

  

Close-up



 
Moving ahead

I have been rushing holiday preparations to allow some studio time because I've been eager to try "optical mixing." I read about this technique in a book called Watercolor: Creative Techniques, which I recently purchased at the Indianapolis Museum of Art. The book was written by Josep Asuncion and Gemma Guasch and translated from Spanish by Eric A. Bye.




A little distance improves helps image to appear.

Reference photo is on left.


Yesterday I finished preparing the grid and put down enough paint to make me believe a good picture might result. This will definitely be one to be viewed from a distance.



Friday's Finds: A little bit of everything



 Like many Bloomington Watercolor Society members, I now have a collection of Artist Trading Cards too beautiful to store in a drawer. The first step was putting the cards into 9-pocket pages, but all that did was organize them. I wanted a binder worthy of the miniature artworks I had acquired at the Holiday Party! I found what I was looking for at Target: a 1-inch binder made by greenroom "with paper containing 100% recycled fiber and printed with nontoxic soy-based ink." The price was right, too. $5.99. I haven't had a binder this pretty since 6th grade.

Looking for gifts or something for your own walls? Head on over to the IU School of Fine Arts Building this afternoon or early evening for the Holiday Art Auction. IU faculty and students have donated photographs, prints, ceramics, textiles and other media for the auction, which is in the IU SoFA Gallery. From noon to 4 p.m., you can purchase any item at the "Buy It Now" price. The Silent Auction starts at 6:30 p.m. and will end about an hour later. Refreshments will be served during the Silent Auction.

Looking way past the holidays, I found an affordable workshop that sounds intriguing. Judy Mudd will be presenting "Painting Children's Portraits from Photos" Feb. 9-10 at the Kentucky Watercolor Society Gallery in Louisville. The workshop runs from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and costs $85. It's inexpensive enough that you could book a hotel room and have yourself a midwinter getaway. The workshop will cover contour drawing and improving accuracy with a Prospek tool, mixing colors on paper to achieve flesh tones, and instructions on painting eyes, lips, noses, ears and hair. For more nformation, call Sue Hinkebein at 502-458-5043 or send a check payable to KWS to Sue Hinkebein, 2015 Gardiner Lane, Louisville, KY 40205.

If you're in Louisville tonight, stop by the New Member Show at the KWS Gallery at the Mellwood Arts and Entertainment Center, Suite 121, 1860 Mellwood Ave. The Opening Reception is 5 to 7 p.m. with the awards presentation at 6 p.m. I'll be there, hoping for better driving weather than last weekend when I delivered the paintings!