Friday Finds:

Venue features one of Bloomington's bests
Seascapes, cityscapes, still life and florals -- all are featured in a Retrospective of Jacki Frey's work now showing at the Venue, 114 S. Grant St., Bloomington. The opening reception is 6 p.m. tonight, so stop by, chat with Jacki and look at how her painting style has evolved. The show includes both old and new pieces. Jacki is one of the best watercolorists in the area, and the Venue provides a hospitable setting that is ideal for visiting with the artist as well as viewing the art.


Wanted: Tax help
If you have questions about taxes and your art business -- and a hankering for Mexican food, go to El Norteno on North Walnut Tuesday, Feb. 22, at 7 p.m. The newly formed Visual Art Guild United Enterprise has arranged for a CPA to present information and answer questions about taxes.

Just for fun
I stumbled across this Youtube video and loved it. I like the ink and watercolor technique but, even more, I like the idea of that being the view from her yard! Take a look: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hSDovlsbQNI&feature=more_related

Friday Finds: Good values and paint pals



Label a black-and-white print with 5 values that

 correspond to the five-value chart you've painted.

 Good values

Keep reading! This has nothing to do with retail discounts or Sunday School.

The value I'm referring to is the relative lightness or darkness of colors within a painting.

It was the topic of the week for the watercolor classes I'm teaching so it's been much on my mind. I tell students, "Value does all the work, but color gets all the credit." (That isn't an original thought BTW but I don't know who said it. If you know, please click the Comment button below and give due credit.)


One way to focus on value is to paint with one color. I had occasionally done this as a study before a painting but success was limited, at best. Then I tried painting a five-value chart off to the side of the sheet I was using for the study.

A successful value study

That little value chart made all the difference. My darks got darker -- which of course made the lights look lighter. Without the chart, I never would have gone as dark.

Try it the next time you're doing a value study. If you have a lot of time and are working with a still life, take a photo and print it out in black-and-white. On the printout label the five values before you start painting. That will really keep you on track.

Pack mentality
Recently Courtney Jordan wrote in her Artist Daily blog about the benefits of painting with others. She pretty much debunked the myth of the solitary artist in a garret studio and instead described artists as a pretty social lot.

Her column made me think about all the times I have painted with others. Most of those opportunities came through Bloomington Watercolor Society either directly from their paintouts and programs or indirectly from friendships formed with other BWS members.

If you're looking for a painting pack to join, come to the next BWS meeting Monday, Feb. 14, at 6 p.m. We meet at the First Christian Church at the corner of Kirkwood and Washington. The business portion of the meeting is kept short so that we have time to paint together. Visitors are welcome, and if you can't find your paints, come anyway. Someone will share. That's just how social we are.



Friday's Find: A Sunday Special!

Admittedly, I'm a little off my game today. This post comes to you late, and my excuses are (1) a new kitten that has a thousand methods of distraction and (2) the first of my Friday morning painting classes at the Burton Kimble Farm in Orleans. Both the cat and the class have provided too much to think about and do up to this point. But it's all good...


"Jackson Pollock, One: 31, 1950" with Kids by profzucker


Today's tip: This week's "art event" has to be Sunday's focus on Jackson Pollock at the IU Art Museum and new IU Cinema. Start with the 2:15 to 2:45 p.m. Gallery Talk, "Pollock in Focus" at the IU Art Museum's Gallery of the Art of the Western World. Jenny McComas will speak about Pollock's Number 11, 1949, which is part of the the IUAM's collection. Then stroll over to the IU Cinema (formerly the University Theatre -- it's in the back of the IU Auditorium) and see if you can score a ticket to "Who the #$&% is Jackson Pollock." The film tells the story of Teri Horton, who paid $5 for a painting from a thrift store, tried unsuccessfully to give it away, and then discovers it may be a Jackson Pollock worth $50 million. The 74-minute film covers her 15-year search for the provenance of the painting. The film is free but a ticket is required. Even if all the tickets have been distributed, hang out and you'll probably get in. All three of the movies I've seen there in the last few weeks have had open seats.

And, of course, here's a "tip" of the hat to tonight's Gallery Walk: It's 2011's first gallery walk, so head downtown between 5 and 8 and check out the offerings. More importantly, buy local!

Friday's Finds: Easy solutions!

Problem No. 1: You want the color but not the texture of a granulating pigment. What to do?
Easy solution: This is so easy I don't know whether to categorize it as an AHA moment or as a big "DUH?" Case in point: Cerulean. It's a great color but I've often wanted  a smooth rather than textured application of it. While browsing through the watercolor books at the Monroe County Public Library this week, I came across a solution: Turn the paper face down to dry! This forces the sediment to dry at the surface rather than down in the nooks and crannies of the paper, resulting in much less granulation. How easy is that?
Problem No. 2: You want to indulge in the guilty pleasures of eating chocolate and buying art but, oh, the guilt...
Easy solution: This weekend you can banish the guilt by combining chocolate and art with a good cause, such as Options, which partners with people with disabilities and their communities. Go to http://www.weekofchocolate.com/ and click on the Online Art Auction link to see and bid on some amazing works of art. The Art of Chocolate is this Sunday at the IU Art Museum 5:30 to 8 p.m. Art + Chocolate + Good Cause = Guilt-free Pleasure.

Problem No. 3: You want to travel light at the next paintout or SketchCrawl, but you don't want to shell out the money for one of those nifty field boxes.
Solution: Get a seven-day pillbox and squeeze out some paint in each of the compartments. All you need are a couple of brushes, a sketchbook and a paper cup for your water.

That's it for this Friday. If you have other suggestions for "traveling light" or reducing granulation, click on comments below. Also, please be a blog Follower by clicking on the Follow button at the right.

Friday's Finds: Going global and staying stateside

SketchCrawl #30
To join tomorrow's SketchCrawl, all you need is to grab your art supplies and head out to paint. I don't recommend outdoor painting unless you really love flirting with frostbite, but Bloomington has lots of inconspicuous indoor areas where you can paint or draw. Here are a few possibilities:

• Coffeeshops (Starbucks, The Copper Cup)
• Indiana Memorial Union (lots of beautiful interiors in public spaces; great for people watching, too)
• IU Art Museum (Angles coffee shop or a bench in the atrium)
• College Mall Food Court
• Comfy chair at Barnes & Noble
• Monroe County Public Library (inside looking out perhaps)

Also, consider all the locales on your typical Saturday schedule; you may discover inspiration right in front of you.
What's a SketchCrawl? In short, it's a global sketching marathon with no rules. Anyone can participate. You can draw all day or 10 minutes. You can do the SketchCrawl with friends or go solo. This recurring event was founded six years ago by Enrico Casarosa to encourage community among artists
When you get home, go to www.sketchcrawl.com for instructions on how to post your artwork. You can also browse the works of other artists from around the world.

Honoring Hoosier Women Artists
To celebrate Women's History Month in March, Lt. Gov. Becky Skillman has invited female artists from Indiana to submit images of their original artwork for consideration. The works juried into the exhibit will hang in the Lieutenant Governor's Office for one year.
Go to http://www.in.gov/lg/3106.htm for application requirements. In addition to the required art release form and instructions, the site also has links to previous winners.

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.