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Welcome to Barb's Blog. Posting some of my opinions, insights, ideas, and adventures about art, travel, plein aire, pastel, and whatever's happening. Join me, feel free to add comments, follow along as I paint and write and explore Center of interest
The center of interest is over-rated. However, even though minimalist and a lot of current design motifs down-play the center of interest, it should probably not be ignored. For maximum impact, and we do want to make an impact somewhere, the center of interest can easily be achieved with compositional ploys or accents. Making one part of the painting slowly draw you in is an art. You need to create a path, give clues, guide the eye and make a pitch with the brush, until the viewer gets it. Aha! This is the point! This is it! For compositional purposes I have created some basic grid transparencies. The thirds gives us an idea of keeping the important areas of the painting on the intersecting four points. The quarter grid gives us an idea of the location for a center of interest. It is a simplified Golden Mean. Overlaying the composition will give us information. Hopefully, yes, this is the area where we want to finally lead the viewer.
Warm and CoolSpring brings cool weather and warm, almost at the same time. But that isn't what the artist finds in warm and cool. The temperature of a painting can be warm or cool appearing. A color
The closer an object is to the viewer the warmer it is to the same colored object farther away.
Happy paInting. Pastel blog sites to motivate and educateVideos of Pastel Painting.
Here are a few (probably too many) videos on Youtube of pastel painters and others, using different techniques and with different styles. Explore all the possibilities you have time for. I learned something new on each site. I hope you pick up some ideas too.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7DwGo2Ro--Y&sns=em Abstract acrylic painting Demo HD Video - Lilium by John Beckley
2. Debora Stewart has great style and a nice approach to composition. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Tyo2O7a7BI&sns=em Composition & Color Tips for Abstract Painting with Debora Stewart
3. This is more realistic but Jenny Keal uses some scraping and does some interesting rock forms, as well as the perspective being well worth the view. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hVnCTBoTyBE&sns=em Extract from Painting with Pastels DVD by Jenny Keal
4. Marla Bagetta does a lot of demos. When you watch any of these videos it will give you more videos of the artist on the right hand side bar. Each new video gives you more options and you can spend the day watching. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=guksh7bsd1I&sns=em Pastel Landscape Variation Demo by Marla Baggetta
5. I have several sites for Karen Margulis here. Again, check the sidebar for more of Karen’s videos. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lBMK3mh94Lg&sns=em The Best Tool Ever for Blending Pastels www.kemstudios.blogspot.com Painting My World Karen Margulis Karen MargulisPastel Demo: A Quick Daily Painting https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=m8VRQm-jzNE https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=6QUuQJ9XwRE
There you have it for now. Use these great videos for suggestions of more spots to go and learn. Barb Writers of the Purple Page
The 2015 Anthology is here. Writings by the group that meets to critique, encourage and share are now in print form. When I'm not painting, I'm writing. That's how it has always been. Yes, writing came after teaching, and after kids. Painting has always been my 'thing', but I like to paint with words, also. The Writers of the Purple Page include Carol McDermott, Lily 0lson, Verena McKenney, Maryellen Miller, Jean Bower and Barbara Torke, this year. It was a difficult year for many members and the sweetness and sorrow show in much of the writing. I always enjoy putting the book together. I use Blurb.com and BookWright. It's easy to use, and they are quick and of fine quality. This year I used my own watercolor paintings of flowers to illustrate the book.Not all of them are on my website at this time, but I will share a few of those. If you are interested in buying the 2015 Anthology it is available on Blurb.com. Enjoy the fine writing of my friends and also a few of my poems and art writings.
The Age of the CroneIn my view in this stage, after fifty, women cannot retire. Our job is no longer wife and mother, nor maiden and girl, but now our job is to exercise, watch our weight and diet, and go to doctors. Our health is our job. We volunteer, help in the community, and pursue what delights us. We impart an image of strength and wisdom, for many people fear this stage of life. They need all the help they can get. And the crone is often the guide, the caretaker, and the support.
Mary Green painted well into her nineties. She was an inspiration. Georgia O’Keefe is my art heroine. I hope I am an inspiration. Keeping up with technology, politics, lifestyles, a multitude of changes occurring daily, and your heartbeat - is not for the weak. Look at the crone for what she can be, not how she is defined by those who fear the next cycle of life. Be wise. You have the power in you. All you really need to do is move on. Paint, write, act, and your message will be beautiful.
1. Derogatory An old woman considered to be ugly; a hag. 2. A woman who is venerated for experience, judgment, and wisdom. The third dictionary definition on Google. After Crohn’s disease. www.thefreedictionary.com/crone 2. The crone is a stock character in folklore and fairy tale, an old woman. In some stories, she is disagreeable, malicious, or sinister in manner, often with magical or supernatural associations that can make her either helpful or obstructing. The Crone is also an archetypal figure, a Wise Woman. As a character type, the crone shares characteristics with the hag. www.wikipedia/crone 3. Campbell links the "helpful crone" to the fairy godmother.[5] The wicked fairy godmother sometimes appears in the guise of a crone. 4. The crone eludes precise definition. Some traditions, organizations, and individuals variously define the crone as a woman who is either 50, 52, or 56, post-menopausal, consciously aging, willing to acknowledge her shadow side. Crone is a term used to describe an ancient archetype, an aspect of the triple goddess (maiden/mother/crone), and the third phase of a woman's life. When a woman is near, in, or past menopause, she is potentially a crone. The designation refers to a perspective or point of view rather than a specific age or physical event. A woman who calls herself crone is willing to acknowledge her age, wisdom, and power. Through conscious self-definition, she helps to reverse hundreds of years of oppression, degradation, and abuse aimed at old women. Although she may prefer to be called elder, grandmother, or wisewoman, she does not dismiss, disavow, or use pejoratively terms such as crone, witch, or hag. The wisewoman/crone/grandmother realizes that the true meaning of these terms, and the woman-centered traditions from which they originate, have been obscured and distorted by patriarchal systems. We teach, speak, and quietly inspire one another, all women, and all peoples who wish to embrace the totality of life. http://www.moondance.org/1997/autumn97/nonfiction/crone.html
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