Painting with the Masters

Well, I've been home from Yellowstone and Idaho Falls for a little over a month now.  People keep asking me if I'm getting bored yet.  I even stopped by my old workplace a few days ago and they asked if I was ready to come back.

Heck no.

This girl has a ton of hobbies and she's enjoying working on all of them!

One thing I've always wanted to do is to take a "real" art class at the Bemis School of Art at the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center at Colorado College.  This wasn't possible when I had to go to a job, but I'm enrolled now that I'm an unemployed bum.


I picked up my parking pass for the college then headed into the painter's studio.


It was a real studio--set up for 16 artists with the really big easels like real artists use.  The class I'm taking is "Painting with the Masters".  Each week we study an artist and then try to replicate his technique.  Amazingly enough, the first week was Van Gogh which made me happy because I love his work especially his sunflowers and Starry Starry Night, of course.

Have I mentioned that I got to see two of his sunflower paintings in Europe this year?

Munich

London
After talking about Van Gogh and his tragic life that ended when he was only 37, we all tried our hands at his brush strokes.  Short, rectangular brush stokes are his trademark, he was an impressionist before his time.  He never had success selling any of his paintings during his lifetime, but after his death the world came to recognize his genius.

Our first lesson was a still life where the instructor put out a vase of sunflowers and asked us to replicate it using Van Gogh's technique.


What was really interesting is that all 16 of us painted something completely different.  None of the paintings looked anything alike--I did mine on a very small 5x7 canvas because I knew that it would have to be small for me to finish in two hours.  My neighbor did a 16x20 canvas and some people painted on canvas paper.  I wish I had shots of other people's work, but it's kind of awkward to ask a stranger if I can photograph their painting.

Anyway, here's what I came up with.


I know it looks nothing like Van Gogh's Sunflowers, but it's Ellen's Sunflowers.  With its short brush strokes it creates the impression of a vase of sunflowers.  I love this type of painting--it shows me that I don't have to take 3-4 months to finish a painting.  By being more "loose" I can create the impression I'm looking for quickly.  This was a lot of fun and I have to admit that I LOVE this painting.

Next week is Picasso.  I have to admit that I'm not a fan of Picasso.  Irv and I studied a lot of his paintings when we were in Europe and neither of us "got it".  I know he's considered to be a genius, but I don't see it.  Hopefully the class will help me understand better.  I've got an open mind.

I can't wait until Thursday!




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