A Year of Making Art: Day 70

June 28, 2007  Day 70

Yesterday afternoon Rebecca said she would like an art lesson, so I repositioned my painting table and easels in order for us both to be able to paint at the same time.  Mind you, I haven't painted along with another person since art school.

Rebecca is twelve and has always been interested in art.  For the past three years she has been taking oil-painting classes on Saturday afternoons, where they basically teach her how to copy other paintings and posters.  In the process, she is learning a lot about technique.

Since I paint with acrylics, most of my lesson yesterday was focused on the various effects one can get with them, and the differences between acrylics and oils.  We painted on water-color blocks so that we could work quickly and not worry about ruining a canvas.  I was pleased to see that Rebecca had confidence in her own choices and did not attempt to copy what I was doing.

At the end of our session, Rebecca had completed one painting she hated, one interesting "abstract flower" with drips, and one with a very nice Georgia O'Keefe feel to it.  I completed three paintings, one of which I was quite pleased with:

  Open, Seeking 18" x 24" acrylic on paper

And then we noticed it was almost six o'clock.  We had been painting all afternoon.

This morning we are leaving for Canada, so naturally I feel rushed.  But I am still in a blue-green mood, and did a small drawing in those colors:

  Drawing #71  9" x 6"

Blixy will pick us up around ten this morning, so I'd better go pack.

(Note:  There is a gap between the dates I'm writing and posting because I had to give myself time to get ahead in case we travel and I'm not able to post.)