Modigliani Madness

"No other painter of modern times has been as

heavily burdened with as many legends, myths

and cliches as Amedeo Modigliani. 

 

Modigliani is the prototype of the artist who executes

his work in the draughty studios of Montmartre and

Montparnasse, intoxicated by alcohol, hashish, love and

poetry.....lives in the artistic heart of Paris and at the 

same time stands isolated on the fringes of the belle

epoque.....(yet) never seems to waver in pursuing his 

own path; who experiences little or no success and is

and is so poor that he can only just pay his bills in the

legendary bars.....with quickly sketched portraits of the

customers; who dies - at the young age of 35 - of

tuberculosis, penniless and emaciated at the end of a 

life which has been entirely devoted to art.

 To heighten the tragedy of his life even more, on the 

day after his death, his pregnant young fiancee, Jeanne 

Hebuterne, jumps from her parents' fifth floor flat,

leaving behind their small daughter as an orphan."

MODIGLIANI ~ Doris Krystof 

Published by Taschen

Six friends gathered in the perfect temperature

of a sunny Saturday afternoon to celebrate the art

of Modigliani.  We had a wonderful breeze, green

grass from all of the rain...and plenty of tempting

snacks for nibbling while browsing the other

artists progress.  Luscious, sweet strawberries anyone?

We each picked our own picture for inspiration...

and here is what happened in the next three hours.

Katie brought a friend and first time painter.
Katie coached her through the process of reproducing
"Our Lady of the Carrot".

 

Katie added a few finishing touches at home
with her colored pencils.  Her friend was shy about
showing her first time work...but I can tell you
it was really good.  Maybe she will share next time.

 Jean chose to do "Woman in Yellow Jacket"

also known as "The Amazon".  I think she did the

largest canvas and finished before the rest of us.

Those are some impressive sketching skills..

and the proportions and shading are amazing.

I can hardly believe she did this in

less than three hours!

  

Karleen went a different route and turned a

reclining nude into a languorous kitty...

Stretttccccchhhhhhh....that spine.

Purffffffect colors and so much fun!

Sandi clearly does things her own way...

four brushes at once...she's a busy painter.

Sandi chose "Portrait of Jeanne Hebuterne".

I love the colors in this palette....

She said this picture reminds her of 
someone special in her life.  I can't wait
to hear her reaction to this lovely painting.

I chose this picture because of the the expression
of the model's face, reinforced by the color palette.

Here I am part way through, trying to capture the
quiet, resolved weariness of her demeanor.

This is the original...

And here is my is my tired French girl.
I am pleased with her and want to paint more.
She reminds me of the mythic bohemian Paris
I am so in love with.

Look at this group of happy, proud painters...
minus the shy one.  There are more play dates
coming and I'll keep you posted....I promise.

Here is some Parisian prettiness to enjoy...

Bon Jour my readers!

3 Trips to Venice

Just a short post to say that I 

finished my Venice picture this weekend..

 

 

After Sunday chores I dug out the paints

and hoped to remember which ones I started with...

 

 

You can see which ones they were on the right.

What a blissful mess!!

 

 

It's all in the details...

 

 

From left to right....

Sandi....Melysa....Shade

I think they look so cool lined up like that..

 

 

In closing...

I took this picture on the way home

from work tonight.

Had to share.

Views of Venice

I joined some friends this weekend

for a taste of Venice.

 

 

Melysa, Sandi and I broke into the acrylic

paints and tackled our own version of

another artist's painting.  Sandi tried to find

who to give credit to...but I can tell you

that ours our different enough to not cause 

concern to the original artist. 

Sandi suggested our subject matter.

It makes you want to get lost in endless

winding streets and hop on for a 

romantic gondola ride.

Aren't all of the guides good looking?

That's what I've heard!

Now here is somone who knows

how to mix paint...

Here is the original...

Here is Sandi's version...

I love the misty feel to it.

Can you believe she painted this

in two and a half hours.

Props lady...

Here is Melysa's painting...

also done in two and a half hours.

I love the glassy surface of the water.

And she just whipped out this gondola

and lucky passengers.

Brushes, paints and good company...

Look what happened when we lined them all up?

We each eyeballed these paintings.  No one laid

them out beforehand!

Sandi floating away on vacation..

Melysa gliding peacefully to new discoveries...

Where am I in all this?

Mine would be the unfinished painting

with the building that looks like it is 

going to topple into the water...

Sigh.

 

 

I don't know how they did it in that block of time

but I'll show you mine when it is finished.

 

Amazing work ladies...I can't wait for the next paint date!!

Bridges and Sparkle

The bridge of dreams

Floating on the brief Spring night

Soon breaks off:

Now from the mountaintop a cloud

Takes leave into the open sky.

~Miner

Introduction to Japanese Court Poetry, 114

 I've been playing with the watercolors again.
I saw a lovely picture of mountains, water, 
and a red bridge in a book 
and decided to do my own version.
Who could resist a vivid red bridge?
Not me!

This was a gift for my friend Stephanie
who wanted a picture with water.
That leaves a lot of wiggle room for ideas.

 In retrospect I could have put a lovely
waterfall in there.  But Stephanie was
pleased and that is what matters.

I especially liked the layer of colors on
the mountains next to the red bridge.
And the splatters.  I've become a  big fan
of adding splatters to my watercolors.
I really love the look of it.
It's a nice accent that draws attention.

My next project was to make a card for
someone leaving my workplace.

These are called Twinkling H20's.
They are hard luminescent cakes of
color activated by water.

Look at these delicious colors...
The best way to use them is spray them
liberally with water and then walk away and
do an errand, take a shower, wash the dishes,
and then come back to work with them.

The longer you let them set the thicker
the paint gets.

I used this picture from Country Living for the
inspiration for the vase.

Unfortunately I did not get good lighting
on the card so you can't see the irridecent
quality of the paints.

Closer look...

I put the painting on a layer of orange
handmade paper and then on top of some
 flowered scrapbook cardstock and connected 
the layers with colorful brads.

For more information on these paints
check out the LuminArte site here.
Dion Dior offers some good classes using the
"Twinks".  Check her site out here.

That's all for today...but I have a painting
date this weekend..so stay tuned.