Second Day at Artfest: Gina Armfield Watercolor birds of Prey

 These were two paintings I did in our Birds of a Feather Class. Look closely at the tips of the feathers to the right where we wrote a poem with tiny words using a magnifying glass.  I really enjoyed Gina's class. She was a Great Teacher and constantly helped us with our paintings. I loved the concept of layering the lighter and then darker colors. We used wet in wet for some of the mottled areas.

Gina gave us a lesson about types of paints, brushes and papers. The first step was to draw the shapes with our micron .001 pen.

This was the second step to add the lightest colors. We used a magnifying glass to see the blues and pinks in the beige colors.

These three birds were done by other students in the class. During our critique, Gina noted that everyone has their own style.

This was one of Gina's paintings.

At the end of the day we walked around the room and discussed each students paintings from the day. Note the cool light she recommended we get. Its a battery operated ott light with natural lighting. I could of used it. Also we needed a magnifying glass to see all the underlying colors in the image.

More Artwork from my Workshop

I finished this in Ohio on my workshop with Zana. We took 4 pieces of illustration board and used spray watercolor with templates for the texture. Then we collaged and stamped and put them together. I would like to try this with my class using watercolor paper and botanical leaf prints. I will perfect this over the summer. I liked adding extra pieces like a photo covered puzzle piece, torn and painted paper and some metallic touches.

Watercolor architecture collage

This was a collage I did at my artiscape class. We started with a drawing of a roman column of our choice . After drawing in pencil , we went over with masking fluid. Next we sprayed liquid watercolor in our choice of colors. After rubbing off the fluid, we used markers and colored pencils to add color to the now white column. Lastly various paper, wood and other elements were added and rubber stamps to finish the piece. We used illustration board for the background but I would like to try with watercolor paper and tape to a board first. I plan to try this with my 8th grade next month.

Retreat in the mountains with an Art Lesson

I went to a retreat to Allenspark, Colorado just south of Rocky Mountain Park. The canyons and scenery were gorgeous. Here are some pics of our deck and the lodge we stayed in. 20 Women attended from my CBS class. We used these views for inspiration for the watercolor class of quaking aspens I demonstrated today.