Reading a friends blog today and noticed she had one entry each month... shame shame shame on me!!! It's been 8 months since I last wrote!!!  I DO have videos, newsletters, lesson plans, demo's, and oh yea...some art to show!!! Plus a whole bunch of amazing relationships with precious jewels so I guess it's not a travesty that I hardly write. Not even sure anyone reads these as I don't post it very much!!!
But here I am posting a quick note.  I went to the CUSTOMS HOUSE MUSEUM in Clarksville, TN yesterday with 3 of my students for the most wonderful show of artwork entitled Women Painting Women in Earnest.  SIMPLY FABULOUS!!!

Here is the poster I found online....

and below my close up shots of this amazing painting!! 

It's so much more fun to go to museums with artist friends!! after we had toured, we had a few more minutes so we went back and picked our favorite hair, skin tones, fabric, and eyes!! 

We saw things we had totally missed!!!

Thank you Norma, Lenore, Charlotte B and sweet Catey!!!

I had so much fun with you gals!!!

I am so bad....but I have been painting and shot some video to prove it!!!!

I have been sooooo negligent about blogging. There are just not enough hours in the day. I don't even know if I remember how to do it!! But after listening to Artists Helping Artists Blog Talk Radio  today I am shamed into checking my blog and find that I did not post AT ALL in 2016!!! Bummer. Thought for a minute 'maybe i can back date a post to make it go on the 2016 tab? '   That is so bad!!! NOPE didn't even try. Honesty is the best policy. There are just so many hours in the day!! Gotta paint and made a commitment to paint at least 3 hours a day in the new year with one or two grace days built in!!

I have done several pastels this year and I shot video of several sessions and have LOVED the process so I am going to post a few of those here.

 I am including a few more shots of her. I will most likely be painting her again soon!!!

Here is little Brileigh. She is the great granddaughter of my friend Jeanelle and she is a little doll!! So photogenic!! 

This is the one I chose above!!

Is she a little jewel or what?

Grisaille & Glazing Demo of Mandy

I began a series of class demo's in January (different subject for each class). The following are the stages for Thursday evening class DEMO of one of my students, Mandy.  

Beautiful Mandy taken in my studio using North Light

WEEK 1:  Surface is Masonite primed with Zinsser 123 Bullseye (from Home Depot)
  lightly sanded between coats
30 minute  Charcoal sketch for class

I usually add a poster edges filter from
PhotoShop to isolate values

WEEK 2: I lay in the first layer of Raw Umber & White
 according to the values in the photo, thinking mosaically.
About 30 to 45 minute demo.

I used the stiffest Raw Umber & White that I had. Thin paint
did not work well on the masonite surface. Too slick & did not cover well.

WEEK 3:  I move to a grayscale image
for reference with no poster edges filter.
No color to get in the way.
Much easier to judge areas of value.

I begin using a long flat mongoose brush to soften edges together
without loosing the planes.
I would rather over soften at this stage.
It's easy to go back in and add sharp crisp edges where needed.
Much more life like to work into a soft blurred form.

About 3/4 the way in, I often place my painting beside the original
and grayscale both to check values & drawing.
Errors in drawing and value will pop when you do this.
It is like turning the image upside down or placing in a mirror,
and is a way to fool the eye/brain into thinking it is a new image.
 I worked on this for about an hour after it dried to correct the values and drawing.
The RIGHT eye was off and had to be moved. 

WEEK 4: final stage in the grisaille portion. I used a cardboard palette in order to pull as much oil out of paint as possible. Applied paint with stumbling method and used my finger to soften skin tones.
TOTAL Project Time so far:  approximately 2 1/2 hours.
Painting is now ready for oil color glazes.
This is a wonderful way to divide the steps into manageable chunks.
First DRAW, second add value, finally add color.
I will post the final image when I get done. Ice storm today so it looks like no classes this week.
I am so excited to put color on. I may have to video and then show the class the video!!
 VIDEO of this project coming soon to my YOU TUBE Channel 

Final Stage: Added transparent oil glazes. Two separate sessions.
Video coming soon with step by step instruction.

Painting in Grisaille Method followed by Glazes

 Painting Briley in Grisaille method with glazes!

Here are the photos of my recent portrait of this tiny gal. She is such a little beauty and I followed her around for an hour or so trying to catch that golden head of locks in just the right light!!  I will be teaching this method in my 2015 Winter weekly classes. Check the website for class info at Portrait Creations/Class Schedules

Pos

Open Studio Work Summer 2014

Open Studio Sessions

I have not written since April!! Good grief, where did the time go? I think everyone switches to fast speed during this time of year. I had 2 wonderful weeks of art camp, a week with Max Ginsburg in June and have been busy with commissions, garden, family and living life in abundance! I have managed to take time for a few open studio sessions at Warehouse 521and have made some new art friends on that side of town. We can literally live all 100 years (as Max plans to live) and still not finish learning and enjoying all that is available to the artist!!!

CLICK HERE for Open Studio Dates at my studio and other events coming up!!
Christine Pilkinton Studio

Here are the two portraits I worked on

 in June & July at Warehouse 521 

with some commentary…

Rhian in paste

Photo with my phone

Charcoal on Canson 25 min sketch

Massing in pastel in vibrant colors
 in order to withstand all the blending later!!!

Last photo of the day, still pretty bright but
you have to remember that paintings are viewed
 from 6 to 20 feet away. if you blend it down too much,
the values and color will not carry across a room!!

Robin

She was great at gesture poses!

Charcoal on Canson, 25 minute sketch
just getting a person down,
not too worried about the likeness at this stage!

First layers of pastel color,
 modeling around the forms

Getting the paper covered so I can start comparing values

Beginning to tie it together with a middle tone.

Portrait at 2pm when the whistle blew. Will I work on it more?…I don't know,
What should I do?
Happy to take suggestions and comments!!

Drawing Lessons

Drawing LESSONS...

A quick synopsis of the past 8 weeks of drawing lessons. Each week I included a packet of worksheets available on my website by clicking here.

Simple Shapes

Along with measuring and proportions of length, 

shape seeking helps with accuracy in your drawings. 

A study of the basic shapes is so important.

Mass vs Contour

We are conditioned from childhood to draw an outline

 and then color inside the lines.

 Learning to see in mass, using the side of the pencil or brush 

is an important step in thinking more in terms 

of volume and dimension.

page from Andrew Loomis book "Creative Illustration"

Patterns in Nature

Thank you Juliette Aristides for introducing me to this valuable tool!

At Alan Lequire's studio, she had us draw a slice of cucumber being mindful of the design. 

I have been so focused on creating what I see in front of me 

that I forget the design element. 

Nature provides SUCH inspiration and ideas!

Image from Mrs. Brown's art class

Siting Angles

I am not 'math minded' so when it comes to degree of tilt 

I find it easier to think of the hands on a clock as I compare angles. 

This is so important in drawing. We often misjudge angles entirely and are not even aware.

 We used tracing paper to note how many times

 the angles changed even in just the right edge of the face.

Drawing by Carl Von Marr

Line Weight & Aerial Perspective

Juliette Aristides covers this her wonderful book which also comes with a DVD. 

Using the thick or thin line to project an image closer or make one recede. 

Image is from Juliette Aristides book "Lessons in Classical Drawing' page 83

Negative Space

An exhausting exercise in Shirley Pharris class in 1990's

 helped me begin to look in a very different way. 

We also took a look at how spaces and shadows around your subject 

can play an important role in the whole composition.

Composition

Thank you Robert Genn for spurring me on with your experience

 in being a juror and the common compositional boo boo's you wrote about.

 If a viewer stands in front of your painting for 10 seconds or more, 

you have most likely been successful with your composition. 

Drawing the viewer in to visit, to stay a while!

Image taken from about.com article on composition

Value

Recalling Dan Gerhartz method in our lunch and video series…

for recording the lightest light and darkest dark 

at the very beginning and then comparing all values to that. 

He also recorded & made note of the sharpest edge in the beginning. 

Wonderful exercises to help us stay on track!

VALUE!  VALUE!!  VALUE!!!

image from barbarakempcowlin.com