Trees

Waterfalls

JenArt, Landscape, Life, Oil, Travel

I just completed another class at PCCA entitled, “Landscape Painting.” Our teacher, Anatoliy Shapiro, is a Russian-born professional artist. He is well known for his large mural works. During this class I only completed two pieces: the Dominican Republic pastel piece and this oil painting. I worked from a personal  photograph that I had taken in the Animal Kingdom, Disney, Orlando.

Animal Kingdom, Walt Disney World, Florida.
Animal Kingdom, Walt Disney World, Florida.

When I began painting, I felt that I had bitten off much more than I could chew. With Anatoliy’s guidance I was able to break it down step-by-step and pretty soon it wasn’t as intimidating.

I began by drawing the image on canvas with charcoal, then blocking in all the shadows. Once the darkest darks were in, I put in the rocks, then the background and the nearest foliage last. As a newbie, I had to rework some of the areas more than once or twice…

In the end, I was extremely pleased with the painting.  I hope others enjoy it as well!

Yellow House

Buildings, JenArt, Landscape, Pastel
Yellow House

For this assignment we each chose a photograph to use for inspiration. Our teacher, Lois Jones, is teaching us how to edit what we see instead of painting the entire photograph. First we use a viewfinder to crop the image, then do quick charcoal sketches. From there, we pick the sketch that speaks to us.

I was drawn to the bright purple flowers and green grass against the pale house. I love the combination of gold, purple, and green so I decided to make the house more of a golden color. I really struggled with the trees; in the picture they were barely visible. I gave them more life by using a pointillism technique. Overall, I was very happy with the end result.