Shannon’s portrait of Genevieve and her horse – start to finish – Nov 2013 – Feb 2014

Shannon Brown is the person we can all thank for getting me going leading watercolor groups. She kept on me as I stalled, because I had no idea what it meant to teach people how to paint. Shannon also takes workshops from a beautiful painter, Jeanne Vodden, who uses just three pigments and lays down many layers. This is a portrait of her daughter and her horse using that technique that Shannon worked on through the winter this year. The image she worked from was taken inside in an arena, but she decided to put them outside near vinyards and hills. It’s a beautiful painting. Hope you enjoy seeing how it evolved.

September 17, 2013 – Tuesday Group

Sue started last Friday and now wants to come to BOTH groups for a while! Now, look at this painting, she’s spent two 4-hour sessions on it and she’s just started to paint – remarkable, huh?

Marilee’s aquarium – coming together – the color is fantastic, working on blending and layering.

Win started a new one today. Said she wanted to do something simple and focus on the background. I love how we all do things our way, even when we think we want to do them someone else’s way. This is Win’s palette, Win’s brush work, it’s inescapable – we are who we are, we do what we do!

Susie’s fabulous buoy painting – what a great piece this is. We talked about shadows and how instead of the being a slave to the photo, to have it be OUR servant.

Robin is back from Mexico and back to the group after a couple months away. We’ve missed you. This is Booker, her son’s dog. Going to be great to see it come along.

Paulette’s new piece – drew and started today – no moss growing in this chair! Sunflowers – from the back. Great background work.

September 13, 2013 – Friday Group

Adrienne’s granddaughter – all but the background. These paintings of your grandkids are so special. How great for you all that you can paint them.

Pam played with masking fluid all day. Because it’s so dark, it creates a sense of the image. Very cool.

Susie was very jolly as she charted new territory in painting a blurry background. I love how it’s starting.

Sue came by the office here in Larkspur this summer and found about the group. She started today and painting from an image of one of Mama’s roses – she charged through the background like a pro. I love how thrilled she was. So beautiful!

Sondra painting through more cabbage leaves. She had played with painting wet next to wet at home. I love how we all share our discoveries in the group.

Betsy coming to both groups this week to paint as much as she can. Lovely touch. Can’t wait to see what she does with this image.

September 10, 2013 – Tuesday Group

Marilee’s aquarium – she wanted to paint more loose – and it IS a challenge to do this – looking at detail we see it and want to reproduce it. It’s a fun painting and the color is so great. Just stick with it.

Besty and I met this past weekend at the Sausalito art festival this past weekend – and she’s with us already. Starting in on a piece of zinnias from last summer’s gardens.

Susie’s fun painting – coming along so well. She worked on the grassy background at the top, adding more darks.

Libby starting a new one – cut glass vase with flowers from her garden – color and light!

Win’s cross – one of three finished today!

Shannon’s rose – sorry the photo I took of the whole thing straight on was blurry – it’s SO beautiful.

Paulette’s rose – so gorgeous. So gorgeous.

September 6, 2013 – Friday Group

Congratulations, Mickey! You made it through another fuzzy background! Great!

Susie spend the day drawing a new paitnting – TWICE! After she finished on a half sheet, I said I’d have painted it on a full sheet. So she dove in and drew it again on tracing paper! Going to be a stunning painting, I can tell!

Pam did some painting at home on the brown part of the leaf. Love the textures she made.

Sondra’s piece, more leaves, working on making the darks darker.

Tuesday Group – September 4, 2013

Holly starting a new piece today – tropical plant whose leaves are green and PURPLE!

Marilee’s aquarium painting – finding her way through it – like I do on ALL of mine!

Win’s cross one more section to go along the bottom. I love how it almost shimmers when you look at it from a bit of a distance.

Susie, Libby and Paulette also painted with us today, but they got away before I could get pictures! Sorry, Ladies!

August 30, 2013 – Friday Group

Sondra is starting on the pink and olive green kale.

Susie just finished one. Taken on her trip to France this summer. Love the reflections. So much more than the photograph.

Pam painted leaves today. Learning about underpainting and then negative painting to leave the lighter veins.

Almost done with the background. Wonderful darks around the flower.

Tuesday Group – August 27, 2013

Susie’s buoys – such a fun painting – love the colors and textures.

Libby working on glass balls and vases in an abstracted collaged composition. So LIBBY! So FUN!

Win’s making something out of painting squares is coming along – exploring how to make the shape come to be by the colors she’s choosing to combine.

Shannon’s rose, very close to finishing – deciding on putting in more darks in the background.

Paulette – another gorgeous one underway. Painting the general colors on the petals before the red stripey parts.

August 23, 2013 – Friday Group

Susie put a shadow on the shutters behind the canna flowers. We had fun playing with the silhouette in Photoshop to help her.

Pam played with patterns and textures for her new hibiscus piece. Love this! So delicate.

Sondra worked on the little details in the center middle. Working with painting on damp paper with concentrated paint.

After working on her drawing more, Pat’s airplanes got the abstracted color process – to see how the color composition would work. The color class put to practice! YAY!

Adrienne’s granddaughter starting to come to life. So soft and delicate.

Mickey keeping up with working on her “fuzzy background”. It’s coming along.

August 20, 2013 – Tuesday Group

Holly’s Hawaiian fish is really coming along. Just beautiful!

Marilee is painting her granddaughter in a bucket – I’m so amazed by how much Marilee can paint in one 4-hour session!

Funny, upside down perspective on Shannon’s rose and raindrop piece. I’m so in love with this painting!

Win is doing another piece based on color-mixing squares – this time with intention that a shape emerge. Will be fun to watch that happen!

Susie is having fun painting rope – some of it unwound. And her painting is showing how much she’s enjoying it too!

Paulette started a new rose piece today. Such a touch to the first washes.

I loved today! We had a Shannon’s daughter Genevieve and Paulette’s granddaughter Colette, both 10 and both attend French-speaking schools. We had sweet voices speaking French to each other, with a few of us chiming in. I had to pinch myself that this was really happening. Made me so happy!