Back home from my ...

... wonderful Nancy Tankersley workshop in Austin!

Without further ado, here are some photos from the first day of our 4-day workshop:

 

 

Old Grist Mill at Anderson Mill Garden Center

 Traffic in Austin is horrendous at best.
My valiant husband drove me each day to/from this venue.
 We were staying about 20-30 minutes away and if the traffic was lighter, that is how long it took ... but a couple of times we/he were/was stuck in a traffic jam and it took 45 - 50 minutes!



The Bluebonnets were out in full glory. A Texas artist I follow is Laurel Daniel.
If you click her name, the link to a sweet Bluebonnet landscape painting by Laurel,
titled "Rolling Hills of Color" pops up.
(To us Alaskans/West Coast-ians ... they are a species of Lupine.)

Nancy Tankersley teaches several different types of painting workshops; this was a "painting figures from photos" one. You very often do not have the luxury of a model to sit for you, so painting from a photo is the next best thing ... other than painting a self-portrait, that is.

Why did I travel all the way from Alaska to Texas to take a workshop, you ask?

It was also an opportunity to visit our daughter and her husband, which was an equal goal and so much fun as well.

 

The first day we learned to draw the figure correctly because 

once your drawing is off, the thing looks contorted and will not work. 

Nancy's demo for the day was this darling little one running around on the beach. She captured the photo with a telephoto lens. She did speak with the parents for permission to use her photo for a painting.

Using an acetate sheet or page protector to get your proportions.

Projector captured what she was doing so we could all see.

Quick as a wink, Nancy blocked in the general shapes, on a toned & prepared surface. This is where you make sure to get the gesture and proportions right using a monotone blend of paint. No colors yet.

Now she is adding the colors of the background and thinking about the composition.

Nancy's palette. Very limited.

Nancy has a really cool paint tube carrier!

Nearly finished ... she put a few extra touches and signed after I took photo.

This is my first day's work in monotone from a photo Nancy loaned me. 

I didn't size it correctly so it overflowed my margins.

Tomorrow - Day 2 of our workshop.

Thanks for stopping in ... it has been awhile.

Happy Spring!