easelspace.com

So that's what you call the stand you use in painting. "Easel" is a word I am not familiar with because I have not explored that side of the arts. But, yes, I consider my self an artist in my own right. Maybe to other people, I am just an art enthusiast. I am into graphic arts and drawing. If you have seen a person who would draw anything on any paper, including the back of receipts, using anything that writes, that person would be exactly like me. I am also into photography and writing. I write poetry, provocative custom essays, and short creative stories.

Until recently, I was wondering if there was a name for that stand as I had made up my mind to introduce painting materials to my mother. It will be my Christmas gift to her. I figured that she's getting old and she needs to have a hobby that will agree with her age. She used to write once in a while, though, but I think painting is more addicting. It's not that I think painting is for old people, I just think that she's creative enough to start painting and old enough to quit doing something like cooking for the family.

So I stumbled upon this website. Aside from wanting my mom to start painting, I suddenly want to start myself. I hope I will learn a lot from this website and find all the things I need through member recommendations.

Posting this little article on behalf of Jax. For more info contact Jax or visit her site This little program is an ideal tool for Artist like me who tend to lose track of everything! It was designed by Artists for Artists, so they cover all the bases - From storing photographs in various sizes (for uploading to websites, ads and high resolution for print sales) to contracts needed to sell your work in galleries and check-lists for Exhibitions. Everything in one place! Easy to use and just an absolute pleasure! I discussed the importance of keeping a log book in my Painting Blog Selling in Galleries. GYST will take care of all of this in one simple program.

As this site is part of GYST's Affiliate Program, you can take advantage of this special offer to buy this program and qualify for a discount by using this code. Remember to enter it into the Affiliate code section when you buy the software online. You can access the GYST website here Your special discount number is CPNIND103

Direct link to newsletter at Caroline Jasper's website:
http://www.carolinejasper.com/index.htm

Excerpt:
COLOR CORNER - Color vs. Value:Color attracts your eye and prompts emotional response. It can also help to identify subject, interpret image, and impart overall mood or message. However, while color provides the entertainment, value does all the heavy work. Value is the essential impact factor. Value, more than color, imparts the illusion of spatial depth and form. Light and shadow differences (value contrast) define surface contours and imply volume. Our brains rely on dark/light data collected by our eyes in order to make sense of what is being seen. We see value first, color second. The absence of color in black and white photos does not confuse us, nor does the waning visibility of colors as sunlight daily fades to darkness. Value stays on the job when there is insufficient light to reflect color. In every painting's delicious recipe, value is cake itself. Color, is just the icing on top.

TIP for better skill in seeing values: Compare digital camera shots of both your reference and your painting. Accurate value representation is far more important than matching colors in the reference. If the painting is dark where needed and light where needed, it will carry the image visually. It matters less which colors are used.

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Caroline's books and DVDs contain many references, demos, and exercises pertaining to the importance of value in art.
www.carolinejasper.com

I'm introduced to easelspace by a friend.
Will upload some paintings, I have a blog shadesoflife.blogspot.com, so I may not wright as often but will keep in touch
Enjoy a creative day.

My art Piece Last One Standing was published today in the Art Magazine 1st Angel Art .you can find out more about it here at http://1stangel.co.uk/chooses/1stangel-chooses-last-one-standing-by-crispin-delgado

So often I hear students say that their painting is "wrong". Simply because it does not look exactly like they expected or wanted it to, or because someone else's painting of the same subject looks better than theirs or in many cases just different to theirs.
Your style and interpretation is so unique to you that it is hardly possible for two interpretations of a picture to be painted by two different artists to be identical.
To prove this point, I had a couple Artists' and myself paint from the same reference.
We painted the same size painting in Acrylic and used the same reference material exactly. I told them to make the painting their own.
The outcome was interesting. All together you may be tempted to decide which one you prefer, however, individually they are all lovely in their own right. 
This is my interpretation of this reference material. I have posted mine alongside theirs on my website where you can view them all together. Leave a comment, I would love to know what you think. 

 Follow this link to see the others.....  Interpretation and Style

Sorry i have been gone so long =( I have been very busy trying to get ready for the holidays .I just uploaded a couple of new pieces i have done .Hope you all enjoy it .I will have more very soon =)

I recall years at school studying paintings of the Great Artists where  I had this really over-zealous, extrovert Art teacher who went into great depths to describe the artists emotional state in a particular piece, and I would sit there thinking  that the teacher needed to see a shrink!

I then studied color therapy as part of a counseling course that I did a few years back and am absolutely intrigued by it still. It has helped me to understand how to channel emotion into a painting. Although I do believe that as with every artist and in fact with every human being, our visual perception of color differs from one person to another. Our views are as unique as a finger print. So unless we are absolutely familiar with the artist, (which would allow us to understand the artist’s interpretation of color) I personally would never dare to try and interpret too much into understanding the artist’s message, unless it is blatantly obvious.

Art interpretation is as personal to you as it is to the artist who painted it; as a painting is about emotion ...guided or spontaneous; whether it be your own emotion or the Artist's who painted it.  It is wonderful to share these views with others as it allows you into a small place inside them... this is how Art Therapy works. It is a way to express yourself and to be guided into putting what you see into words.

Last year I painted this Triptych and put it onto my Facebook Group page. I asked someone to give an interpretation of this painting. I was ASTOUNDED at what she wrote. I did this in order to prove this theory.

 I have posted this painting below and my interpretation below that. 

 If you as an artist want to showcase your work and get people interested in you as a person as well as your art, it is really important that you say something about the painting. Ok my description is way too long but a short description or a title that will guide the emotion of the viewer is so important. Viewers want to know 

·          What is the size of this painting?

·         What medium did you use and what is it painted on?

·         What is it called or what inspired you to paint it.

If you want a viewer to know what the painting is about, then tell them! Sometimes this helps to get their attention and interested in what they are looking at.

 

Retribution

60”x60”x1.5” (1.5m x1.5m) hung. 3 x canvas Triptych

Acrylic on Canvas

The paintings in the triptych format speak of three different states or realms for the two main characters. The centre is the mundane world or place of contest between good and evil the stage, if you will, separated by the states of existence of the Angel on the right a subconscious signal of good in western mindset and the temptress on the left once again indicative of temptation evil.

The angel is chained with the chain linking the three images. The theme for me is Downfall as a result of lust indicative of the red sky and the partial nudity of the characters. The angel is bound by lust to the mundane world through the charms of the temptress; the theme of which we find in the Judeo Romano biblical texts of Genesis, where the sons of heaven came to earth taking wives from the daughters of men.

The figure of the temptress further reinforces the theme by the glove on the right hand holding the chain alluding to legends of the red right hand in popular folklore that denotes a sign of the agent of temptation.

I am greatly inspired by music. The song “Red Right Hand” by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds was the initial inspiration of this painting.

The lightning in the centre painting denotes turbulence, despite the empty street; denoting calm. The danger is unseen; except for the trail of the chain.

Then there is the matter of the crows long associated as mythical figures in cultures associated with death and travel between worlds and states of existence, and also messengers from the other side. This is reinforced by the fact that besides the chain they are the only thing crossing more than one image. The direction of flight towards the left naturally in western mindsets leaves one slightly unsettled and draws the eye to the left as they are the only real movement giving the impression that the angel is being dragged by the chain towards the left and the temptress, almost as if denoting the strength of temptation. Also the fact that the angel’s wings span the two states. The wings are partway in the centre painting denoting that he has been pulled toward the temptress.

The angel is obviously a fallen angel. The state of his wings and the tattoos signify this.

 Retribution, the name, I thinks speaks for itself.

I created another blog on this similar topic of interpretation. It can be found here.... ...How do we Interpret?...
 

Preferred medium - Which is yours and which did you start with?

I started painting in the wet on wet method in oils by watching the late bob Ross on TV
Yes I know,  there are a lot of artists who scoff at the very mention of the man but the point is that's where (to use an Americanism) my art journey started.
I have since painted in acrylic and watercolour and now very rarely use the wet on wet method in oils.
I have the greatest respect for watercolourists as I think this is the hardest to control..but once mastered the results are breathtaking !
Just looking at Vijay, Oscar, Lucia's and the other excellent watercolourists on this site alone, makes me wonder if I would have watched Charles Evans that day on TV instead of Bob Ross, maybe I could have been a watercolourists by now !
I suppose my question is does anyone else feel/wish they had started in another medium?  and do you think it is best to choose a medium and stick with it or to paint with all mediums?

Since we are growing a community of South African Artists on this site, thanks to Liesel...I thought why not jump in boots and all....
I have been teaching art and doing art classes for more than 20 years and have met a wonderful bunch of artists who over the years have become firm friends and some quite accomplished artists.

I offer a beginners Art Workshop that is an intense but fun full day.



This workshop can be attended at my painting cave, or at your venue. I am prepared to travel if you are not too far away .

My workshops do need a minimum of students to run. All these details are available at this link below.

I do workshops in painting techniques, murals, portrait painting, collage, drawing and many more, and I offer classes daily Monday to Saturday for artists that may need advice, support and one on one teaching.

It is really important to me to assist an artist in developing their talent and their own style, so for this reason I never, ever work on your work for you. The instruction is verbal and by demonstration only. 

I carry a supply of art materials that are available to purchase. This includes paints, canvas, brushes etc. I do not sell to retailers but will accommodate teachers in other areas provided that they collect from me and are prepared to make payment on order. My art materials are sold at wholesale with a small mark up to cover expenses only. The reason for this is because I am passionate about Artists getting that small break that is so important to all of us. Art materials are costly and I don't know a single rich artist!!!!

 http://www.jacquisimpson.co.za/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=52&Itemid=85