Get Your Paint On!

here i am working on my Week 1 assignment for Get Your Paint On

so i decided to take my first painting workshop!

scary!

and fun!

Get Your Paint On is a five week painting class with Lisa Congdon and Mati McDonough.  it is conducted all online in a private, safe and supportive environment where Mati and Lisa share their unique and colorful approach to painting.  each week has a topic of focus that is supported by information, tips, and important ideas from Mati and Lisa.  they post videos, images and photos to elaborate on the weekly topic.  they give an assignment each week that is connected to the topic and we have one week to complete the painting assignment.  then we post a photo of our painting to our private Flickr group.  we are asked to comment on others work in a supportive way and Mati and Lisa comment too.  there is an interview each week with an established artist about their work and process.  and Mati and Lisa each take a day to share what they are inspired by with links and images.

you might remember my "new" quilt from the antique show in november...

what does this have to do with painting, you ask?  well our first week covered selecting mediums and using materials with our painting assignment drawing on inspiration from the incredible Gee's Bend quilters of Alabama. We were asked to make a gridded or quilt like painting so we could experiment and get familiar with our paints by making blocks of color.  i love quilts and immediately thought of the one above that is now hanging over my bed.   the quilt looks like it could be a Gee's Bend quilt so i decided to be inspired by it for my first ever painting!

here is a look at my week one finished painting.  i have never really painted like this before so i have so much to learn.  these blocks of color seem so heavy and solid to me. 

i am getting to be so fascinated by paintings and how painters can make something look so real in paint.  some painters can make photo-realistic paintings!  amazing!

if you have any interest in exploring painting, you should check out the next Get Your Paint On.  There will be another level one class this spring or summer and i already plan to take the level 2 class after this one.

week 2 assignment has to do with finding artists that inspire you and trying to use or incorporate an element of their style that you are fond of.  i have been loving Amanda Blake since discovering her in November at Little Winter so i have spent this week looking at her paintings and doing a lot of my own drawings while trying to emulate her style.  i am loving it so i will try to show you the next painting and the inspiration for it, when i am done.

please be nice in your comments and feedback.  i am too new at this to be handling criticism, even if its constructive! like my mom always taught me, if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say nothin at all!

drawing circus tents and floating crystals,

jennette