Another Purple Day: Playshop!

 

 "Purple Tea" 

6 x 8 inches, oil on canvas

$250

click to buy

Don't call it a workshop! The second ever teaching of "Painting, Fast and Fun" is outdoing itself in the fun department, with a great group of artists. Last time I took this exercise out for a spin, I used blue and orange, but today was all about purple and yellow.

 

 We started the day with a black and white painting, to get the whole value-first thing fast in our minds, and then dove in with our choice of complements. The idea is not to capture local color (the color of the actual object), but to use the paint mixtures to achieve correct value. If nothing else, it shakes you out of your comfort zone.....

Though there was plenty of laughing and banter (or was that just me?) for an uncomfortable group.

My wonderful students, with Liz's purple/yellow painting, unfinished at bottom right

I was having a particularly hard time photographing this intensely purple painting, so I thought I'd share some of my photo editing behind-the-scenes today.

I have a 5 year old Canon Powershot 10 megapixel camera. I always take my photos inside, in my studio, in between a window and my overhead halogen lightbulb, with the painting positioned to get the least glare --- and the pictures always come out too blue. iPhoto to the rescue! Don't ever be afraid to edit your photos prior to posting. They should look as close to the actual painting as they can. If anything, this particular piece is MORE purple than it appears on your screen. Believe it. I'm a purple person.