What are you thankful for?

The November Friday Fanatics challenge is to think ...and paint something that you are thankful for. If you paint with the Friday group email your images to info@atlantaartistscenter.org

The Friday Studio Group has work in the AAC display window until December 6. Come check it out!

Mickey McConnell is grateful for her great-granddaughter Skyler. Check our Mickey's website at: http://mickeymcconnellsart.weebly.com/index.html

August Challenge

 Friday Fanatics Display Window at AAC

8/8/13 

Dear Friday Painters.
Congrats to the Friday Painters who were accepted into the New Members Show judged by Elsie Dresch: Kevin Dallas, Gena Keith and Donna Varn. Awards will be announced at the Reception on Sunday, Aug 11, 5-7. Good luck, guys!

We will paint at AAC tomorrow and hope you can join us.

This week, fresh-off-the-easel work from our Friday group will hang in the front window of AAC for one week. Work does not have to be completed or framed. I will bring two drawing boards to clip works on paper. So, if you want extra exposure for your work, come tomorrowand create a masterpiece. Or hang up a work in progress that you've been painting at AAC.

I will bring some flowers for a still life for us to paint. Or you can paint your own subject. If you have flowers in your garden, please bring some to share.

This Friday will be submissions for Basils Restaurant. Bring in 1-3 paintings to hang next door. There is a submission fee of $5.

The August Challenge is to paint a figure or figure. This is preparation for the AAC September Member Show GO FIGURE that will be judged by well-known portrait painter Thomas Nash. You can send photos of your figure paintings to Maggie to post in the blog.

Last, but certainly not least, today (Aug 8)  is our own Jerry Solomon's 93rd Birthday! Jerry is rapidly recovering from a stroke and is painting again. He won't be with us tomorrow due to an appointment but we will celebrate his birthday and recovery next week.

July Challenge

The July Challenge is to paint How I'm Spending My Summer: Vacation/Staycation

Do a painting of a trip or share a plein air piece done on a trip. No travel plans? No problem. Do a painting of a summer activity. Send a photo of your painting to me or Maggie or bring it in to be photographed.

by Betsy Cozine

"I love to take walks in the woods. Favorite places are Maine, South Carolina and North Georgia."

Poppy by Linda LeTard

"This is my little companion Poppy and my first attempt at painting a critter."

Austin by Pat Hahn

This is Pat's Great Nephew, Austin enjoying himself at the beach.
"I think he's chillin'!!  This is a small piece in watercolor which I drew and put some 
initial washes
on a couple of Fridays ago. I finished it at home last week."

June Challenge

Do a Personal Painting.

This can mean painting a physical object or group of objects that has sentimental meaning for you.

It can mean doing a painting of your garden or flowers from your garden.

Paint your favorite summer food.

You can paint a place with special meaning like a vacation spot or your own home.

It can be a portrait of a friend or family member.

You can do a painting in a style you consider your own.

Make it beautiful or quirky or thoughtful. Show some passion for the subject in your painting.

Good luck.

Send me or Maggie a photo or bring in your completed piece on a Friday in June for us to photograph.

Here are some of the paintings so far....

 Studio Favorites by Jane Springfield

"This is a watercolor of favorite items from my home studio."

Amelia Island by Nancy Rounsaville

"This is the sea at Amelia Island on a perfect summer day in June."

Gardens at Carmel Mission by Pat Hahn

"This is my first attempt at an oil in several years and the photo was taken in the Gardens at Carmel Mission in CA."

Pet Portrait of Annie Savannah McBarky by Donna Varn

"This is the watercolor I painted if our Westie, Annie Savannah McBarky. I placed "Annie's" portrait on the floor where she could see it and she came running across the room, barking at it.  She backed up, looked at me, then back at her portrait, then circled it several times, looking behind it, then sat down in front of it and just quietly stared at it for quite a while.  It was very funny as well as interesting to watch! "

Gracie by Brenda Fulp

"I decided to take the challenge and paint our dog, Gracie, who I just adore:-). I wanted to do something different.. since this is a challenge, so I limited myself to 1 hour and used a palette knife both of which I've never done before. It was so much fun! Thanks for helping me try something new."

by Kevin Dallas

"I love green vines and large green leaves and hydroponics. I started a hydroponics experiment using hibiscus leaves and here you go My 'Hydro-Hibuscus'. "

Brass Bed by Patsy Cannon

"Brass beds have always drawn me in especially as I wondered about the journey they have had. I love the brass patina and tried in this painting to portray it."

Lake Burton Dock by Cylde Draughon

"I painted a view of a son-in-law going with his kids for a swim off our dock at Lake Burton."

Virginia Road by Cylde Draughon

 "This is a view of a country road in Virginia near where my middle daughter and her family live."

Lake Burton Dock II by Clyde Draughon

 "A view of Lake Burton from my dock."

 Grove 10 by Ujjagar S. Wassan

 Storm at Dusk by Ujjagar S. Wassan

" While the Color is the life and blood of a painting, Tone is the soul."

Fallen Tree by Ujjagar S. Wassan

Yellow and Violet Bushes By Ujjagar S. Wassan 

May Challenge Continued...

Sunflowers by Chris Sherry

Chris says, "Sunflowers are easy to paint after the third go 'round'."

Pink Azaleas by Louise George

Louise says, " I see these often along a fence in the neighborhood  where I walk my dog . They are isolated, not near a yard...may have been native to the area years ago." 
Two different approaches:  The lower one is a straight watercolor done in one session. The white is from the paper only. The top one has been developed further in more than one session. Some Chinese white was used for highlights.

Autumn Hydrangeas by Gunda Perry

Mixed media watercolor and tissue paper.

White Roses by Nancy Rounsaville

 Nancy painted on an oil primed linen pad from Centurion.

 Happy Summer by Donna Varn

Donna painted on an easel for the first time. She says, "I've always painted at a drafting table - flat - level - no slope."

Maggie's Mother's Day Rose by Jane Springfield

Jane used gesso-textured watercolor paper.

May Challenge...

By Patsy Cannon
Patsy put the flowers in an interior setting rather than just painting the flowers by themselves.

By Jerry Solomon
Painting flowers as a subject was new to Jerry.

May Challenge

The Painting Challenge for May is Flowers. The Challenge is to try something you have not done before. This can be a new technique, a new medium, a new palette or (as in Leon's case) a larger brush.

Bring in your painting to share with the group or send a photo for our blog. We can take a picture for you. Tell what it is you did differently in your painting.

You can see our blog if you go to the AAC Website and look under Education. We are with sketch groups as an open studio. 

We will not meet on Friday, May 17. Instead, we will paint on Wednesday, May 15.

Luscious Foliage by Clyde Draughon
Clyde used Yupo paper.

Congrats to the Friday Painter who were accepted in the AAC Horizons and Vistas show judged by Nikki Davidson. The full list is posted on the AAC website.

Our WINNERS include:

  Cool Morning by Maryann Rachelson

The Blue Vase by Wanda Walston

Crazy Coffeehouse by Charles Woodbery

Mickey McConnell, Kathy Butler, Clyde Draughon, Betsy Cozine, Alle Craig, Pat Hahn, Kathy Rennel Forbes, Sherry Hardage, Tom Quinn, Loretta Locanto, Margot Longreen and Jane Springfield.

April Challenge

Sea & Shore with Spray by Nancy Rounsaville.

Fences I by Cylde Draughon

Fences II by Cylde Draughon

Hiker on Road by Cylde Draughon

Painting Challenge for April

Dreams of the Open Sea by John Lovett

We have watched a number of 10-minute videos by Watercolorist John Lovett who has taught us to paint fences, trees, winding roads, skies, seascapes and buildings using a limited palette of Thalo or Prussian blue, Ultramarine Blue, Quinacridone gold (or Indian Yellow), Alizarin Crimson and Burnt Sienna. We have watched his videos on painting from photos, simplifying a landscape and using mixed media with watercolor. The challenge is to use Lovett's palette and do a painting using some of his techniques. (Thanks to Clyde Draughon for sharing his DVDs.)

Bring in your paintings on Friday or email a copy to post on the blog. Write a sentence telling what you tried to achieve and what you learned from the exercise. If you don't want to send a painting, send a comment.

Look forward to hearing from you.