Watercolors By Andrea Burke
Painting with passion and having a blast!
  • Welcome
  • Andrea's Bio
  • Paintings by Andrea
    • Life on the Lake Series
    • Classic Rock Series
    • Two Color Portraits
    • Stained Glass Series
    • Florals
    • Collages
    • Rosemont Winery
    • GLASS
    • Abstracts
    • Still Life's
    • Hellebore Festival
    • Commissioned Artwork
    • South Dakota
  • Le Galeriste Designs
  • Andrea's Blog
  • Upcoming Shows
  • Contact

Getting There...

2/19/2015

4 Comments

 
Change is very difficult for me, as it is for many.  I've loved watching Susan's DVDs and truly love her artwork.  Hers is a very long process, but the end results will be worth it!  I used Fabriano cold press - 300 lb.  She recommends Arches hot press - 140 lbs.  My new paper will arrive on Monday and I'm hoping it is better at absorbing the many, many layers of colors and will allow them to shine thru.  I've not yet ordered her Schmincke paint pallet yet, and have chosen various brands/colors that I have on hand while I learn.  Once I feel I have it - you bet I'll order them!  :-)  Right now I feel like I'm playing piano with my hands crossed!  And all it takes is practice, practice, practice! 

These results are in no way a reflection on Susan or her teachings - just my cluttered head full of many "rules" I've painted with for a long, long time.  Painting with a limited palette and from dark to light finally taught me the concept of values - I used to think if I changed colors, I changed values - NOT!  But, it didn't allow for considering warm/cool colors to bring items forward or back.  Susan's palette has my old favorites - Phthalo Blue, Phthalo Green, Alizarin Crimson, and Aureolin Yellow - from my teachings with Lynn Ferris.  She has 12 colors total that she uses - warm/cool variations, some purples and oranges for consistency - very nice selection! 

On the Iris, (2nd try) I painted the flower for 10 days - a very long time for me.  It started as 18X24 (with matt) and I cut it down to 16x20 as I was so intimidated by the huge surface of leaves!  I did the forefront leaves with a bit of glazing, and opted to finish with negative painting - laid down the primary colors randomly and then worked from front to back.  You'll note the hard lines from the masking on the detail of the flowers - I ordered a drafter's erasing template to start using that to lift vs hard edges of masking fluid. 

On the beach scene, this is the 3rd try.  I wanted to grasp the notion of reflections in the water - I think I did that OK.  I played with the water too much.  I did under painting of yellow on the sand which makes it lean towards green!  Yellow priming doesn't work well with blues and purples - does great with yellows, oranges, reds, greens....  I'm learning!  Slowly but surely!!!

I won a free one hour critique with Susan on a Facebook contest.  I'm going to save it until I get a little better - and then if I need more, I will gladly pay for additional sessions.  I haven't run across anyone who teaches like this - so generous with her knowledge and talents - and so dedicated to working with students until they get it!  I'm very, very happy to have found her and look forward to improving by leaps and bounds!
Picture
Picture
4 Comments
Kristen
2/20/2015 03:54:55 am

140-pound Arches hot press.....hmmmm. It will be interesting to see how that takes multiple glazes. I've always thought of hot press as more responsive in single-layer paint applications with the subsequent backruns and blooms as part of its appeal.

I tried 140-pound Fabriano hot press at Christmas for my annual card painting, which involved a lot of wet-into-wet and glazing, and I didn't think it held up well. Perhaps the Arches is different. Please keep up the reports!

Reply
Andrea
2/20/2015 11:53:09 pm

Hi Kristen! Thanks for your comments, as always. I sure hope the Arches hot press works - I ordered a roll of it 44" x 10 yards!!! It arrives Monday - I'll let you know! I also ordered The Schmincke paints she recommends. So between the two, I'll have no excuses and will be totally committed to this new way of painting! I'll still do some with my old style, paper and paint,.,,and eventually hope to have the patience to do nothing but Susan's style. Funny - anytime I paint, I sit down with specific teacher's palette and lessons in my head - keep 5 palettes ready and available at all times. Now I have 6! Do all artists do this???? And when does it get to a point that we become "the best of" and don't think about who we are painting with???

Happy Painting, my Friend!
Andrea

Reply
Kristen
2/23/2015 01:34:26 pm

Andrea - I'll admit that's a big reason that I have really limited the workshops I take now. It's information overload. When I do take a workshop, it's often a matter of picking and choosing a particular (and often minor) piece of information that I can eventually incorporate into "my style" (whatever that really is), but it seems to take years to figure out what does and doesn't work.

Really important milestones, however, can't be missed. For me, it was Bill Vrscak (I made major breakthroughs in color mixing after taking a workshop from him) and Jane Angelhart (for helping me be brave enough to try and succeed at portraiture).

It sounds as if Susan may represent that kind of milestone for you....if it makes your heart sing, then it's worth the effort. And as you know, it's the miles you put on your brushes that marks your growth as a painter.

Best,

Kristen

Reply
Andrea link
2/24/2015 05:58:00 am

Hello Again, Kristen! I hear you re information overload! I have had several classes that didn't effect me at all, though always open to new ideas - just didn't take them! I am excited about Susan's teachings and certainly hope this will all be worth the growing pains to get there! I can't stop thinking about ideas of what I want to capture with my camera to paint! It's all good - and many miles more to go on my paintbrushes!!!

Thanks again for all your comments!

Fondly,
Andrea

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Picture

    Author

    Andrea Burke, WVWS

    RSS Feed

    Click on this if you'd like new blog posts emailed to you!

    Categories

    All
    30 Day Challenge
    30 Day Challenge #2
    Aqueous
    Art At The Mill
    Art Shows
    Blowing Off Steam
    Civil War Series
    Clarksville VA
    Composition
    Fire House Gallery And Shop
    Karlyn Holman
    Lakefest Clarksville
    Laurie Goldstein Warren
    Laurie Humble
    Lynn Ferris
    MacCallum More Museum And Gardens
    New Home
    Potomac River Artists Guild
    RCCAC
    Rosemont Winery
    Savannah Tour
    Sterling Edwards
    Susan Harrison Tustain
    The Prizery
    VA
    Valley Art Assoc.
    Wcmfa
    Work In Progress
    WSAC
    Wvws

    Archives

    May 2025
    April 2025
    March 2025
    December 2024
    July 2024
    April 2024
    January 2024
    September 2023
    July 2023
    June 2023
    May 2023
    April 2023
    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    September 2022
    March 2022
    August 2021
    July 2021
    March 2021
    January 2021
    October 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    October 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012

'This world is but a canvas to our imagination' - Henry David Thoreau