So I signed up for classes at Art of the Carolinas. These past 2 years I've tried not to sign up for everything since when I do I not only go broke, I get absolutely frenzied. I want to relax and enjoy these classes, especially now that I know pretty much who's a good teacher and who is not.
But I kept thinking about the class I didn't sign up for: Abstract Landscapes. I've been trying to learn abstraction and will be taking classes in that, so I thought: landscapes. Add some atmospheric perspective and the occasional tree and do them in earth colors. Right?
So I've been working on some, trying my hand. The first one is taken from a series of photos I took on my way back from Les Parents last month. The highway department keeps all kinds of wildflowers blooming along the highways, and at the rest stops they seemed to have planted all daylilies.
This second one is from a series of exercises I did per Bob Burridge, where you do several small sketches and then try to work up something larger from a sketch you liked. Don't know if I like the sketch better than the larger painting or not, but here it is. I'm saving a larger canvas board for the sketch that I REALLY liked, even though it scares me because it's rather simple. I'm calling this "French Broad" because it kind of sorta reminds me of the F.B. River up in the mountains, or it's got a mountainish/riverish feel to it.
Gotta be getting around to doing a painting for the NC State Fair soon, though. I'm entertaining ideas for suitable subjects! Last year I did a barnyard with two guys and two dogs and an ancient pickup and got Honorable Mention. This year: maybe something not so farmer-ish? Although I still have lots of reference photos from Lloyd's dairy farm, the place I used for last year's pic. The year before I did a pretty Hillsborough house that had lots of flowers, and got a red ribbon. What subject should I paint? (Be aware that abstracts rarely do well in the State Fair.)
PS: Have you sent off your postcards asking DC Comics to renumber Wonder Woman to where she should be?
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