“Welcome every morning with a smile. Look on the new day as another special gift from your creator, another golden opportunity to complete what you were unable to finish yesterday. Be a self-starter. Let your first hour set the theme of success and positive action that is certain to echo through your entire day. Today will never happen again. Don’t waste it with a false start or no start at all. You were not born to fail.” ~by Og Mandino
The slot was pulled 3 hours earlier than the usual time, thus it started from 10am this morning.
The studio was pretty quiet in the early Saturday morning except some mumbling noise coming out from the introductory session at ground floor.
On my way to the first floor, I did a quick glance thru the glass door and saw the instructor was surrounded by many new students. Oh yah, I was doing my painting at the first floor today. That’s my first time there. I used to be at the ground floor. Just that there was another class going on so I moved to the upper level.
This is my half-done piece. I feel it looks much better than earlier now.
However, the fold lines near the edge of the elephant big ears are not contrasting and natural enough - fine, they will be my next mission!
… there are too much light blue scattering around the elephant. I can’t really tell why. But, I honestly hate the light blue in this piece. It’s kind of smearing the picture, and it stresses me. It makes me feel bad and depressed that I want to remove it or get rid of this colour completely. Perhaps, as what the instructor said, blue makes people feeling sad or gloomy. So, I don’t like it.
Besides, the colour tone over the head area is too much darker. I should create more contrast to show the wrinkles around the head and the big ears clearly.
About the sky, I want to stir a little brown into the light blue. To create more natural colour tone.
I should sort out these in my next slot.
People wondering why I pick an elephant in next piece of oil paint. Well-well. The story should begin years ago. When in the last year of my stay in Plymouth, I spotted a really huge piece of elephants painting in the living hall of Brenda’s house. She bought it from Africa in her vacation.
It’s pretty impressive that many elephants ambling by the river side. They were elephant mama, elephant papa, elephant babies and many more. They’re a whole sweetest elephant family. Family is always the most important one in mine. I treasure this biological bond between each other so much. I hoped I could have one picture of that too. I want to make it on my own.
I just start the first layer of painting last week. My classmates and the instructor commented the elephant was cute, more like a baby elephant. Okay. May be it was. I told them – it’s going to grow up in the next few weeks. Ha.
Whooohoooo!!! Nothing can best describe my great feeling when I made my last brush on the canvas.
Ooh… Long time no blogging. My friends, my family, and those whom have been cared about my recent life were asking me where had I been ‘disappeared’ to. Just because I was too quiet for the past few weeks. Completely not like usual me who talked a lots on her page. Ha.
Look at this piece! My first-real-complete-beginner-level oil painting which took me a month to settle the whole piece. I received many compliments from other painter and instructors as well as those who saw this piece in person. Thanks a lot for your kind words, encouragements and galore applauses. Appreciate them truly in heart.
Dad, as promised over the phone. Here is the snapshot of my precious work. I like it. You like it? Hee-hee.
Piggy sis, here is the thing I bought for you. I have kept a set for myself too. I’m not sure what people call it but I spot these wordings on the back of packing box – manikin 12” male. Thought this could be what it’s called. Anyway, I bought them from an art shop while I was browsing for my painting stuff in the store last week.
I thought I fully comprehended this concept – doing the picture from big to small one, when the instructor sketched the big and small objects individually on a piece of paper and explained us the concept last week. I can still recall his statement.
Until today, I finally realised that I might be wrong. I could have misinterpreted his statement, or I did not really fathom it in fact.
During the painting class this afternoon, after receiving a few instructions from the instructor, I started my painting. It’s about a sunset beach with two tiny people in there – one resting on a big rock and another one having fun on the beach. I was requested to play only with blue and white colours today.
So, I started to draft the outline of each object on a white canvas with very transparent blue colour. I gradually filled in with the blue to compose the ground colour and also increased the tone. Some area with deeper blue and some were keeping light. This is what we called as blocking and blacks. I always thought this was just as easy as a piece of cake. But, I was overestimated.
It’s honestly a tough work to compose a good painting. I thought I had done all but the instructor was not satisfying with the result. He kept on saying to focus on the big portion, and then the small portion, always leave the detail by the end. I thought I understood his request. But somehow, I found myself struggling on the same thing and nothing improved. In addition, I still played with the detail again. Seemed like I was getting lost. Goodness.
I felt that I almost got crazy with this painting until I finally asked the instructor to shed me the light. Two main flaws he pointed out on my painting – first, the contrast of overall was vague and not clearly expressed, meanwhile he also pointed to the photo and back to the particular area on my painting to show the difference; second was, blending the colour on canvas which must be avoided. Ohhh… Now I see.
Once I fathomed out the reason, immediately I rectified the mistake. Finally, the instructor seemed pretty much satisfied with my painting now. Phew…
As a matter of fact, there is always an effort to completely puzzle out a philosophy!
This is the first piece of water colour I do on canvas. Enjoy~
This is my first piece of oil paint during the introductory workshop I attended this morning. I know it looks ugly but I think this is still counted as a kind of art too. A BEGINNER ART in oil painting! Ha.
In front of us, there were three objects – a white ball, a green squared box, and a banana, aligned in a random manner on a cloth with a table lamp projecting the light on them. What I did is, kept an eye on the objects straight from my point of view (the viewing angle) and made them in to my painting. That’s it. It’s sounded easy but in fact it’s not. Quite challenging, be honest.
That’s not a complete proper painting. Rather, it’s merely a practice after every fundamental thought and theory about art that enlightened by Chankerk - our instructor, we fathomed out and integrated them in our painting.
The hands-on was really fun! I like it and I found myself was inspired by their great philosophy associated with art too. At the end, I decided to sign up an 8-lesson program on oil painting which I will spend every of my Saturday afternoon at here for two months. That’s very exciting!
Shhh… My darling is still snugging in cozy warm blanket.
Look! Don't be suprised. That’s my new 4.5-in high heels which are also the highest among my others in my private shoes cabinet too. Hee-hee~
