A helicopter has been flying overhead in circles all afternoon, and I can hear the loudspeaker they are using to announce they are looking for a man about 5'11, 170#, with gray hair. Then they announced he has the mental capacity of a 10 year old, and that makes me feel terrible. Of course they don't say why they are looking for him, and they haven't said he is dangerous. Poor old guy, I feel sorry for him and hope that maybe he's just up and left a care facility or something like that.
It has been wonderfully cool today, and while I'm indoors with the doors and windows open, I'm wearing sweatpants and sweatshirt. When I'm working outside a little at a time, I take off the sweats and wear just shorts and a t-shirt. I am really looking forward to this kind of weather being our normal fare, but we are going back up into the 90's. It's autumn now though, and I hope it will cool down a lot.
My art class went well in that I really enjoyed the conversations with other women. I know the instructor is frustrated because my picture is turning out to lack bright color. I think I will suggest that I do all the trees with leaves that are turning yellok and that can brighten things up.
When I think about Alaska, I don't recall a whole lot of color in the landscape. Not like Hawaii or someplace tropical. The mountains are dark, and you either see the rock or the trees growing on them, or some of both. There is snow and there is sea, and green fields and marshes. But no big splashes of color. I was only in a very small part of the largest state in the Union, so I can't speak for what the rest of it is like, but I think this might be the reason the tourist places and towns have flower boxes with bright flowers overflowing them. I've seen pictures of such but don't recall seeing them on my trip, even in Talkeetna or Seward, and I think the beauty to me is in the mountains, sea, sky, and clouds which are ever-changing. I didn't see sunrise or sunset, and it rained a lot of the time (sometimes just a mist or drizzle), and when the sun shone through it was glorious. But I wouldn't call it colorful. I'd love to hear the opinions of those who live, have lived, or traveled to Alaska. I was there the last two weeks in July and the only thing that reminded me of fall were the temperatures, but I don't know if they had anything to do with the season there. I didn't miss color, nor did I miss the sun when it was behind the clouds. I can't stress enough how beautiful I think this place is, and a big part of the beauty is the majesty of scale. Please weigh in if you care to.
It's ironic that I've started watching the Bob Ross videos, and last night the art instructor announced that she is planning to teach something about the Bob Ross method in the coming weeks. I asked if you could do the same strokes with the same effects in acrylic and she shook her head "no". I'm not sure how she will approach Bob Ross, but I'm looking forward to it. This weekend Michael's is having a great sale, and also an exhibit called "Brushes and Brews" at my old favorite American River Brewing Company venue. The only time I was there since they opened up their new space I was disgusted to see TV's (turned on) on every wall. It looked like a damn sports bar, not a friendly bar where you can try their brews, talk to the other customers, and generally feel like a welcome guest. Jeannie and I have been to a craft brewery a few blocks past Costco on two different occasions now, and the atmosphere is friendly and inviting. On the other hand, ARBC's sports bar now has a shuffleboard game and another type of game, which means you can keep the kids (and the husbands) occupied. I think I will show up on Saturday and see what they have, and enjoy a glass of golden ale!
I just realized the helicopter is gone. I hope all is well with everyone involved.
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To give acrylic enough working time for the Bob Ross wet in wet technique you have to add a lot of an additive to the paint. Even then it is not really slowed enough to play around very long.
ReplyDeleteI didn't get a chance to ask her much about it, but it's possible she will be teaching a class in oils. Also, all Michael's teachers do a one-evening class now and then, so she could be just doing a "theory" type class about Bob's method.
DeleteBob Ross used oils. Hey, I fit the description of that guy the helicopter is looking for. I better stay away from your area of the world. . .
ReplyDeleteNow about painting. I have used oils but prefer to use acrylics. After you paint a picture with acrylics, you can then highlight it with oils. You can paint oils over acrylics but you can't paint acrylics over oils.
I'd eventually like to try watercolors as well as oils. The only thing is the cost - oils cost more than acrylic paints, and you need to be more careful about brushes (from what I've read). It may be possible to find one of those one-night classes like I took in Alaska, and which are offered in several locations around where I live. The instructor provided all the materials, including paint, brushes, canvas, etc. Then I could get a taste of it and see the differences in oils and acrylics. I'm going to need to add another 3-5 years onto my expected life span so that I can get all this in!
DeleteI smiled at your instructor's concerns about the lack of bright colors. She would be devastated to live on a tall grass prairie because the coloring is very subtle as the grass goes from yellow/golden-brown to green back to yellow over the span of a year. I'm told the Native Americans indigenous to the Great Plains word for yellow is the same as grass.
ReplyDeleteI think she and a lot of other painters are happy to alter the color of something to make it stand out. The style of most in my class seems to be bold and bright, but that is not my style (unless I'm wearing a red dress, my favorite color). By the way, I love the looks of the Great Plains.
DeleteNot being artistically inclined in the least, I've always thought art was how you saw the world, not how someone else thinks you should. The world is not always colorful.
ReplyDeleteI think there is color, but it is often more subtle than we are used to. Also, I think certain styles are popular at times, and maybe that is the trend now - bold color. I have a lot to learn about the whole subject, and I think I can find some color without sacrificing what I know to be true. It probably would have been better if I hadn't used a photograph as my model for the first classes. Having a photo makes me want to copy it, whereas if I drew it from memory I may have picked up something the camera didn't catch. All I know is I'm not giving up yet!
DeleteWhen you use a photo as your inspiration, it helps to convert it to B&W then print it. That way the colors will be whatever you want them to be.
ReplyDeleteI never even thought of it. That's a brilliant idea!
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