Work in progress
Big Bold Blooms Wild Painting!
workshop with Lynn Whipple
30×24 inches
charcoal, pastel, & latex house paint
NFS

As the weather has continued mild here in Columbia, SC this week, I have spring fever even more than last week.   I’ve been pruning overgrown shrubs, taming large expanses of ground cover, and ordering seeds for annual flowers.  Inspired by the botanical garden at the Zoo, I’ve added some hellebores and ferns to my shade garden.

When I had a few minutes for painting, I’ve been taking an on-line painting workshop.  Have you taken an on-line class?  I’ve taken several in the last few years.  Each teacher is different, but most of the classes consist of some combination of emails, video lessons with demonstrations, assignments, and a Facebook group or video conferencing for interaction with the instructor and other students.  I like being able to do the assignments on my own schedule and to have the benefit of the class without travel expense.

The class I’m taking now is called Big Bold Blooms Wild Painting! with Lynn Whipple.  We’re painting in layers in a large format based on inspiration from a big flowers arrangement.   It’s very loose and each new layer covers up much of the previous one.  We’re using charcoal, pastels, and house paint.  The interesting thing about this class is that each lesson (arriving on Tuesday or Thursday) builds on the last one, but it’s not obvious where we’re going.  This painting is after lesson 4.  The layers are:

1. a cool gray toned canvas,
2. a very messy line drawing with charcoal and pastels,
3. abstract muted color blocks based loosely on the lines, andcharcoal drawing,
4. more intense colors, intentional drips and spatters.

I believe we’ll be doing some push/pull with the background and adding details with pastels.  I can’t wait to see the next step.

What do you think of this process?  Do you like taking on-line classes?  How would you like painting a layer and waiting a few days to see what comes next?  Do you get attached to your early drawing and resist covering it with another layer?  Please leave your comments below.