Inspiration for abstract painting

March 24, 2016

Fredericksburg Plein  Air Artists painted at Snead's Farm yesterday.  We have been so lucky having beautiful weather. 

The first thing that grabbed me was the pink color of the peach blossoms.  I love pink.  It made me think about painting an abstract based on that color.  Since I like to do a small study before a big painting I mixed lots of tints of pink both warm and cool and of neutrals and painted a 6x6.  I used warm white for most of this and cool neutrals.  There is a little spring green there. 

I kept what I have learned about composition in my mind and maybe still need to add some darks.  I think I will be brave and paint a 24x30 or 36x36. 

(I took a photo on my phone of the location, but don't know how to add it here from there.)

Joan Wiberg Blog: FIND YOUR TRIBE

Check out Joan Wiberg's new blog.  Instagram is next.


Joan Wiberg Blog: FIND YOUR TRIBE: I am lucky enough to have a GROUP that I paint with once a week. Okay, I stalked them on facebook first, but they let me in.  The Fredericks...

Workshop with Anne Blair Brown

March 6, 2016 - Plein Air Painting



I am so excited and thrilled to be able to take a workshop with Anne Blair Brown.  Here is a link to her website: http://anneblairbrown.com/.  I love everything about her paintings, the loose brushwork, the strong compostions, the colors, the variety.......

The two books I am reading to get ready are pictured here.   Both are very intense reading.  I even got a headache from trying absorb all this knowledge.  I have been reading in small amounts and even taking notes.  I am thinking this will help me get the most out of the workshop. 

Wish me luck, only a couple of weeks to go.

The Fredericksburg Plein Air group which meets once/week has been a big help, too.   Just being around other artists who love painting outside is such a positive experience.

We are going to start painting outside pretty soon, stay tuned.  Here is our facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/749096011869539/

To Join, go to our page and click join, then message your email address to get the weekly notifications of location. 

What I have learned since my last post about Instagram....

March 1, 2016

Using Instagram has been a lot of " trial and error" which is my usual approach along with "try it and see what happens, you have nothing to lose."

First, thank you, to Mary T. for telling me in about how Instagram is an effective tool for selling art.  I view it as one of the many social media available to help artists.

Things I have learned about Instagram since last week:

Change privacy setting to Public

Use #'s -hashtags help increase your audience apparently.
(both of these tips were given to me by an especially nice young man. I had no idea about this before.)

Post often -  there must be a fine balance to this because I suspect you could become an annoyance if you post too much.  This is still in the trial phase. 

Follow other sites

Look at home page often because you will see photos according to what you have shown an interest in so far.  I have learned from looking at other artist's work. 

Include photos about you, part of your narrative.  Thanks, Dee.

My most recent posting on Instagram: 

Daily Paintworks

Instagram