ARA The Academy of Realist Art

Survived.....and completed 4 classes at the ARA and am so pleased with the school. They teach the fundamentals of drawing and painting over a 2 year program. We are given a series of exercises to complete from an image of a cast drawing starting with the construct, articulation, contour and finally the rendering. I am now on round 2: Articulation and I am to measure every point and reproduce it as an exact copy. And guess what we use to measure...not a ruler, not a tape, but a knitting needle. Our charismatic Professor Fernando says it trains the eye to see better rather than relying on rulers. ``I keel you`` he says if we don`t get it right!

Mondays are the days we copy from the Bargue plates and wednesdays is live model gestural drawing. The gestural drawing is done using comparative measurement.

It took me months of on line research and several studio tours to finally find ARA with a program that taught in the old masters tradition. I even contemplated places like OCAD, Sheridan and TSA, only to find students of OCAD and Sheridan studying with me at ARA as their establishments do not teach fundamentals that are taught here. I am so damn pleased I found the right institution for my start....if not it could have gone so wrong.....so very wrong.

So below is my first exercise - part 2 - articulation and homework is reproducing all the lines without shading in.

...so back to work for me...lots of homework to complete! 

Halloween 2010

Plans for this year 2010 

2009 decor – mice on flight of stairs

Every year the girls and me make decorations for Halloween so this year we want to replicate the ``bats on front door`` idea and we have cut out the bats and added glitter to them. Last year we had done mice on the steps leading to the bedrooms. The girls are very creative (like moi) and love it when I plan art & craft activities for them. They have very busy minds and need to be engaged in something if not they gravitate to their Phineas & Ferb shows......frown!!!

Will post pics after we adhere the bats to our front door.

Etsy Treasury - featured for the fourth time

Double woohoo!! I got featured for the fourth time in an Etsy Treasury created by the lovely Sue of Oceanaire Dreamer who makes gorgeous hand made jewellery. She has titled the treasury `Imagine One fine autumn day, You, Lake Como & George Clooney`- isn`t that adorbs! and so unique!

What makes me double excited is that I uploaded the `Vespa`painting only yesterday in the etsy shop and it got featured today! woohoo and woohoo again!

CLICK HERE TO BUY

Ava - 8 x8 print

Giclee Print of original oil on canvas painting

Title: Ava (8x8)

Epson Somerset paper

Epson Enhanced Matte paper

CLICK HERE TO BUY

Enjoyed painting this piece especially the eyes. After months of painting on hardboard I painted this on gallery canvas and it felt quite different to me. I am going to do a few more on canvas just so I get a good feel for it and in between might do my hardboards. 

Just back from Curry`s from having to buy more supplies for my art school. We are also learning gestural drawing from a live model using comparative measuring. 

It`s been raining all day and grey and dreary...but.........the fall colors are gorgeous, some trees are a bright red and the grass has never been greener. I am blessed to get to enjoy 4 seasons in a year - quite different from living in Dubai and Bahrain where it is sweltering, boiling and roasting hot 365 days of the year!  

Vespa 8 x 10

Title: Vespa

Oil on hardboard pre framed

8 x 10 inches

CLICK HERE TO BUY

The painting is of a photograph we took out while on holiday in London, UK. I just love the Vespa and would buy one at the drop of a hat. The panel is pre framed and can be put up on your wall directly. Have just uploaded this painting in the shop this evening. 

Shop: www.70popes.etsy.com 

Coach 1st Birthday

I realize I am always mentioning our dog in the posts so thought I would post some of his pics below. He came into our lives on November 24, 2009 at 4 months old and turned 1 yr recently. He gets lots of compliments during his walks and is oblivious to just how cute he is!

Coach celebrating his 1st birthday on September 08, 2010

Coach's front legs are shorter than his hind legs so he looks pretty funny sitting! 

Coach loves water......rivers, lakes and his bath tub! 

Rosa

Giclee Print of Original oil on hardboard painting

Portrait 8 x 8 inches

Epson Somerset paper

Epson Enhanced Matte paper

CLICK HERE TO BUY

Am pretty excited about the prints, the papers feel so nice particularly the Somerset. I am a very touchy / feely person so the texture of the paper really appeals to me. 'Rosa' has been uploaded in my etsy shop: www.70popes.etsy.com. Hope you like her as much as I do. 

Baby It's Cold Outside

Giclee Print of Oil painting on hardboard

Still life image 8 x 8 inches

CLICK HERE TO BUY

After weeks of research we finally found a good Giclee printer and have placed orders for 3 of my original oil paintings. The first print was of the above still life painting of my daughter's wool winter coat. The prints are being offered in two paper options:

- Epson Enhanced Matte paper - print for $20.00

- Epson Somerset Velvet paper - print for $30.00

The prints have been uploaded in my shop - www.70popes.etsy.com

Have fun browsing! 

Back to school

Being a self taught artist most of what I produce is what I have learned from books. However I wanted more. I wanted to hear all the basics actually being 'told' to me. Call it psychological but I wanted more - a formal education in art.

So I enrolled at the Academy of Realist Art and had my first class. They taught us how to measure and draw with exact sizing. Half of what they were talking about I knew or had read somewhere already. But on the other hand I learned the right way to sharpen and hold a pencil. How to use a knitting needle to measure. How to keep a light hand and build up graphite......and so much more.

I was concerned about sitting for 5 hours at a stretch as at home I am constantly moving around, drinking umpteen cups of tea, playing with the dog and basically just wandering around. But I did it - I did sit for the whole 6 hours aside from a 15 min lunch break and drank only 1 cup of tea - very pleased with myself.

It was wonderful being among like minded souls, surrounded by art and listening to classical music all day. I could definitely do this everyday.

Sketch of Corinne Bailey

Sketch of Nicole Ritchie

Sketch of Nicole Ritchie

I am enjoying our walks to school. We decided to walk the girls to and from school as it gives us some exercise and the dog gets his walk too. But aside from that it gives me so much more.....I get to find out first hand about their school experiences (otherwise D would tell me after a long day at work), I get to walk home with their friends too....funny little people 11 year olds are. I get to hear the rustling of the birch trees - such a pretty sound. I get to admire my neighbour's gardens.. I get to greet everyone walking in my path. I get to peek into "Narnia" everyday. (Narnia is this place under the evergreens along our walking path that is fully shaded and by the water canal. Its this secret spot the girls love going into and they have named it 'Narnia'. It truly is beautiful...serene, dark and natureful (new word I just coined). 

Do you have a place you can call Narnia? 

The growing popularity of portraits

Pic and article via the Apartmenttherapy blog

Classic forms of art never go out of style, but recent years have seen a resurgence of portrait popularity. Apartment Therapy has discussed stranger's portraits, portraits in the bedroom, vintage portraits, pet portraits, and just about everything in between. What's clear is that portraits — like the living subjects themselves — never fail to elicit emotion.

Click here to read the full article.

Studio life

If I had a studio / loft space this is how it would look........love the greys, whites and lab hardware...the ladder is my favorite.

Pic via the lovely OH HELLO FRIEND blog 

Love your LIFE

A sketchy day

Another sketch I completed a few days ago. I used a photo from a magazine and his name is Tony Duran. Sketching helps me to figure out the tones and values. I use colored pastels to add some color - in this one I used grey for the shadows.

Chanel Iman

Feels great to be home on a Monday morning and not have to go to work......anyhoo no time for play...gotta paint, upload the shop, update various media, print...............!! the list is never ending but making art takes priority. Just finished this sketch of a lovely model from one of my fashion magazines. Now I have to transfer to canvas. Have a lovely day people....life is good!

Busy Bee that's me

I have decided to pursue my art full time and last Friday was my last working day in the corporate world. Today I have been busy cleaning up the studio, packing away my craft supplies as I make more room for my art stuff. D will be revamping the studio completely to make desk space for both of us as we both will be running our own businesses from home. He does contracting work while I will be selling my original artwork.

So the plan is to create desk space for both of us, increased storage for dedicated craft, art and screen printing supplies. I also need a racking system to store the finished oil paintings and somewhere to dry them. Luckily the studio is in our lower level and I can control the lighting with track lights. I think next year calls for a big yard sale and getting rid of everything that is piling up in the crawl space.

I don't have an image for this post but leave you with a link to one of my favorite artists Carol Marine - such a talented lady with such a distinct style.

www.carolmarine.blogspot,.com

Etsy Treasury - featured for the third time

Oh Joy - I got featured in an ETSY TREASURY for the third time. Getting featured in a treasury means you get featured on the home page of etsy and that is more views by potential buyers.

The painting was Butternut Squash and CLICK HERE to see the entire collection created by the lovely SarahJohnAfana.

CLICK HERE TO BUY

What is an ETSY TREASURY? 
TheTreasury is an etsy member-curated gallery of short-lived lists of 12 hand-picked items each. Members can feature their favorite items, items selected on a theme, or just whoever they like.

Click on www.etsy.com to see the other treasuries created.  

SOLD

A portrait of my handsome nephew Liam. 

via the blog 'When I grow up'

And today begins my creative journey..............!!