Ask about art classes!!

Laura Tesdahl, local artist and certified art teacher, is offering art classes in Artistic Designs Gallery.  Laura will be exhibiting her students' artwork in the gallery during the month of April. The reception for her students will be held on April 23, 2010 from 5:00-8:00 p.m. Students will also be working on current projects during the Hendricks County ArtsGo Event on Saturday April 24, 2010 from 10:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Be sure to stop in to meet Laura and learn more about her classes.  

We just finished up an intense 2 day workshop with local wildlife artist Mark Kelso. Mark demonstrated a variety of techniques that he uses to create extremely detailed surface textures in his paintings. During the six hour session on Saturday, he took participants through his process from sketching basic geometric forms to creating a photorealistic eye and the fur coat of a wolf. Working in successive layers of thin washes and minute brushstrokes, Mark works from light to dark in a method similar to hatching. 

Today, Mark demonstrated a scumbling technique that he uses to create the surface texture of water. He began by mixing the overall surface with two coats of a medium to dark value of blue. After it was completely dry, he used a lighter value of blue and began scumbling in the highlight areas. Slowly he adjusted his values and colors as built up layers of this texture to create the highlights, shadows, and reflections in the water. He finished the surface off with a few key hard edge strokes in the lightest highlight areas and the darkest shadow areas.

 

 

Last night we had quite a turnout for Laura Appleby's opening reception. Nearly all of her pastel studies sold within the first hour as well as one of her large oil paintings of a winter landscape.

Laura demonstrated her process of creating a landscape with pastels. Working from a photograph, she began by sketching in general shapes of the shadows in the landscape with blue and brown pastels on foam core that she had previously prepared with pastel ground. The pastel ground was applied with big textural brushstrokes which gave an overall  painterly surface. After sketching in the shadows, Laura misted the entire piece with odorless mineral spirits and used a large brush to work the color down into the textures of the ground. She then began adding her lighter colors in the sky and worked from background to foreground adding in the colors and details of the scene. 

While she was working, she discussed the importance of a limited palette to create unity within the piece as well as the importance of the golden mean in placing her focal point, a haystack. Laura showed how the stream in the scene led the viewer's eye back into the picture and toward her focal point. She also pointed out all the blues in her tree line and mentioned how few people notice all the blues in the shadows of the woods in the winter.

If you were not able to join us for the reception and demonstration, be sure to stop in soon to see her work. There are some lovely winter landscapes to enjoy now that our snow has melted.

 

 

We are currently showing the work of Indiana artist Laura Appleby. Her her oil and pastel landscapes reflect the beauty of rural Indiana. To see examples of her work go to lauraapplybee.com. Be sure to stop in our gallery to see it in person.