The Blogcademy

The weekend before last I had the amazing chance to attend The Blogcademy, put on by blogging goddesses Gala Darling, Nubbytwiglet and Kat of Rock and Roll Bride.  I've been following Gala and Nubby since their livejournal days, so it was great to meet them in person and hear first hand how they grew their blogs and their businesses.

Me with the fabulous Gala Darling

This class was amazing.  There was so much material covered starting with how to grow your blog and turn it into a business, branding your business, how to get a book deal and so much more.

Nubby, Kat and Gala

Kat and Nubby watching Gala's presentation

The other great part of the weekend was meeting so many inspiring women from all over the world.  Bloggers came from England, Belgium, New Zealand, Australia as well as different parts of the United States.  And speaking of amazing women attending The Blogcademy:

Me with Veronica Varlow (doing I'm not worthy motions right now!)

The amazing Veronica Varlow was a fellow student!  Yes, the Danger Dame herself was there and not only is she tall and gorgeous, she is also incredibly sweet and friendly.  My secret art fantasy has always been that I win the Mega Millions, have a huge studio of my own and paint all the Dr. Sketchys models.  I guess it's not a secret anymore, but a big part of the weekend was putting your goals down on paper and out into the world.

I have to give Gala, Kat and Nubby a huge thank you for all the work they did to give us this presentation.  Thank you for an amazing and inspiring weekend!


Frances

*Due to hurricane Sandy, Gala is without power and Veronica is in the flood zone.  Please send some good vibes out to them and everybody else affected by the storm.

Union Square Redux

Remember my Union Square debacle with the falling painting? Well, I finally got back there to finish up the rehabilitation.  After falling face down in the dirt (not actual dirt, it was concrete, but since this is New York City there was plenty of dirt on the ground), I had to use duct tape to gently get dirt, sand, particles and who knows what else off of the wet painting.  After it dried a bit I had to wipe the whole panel down with a paper towel.  Needless to say, the painting needed some work after all that.

I tried to fix it up at home, but the spontaneity of the painting was lost.  Luckily, we had a gorgeous day last week and I was able to get back out there and fix it up.

Before The Fall

This is the painting before the great wind gust of 2012.  This was back in June, so the light was different last week, but due to the great weather, I just repainted it and I think it worked out fine.

The great thing about oil painting is that when disaster happens you can just paint right over it.  So glad this painting was not lost for good.

Artist Demonstration

A few weeks ago I attended a demonstration given by my teacher, Gregg Kreutz.  Gregg does demos for us once or twice a year and I love watching them.  Not only do I learn a lot about the painting process and color mixing, but it is incredibly interesting to watch a master artist at work.

Maja, our model 

The demo was a portrait of our lovely model, Maja.  

Gregg's Palette

The start

Gregg has a formula for painting.  He starts with the placement, then moves on to the background (seen above), then shadow and light.  I'll do a separate post about this in the future.  It is a great method that really works and changed my painting life forever.  

Adding Shadow

The light was coming from the left for this set up, so if you look on the right side of Maja's face and neck you will see the shadows added in there.  

Light Added

In the photo above you can see the light added next to the shadow.

Finished

The demo lasted about two hours.  I find it amazing that Gregg can get this much done while teaching us and answering questions at the same time.  If you ever have the opportunity to watch an artist at work, take it.  I hope you enjoyed seeing this portrait demonstration.  

Some New Still Life Paintings

I'm still working on getting all of my paintings photographed.  I will post them as I get them done.  Once I get them all completed I will make albums here on the blog, but for now I hope you enjoy seeing these posts.

Still Life With Nectarines and Grapes

Brass Jug With Lemons

The Copper Pot

Fruit and Bread

Thanks for looking and I'll have a new post up soon with a great painting demonstration that I attended.

Flower Power

Flowers are my favorite thing to paint.  I don't know why, but they just come naturally to me.  I'm very lucky to be able to get some amazing bouquets at the farmers market and there is nothing I like better than setting them up in a great vase and getting to work.

Another great thing about painting florals is that you can't procrastinate or obsess over the painting.  You just have to get on with it as flowers do not last very long and will usually change from day to day.

Here are a few of my flower paintings.  Hope you like them.

New York City Wildlife

My blog name says I'm a painter, but I'm also a photographer.  In fact, I was taking photos long before I ever picked up a paint brush and one of my favorite subjects is New York City.  I have always loved everything about the city.  Every place that you look there is something or someone to photograph.  I started doing this as a child.  I remember taking a class trip to the top of the Empire State Building and taking photos with my little Kodak Instamatic camera with a flashbulb on top (yes, I just outed my age).  Speaking of which, last week I saw some kids on the subway trying to put film into a 35mm SLR.  They were looking at it like it was an ancient artifact!  Too funny.

Anyway, I was looking through photos today and realized that I have a lot of pictures of wildlife around the city.  When I think of NYC wildlife, I mostly picture cockroaches and rats running around the subway, but if you look around, there are many cute critters running and swimming around.

Turtles in Douglaston

Ducks and seagulls in Long Island City ( I know it is hard to spot the seagulls, but I love this shot with the UN and the Chrysler building in the background)

These guys were hanging out and watching me paint at the Abingdon Square Market

A pretty bird hiding in the trees at the pond in Douglaston

It is always fun to see animals in the city.  I'll be on the lookout for more.

Art Supplies

I'm always curious about the supplies artists use to make their creations so I thought I'd talk a bit about what I use.  When I first started painting I had a million different supplies.  I had paint in every color, a ton of brushes, different mediums, palettes and every gadget imaginable.  I could go into the art supply store for one thing and come out with bags of art materials.

What I didn't know at the time is that having a ton of art supplies around will not make you a good painter.  Educating yourself and practice are what it takes.  A few years ago I noticed that the best painters in my class had very few supplies- usually just a small paint box, some brushes, a medium, palette and a limited number of colors.  I decided to do the same and it completely changed the way that I paint.  When I got rid of the clutter I became a much better painter.

My current palette consists of:

Titanium White
Cadmium Yellow Light
Cadmium Yellow Deep
Yellow Ochre
Cadmium Red
Burnt Sienna
Transparent Red Oxide
Burnt Umber
Raw Umber
Alizarin Crimson
French Ultramarine
Ivory Black

I use a variety of filbert brushes, 922 Medium, two palette knives (one large and one small) and turpenoid.  I paint on Innerglow Panels. I started using these a few years ago and doubt I'll ever go back to canvas.  These boards have a great surface to paint on so no prep is needed and they are double sided.  If you don't like your painting, just turn it over and start again.

With the exception of an easel, this is it. Using a limited palette of colors is actually much easier and the colors are better when you mix them yourself.

Last, but not least, my studio assistant. Every artists needs one.

Cityscape Painting

Every year my teacher, Gregg Kreutz, takes us on an outdoor painting trip here in New York City.  This year we went to Abingdon Square Park and Union Square.  Painting outside is always a challenge - you have to deal with weather, wind, changing light and of course all the people who want to chat with you while you are trying to paint.  It is all worth it though.  Some of my favorite paintings are the ones I have done outside here in the city.  Most important, we always have a great time and lots of fun. Here are a few shots from our weekend out.

This was the first painting I did in Abingdon Square Park.  I ended up wiping it down but looking at it now it wasn't too bad.  I just wasn't feeling it and when that happens I've learned it's best to just move on.

The next day I moved to just outside the park.  They have a great farmers market there on Saturday so I decided to paint the tents.  This turned out to be a great spot and the weather was perfect.

This is my painting of the farmers market and my favorite of the cityscapes I've done so far.

The next day we moved up to Union Square.  Union Square is always a challenge as it is loaded with people and it seems like they all want to chat with you!

This is the painting that I did that day.  Unfortunately, just as I was about to finish up, a huge wind gust came along and blew my easel over and the painting landed face down on the ground.  It was a wet oil painting so of course it was covered with dirt, sand and who knows what else.  I am still trying to rehabilitate it and will post a photo when it is finally finished.

You never know what is going to happen when you are painting outdoors and painting in the city is especially challenging, but so much fun and the paintings you end up with are unlike any place else.

Our teacher, Gregg Kreutz.  The man that makes it all happen. Thanks, Gregg!

Blogging Your Way

It takes a village to make a blog, and in my case, I was extremely fortunate to have help from two of the best bloggers out there:  Holly Becker of decor8 and Leslie Shewring of A Creative Mint.

I was a student in their online course, Blogging Your Way, back in the fall.  Earlier this year they decided to do a live class and I was very lucky that they decided to do it in New York City.

I learned so much from Holly and Leslie about every aspect of blogging.  There is no way I could have done this without their expert help.  The other great part of the class was meeting other bloggers from all over the world.  We had so much fun.

Thank you Holly and Leslie and all of my Blogging Your Way friends!

Some Of My Paintings

I thought I'd post a few of my paintings here tonight.  My favorite things to paint are flowers and fruit, but I do landscapes and portraits as well.  Hope you like them.

Hi Everyone,

I'm Frances, a painter in New York City.  I love art, interior design, fashion and the greatest city in the world.  Follow along as I write about it all!