WIP- renoir, "The Parisian", oil,

here's my rough start for "The Parisian" by Renoir. Took some time, but I think I figured out the colors on the dress. GREAT study for French Ultramarine Blue and Cobalt blues and alizirin crimson greys/lavenders.

oil painting, first nude, almost done

Well, here is the first nude painting I've done. I did finish the hands but as far as everything else? Probably going to leave it alone. 

Still life with flowers: finished!

Finished still life, flowers, in oil. Just needs a very soft sanding to blend the edges on a few background flowers then a coat of varnish!

oil PAinmting: Flemish 7-Layer Method

Painting technique

Thi is a short overview of layers created by using Flemish master’s technique. It is a complex process.

Pencil or charcoal drawing, ink pen rawing 1. Imprimatura 2. First umber under painting 3. Second umber underpainting 4. Monochromatic underpainting 5.6. First and second color layers 7. The brightest parts of the image

Using media: Dammar varnish, linseed oil, turpentine or Maroger

The first essential step for creating an image is to prepare a good base foundation. For this technique I use acrylic primed fine linen from the prestigious Italian manufacturer PER BELLE ARTI or modern ACM panels. Even if you buy pre-prepared canvas it still needs to be additionally primed to suit our needs. Canvas should be primed several times (about 3-4 times). Apply primer with pallet knife. The canvas should be sanded among the layers of gesso by fine sandpaper or razorblade. In this way you obtain a smooth surface on which the structure of the canvas is almost invisible.


The drawing is performed by charcoal or pencil according to the needs. Then after drawing is done outline entire drawing with ink pen. Before starting the painting is necessary to coat the canvas with linseed oil (doing it because the color adhere better to the canvas  and also helps to improve the mixing of color on the canvas itself), and thus the original drawing done in pencil or charcoal is deleted. Apply linseed oil on surface of the canvas by your hand and spread evenly over the entire surface. Then carefully scrape off with razorblade excessive oil and thus the dust that settle on the canvas. Use a dry cloth to wipe the canvas and remove excessive oil.

1. First oil layer - the imprimatura. It is difficult to start painting on a pure white canvas. Excessive contrast may cause that the color appears darker example on a white background than when painted on the basis of the dark. For this reason imprimatura allows better judgments about the tone of the subsequent layer. Color for this layer should have olive tinged but sometimes it is a matter of personal taste. Imprimatur is composed of lead white, yellow ocher, bone black, and if necessary small addition of Prussian blue and burnt umber. Tone of imprimatura layer should match the brightest points of the future picture. Imprimatura dries about one week.

2. Second oil layer - burnt umber underpainting. When painting this layer, we focus on the details of our painting. This second layer also determines the proportion of light and shadow in our composition. This monochromatic under painting should be executed with the utmost precision (even if in other phases of the image will be over painted). When painting handle with paint almost like you are using watercolor. Medium for this layer is composed of about 90% and 10% turpentine dammar crystals. The first under painting dries about a week (depending on conditions)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3. Second underpainting. At this stage, we are working on tonality of painted subjects. It is necessary to properly compare the tonality of the elements of our image. As well as improving detail and contrast from the previous layer. In this stage we can use a larger brushes than in the first under painting.

4. Monochromatic underpainting - Grisaille. This additional layer will prepare our painting for additional color layer. It is important to prepare in advance 3-5 shades of gray. The color for grisaille should be prepared of the colors that we used for the imprimatur. We can make grisaille warm or cold (by hand-painted motif). When painting areas in the shade use thin and translucent layers. Illuminated and the brightest areas of the painting has to be painted more impasto

 

5. First color layer - Before starting  the work, be sure to coat the canvas with oil. The amount of paint applied on this layer is small. Let the grisaille shine through first color as far as possible (mainly in halftones). The first color layer should be one tone lighter and more colorful in bright areas of the picture and colorful and darker in shadow areas. For now, do not focus too much on the details and texture of the painted object. For now, we use a limited palette of colors (white, cadmium yellow dark, yellow ochre, kraplak, burnt umber, bone black) + colors that we used in the previous layer. In this stage is very important to not over do it. Leave work on the details and textures of painted object to the next color layer.

6. Second color layer. In the next layer we pick up the tone and color. The focus should be on creating details and also some textures of painted object.

7.Third color layer - details. In this last stage we are painting the brightest parts of the image such as reflections, highlights etc. Wait six months until the image has dried sufficiently then you can apply final varnish

Mexico’s Butterfly Forest – A Unique Natural Wonder under Threat

Mexico’s Butterfly Forest – A Unique Natural Wonder under Threat

By Spooky on June 10th, 2016 Category: Travel

Every year, hundreds of millions of Monarch Butterflies from Canada and the United States journey as far as 2,500 miles to the forests of Michoacan, Mexico in what is known as the world’s largest insect migration. Countless butterflies cluster together both on the trees and on the ground, covering large areas into carpets of orange and black. It’s a breathtaking sight to behold, but as always, human greed is threatening to destroy it.
The great monarch migration is one of nature’s most fascinating mysteries. Tiny butterflies from places like Toronto, Winnipeg or Detroit embark on this epic transcontinental journey and somehow make it all the way to central Mexico. Nobody knows exactly how they do it, but some experts believe they are guided by celestial navigation and magnetic fields.
The Monarch butterflies start to arrive in Michoacan in late October to make their winter home in the trees high up in the mountains of the natural reserve. Once here, they will spend the next five months clustering together in large masses made up of thousands of tiny bodies that often look like colorful beehives. Often times, these clusters become so heavy that they cause tree branches to bend or even snap. But there’s a purpose to all these clustering – it allows the monarchs to survive in the low nighttime temperatures at these high altitudes.

Photo: Pablo Leautaud

The Michoacan Monarch Butterfly Sanctuary is most impressive during the months of February and March, just before the winged insects begin their long journey home. Temperatures are still chilly at night, but during the day, the sun’s warmth causes the living clusters to break apart as the butterflies begin their mating rituals. In the cool of the morning, they dry their wings, turning the entire landscape black and orange, and as the dew dries, they take to the air, the sound of millions of fluttering wings more powerful that you’d ever thought possible. Then, as the sun begin to set, the monarchs take to the ground, covering virtually every available surface.

Photo: Mel Patterson

Mexico’s Butterfly Forest is a sanctuary protected by law, and one of the country’s most popular tourist attractions, but that hasn’t stopped people from slowly but steadily destroying it in the name of greed.

Photo: Tarnya Hall

Illegal logging right in the in the heart of the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve has been a longstanding problem, but perpetrators are rarely brought to justice. In November 2015, denounced the presence of logging crews in the Sierra Chincua Sanctuary, a central area of the biosphere, where they managed to clear nine hectares of forest before locals took matters into their own hands and stopped the loggers themselves. After turning them over to the public prosecutor’s’ office, the people learned that the loggers were released on bail mere hours later.

Photo: Pablo Leautaud

“The government should enforce the law,” said Eliseo Valdez Cruz, a member of the local environmental militia. “How is it possible that they [alleged woodcutters] were detained, taken to the prosecutor, and then released on bail? This is a protected area. The law says that anyone caught felling trees should get five to eight years in jail. We demand more soldiers to put an end to this, or that [the authorities] grant us more power to take care of the forest ourselves. ”

Photo: Luna sin Estrellas

Just last month, an even greater threat has risen in Michoacan’s butterfly haven. Grupo Mexico, the country’s largest mining corporation, has been awarded a concession to reopen an old mine in Angangueo, a town in the heart of the monarch reserve that was closed 25 years ago. The company now intends to mine copper, zinc, lead, silver and gold. Experts believe that if the mine is reopened, it will likely spell the end of this magical place.

And as if all this wasn’t bad enough, the increasing use of herbicides on genetically engineered corn and soybean crops in the American corn belt has led to the depletion of milkweed, a plant essential to the monarchs’ development from egg into butterfly.

Faced with so many threats, we can only hope that the great monarch migration will continue for many years to come, but the signs are unfortunately not very encouraging.

 Sources: Visit Mexico, The Huffington Post, Mexico News Daily

Final Oil Project Results: 100% ! YES!

Now all I have to do is wait for the Diploma!

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Summer tree and fall tree project results! 97% YAY!

The instructor loved the diff styles of painting I used as well as the temp variations in color. Too cool!

20 photos of environmental pollution

http://www.pressroomvip.com/g/20-haunting-photos-of-environmental-pollution/4/?ipp=1&utm_source=taboola&utm_medium=crunchmind-goosereportapi&utm_content=PollutionUSDesktop7&utm_campaign=WL_PollutionFox

WIP, Oils, snow on a cloudy day project

original photo

first layers

almost done

WIP- painting summer and fall trees in oils