Experimenting: Mix media,  textures using my Black Walnut ink (that I made)

pastel and acrylic paint.

I did these during our Open studio drawing, I made up the backgrounds then chose them for each pose I thought they might best be suited for.

My Drawing group, Starline Open Studio Drawing/Painting is still meeting outside my studio . I changed the day to Monday evening from 6;30-9:30 pm
400 door on Front Street at the Starline building
Ring bell, I will come down
205E
Bring your gear, no toxic turp please, Walnut oil is perfect to use as a medium and for cleaning your brushes.

 Chistopher Yates work

 Suzanne Gleason

 Jim Totulis

Just a few from a couple of weeks ago.

Playing

Learning to play again, using watercolor , pastel, and acrylic paint...., oh my!

I painted with my friend Carlolyn , she reintroduced me to acrylic paints. We played , droping paint in blobs spraying water moving it around , more blobs alcohol , crinkled plastic , palette knife . Medium .... This was the result . I had wanted a Chicago sky line for my chickens.... Not sure how this is going to work. Carolyn , " just look at it, let it speak to you, it will tell you what it needs" true enough. That's what all paintings do.

 Sandpaper , watercolor , pastel, taped off sections .

The beginning of my obsession with chickens.

Kishwaukee Head Waters Woodstock , Illinois , Mc Henry County Conservation Dist.

After my last day with the kids for the year, I drove back to the Kishwaukee Headwaters to fix my paintings . ( I can see a strong influence of Vincent Van Gogh, 4 days with K-3 , I guess I can't help but channel a little, hahahaha) One was unfinished and damaged from a storm that blew up...... Truth be told it was blowing all day , the gust just came at the wrong time.

The other had a shadow and a light that needed to be addressed . Had to do it on location. That didn't take long, but I think I over worked the second piece , the one I remembered to take a picture of.

I'm really concentrating on seeing the subtle changes in the prairie landscape using values. 

I need to replace my red gel , which was tucked in my my leather sketchbook that has gone missing. 

Illinois State Beach

 Illinois State Beach Looking North February 2014

Illinois State Beach Looking South September 2013

I hope to do a series on Illinois State Beach.
All of the shores of Lake Michigan intrigue me. I spent a great deal of my youth and young adult years there and brought my children to experience the same delight.
There's something about the shores of Lake Michigan.
So maybe the series will end up being about the shores of Lake Michigan rather than this specific shore.

Coming into Rush Creek in minus degree temps in January 2014

6.5x8 oil on canvas

Rush Creek Conservation area McHenry County, IL. 0 to -15…silly me thought I could paint. I took the van that has heated seats and heaters all over, its 15 years old but at the time still worked, this winter was not kind to it.
I got out with my camera to help focus and take pictures and run back to the running, warm van. Ha! I was frozen…even with all the prep…all the layers and warmers and hats and thermals. The bite of the wind was just too much.
So this was done in the studio and was the first 30-minutes-or-less painting.

Oil 6x8 on panel fast 30 min or less maybe a little more

Brookdale Conservation Area, McHenry County, IL, a cold March day, sometime in March , funny geese landing on the lake using tails as a rudder

Lake Michigan in Milwaukee, WI, 41 degrees

Brookdale Conservation Area, McHenry County, IL 4/18 

My goal was to go out prepared, make definitive decisions on composition & color, not over think things, not bring my whole studio with me and paint everything I see,  and yes, that would include the garbage can.

Plein air painting has been a real struggle for me, my attention is almost non, I'm running with the clouds if they are racing or a hawk if it is stalking its pray, anything happening, I'm observering it, feeling it. 

I'm extremely sensitive to my surroundings. 

I go into overdrive. 

When I went to Jill Carver's workshop in Colorado and the aspens were in full color -- ha -- super overdrive. You guessed it, I was quaking with them. 

My whole body……….

Talk about Spiritual …….the other students thought I was 'round the bend. And some probably still think so.

It takes me awhile to drink it all in. I want it to be that way, nature is so awesome. 

I love it as much as I love painting people. Maybe more on some days.

I hope I never shut down. 

 Brookdale Conservation Area, McHenry County, IL

 Brookdale Conservation Area McHenry County, IL

 Jerry Conservation area in Woodstock, Il. 4/ 1

Open studio Drawing / painting

I open my studio on Thursday from 6:30- 9:30 pm  to draw and paint from a model here are a few charcoal sketches from this week

This morning Having breakfast and coffee hanging out outside my studio doors....

At the Palette and Chisel

At the Palette and Chisel

Painting with Friends at The Palette and Chisel

A super day of painting.

I get on the train for 6:22 departure, arrive at 8 . A bus stop , then another , walk a few blocks before I reach my destination. The Palette and Chisel in Chicago . 

My studio away from my studio . Filled with extremely talented people, more than willing to share their knowledge . Oh and food.

This is day one of a two day pose.

In the afternoon I had a slight glare on my painting. 

See if I can change the angle if my ease for next week.

http://mbbellon.fineartstudioonline.com

Study at Illinois State Beach

I went chasing the ice on the Lake Michigan. 

Found only ice at the edges. 

Oh what beautiful light.... Regardless of the very windy , very cold day.

Some winter paintings

Final day of Kerry Dunn workshop

Local color ( colour)

Thinking of local color.

By definition it the true color of an object.

Like a red rubber ball or a rose that might look a little purple in a shadow but is really red.

What the color is that is not being  changed by light , either a cool north light or a hot indoor bulb.

That's what is written.

I question, do we really know what a true local color is?

All objects absorb or reflect some sort of light. 

I know the ball is red, that's what I have been taught. 

Is it truly red?

And when it comes to skin color... With ones skin, constantly absorbing and reflecting color from around the  atmosphere , varies with each person skin and degrees of translucency, how can one find a true local color?

Hmmmm....

So when I'm being told by an instructor to paint the local color... By brain goes into a panick ....I dive into the depths of uncertainty . What is the local color....do I need to be that concerned with it?

I liked it better when I just painted what I saw, no mater how wrong " in theory" it was.

This constint search for the " meaning of life" thru my art might just paralyze my creativity. 

Which it may have already done.

Drawing, 5 min up to 25 min poses.

Drawing class at the Palette

My friend Susan talked me into it!

Every workshop I have gone to, and I have taken a few lately..... Have to be careful I don't become a workshop junkie, easy to do! 

First day of class! 

I love the gentilness of my instructor, he is 

an awesome draftsman and very good teacher , I like his style in both .

Open Studio

I started an open studio at the Starline Building outside my studio.

We out grew it the first night.

Not saying much, but my studio is small.

Why did I start the open draw?

purly selfish reasons ......

I wanted to draw and paint with other artists .

I do belong to The Palette and Chisel academy of art in Chicago , I do go down as you know.

I wanted something close to home for one night!

So born was the Starline open drawing night on Thursdays from 6:30 to 9:30 

I started in November, already I can feel a bond of artist happening! 

A great feeling!

Happy New Year

Some work from the New Years drawing marathon at The Palette and Chisel in Chicago