Ladee's Travels

"Of all the books in the world, the best stories are found between the pages of a passport."

Fun stuff here:

Phoenix, AZ - The Workshop

A lot of paint and paint brushes. And cleaning supplies.

Ladee

Travel info and photographs:

"Of all the books in the world, the best stories are found between the pages of a passport."

Fun stuff here:

Goodyear, AZ - Goodyear Balloon Glow

The Arizona Balloon Classic, complete with a hot air balloon race and festival, was held at the Goodyear Ballpark. The winds picked up a little during the evening, so the glow had fewer balloons than expected. The webpage has the details.

There were food booths and balloon souvenirs for plenty of entertainment while we waited for the balloons to arrive. A cycling team performed stunts to kick off the evening. They decided to do their tricks between the flames of two balloon baskets!

It was a fun event to photograph.

Phoenix, AZ - Ikebana at Japanese Gardens

The Japanese Friendship Gardens held the 7th Annual Ikebana Exhibit in January 2019. The Gardens are beautiful and serene, in the middle of Phoenix. And the Ikebana Exhibit had a wide variety of styles. I spoke to two little sisters and they showed me their Ikebana that they learned to make.

Here are my photographs of a few of the Ikebana flower displays, a feel of the beauty of the garden, and my friends the koi fish. I had to really work to get food to them and away from the lightening quick ducks!

My favorites were the BBQ Grill and the Embroidery Hoops.

Link to Japanese Friendship Gardens
Link to Exhibit Information

Phoenix, AZ - 3/8 Oil Painting Class

Tonight we worked on the next layer of the painting. I put some some highlights and reflections on the black vase. I added my bright yellow flowers along with some bright red ones. I also laid out the background to the pinkish rose. The instructor told me to raise the neck of the vase (on the right side) just a little bit to give it a longer slicker look. And also maybe try to straighten it out. It is not supposed to have a neck that tilts to the left. I lightened the vase on the right and painted in the books. Will finish this one next week with the top layer in some details and then start on another piece of work. I'm learning a lot.

Who squished my lemon? Haha!! I need to fix that!!!

Ladee

Travel info and photographs:

"Of all the books in the world, the best stories are found between the pages of a passport."

Fun stuff here:

Phoenix, AZ - Oil Painting Lesson 2/8

Tonight we start on our first use of the paint. We learn how to clean brushes. We do not use turpentine, but instead use vegetable oil to clean the brush. We swished it around a little at a time in a bowl, wipe it clean, wash it in new oil, wipe it clean. This process takes about a minute and a half. And then we clean it in the Dawn soap then Murphy's oil soap, ending with a little wash in a green Lava soap. The brushes stay useful for a long time.

We started with the background and worked on painting the fabric that was draped. We then painted some of the objects in the still life. For me, this was mainly a background layer, and I didn't add a whole lot of detail. We learned the process to put a dab of paint on a piece of wax paper and use a pallet knife to put a little bit of it in the middle and blend it with either black or white to make it lighter or darker colors. The shadows had a little black in them and the highlights at a little white in them.

Here is is my progress and where I ended at the end of the night. I’ve also included a photograph of the scene.

We painted the background brown, and then used a Q-tip to to remove area that was to be used for our sketch. We use disposable paper plates to hold our paint and for easy cleanup. We don't use a paint palette but instead a piece of waxed paper on a bench which allows us to Mix colors and then have easy cleanup at the end of the night.

The background music was really good and made for a nice atmosphere.

My after class research on painting fabric: https://www.explore-acrylic-painting.com/how-to-paint-fabric.html

Ladee

Travel info and photographs:

"Of all the books in the world, the best stories are found between the pages of a passport."

Fun stuff here:

Phoenix, AZ - Oil Painting Lesson 1/8

I have several big adventures this year and feel that some 101 beginning lessons in oil Painting are necessary. I found a local art institute with classes and signed up for an eight week session.

Class 1

We started with a sketch of items on a still life wall. Tricks for measuring and scale and proportions. Lessons in one and two point perspective. And then we made a charcoal tonal study of the items that we were going to paint.

I followed my camera set up with rule of thirds, leading lines and seeing where the light was hitting. I selected the five items in the middle. Two vases with flowers, a glass vase, a lemon and books. Can you see my items? Oh, and add the draped cloth. Looks interesting.

Ladee

Travel info and photographs:

"Of all the books in the world, the best stories are found between the pages of a passport."

Fun stuff here: