sketch of the day . . .

what should we have for breakfast?  shredded wheat with bananas, walnuts and cranberry raisins or pizza and coffee?

a gentle peace . . .

watercolor ballet . . .

what to do . . . what to do?

Again, since I'm not a watercolor artist and I bought 2 JUMBO watercolor sets just because they were on sale what should I do?   Well, I guess I had better practice painting some ballerinas and maybe do some colorful ballerina flats!

the 'princess' of art strikes again!

my watercolor ballet . . .

Here's that shoe again!  This time I used watercolor.  The entire painting of the little shoe itself is about 6x6 inches.  I wonder how it would look if I made a print of it with the words and border.  I will have to try it out and see.  I heard that someone would like to frame this tiny gem and hang it on the wall.  Was it YOU!

in case you missed it . . . my first movie . . . a rerun . . . Cezanne . . . and . . .

'It's a duck pear JanettMarie!'

by myra anderson

a tribute to JanettMarie.  Her pear paintings are so beautiful that she just made me try one!  I bought two watercolor sets JUST BECAUSE THEY WERE ON SALE and now I have to figure out how to use them.  This small pear ala JanettMarie was fun!  It's a 'duck pear'.  I am sticking to the challenge of painting with watercolors because of Carol.  I did a lovely ballet shoe -  perhaps I will post it next!  This is one of my first movies about Cezanne featuring the artwork of Liza Hirst.

video on youtube shows artwork beautifully - please watch again!

dance!

not too young . . .

not too old . . .

not too rich . . .

not too poor . . .

definitely brave . . .

definitely wise . . .

to dance -

in the color of coffee

in the movies with mary, jm ,km, terri, bonnie, christina, david, tammy, jeMa, Lisa, Barbara, CJ, Connie, Carol & me

Sorry about the names - it's the most difficult part of the video to get right.  I will work on this problem for the actual video.  I have to remember that just like a monet, van gogh or degas, I know everyone's work at a glance.

tickled pink!

dancer in the color of red . . .

dancer in the color of red -

like child's play I took red and splashed it across the page . . .

and with charcoal -

smooth as chocolate . . .

look!

a dancer -

the art of the dance . . .

sharing thoughts . . .

gone green part 1 . . .

green ballerina flat

by myra anderson

different colors inside my shoes . . .

no longer babes . . .

no longer new . . .

you may see dings of misery . . .

but mostly you see victory!

please click here for part 2

degas diversity day?

Not!  Yesterday I went to my 'if you're going to practice sketching would you like to sketch a degas' class.  I have done these particular images before.  I return to them on occasion to see if I can do them better.  In the top image you will notice that I have added a little something else besides a single figure of a ballerina - something I haven't done in quite a while.  The whole experience was refreshing and sweet . . . just like coffee and chocolate.

impressionist pastel ballerina . . .

Haven't worked with pastel for months. Working with pastels again was sweet . . . just like chocolate!

I 'heart' Carol . . .dahling!

On my last post I mentioned how I imagined using pastel like a sculpting tool.  In this drawing I made a faint outline then I laid on the pastel without blending (with my fingers).  Do you know how hard it is not to blend?  Then I added some outlines.  It was a lot of fun.  Try it.  I tried to do the same thing with oils using burnt umber, yellow ochre and white.  I will post the result soon.

'i heart the ballet dahling'

watercolor? by myra anderson

Also, I have been trying to understand watercolors.  I personally think that this is a very difficult medium.  Just when I was about to give up for the 569th time I looked at Carol Blackburn's blog where she is also practising with watercolor.  Reading her blog was a real pick me up - like chocolate!  When I saw her charming watercolor paintings I decided not to give up . . . yet!


However . . . if  I don't get better I have decided that I am going to pack up every watercolor book, get every watercolor paint, pad and pencil and ship it over to Carol Blackburn's house!  Immediately!

ballerina resting . . .

I have long wanted to make little sculptures of ballerinas like Degas.  In this sketch I had fun trying to use pastel like a sculpting tool.

terri and me and coffee makes three . . .

Right now I am having coffee and admiring the beautiful artwork of Terri Smith.  When it comes to her figurative paintings she certainly has her own unique, beautiful style.  Her use of color is fantastic!  Her blocking abilities are amazing.  Her work is like coffee and chocolate -  it's inspiring, oh so sweet,  and refreshing!  Time for me to get to work!

jazzy dancer . . .

a movie about the impressionists . . .

click the title of this post to link to YouTube page

quiet conversation . . .

sisters . . .

heart . . .

little ballerinas . . .

It's been a little while since I've done an oil painting.  As you know, I took some time to practice my drawing - then I did this little painting without drawing the ballerinas first - for a change of pace.

a touch of pink - part 3 - fini . . .

This is the sketch for my next painting.  It's a new subject for me - the ballet - so I hope that all goes well.  I will be posting the painting I promised you soon.

a touch of pink part 2 . . .

 

a touch of pink part 1 . . .

Ballerina T

the violinist . . .

myra!chair!degas!

notes of inspiration . . .

This painting by Felicia Marshall reminded me of how I also like to draw and paint musical instruments.  It's amazing what Felicia can do with acrylics!  I haven't done a drawing like this in a while - that's why she's really holding on to that violin!  I will try to loosen up a bit on the next drawing.

I've been drawing so much lately that today I decided to do an oil painting without any drawing first.  Today I listened to Helen Van Wyk who once said 'you draw a drawing - you paint a painting.'  I will post it when dry.

shall we dance . . .

Here is my first attempt at a watercolor that tells a story . . . a story that so far has never been told . . .ballerinas about to take the stage.  Is it perfect? No.  Do I like it? Yes.  Will I try again?  Soon . . .

'Thor' complexities of life . . .

When I look at the sketches and watercolor works of artists like Thomas Thorspecken I am amazed by their color and complexity.  It looks like something that I could never, ever, ever do.  As soon as I find my watercolor pad I will go to work producing small complex paintings (I hope) like his works below.

pink stretch . . .

I love to bother bonnie - part 2 . . .

'Things Are Looking Up' by Bonnie Heather

Today I went to my interpretive dance class where we danced to the work of minimalist sketch artist Bonnie.  In response to her work 'things are looking up' I danced . . .  'life has it's ups and downs but if you endure and stay on that right road you will see that things are looking up!' for which I received a standing ovation.  Thank you Bonnie and keep 'em comin'.

she brings joy . . .

Beautiful painting by Joy Argento.  Why we paint!
http://joyargentopaintingaday.blogspot.com/

reach!

click http://artofmyrajae.blogspot.com/2010/11/reach.html

inspiration seen and ballerina green

Matthew 5:24

I saw a beautiful painting by an artist who used a scripture like this for the title of his painting.  I thought that this was 'thought provoking'.  He inspired me to do the same thing.  This is what the scripture says:

When I saw this painting by Kevin Wueste it inspired me to bring my drawings up to the next level by adding pastel shades of grey and white along with the charcoal.

leotard da vinci

I'm still in the beginning phase of my 'watercolor way'.  Up to this point I have not been successful with the use of watercolor.  Acrylics - take a number!  I thought it would be fun to be  a 'leotard da vinci'.  Okay!  I love these paintings but I'm moving on from the brown/green combination!  This is just step one of battle watercolor.  Let's see if I can step it up and be a real 'leotard da vinci'!