Category Archives: Learning

My Plein Air Set-up

Posted on August 11, 2017 by

  Since today is a driving day I thought I would write about the supplies I now take with me when I paint on location. Before this summer I would go plein air painting, that is, paint on location, at … Continue reading →

Posted in Deliberate Practice, Landscape, Learning | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Another Meadow

Posted on August 6, 2017 by

This is another sketch which, like yesterday’s, is mostly about learning to paint meadows. However, this one is painted from a photo because by the time I got up to where this meadow is on the Telluride ski slopes it … Continue reading →

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Telluride Mountains and Meadows

Posted on July 19, 2017 by

I have been working on sketching the mountains in this area and am having trouble getting a feeling of distance in these sketches. I think I need to fade out the distant mountains more and include more of the vibrant … Continue reading →

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First Try On The Rise

Posted on July 16, 2017 by

Today we drove about 50 miles to Telluride Colorado where I will be sketching while my husband works here for the the next four weeks. What with breaking down our old campsite and moving into the rental here I never … Continue reading →

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At the Pond

Posted on July 2, 2017 by

Sometimes you see something special and grab your sketchbook, working as fast as you can to capture it. I am at a working ranch in Colorado for a wedding tomorrow and suddenly had a chance to make some rapid line … Continue reading →

Posted in Deliberate Practice, Landscape, Telling a Story | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Annie, Painting Above Inverness

Posted on June 29, 2017 by

I spent three days painting with my cousin, Annie Lewis.  Annie is an accomplished and talented artist whose work can be found at the Door Art Gallery. She is also a tremendously generous teacher.  It was wonderful to paint alongside … Continue reading →

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Thinking about the Shapes

Posted on June 21, 2017 by

I attended a one-day class today where we painted using a drawing supplied by the teacher. Although the teacher wanted us to use our time to apply paint, not draw, we did do a simple value sketch before beginning to … Continue reading →

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A Vase for June Flowers

Posted on June 16, 2017 by

Today’s sketch is a variant of yesterday’s. It is a sketch of the same bouquet but with some of the leaves removed. This time I wanted to make the vase more transparent and used highly diluted paint for most of … Continue reading →

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June Flowers

Posted on June 16, 2017 by

I have wanted to learn to paint without first making guidelines on the paper. The flowers are everywhere this June and I picked a bouquet to practice with, thinking that if the parts did not fit together properly that it … Continue reading →

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Sheila Speaks to Students at CONALEP Plantel Temixco

Posted on June 8, 2017 by

My sister Sheila Polk gave a presentation to students at CONALEP Plantel Temixco, a technical high school near Cuernavaca, and I jumped at the chance to go along. Retired or not I still love going to schools and this one … Continue reading →

Posted in Body Language, Facial Expression, Groups Interacting, Learning, People Learning | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments