The Virtual pARTy Painting
Belletor in Winter, Watercolor (c)2010 The Artist
I came across a fellow blogger/etsy/artist's post a couple of weeks ago about something called the "virtual pARTy" while meandering around the etsy forums where we meet and talk about art and techniques. Artist Kathleen Roeth, aka tapestry316, paints horses and she commented about this art party thing one day. Well, I'm not an animal person much less a horse person, nor am I that interested in painting them, but the idea of joining in on this idea seemed like a good departure from the bagpipe work. In fact, I was so tired of the bagpipe I had put it aside and started throwing paint on the paper with no particular plan just to get away from it. After I saw this horse posting I jumped at the chance to paint something new and out of my comfort zone.
The way the virtual pARTy works is a photo is presented during a set time and the artist has 24 hours to start and complete the work in the medium of their choice. When it's done you upload the painting to the blog. When the week is over the blog owners put up the entries for viewing.
The result of my work is ok. I wasn't really interested in the outcome. It felt good to clear my head and look at a different scene with new colors. I played with color mixing, different brushes and the strokes they make. I had never tried to paint snow and tried to keep my white spaces white. Now that I have great info on paper quality from you helpful readers, I can see how better paper could make the difference in a work. Obviously, I'm going to have to go shopping for paper before I start the next piece.
All in all, I'm glad I found the virtual pARTy and decided to go for it. Why not? It's all good.
That sounds like an interesting idea...if I knew when a virtual party was happening I might participate. We all need to play and shake up our assumptions.
ReplyDeleteLrc, I think they do it once a month,click on the link and check it out!
ReplyDeleteVery fun painting - love the way it turned out! One of the fun things about the Virtual pARTy is seeing how different artists create very different interpretations of the same photo. Do follow the link and join in - they welcome anyone who wants to play ;-)
ReplyDeleteThanks for the mention, Dora =) The pARTy photos are usually once a month unless they get busy - then it may be a bit longer. They usually post the week before to let you know that the next week a photo will be posted. I have done three of them and I really enjoy participating!
The Virtual Painting Party sounds like a lot of fun. I used to have live painting parties with my friends (artists and non artists alike). We would listen to music, chat and paint together. It was awesome. My friends who never painted before loved it.
ReplyDeletePS when you go to buy new paper if you find that 300lb is too expensive, try out the Arches Cold Press 140lb paper. It is also fantastic and I use it for my smaller paintings. Good luck! :)
Kathleen-I'm glad I participated, it was a good departure from my norm!
ReplyDeleteKendra-I plan to go shopping for paper today, so thanks for the tip! A real painting party sounds fun too.