art class frustrations

[sunshineartist]

Hi, I am taking art classes in Florida at the local visual arts center. We have a nice art center where I live, a lot of winter guests or ‘snow birds’ like it. The winters here are nice, warm and mild, we have an almost tropical climate, very sunny, it can get hot, but today it rained. Today I had my watercolor class. I forgot to bring my watercolor flowers books, but I did practice some sunset colors my teacher helped me with. I got so nervous, so anxious and sad I started crying in class! How embarrassing!  My teacher realized I was upset, so he helped me out, spent some time showing me the strokes and colors of the sunset sea scene. He said I needed some better art materials.  I was painting some scarlet poppies and I first got down some layers of orange, then some red and gradually darker shadows. I followed the directions in the book.

My other art class is 2d multimedia, I can chose what media I want to use. I am painting in acrylics on canvas. I am painting a landscape with a cottage, trees and flowers.  I intend for this to be a Christmas present for my parents. I know this teacher for a while, she is a good, helpful teacher.  I want to hurry up and finish these paintings. I have ideas for other pictures as Christmas presents for my family. I want to paint some flowers for my sister.  I am getting used to my water color class. I have painted in watercolors before. It’s just that this class is different. The teacher is trying to teach us watercolor methods that are new to me. I need to get out of my comfort zone. The problem is I don’t have a place to paint at home. The house is messy, my mom is messy. I hope I’ll be able to paint on the linai (back porch) soon.

For God so love the world he gave His one and only son that whoever believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.

[Yorky Administrator Ormskirk]

Stay with it! I run a seniors watercolour class and have some people who had absolutely no art background and who are now showing their art at a class exhibition today. One is even colourblind but has done some lovely paintings.

Paint small, 12×9 or 1/8 sheet size. Paper quality is the most important thing and get a small quality paintbox. No need to buy expensive brushes some of the cheaper ones are just as good for smaller paintings

Doug

We must leave our mark on this world

[Keith2]

It can be difficult to get good results with watercolours unless you have had lots of practice. How long have you been using watercolours?

[WFMartin]

Gosh, I’d suggest that you give your instructor a break!  He’s doing his best to teach you how to create watercolor paintings.  His goal is not aimed at the task of teaching you how to create a specific item, such as a Christmas card;  his goal is to teach you to create an acceptable watercolor painting, and it seems that he’s doing that.  The item of creating a Christmas card is of your own inspiration, and cannot be attributed to a fault of your instructor.  (My opinion.)

And, if you forgot to bring reference photos of something that you wish to paint is your fault, and not your instructor’s.

wfmartin. My Blog "Creative Realism"...
https://williamfmartin.blogspot.com

[sunshineartist]

Thank you all for the advice. Sorry it took me so long to reply. There was Thanksgiving, my birthday, and my art classes, I have been very busy. I had a delicious chocolate cheesecake for my birthday, my mom got me some new clothes.

Anyway, you are right about watercolor taking a lot of practice. My teacher is a good instructor it is just that he is not the kind of art teacher I am used to having.  I am used to classes where you bring in your own project, a picture you want to draw/paint, and you copy that picture, usually a photo graph, it is hard to copy another artist’ work and there are strict copy right laws.

 

Right now I am painting cardinal birds in my watercolor class. I hope my art teacher can help me because I need to make the cardinal a bright shade of red, his color is too dull right now. I ordered some nice watercolor paints from an online catalog. They are small, but the right brand, just what I need.

 

I am almost through with my acrylic lanscape in my other ar lass. I have to put in some slender trees, and I’ll be done.

For God so love the world he gave His one and only son that whoever believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.

[Keith2]

It’s worth  copying the style of other artists. I’ve attended two separate art classes where we chose work by other artists and copied them. I copied a painting of trees painted in the Fauve style. It turned out better than I thought. I framed it and it’s still hanging on the wall.

You only need to worry about copyright if you sell your copy, or enter it in a painting competition.

[sunshineartist]

I copied a Thomas Kinkade picture, it was a landscape from one of his old calendars. I did it in acrylics on canvas. I don’t plan on putting it anywhere accept in my house.  I painted it to be a Christmas  present for my parents. I would like to paint flowers in watercolor, then work on landscapes, starting with trees. I am better at painting trees in acrylic. I’m trying to improve my tree-drawing, painting skills.

For God so love the world he gave His one and only son that whoever believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.

[Yorky Administrator Ormskirk]

I am just re-reading a book by Gordon MacKensie “The Watercolorista Essential Notebook – Landscapes” It is a wonderful tutorial on watercolour techniques, painting trees etc. I strongly recommend it if you can find it, I find it is available on Amazon.

Doug

We must leave our mark on this world

[sunshineartist]

I would like to paint something in watercolors, I need to look for my paper and paints that are good quality. I like to continue with trees and landscapes, and up close flowers. I’d like to draw some Easter angels and spring fairies. I want to draw something for St. patrick’s Day, and of course for Valentine’s Day. I need to hurry up with my Valentine’s Day art, I drew a pink rose. I’d like to draw roses in colored pencil and paint them in watercolor.  I want to draw some green forest scenes, green fairies, leprechauns, green Irish angels, for St. Patrick’s Day. My mom has a birthday coming up, I want to draw/paint something beautiful and sweet for her.

I am taking art classes with the teacher I’m used to.

For God so love the world he gave His one and only son that whoever believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.

[Yorky Administrator Ormskirk]

Check out the Watercolor Challenge Reference Photos in the Watercolor Studio for ideas/

Doug

We must leave our mark on this world

[christinsim]

Using different art materials and experimenting with new techniques can definitely be challenging, but it’s also an opportunity for growth and exploration. Don’t be afraid to step out of your comfort zone and try new things – that’s how you’ll continue to improve as an artist. There is also no shame in getting help from https://domypaper.com/ if you need to describe something and you have no clue how to o that correct. I’ve done that many times in the past.

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