Color Blending Workshop

 

Dramatic Color Blending workshop -- Day Two

Despite abnormally high temperatures in our area this past weekend, sixteen intrepid artists worked to complete a dramatic floral painting using "un-poured" color blending techniques.  By masking and then dabbing color in loosely with large brushes, we achieved the look of a poured painting without the messiness of splashed paint.  Color was subsequently reinforced or modified and details were added in with a variety of brushes.

My finished demo painting

Finished paintings posted for critique

Seeing all the paintings at the end of the weekend was quite a treat!! Although not everyone was able to stay to the finish on Sunday, we had 13 fabulous completed paintings to share!!  (If you'd like to see each of the paintings individually, Guy has posted additional pix on his blog.)

Huge thanks to Guy Magallanes for hosting my workshop.  Guy is the most accommodating and upbeat person -- it's always a pleasure to spend time with him and teach at his studio.

Mugs, mugs, and more mugs!!

There's a sale going on in my Zazzle store this week -- 40% off on all mugs until Thursday night at 11:59 PDT.  This is a great opportunity to buy your favorite mug or give one to a friend!!  Use code LUCKY4CLOVER at checkout to get the discount.

(In addition to the mugs shown above, there are four more -- two feature vintage ceramic critters and two feature coffee beans on a background inspired by African mudcloth designs.)

Update on the Shanghai Biennial...

Morning Glorious

watercolor, 15" x 18"
Chris Beck

Responding to a request from one of my readers, I'm posting this quick note about events following the Shanghai Zhujiajiao International Watercolour Biennial Exhibition.  My painting has been included in a travelling show that appeared at the Child Welfare Institute Children's Palace Shanghai from January 19-27, 2013.  From there it goes to one of the most visited landmarks in Shanghai, the Oriental Pearl Tower Shanghai, where it will hang from February 7-17, 2013.  And because the exhibit coincides with the Chinese New Year holidays, they are expecting up to 30,000 visitors per day.  Pretty heady stuff!!

You can read a bit more about this at the Biennial Exhibition website.

Shanghai Zhujiajiao Exhibition...

Morning Glorious

watercolor, 15" x 18"

Chris Beck

I just heard that my painting "Morning Glorious" has been juried into the Shanghai Zhujiajiao International Watercolour Biennial Exhibition.  The reception will be sometime in the latter part of November, date still to be finalized.  There have been several delays in the schedule this year and I'd given up all thought of going, but with enough time to make travel plans, it might be feasible.  Better start mining the couch for spare change!!

Catching up...

Morning Glorious

watercolor 15" x 18"

Chris Beck

I've been out of touch for a while, so have a bunch of things to share.  I'll start with today and work back.   I just received notice that my painting "Morning Glorious" made it through Round 1 of the Shanghai Zhujiajiao International Watercolor Biennial jurying. For anyone unfamiliar with this exhibition, it held its inaugural exhibition in 2010 and is the largest exhibition of watercolor in the world -- approximately 250 paintings will be displayed for a month in the Quanhua Watercolor Gallery. There were over 4000 international entries and only 127 paintings advanced to Round 2.  (There are another 5000+ Chinese entries, but jurying for the two sets of entries is done separately.)  The second round of jurying will take place in Shanghai from the actual paintings, so my next task is to unframe the painting and figure out how to mail it to Shanghai.  (If any of my readers has a suggestion for packaging a painting for mailing, I'd appreciate hearing from you.)

Heirlooms

watercolor, 10" x 10"

Chris Beck

The next bit of news is that I will be featured in The Artist's Magazine, September 2012 issue.  The article features a selection of my paintings of vintage salt shakers and ceramics and includes a sidebar on the techniques used to paint one of these fun little critters. There will also be an expanded online "demo" which will be more detailed than the sidebar in the article.  I'll post a link when I have more info on that.  The magazine should be on the newstands in the next couple of weeks.

Waiting in the Wings

watercolor, 12" x 12"

Chris Beck

To top off the past week's news, I was thrilled to be juried into the National Watercolor Society show for a second year in a row; the Fezmatics will be heading south in a couple of weeks. The show runs from September 29 to December 2 at the NWS Gallery, 915 South Pacific Ave., San Pedro, CA. And this year, I'm happy not to be faced with the stress of sending three additional paintings for signature jurying -- been there, done that!!

Yes, Virginia, these are REAL postage stamps!!

Custom postage stamps make a great gift -- fun *and* useful!! I've just posted six new stamps to my Zazzle store!! -- all images are from my original watercolors or acrylic paintings.

If you order today, you can take advantage of Zazzle's 15% off sale by entering code DECDELIGHT11 in the box in your shopping cart. Stamps ordered today will arrive by Christmas!

Clearing away a few cobwebs...

It's been a while since I've posted any personal blog news, so I guess I need to do a bit of housekeeping here!! Let's work backwards in time.

I learned last week that my painting "Snail Mail" will be featured on the cover of the upcoming Best of America, Watermedia II book published by Kennedy Publishing. I owe a big thank-you to my buddy Pablo Villicana Lara, who pushed me to enter this competition. In a totally marvelous turn of events, he will be featured on the cover of the second book in this set (it's divided alphabetically). You can learn more about the Best of America series here.

Hollyhocks, 29" x 12"

Back in February, my painting "Hollyhocks" was accepted into the Missouri Watercolor Society's annual national show, which qualified me for signature status in that organization. MoWS also sponsors online shows for members and publishes an informative quarterly journal online.

Dippy Duck - the Sequel, 8" x 8"

I also returned to teaching in February, conducting my first workshop for a group in Capitola, CA. At their request, we spent our day together painting this little ceramic duck. Thanks to all the gals who made this a very enjoyable day for me -- in addition to being wonderful painters, you could open your own restaurant. Thanks for the great lunch!!


And last, but not least, Paul Kasmir bestowed a Sunshine Award on my blog. After discontinuing his previous blog featuring whimsical art, Paul has reappeared and is showing his new abstract works. Please go to his blog and have a look around -- he's got some wonderful new paintings and also a bunch of links to other sections of his site. Rather than passing the award along to just 12 others, I'm going to ask you to pick any of the excellent blogs on my sidebar and pay them a visit.

That's it for tonight. I'll be back soon for the long-promised followup on the masking tutorial.

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Featured artist...

Chilean Jasmine
watercolor, 10" x 14"
Chris Beck

I'm the featured artist this month for the Grupo de Acuarelistas Hispanoamericanos on Facebook. Please pop in for a visit if you're on Facebook. The group was formed in Caracas, Venezuela in 2003 by Consuelo Moros for the purpose of sharing all things related to watercolor. I'm grateful to her for the invitation, first to join the group and now to be the featured artist.

Chilean Jasmine (Mandevilla laxa) is a vine that, although not native to my area, will grow in sheltered garden conditions here. It has incredibly fragrant flowers -- a cross between gardenias and Easter lilies is the best description I can provide. I painted this some time ago, but the piece sold immediately and has had no public visibility. I'm so glad to be able to share it with everyone now.

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