About self paced study format and Denmark

The Postcard Challengers are working on Week 44.  

I just finished Week 31, Denmark. 

Which is the lesson for Week 17 in A Diary of Faces. The lesson is about painting hair.

A Diary of Faces Weeks 1 through 9 is available in a Self Paced Study format.

Notice I said "Self Paced".

That means,

I changed the format by adding comment walls and a gallery forum. 

It all came down to the fact that the classroom was just too quiet.

I really enjoy having a conversation with the students

and being able to see their art

and answering their questions

and seeing them interact with all the other students. 

So, if you like that too, I hope you will jump in. 

Nine weeks of class content is waiting 

for your self paced study. 

♥

PS.  I will be adding a classroom for weeks 10 through 18 soon too.

I didn't quit the challenge

Did you think I quit? No no, but there is little hope that I will ever catch up with the other challengers who are still playing with Darcy of art-and-sole.   You can view all of my cards in order here.

My imitation for this postcard is from the very famous poet from India, Rabindranath Tagore who took up painting very late in his life.  There was something about his style that appealed to me and my sweet sis-in-law suggested that this was my Halloween picture for this year. That never occurred to me but of course, she is right. 

It is Thursday, isn't it

Scroll down to see the WIP of this portrait. Of course it is a FAKE according to Professor Doctor Tad Keys.  I enjoyed painting this and tried very hard to just paint the bold strokes of color in the impressionist style.  I hope to do it again but with out looking at a reference from the past.  And I'm sure I will have time for that now that I am home all day and not at that dang-desk-in-town.

Speaking of retirement, it only took me one week to become discombobulated with what day of the week it is. I LOVE THAT!  DH told me he was going to till the garden tomorrow morning and in my confused state I ask him if he was going to do that before going to the office. He told me he wouldn't be going to the office on Saturday. I said, "it is Thursday, isn't it?" 
♥

Vanzie is innocentia

I enjoyed painting this one very much. I like the colors and texture in the background, face and well....what can I say? 

Le papillon is evidence of Norah'S presence.  

Vanzie is suspicious of the inclusion. 

She should be. 

The reference for this was a corp of Innocentia  by Lovis Cornith (1858-1925).

**********************

PS  In case you missed this news, I set up a Self Study group/classroom as a way to share A Diary of Faces. The nine weeks of content that is posted and waiting for you is a complete class. There will be no additional diary entries. For more information and to learn how to get a student discount click over to my Online Workshop page. 

A Pretty Face

Another week of the Postcard Challenge.  I have to tell you that I enjoyed painting this so much. I ventured out a little to a different technique from my usual and that was the fun part. I felt like a real artist.

This weeks reference is Fritz Kamptz (1866-1938).  He only spent a short while on the Isle of Man (week 27 prompt) during WW I when he interned as an "enemy alien". He returned to Germany after the war.

I may not retain all of the knowledge that I am gleaning with this project but I am enjoying every bit of it. 
♥
PS    Click on my Postcard Challenge 2012 tab to see all of the weeks in order from the beginning. 

More Time

I've made it to #26 (half way) in the Postcard Challenge. Of course most other participants are on week 33. But at least I'm still going. With more time, I really do think I can catch up.  

Oh! Did I say "more time"?  I am just on the verge of "more time!"  My exciting news is the fact that I am retiring before I die. Just as soon as I get some new-person training finished, I will be officially retired from that dang-desk-in-town. I might miss it.

No, I won't. 

I am looking forward to tackling that list of wheniretirestuff. Can't wait. 

In the meantime, Vanzie has discovered yet another piece of art. This time she is sure it is the original....with clues.

♥ 

Expect

 Running out of time this morning but expect to have more....much more really really soon!   

The Postcard took me to Italy

I steadily fall behind

Vanzie Speaks

A Clip from and about my Postcard Challenge Journal that became my Diary of Faces. A Spooky voice is revealed to be Vanzie S Smoot

I made it to Africa

 Well well, I feel like I'm making a little head-way. But still running 4 behind, I think.  This one is different. Don't you think? It may not be to your liking but it sure excited me. I guess it was all the colors. Go here for a reference of this piece.  And just as I suspected, the actual reference I used was not complete.  I just found the more complete painting when getting the link for this blog post.  Google was holding back on me!  But I felt pretty sure there was more to the painting.

That's OK, I still love Google. Do you realize how much I am learning and getting to discover with just a little search? I'm amazed every time I type in a search.

One thing that excited me about this painting was a little experiment, no wait, it was three experiments that I was recording while working on it.  I can't tell you what I did because it is in my new class but it was one of those things that gets you all jittery inside and hopping mentally and physically with inspiration to apply the lesson learned to other projects. 
The only thing that calmed me down was hearing from one of my "cheerleaders" who told me how excited she was about the new class and anxious for it to start.  But when she said, "I need direction, a daily teacher, fresh air..." I jumped. "A daily teacher"! That is exactly what I want to be with this class. There on your screen daily with little bits of art, inspiration, tips, experiments, and all that.  ♥

Bulgaria is done

I'm still working on postcards. I'm not all that crazy about this one but there were some really good lessons in it for A Diary of Faces.


Off to Africa now. I didn't have much luck with West Africa but found a wonderful artist from South Africa.  


I also want to say thank you to all my students taking advantage of the student discount on my new class.  If you didn't get your message, check your spam folder. 
♥

New Zealand postcard

I'm not even close to catching up. But that's OK cause I'm working on my new class as I work on my postcards. 

Did you ring?

I'm still here. But it seems I took a unexpected break.  There was just too much life going on and stuff stacking up inside.  I took a step away as I do and stitched and stitched and stitched until everything was all cleared out.  And the good thing is I made huge progress on "Tim's Cloth".  The other good thing is there was a holiday in there when my sweet family came for the whole 3 days and we played and worked and ate. All good.

It was mostly "ART" stuff stacking up.  It happens when there is so much inspiration that an internal fight/conflict about what to do and when gets in the way of actually doing anything. And then you (I) feel the passion start to slip and that is scary or rather confusing because then I wonder if it was such a good thing to do in the first place.  So, that's why I stitch. Stitch. Stitch....until I become bored with stitching and ready to go back to this side of me. 

Now working on my postcard for New Zealand. I'm studying the work of Charles Frederick Goldie. It is a study in perspective and I will tell you that I haven't mastered it yet on this one.  Perhaps, Professor Doctor Tad Keys will have something to say about that. 

♥

Postcard for Norway

Sad-Happy

I'm working on my postcard for Norway.

And simultaneously working on my new class, A Diary of Faces.

Chris Flynn, this is for you.

Your comment, "...a different expression every day...learn how to capture feelings and emotions or how to draw older people" is what inspired me to attempt this portrait of Barbra Ihlen Larssen by Norwegian artist Christian Krohg (1852-1925).

But what I wanted to share today is the WIP or stopping point yesterday when I needed to move to the chair zone for a break. 

I was struck with the sad face I had painted.

She was not sad in the reference photo.

She was not smiling big but had a little twinkle about her. 

So that was my mission in finishing. 

I tried to give that little twinkle back to her. 

Sad and Happy may not be the best description for this comparison; however, I think they each show a different feeling or emotion.

♥

Back to Smoot and Keys mode

The Professor Doctor's sympathy didn't set too well with Vanzie.


For the whole story from beginning to this point, click on my "Postcard Challenge 2012" tab.

Postcard WIP

I'm back to the postcard journal and this work in progress by me is from the work of Romanian artist Nicolae Grigorescu.


I can't catch up or keep up and so I have reconciled with just keeping whatever pace I can manage.  If I was faster, I probably wouldn't show my WIPs.
♥

This is what play looks like

I pretty much played all day yesterday with this page. Evidence here.
I thought painting a head/bust only instead of a whole story would be faster. Not so. I just zoned out and enjoyed every moment. 
I keep forgetting to give the reference art link.  The week was Singapore and after a Google research, I chose the self portrait of Georgette Chen.  Each page is painted by me using the reference.

cause I need to play too

Things are stacking up over here. 

Like
just stuff.
I feel the need for a list.
Like
the sheets must be washed this weekend
and the clothes too
the desk needs to be uncluttered
and the work table too
the carpet needs to be blessed
and the others floors too
the fridge needs to be purged 
and my closet too
art supplies need to be organized
and my shoes too
and then,
the gardens;
however,
I shall put Singapore first on the list
cause I need to play too
♥