Masters Study – Vincent Van Gogh

“Can anything be sadder than work unfinished? Yes, work never begun.”
– Christina Rossetti



Masters Study – Vincent Van Gogh

2.5″ x 3.5″  ATC – Gouache on Art Spectrum Colourfix

When I first started painting, again after a 30 year absence,  I joined an ATC exchange on WetCanvas where we studied the Masters.  I learned so much in this swap, because I have no formal art training.  I understood why they were the Masters while I was studying their paintings.   I did these in early 2008.  Since I haven’t been able to paint much in the last few days, I thought I would share some of these ATCs.  The original Van Gogh painting is here.

I had a great lesson with my new flight instructor yesterday.  I have renewed hopes for actually getting my private pilot’s license.  YAY!

About Christina Rossetti

Christina Rossetti, the Victorian era English poet, is known for the melancholy themes in such poems as “Goblin Market” and “When I Am Dead.” She was born in 1830 in London to Italian-born parents. Her father was poet Gabriele Rossetti and her brother was the painter/poet Dante Gabriel Rossetti. She rejected two marriage proposals because, although she loved both men, neither shared her religious devotion. According to her brother, she wrote effortlessly and rapidly. She died in 1894.

Pony in Winter Coat

“My father used to say to me, ‘Whenever you get into a jam, whenever you get into a crisis or an emergency…become the calmest person in the room and you’ll be able to figure your way out of it.’”
– Rudolph Giuliani

That is such good advice!  My CFI tells me the same thing about piloting a plane.  Be calm and you’ll have a much clearer head to handle whatever comes your way.

 
Pony in Winter Coat
2.5″ x 3.5″ Watercolor ATC

This was fun to do, using some of my favorite watercolors.  There’s something satisfying about painting with Quinacridone Sienna.  It goes with anything and it’s so  yummy.  I paint with it really thin and transparent to thickly rich.  I blend it with reds and yellows and greens.  I just love it!  In the background, my staple color Purpurite Genuine, some lavender and some Blue Stone.   Of course, there are some accents with Apricot Gouache, which is kinda flesh colored.
I am going up for my third flying lesson tonight, then it looks like stormy weather moving in, to ground me for the rest of the week.   


Yesterday, I received the following blogging awards from Jingle.    I am thankful and honored and will pass them on.

About Rudolph Giuliani

Rudolph Giuliani, the controversial former mayor of New York City, took the national spotlight after the events of September 11th, when he stood strong, pulling the city together, which garnered him the Person of the Year accolade from Time magazine. He was born in Brooklyn in 1944. As mayor, he presided over a massive urban redevelopment and implemented the “broken windows” policy, which cracks down on small crimes to deter larger ones. After his term as mayor ended, Giuliani founded an investment and consulting company. He remains heavily involved in American politics and ran for president in 2008.

Strawberries and First Flight Lesson

“There are two ways of exerting one’s strength: one is pushing down, the other is pulling up.”
– Booker T. Washington

 
Strawberries
4″ x 4″ Watercolor

This was fun to do.  I painted the little seeds with yellow acrylic, before I painted the watercolor.  I just am not any good with masking fluid.  It’s too gummy.   I used a wax resist one time and didn’t do much better with it.  I like the control I have with acrylic and an itty bitty brush. 


What an experience I had last night! I definitely need to journal about this experience. If I could draw my first lesson, I’d draw a giant, complicated instrument panel and a 2″ female student pilot. I haven’t been in a plane since my intro flight on Dec. 9 and it was amazing how much stuff they pack in to that Cessna 172 that I am supposed to remember.   I aced my FAA written test, but I felt like my brain had gone blank when I looked at all of those dials, gauges, knobs and switches.

But beyond the sense of being overwhelmed by the cockpit instruments, the experience was so cool! My brain retained things about flight that made maneuvers and their corresponding reactions feel right, if that makes sense. I wasn’t even scared when my CFI stalled the plane, because I understood how to get out of it. Steep turns are a little spooky and I taxi like a drunk driver, but I’ll get the hang of those things. 


When I got back to my truck and started to leave the airport, I heard myself say, “I just flew an airplane.”  But nobody was there to hear me, so when I got to the WalMart checkout person, 30 minutes later and she said, “How are you?” I heard it again.  “I just flew an airplane.”

I just had to tell somebody!
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About Booker T. Washington

Booker T. Washington, the influential American educator, was the first African-American to be invited to the White House; he also had tea with Queen Victoria. He was born in slavery in Virginia in 1856. After emancipation, he worked in the salt mines. When he learned of a school that would accept former slaves, he walked much of the 400 miles to get there. He became an outspoken advocate of education and hard work for African-Americans and founded Tuskegee University. He died in 1915.