Preparations are underway for the Saugerties Artists Studio Tour that takes place this coming Saturday and Sunday – August 9th and 10th.
You’re invited – I’d love to see you and have a chance to talk, and you’ll be able to see demos of how I create artworks in both Urban Sketching and Photorealism – that’s new this year.
One of the things I love to do is introduce new ideas. Last year I was on the Tour with Urban Sketching. That’s sketching on location – indoors or outdoors with any types of materials you want to use. There’s a worldwide organization – Urban Sketchers.org – and you can join a chapter and sketch with others on group sketches, take workshops, and learn from other Urban Sketchers.
This year I’ve started learning and doing something new to me – Photorealism. That is, painting a still life, foods, pets, reflections and more in a way that looks absolutely real – like you can reach out and touch them.
It’s very detailed, precision work that takes time, and I love it.
I’m in courses to learn how to make objects look 3-dimensional and real. My instructor is Amy Schulke of Vanilla Arts. I highly recommend her online classes. She’s a professional technical illustrator herself, and is an excellent teacher. Every lesson has a point and skills that you’ll learn and use in all the other work you do in the future.
The cherries in the image above show the stages of painting photorealistic cherries. Step 1 is underpainting with a specific dark color to show shadows and give them form so they don’t look flat. Step 2 is adding a layer of colors – like the green leaves. Step 3 is adding colored pencil to show shadows, highlights, and fine-tune the colors.
The work I do is in colored pencil and ink on paper that’s made for this type of work. What I love about it is the precision and details. (Interesting that it’s very detailed, and Urban Sketching is quick. I apparently like to do both.)
Come visit the Saugerties Artists Studio Tour if you’re in the Hudson Valley area of New York.
