Jude Wiesenfeld

Botanical fever

2009-02-28T12:43:00.000-08:00

I am plugging away in the botanicals. Yellows are hard to shade and should be shaded with

a mix of light red and Ultramarine blue to create a "botanical grey". Two wonderful artist friends have given me beautiful books with excellent advise on this type of art. One book is titled "The Art of Botanical Painting" from the Smithsonian, the other "Botanical Illustration" by Siriol Sherlock. My shadows are almost always watery Ultramarine, watery lemon yellow or/and watery crimson alizarin.

Turning a new leaf, so to speak...

2009-01-19T11:40:00.000-08:00

I have decided to focus on teaching - starting a class Saturday mornings (I still have some room left) and I want to be a botanical artist! I've joined the Botanical Artists of Southern California and ordered a number of books to help me get started. So far, I'm just painting what I want (not following the rules yet) and here are a few examples.

Please come to the group exhibit at La Galeria Gitana - It starts January 31 and runs until March 28th. Check out my website for details.

This image on the left is underway...all of these plants are Nepenthes (tropical pitcher plants or monkey cups - monkeys have been seen drinking from them!) I am having so much fun.

Below is an orchid. I'm looking for it's proper name. It's not finished yet either.

La Galeria Gitana in San Fernando

2008-12-09T16:16:00.000-08:00

I hosted an artist's tea and sold 5 paintings. I served the tiny tea sandwiches my mother used to serve at her bridge club get togethers. It was very enjoyable and I hope to have another one in the new year.

I have 4 paintings requested for an exhibition at a new gallery in San Fernando called La Galeria Gitana. The exhibit is called Of Dreams and Memories, January 31- March 29, 2009. Please make plans to attend. The gallery is located at:

120 N. Maclay Ave.

Suite E (behind Stone Cold!)

San Fernando, CA. 91340

call: 818-898-7708

Their website is www.GaleriaGitana.com

Best wishes to everyone for a happy, healthy and wonderful Christmas & Hannukah

NWS in Riverside

2008-10-17T17:47:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow, bright and early, I'm off to the National Watercolor Show in Riverside with 4 of my artist friends. I have their catalogue, because I am an associate member, but the paintings are always so much more impressive "in the flesh". We always have fun picking our favorites and talking about the show over lunch together. I'll let you know what we think in my next blog. Also, my Golden Acrylic paints arrived and I had so much fun doing a color chart yesterday. The "interference" colors are amazing and change color, depending on what angle you view them from...like magic...

Southwest Art Magazine

2008-10-12T19:42:00.000-07:00

This month's Southwest Art magazine (October issue) has my portrait of "Kyra" in the VAG 60th Anniversary two page spread. My painting is one of 12 shown with website information. Kyra is my neice, Andrea's, little girl. Isn't she darling?

Amsterdam Whitney Gallery, NYC

2008-10-11T00:37:00.000-07:00

I received an e-mail the other day from the Amsterdam Whitney Gallery in NYC that opened "A Collector has recently brought your art to my attention, and I have been most impressed by your compelling and exciting artworks." They have asked for my bio and portfolio, so what the heck. I am putting it all together for them and we'll see what happens. I feel like I did when I was in my twenties and received a bouquet of flowers signed "a secret admirer". Who is this collector?

Also, on the gallery front, I've been asked to show three paintings at a brand new gallery opening "La Galeria Gitana" here in the San Fernando Valley. I am going to meet the curator and see the space this coming Wednesday. I'm excited, as this area is earmarked for development as an arts center, with a theatre down the street and other galleries opening up.

I plan to start up my Saturday children's class soon, so leave a comment and e-mail address for more information.

Why do I paint?

2008-10-01T10:54:00.001-07:00

I think I paint because I can't sing. It is something that I can do better than a lot of other things. Occasionally gives me great satisfaction. It is very difficult for me and not an easy/ breezy activity. The painting is an extension of something very personal and as a result demands courage to put forward to others as my creation. At a workshop I'm taking, this topic is being discussed and it gives me pause.

Analysis of art is such an interesting activity to me. Why does the artist grab your attention? That's what it's all about. Is it the contrasts, the colors, the composition, the thickness of the paint, the what? I can't wait to attend the NWS exhibition on Oct. 18th with four fellow artists...I'll be like a kid in a candy shop.

Golden Paints

2008-09-24T19:10:00.001-07:00

Tomorrow I teach, but Friday I will place my order for paints from Golden using the certificate I won. It's so much fun just picking out paints and not worrying about anything but what colors I want! I think I'll get some interference colors that look like two different colors depending on what angle you see and what other color they are painted on...I'll put some gold and pearl colors in too.

I picked up some tiny watercolor paper (the size of a business card) at the cash register at Continental Art. They are for painting tiny paintings and trading. I'll post one when I get one made. I'll send the tiny painting to the first person who leaves a comment and address on this blog.

VAG 60th Anniversary Exhibit

2008-09-22T13:51:00.000-07:00

This is me at the VAG 60th Anniversary Show beside the painting that won the Golden Artist Colors $100 award at VIVA Gallery. This is also the painting that I have been using on my business cards and address labels. Now I will be choosing what paints to spend my certificate on...what fun : )

I won, yipee...

2008-09-17T18:18:00.000-07:00

This painting just won the $100 Golden Artists Colors Merchandise Award at the VAG 60th Anniversary Exhibition. The reception is this Sunday, Oct. 21st from 2:00 - 4:00 pm at the VIVA Gallery. Please come, I'd love to see you and you will see wonderful art on display.

"Homage to J.K." is finished

2008-09-17T13:04:00.001-07:00

The painting is finished or as most artists will tell you...it has been abandoned. I am actually very happy with "Homage to J.K." and will enter it in the Score VII Southern California Open Regional Exhibition running from Oct. 29th to Nov. 16/08 at the VIVA Gallery.

I added a wash over the left side of the book shelf and darkened the books piled on the top shelf. The bottom of the painting was darkened a bit as well. I drew a line to follow through on the inside edge on the right. When I looked at it from a bit of a distance...I then decided to sign it.

Now what Will I paint next?

A Work in Progress Part 4

2008-09-15T15:05:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I'm NOT finished "Homage to J.K.". I will work on the upper left side for a bit more (it's too washed out, isn't it?). Here it is for you to decide and I'm adding a Black and White as well for extra help deciding.

BTW - I entered two paintings "Jennifer" and "Lilies Bright" (see my website) into the VAG 60th Anniversary Exhibit today and will hear soon whether they are both accepted, etc. Stay tuned...

Recent Finds

2008-09-13T19:48:00.000-07:00

Here's a dragon fly that I saw at my post office. Wish I could have taken a photo of him from above and seen his wings spread out fully.
I found this baby grasshopper in the shade tucked inside a rose at the back of the bush I planted. Isn't he cute? I may paint him.

I have finished my "Homage to J.K." and will photograph and post it tomorrow probably.

In the Shadows Part 3

2008-09-10T16:18:00.000-07:00

Here is what I did today. Is it starting to look more developed? I am adding Manganese Blue, Ultramarine Blue, Crimson Alizarin and some Lemon Yellow to the nooks and cranies. Each color is applied seperately and allowed to dry. Because I don't want to get too dark too soon, I keep examining the painting with a squinted eye to see the darks and lights, deciding if the balance is good by eliminating the mid range of values (that's what the squinting does). I also use red accetate for the same reason. When you look throught the red accetate, the red turns your image to a black to white range of values. This makes it easier to decide how dark to go. Taking a photo of your painting in Black and White achieves the same goal.

A Work in Progress Part 2

2008-09-10T11:20:00.001-07:00

Ok...I'm in the shadows. This is a short blog, because I'm painting today and teaching tomorrow. Today, see if you can spot what I've done since I put the last post up. Sort of a "Where's Waldo?"

See you later.

A Work in Progress

2008-09-07T11:31:00.000-07:00

This is "Homage to J.K." It is obviously a work in progress. Here you can see a painting without the darkest darks. When I have finished adding the dark and light shadows, the objects on this bookshelf should move forward and the perspective then will enhance the composition. You can't have the lights without the darks and you can't have the darks without the lights. In other words, don't be afraid of the dark (s). This is a common fear of beginners: not painting in the shadows using a dark enough value. Watercolor paints dry lighter than they appear when you put them on paper, so if you end up too light in the shadows...just add more paint. Cover these areas with washes (I usually use the colors that make up black) until you see the highlighted areas (lightest areas) pop. By "pop" I mean become parts of the painting that the eye goes to first i.e. focal points. More about that in a later blog. I will post the finished painting, hopefully by September 22, when I enter it in the Score VII Southern California Open Regional Exhibition. Keep your fingers crossed, please.

Recent work from Photos

2008-09-06T13:01:00.000-07:00

This is what I've been up to for the last few weeks. We found a tortoise behind our garbage cans in late April shortly after our dog, Zena, died. I posted a neighborhood sign and he was picked up by a family that said he'd been missing for four months from their home more than 10 miles away from our house. Imagine what an adventure he'd been on.

Today I am posting a photo I took of our house guest and then the painting I did from the photo.

This second painting is a watercolor of a moth that I saw on our front entrance wall.

I gave the background some texture, by adding some darker areas in the shapes I saw on the stucco. After it dried, I added a thin wash of Ultramarine Blue to tone it down and allow the moth's colors to pop.

Please name these paintings for me...what title should I use? I will post the winner's choice.

ARTIST

2008-09-05T13:26:00.000-07:00

Today I've started blogging! Check out my website for available paintings and prints at www.judewiesenfeld.com.

Here you will see my paintings in progress, my art tips and whatever seems interesting to me...artwise.

Please leave me your comments and questions. Let's make this a blog that you find helpful and fun.

So many beginners in art think of it as incredibly relaxing. I can get lost in my painting, but getting "into" it is never easy. Drawing correctly is a top priority. The best way to approach a painting is to take time deciding what to paint (like a good marriage, you want to develop the painting carefully). Lots of small correct decisions will carry you forward with the "development" of the work. Be patient! Most paintings don't look like much until very near the end when the darks and lights and "tweeking" takes place. Anyone can learn. Half the success is in the interest you have in the activity itself.

Today I would like to recommend to you two art books:
"Keys to Drawing" by Bert Dodson (the best book on the subject that I have found in the twelve years that I have been teaching)

"Painting Wildlife in Watercolor" by Peggy Macnamara and Marlene Hill Donnelly (beautifully illustrated paintings and detailed information on the process of painting animals)

The three colors you can mix to make a rich black are:
Crimson Alizarin
Sap Green
Ultramarine Blue

I prefer to not use black out of the tube, as it can create a hole in your painting...not literally (of course), but the area covered with the black will seem to be lost, ugly, not a part of the painting. If the black you mix is for trees, you can mix it with a little more green. If the area is a dark shadow from a blue vase, it can lean towards the bluer side of the scale, etc. Here is a painting of mine with a lot of black in it that is rich with red/green and blue color.