An Art Lesson on How to Paint

Acrylic on Canvas

I've been giving art lessons to a lady who wants to learn how to paint "abstracts with feeling" in 3 or 4 lessons. A tall challenge for the amount of time. It's taken me 10 plus years to figure out I really love to paint the human body abstractly...and I'm still learning.

Her Experiment With Texture

The first couple of meetings we explored the elements of art like line, form, color, repetition, balance, movement, proportions, etc. For the third class (today) she decided she'd like to paint a female form instead of what she originally thought. We used a picture and the grid system to lay the proportions correctly on the canvas. She only had enough time to put the wash (a watery application of paint) on the canvas. This is such a hard but good lesson for beginning painters. I've found that beginners think the first brush marks are the last. Most people don't realize how much working and re-working goes into creating.

She has done a really awesome job...especially for her first painting. I'll post her progress after she gets done working next time.

Abstract painting and technical painting are worlds apart. I won't get off on this tangent now. It's a separate topic for a future post.

Inspired Art: I Wish

Acrylic on Canvas with Pencil Drawing and Gold Leaf, 24 x 24"

I created this painting as a donation for America Scores of Denver. Artists were asked to create unique pieces inspired by Denver Public School students' poetry. I chose the following poem:


I Wish Poem
I wish my mom didn’t leave me because I miss her.
I wish I could get my mom and dad back together.
I wish I can learn about my mom so that when I see her I know it is her.
I wish I can get all my sadness and drop it in the ocean.
I wish that my mom cared and loved me.
I wish I can know, see and love my mom, but I am not sure what to say.
I love her or I don’t?

Christian F. Age 10,
Newlon Elementary


I was inspired by Christian's courageous use of poetry to express his feelings. In essence it's what I try to do every time my paintbrush touches canvas. My vision was a abstract expressionism painting to convey the poems words. It's hard to imagine any image illustrating the broken heart of this child.

I started by embodying the emotional words, using red, blue, and yellow to suggest heartache, a ocean, and wishing upon a star. I felt like a fraud painting someone else's emotion. It just didn't feel right. To me, it needed the main character, mom. It doesn't sound like he knows what his mom looks like, so I drew a generic female face. It gives the painting a focal point and represents the main character.

Painting is always a process.

Here are the event details:

For more info: http://inspiredartdenver.wordpress.com/

65 Roses: Cystic Fibrosis Benefit

Acrylic on Canvas, 4 x 4", Angela Canada Hopkins

The 65 Roses fundraiser is hosted by Independence Gallery with Billie Colson at the helm. Billie and other artists have donated their original art. All the pieces have a rose theme (although my painting took a departure with a flower motif). Each art work starts at $27 and 100% of the proceeds benefit Cystic Fibrosis research. I stopped in yesterday and a few have already sold!

A reception for the fundraiser will be held this Friday, the 11th, from 6 to 9 p.m. at Independence Gallery, 440 N. Lincoln Ave, in Loveland.

Photos of the roses can be seen on Billie Colson's Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/#!/album.php?aid=90350&id=1612664794. For more information, see the article in the paper: http://www.reporterherald.com/news_story.asp?ID=31006

Detail

New Painting: Cancer Cell No. 19

Cancer Cell No. 19, Acrylic on Canvas with Crochet Circles and String, 10 x 10 inches

I've always like the idea and look of combining sewing with paint. Since canvas is material it seems like a perfect marriage. This painting is an attempt at combining both mediums. Thoughts, opinions, and critiques are always welcome. Leave your comments below...

New Painting I Whipped Up

Lighthouse, Holland MI

Acrylic on Canvas

Don't think I've changed my painting style. I created this the other day for a specific exhibit. It wasn't something I wanted to do so I dragged my feet on completing it. So much so that I painted it the day it was due and turned it in by 4:59 PM (a minute before the doors were locked). I'm such a procrastinator! But, none the less, it is a new painting so I'm documenting it.

Not So New Painting

This is a painting that I've been working on for the last 6 years.  It's been hanging around my studio half done.  From time to time I'd add a few more dots of paint.  I finally got around to finishing it because Fine Print Imaging (a company that photographs and makes reproductions of art) was offering a limited time special.  This special got me motivated to FINALLY finish it.

I'd like to pass the savings on to my readers.  So stay posted for updates, in about a month or so, I hope to announce all the prints I'll have available for you to buy.

DMNS Interview with ACH

Thanks to curator Nicole at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science who came and video tapped my work.  Hopefully, in the future, I'll be able to work more closely with the museum to help further the relationship between science and art. 


Click here to watch video

New Painting

Cancer Cell #11, Acrylic on Canvas with Tissue Paper and Oil Pastels.