I have noticed more and more over the last year or so that many people have difficulty getting the right tonal balance in their paintings (as opposed to in their drawings), which means that they are put off by the colour they see. So last week I gave my students a Tonal exercise, drawing first and then painting tulips using Sepia only. I did it myself too, and found it interesting... I don't use Sepia in my water colour palette, and I found that the colour, its permanency, seemed to be absorbed a bit into the paper as it dried, so that it wasn't as dark as I intended it to be. This is one of my studies, and in a moment I will paint a very dark background, to see what happens... (If its a disaster, I won't be posting it!)
I spent half the weekend making a big mess in my living room, in fact, almost Total Coverage with paper, plastic sleeves, lists, extra lists and tape everywhere (think of your teenage daughters bedroom, but multiplied..). I was snipping and trimming and chopping and arranging students portfolios for submission this week to NCAD, just the first round of submissions, with all the rest to follow over the next couple of months. As I took the over-stuffed portfolios off students and sent them off downtown shopping and chilling, I began to wonder what on EARTH I'd been thinking - hang on, I'm coming with you... But the reward of finding a calm out of the chaos is great, and everyone was relieved to receive their work back, neat and clean and Ready, at last. Well done everyone. And thanks, all the mums, for the big hugs - but I'm afraid I can't adopt your children just now, thanks for asking, (and I think 18 is too late to adopt - and A, don't even ask, you're older than I am!) but I'm a friend for life, don't worry.
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