My First Class in Florida!!!

I had a great time teaching my first class at the Von Liebig Art Center on Saturday! Thank you to my students!! You did an awesome job on your paintings!!! This photo is Cheryl and she has NEVER touched a paint brush in her life!! I just had to show off her work. Happy Painting everyone!!

The Von Liebig Art Center

I just had to post a photo of the Von Liebig Art Center here in Naples, Florida. I'll be teaching some classes here in the coming weeks. Everyone here has been so supportive and encouraging and I can't tell you how excited I am to be a part of this incredibly talented staff. The front of the building is beautiful, I had to post a photo of it (notice the palms and blue skies!!! Sorry all you folks in Kentucky weathering the snow & cold!!!). The studio they're allowing me to use is upstairs and the facility itself is in the heart of downtown Naples. Classes will be beginning soon and I'm scheduled to do a demo on Family day there in February. Excited can't begin to describe it!!!

Just a note to all of you awesome students in the Northern Kentucky area...thanks so much for your kind words and input about my new website. I miss you all and can't wait to start classes up again in April. Happy painting!!!

I have just launched my Webpage....

That's right! You can go to http://www.happytreesstudio.com/ to check out my new web page. Now, this is what I call "version 1.0". In other words, it's my first one, so it's pretty basic. I'm not even sure what I want my web page to be like at this point, so I'm sure changes will come in the future. Be sure to stop by and check it out!

A note about taking care of your brushes. Here we go...are you listening....TAKE CARE OF YOUR BRUSHES!! Ha! I have hundreds of brushes, mostly because I provide them for my classes. These brushes have lasted me a long time and still have a lot of life in them even though they get worked and worked. If you're using the Bob Ross Brushes, don't use the brush cleaner & conditioner on any of the larger ones. Only use it for the the fan/filbert/script liner. For my 1" & 2" landscape/blender brushes, I clean them by using thinner only. Same with the oval and round brushes. I also recommend storing them flat. Even when you wipe the thinner out of them, if you store them upright, small amounts of that thinner can run down into the metal part. Email me if you have any other questions about taking care of your brushes. It's worth a little extra work but your brushes will last and last.

Easy Seascapes...

This painting is a practice painting of an easy seascape. Now I know I tend to post some of the more complicated paintings here on the blog (and also teach them in my classes sometimes), but you really need to get the basic transparent wave down by doing these less complicated seascapes. Am I saying it takes practice? Oh yes!!! Now that doesn't mean that you can't paint something worth hanging on your wall while working on your technique. But don't be a "one hit wonder"! The idea is that YOU are in control of your brushes. That you can consistently produce the transparent wave whenever you want, wherever you want on the canvas, and facing it on any side, color etc. You're doing this because you love it right?! So paint, paint, paint!!! Once you're comfortable with this, you can move on to work on the more complicated stuff. Happy Painting!!!

Sketch to be a better artist....

That's right. Sketch. Many of us hate to, but the fact is good drawing is the foundation for good paintings. Now, I realize, that my painting classes are for anyone with any skills. No drawing necessary. However, for those of you who want to take it to the next level, try some sketching. These little sketches are from a moleskin notebook that I keep with me for notes/painting ideas etc. The sketches are from a library book about drawing birds. I just sat down and did some quickie (5 or 6 minute) sketches from the book. I find using a book to get started makes it easier to transition to drawing from life. Happy Painting (Or Sketching!!!)

Latest Seascape...

I'm so excited! I've already got students for my first class here in Florida and they haven't even seen the painting I'm doing yet!!! Wehoo!!!

Here's a seascape I finished yesterday. All of you who've taken my seascape class...you know how to do most of this!!! This is the larger format, 16 x 20 inch size. This may be an upcoming class for 2011. Remember seascapes are all about the angles. Happy painting!

Greetings from the Sunshine State!!!

80 degrees yesterday, nearly 80 today. I took a few days off painting and got settled in. (Translation...I hung out in the sun!!). Today was my first day to paint. This is one of the Bob Ross Paintings I worked on and thought I would share it. It's my first attempt at this particular painting and is only a section of it. Those of you in Kentucky may see this as one of my classes this year. I've got a ton of reference material and plan on working on some new paintings for the coming year before my own classes start back up this semester. Happy Painting!!!