Monthly Challenge

OCTOBER 2022 - CHALLENGE

Do you have designated studio space? Have you creatively claimed an area in or around your home just for making art? Share a few photos! As always - if the challenge doesn't fit into your creative schedule, consider sharing what's on your easel! Deadline: October 13 by 5pm.

JUNE 2022 - CHALLENGE

'Tis the season for gardens, blooms, and all things floral! Share one or two images of your challenge candidates by using the above submission form. As always - if the challenge doesn't fit into your creative schedule, consider sharing what's on your easel! Deadline: June 16 by 5pm.

Something Wild!

A Garden Scene

Still Life Arrangements?

MAY 2022 - CHALLENGE

UPON REFLECTION...

Choose a scene that includes a reflection - think water, ice, glass, mirror, etc.
Tips for landscapes (Artist Network):

Whatever is dark on dry land will be lighter in the water.
Whatever is light on dry land will be darker in the water.
Colors become less saturated in water reflections. Even white will need to be grayed down in the water.
Details are left out. Only the basic smudges of color are needed.
Avoid all hard edges in water reflections.
Because water is denser than air, it will absorb light. Therefore do not repeat the same value of the sky in the water reflections. Water will almost always be darker than the sky it is mirroring.

www.artistsnetwork.com/art-subjects/landscapes/secrets-to-painting-water-reflections/

Of course, there are other reflections that could make great subjects, is it self-portrait time, maybe set up a still life?

Show us what you've got!! Experiment! Send 1-2 images for the May Challenge to Pam Lund at pmh4920@gmail.com
Deadline: May 19 at 5:00 pm

As always - if the challenge doesn't fit into your creative schedule, consider sharing what's on your easel!

No wind affecting reflection

Gentle ripples indicating some wind

APRIL 2022 - CHALLENGE

Try iridescent, interference, or pearlescent paint or mediums.

Iridescence is most pronounced when painted on a dark background. Black watercolor paper is available (check at Spokane Art Supply), or paint your own dark background. Paint is expensive, so investing in a palette of iridescents may not be within your budget - maybe try a silver or gold to use as accents. Winsor and Newton's Iridescent Medium can be used to mix with your current tube paints, or as a glaze on top of dried watercolor passages - much more economical and with wider application potential than individual paints.

Look for FineTec and Coliro (Blick and Amazon if not found locally) for mica-based pan paints as an extra set of palette options. Many 6-pan options available.

Look for WN and other Iridescent mediums to work with the paints you already own - either mixing into puddles of paint, or glazed atop dried paint passages.

Look for PearlEx or other mica powders to sprinkle atop wet paint - comes in quite a few metallic colors.

TIPS:

DO NOT GET THIS STUFF INTO YOUR REGULAR PALETTE... LIKE GLITTER, IT NEVER GOES AWAY! Use a separate mixing area and carefully wash brushes between dipping.
Works best atop a dark color. Mixing a medium into dark paint will not result in as dramatic a look as glazing the medium atop a dried dark passage.
Use as an accent on regular painting, or try "all iridescence all the time" on a black substrate - mixed media, watercolor, or other black paper that accepts wet media!

Experiment! Send 1-2 images for the April Challenge to Pam Lund at pmh4920@gmail.com
Deadline: April 14 at 5:00 pm
As always - if the challenge doesn't fit into your creative schedule, consider sharing what's on your easel!

MARCH 2022 - CHALLENGE

Try your hand at a monochromatic painting. This technique (with paint or graphite) is often used to develop thumb-nail sketches prior to committing to painting a larger piece. Great practice!

Choose one tube/pan of paint. The darker the paint, the wider range of values you will have to work with - the intensity of darks gives way to pale tones with dilution.
It's all about value and tonal contrast!
OR
Were you inspired to bring words into your art by Linda Schneider at the February meeting? Show us!
OR
Always feel free to share what's on your easel.

Submit clear jpegs of your images by THURSDAY, March 17 to Pam Lund. We hope you plan to attend the March 19 meeting and tell us a bit about your piece!

Painting by Giuliano Boscaini

FEBRUARY 2022 - CHALLENGE

Something new you have tried - could be content, technique, or medium - that you have successfully experimented with or learned in a workshop or demo in the last year. Does not have to be watercolor. Please send an image of the result, tool, or material if possible. Prepare to explain! Submit up to 2 images to Pam Lund at pmh4920@gmail.com Deadline February 18 at 5 pm

JANUARY 2022 - CHALLENGE

WHAT'S ON YOUR EASEL? Submit a clear snapshot of your project, well lit, and cropped. If you want to share a process series, please limit to max 3 process images plus 1 final image. Deadline JANUARY 13.
Email to gailjo51@gmail.com
PLEASE DO NOT SEND VIA TEXT - ONLY EMAIL!

Show off your work by taking a well-lit, unskewed photo, showing only the painting - not the easel or other background.
Use your smart phone - often the easiest is the best!
All members who submit a jpeg will be entered into a drawing.
Prize currently is a $15.00 gift certificate to the Spokane Art Supply.