Sentinel

Needing a break from oil painting I decided to take my ballerinas into the realm of watercolor and drawing. I can defiantly complete the piece much faster but I'm not sure that it ended as fulfilling. I have one more of these drawings/watercolor pieces that I'm going to finish and then I think I will go back to oil painting.

Sketch of the Week

As promised, a new sketch. These little drawings are so fun to do. I don't know why I didn't get on board with doing them sooner. This one was inspired by a friend of mine. So enjoy!

What a lovely day!

 Me Painting

Me again!

                                             My Finished Painting

 My Dad (Melvin E. Tays)

 My Dad's final paintings

Our work in the Art Show and Competition at the end of the day.

What a great day! The Plein Air event in Glendale was an awesome success. It was cold and windy, and neither of us won the art contest afterwards, but we had a great time! We got there at around nine-thirty, got registered and then walked around the historic section of Glendale for about a half hour to scout out our spots before getting set up. We found a neat looking church and an awesome tree that we used for our subjects. I think we were out there for about 7 hours painting, and it was chilly out. At one point I had to leave my painting to find a vendor with a stove who would let me stand over it and thaw my hands out. Between the cold and wind, and the realization that I'm not a plein air painter (although with some more practice I think I could do very well at it), i almost gave up on my painting half way through as I thought it horrible and wanted to start over. I buckled down though, and finished feeling that it didn't come out awesome but came out pretty good. The whole experience was a ton of fun and it was really nice to get to hang out and go paint with my dad. I'm also going to have to get out and do some more plein air painting so that when the event comes around next year, I will be ready.

Glendale Plein Air Event

Me and my dad are going to be at the Glendale Plein Air Painting event this Saturday the 9th. I am super excited about this. Not only because its the first time I've been able to participate in one of these events but also because I get to hang out with my dad all day!

I also included information about it below for anyone who may be interested in participating or just coming to check it out. The Plein Air event is happening in conjunction with the Glendale Chocolate Affaire. Definitely worth coming for!

2013 Glendale Plein Air Painting Event in Beautiful and Historic Downtown Glendale, AZ
Saturday, February 9, 2013 | 8 a.m. - 5:30 p.m.
Promenade on Palmaire in downtown Glendale
The event is open to any artist (18 years of age & older) who paints using the Plein Air technique in oil, watercolor, acrylic, or pastel. Plein Air (open air) paintings are executed outdoors. The public is invited to watch the artists paint all day in downtown Glendale during the Chocolate Affaire. At 4 p.m. gather around at the Promenade on Palmaire as artists display their works for judging! This event is presented by the City of Glendale’s Public Art Program in conjunction with Special Events and the Annual Glendale Chocolate Affaire, which takes place from Feb. 8-10, 2013. For Plein Air 2013 Event rules and requirements please click here. For more information, please email Mvahabzadeh@glendaleaz.com or call 623-930-3557.

Time for more sketches

       As I said before, a sketch book should have sketches in it. And since this is my digital sketch book, I need to upload my sketches. To help me with this endeavour, I have decided to draw and upload at least one sketch a week. Hopefully this will help keep things fresh and new and help to keep new ideas circulating. I am the worst at keeping a sketch book and as an artist it really is a pretty important thing.

Of Shadows and Puppets

My adventures through the land of photography took me to the school were I work. Every Friday I teach the elementary students art and our project this month has taken us into the realm of shadow puppets. We began our adventure by learning how to make shadow puppets with our hands. Some students as you can see did quite well. The students had so much fun with this that if you yourself are an art teacher, I definitely recommend this activity. The students are currently in the process of creating shadow puppets cut from black paper. They then are going to perform a puppet show for their class mates. I will later post a video of the best performance.