2013 December another year end.

 

 

       An old Hacienda outside of San Miguel 8" x 10" oil- I'm not sure I have completely finished this yet.

A little tweak more!

                          

My newest student. Juliana at 5 yrs old painting in acrylics -a cat in a flower pot. 
Just goes to show you're never too young or too old to paint. 
Dec 23rd tomorrow - we'll be going back to the hacienda in the morning meeting there at 9:00am Dress warmly if you're going.Take a hot thermos too.! -maybe a hot toddy for this time of year. Happy painting and hope everyone has their Christmas stockings full of paints and brushes! Donna

Dec 16 2013 plein air on Monday

We'll be painting in the Jardin on Monday afternoon. Time 2:30.  Meet up near the bandstand or there abouts. Should be warm and sunny. Don't forget your camera for reference photos.

Fisherman's Beach oil 9 x 12" Tom Dickson

This painting by Tom is from our recent quick trip to Zihuatanejo. We managed to do 2 plein air morning scenes, over the 4 days we were there. Definitely had to work in the mornings as the days were very hot. Just what we were looking for! The fisherman enjoyed us painting their boats and gear, and wanted to make sure we had the right names on the boats. I'll post mine when I get one finished. Lots of interesting venues for painting there. Monday should be fun to see what we'll come up with in an area we have painted a lot. We'll see. Happy painting. Hope Santa brings everyone lots of art supplies.

A new watercolor Dec 3 2013

"Finished Work for the Day" wc.  8. x 8.5, buy it now for $100.

  

These burros commonly haul big bags of soil or firewood from the campo all through the streets of San Miguel. They are really laden down in the morning but as you can see here just the sacks remain now from selling all day. I haven't done a lot of animals so it was a challenge to render the fur and look convincing. Hope you like it.


Next week classes will be switching times to the afternoon at 1pm to 4 pm as it is chilly these days in the mornings. No central heating when its cool very hard to get it warm in the studio. By afternoon the sun has warmed up everything so why struggle! So starting DEC. 11th we'll begin afternoon sessions.
We had no plein air this week as Tom and I have been fighting off sore throats and colds. Hopefully next week we'll be back on track.

Here's Tom and Luc painting last week in the Jardin .

Painting on Montes de Oca -Nov 2013

"Montes de Oca 12" x 9" Oil from plein air.

 Sold

I'm finally getting this one posted, but had a lot of fun with it. I'm working on a couple of other things too. This street is exciting to paint as there are so many choices of views. Tom sold his rendition of this scene, through the Daily Paintworks auction recently. I think I will sell this one through the gallery. So if anyone is interested they can contact me directly.
In other news we will be painting outdoors next Tues.  DEC 3rd -3pm  in the afternoon, instead of our usual Monday. morning. We will be going out to the country to an old hacienda just outside of San Miguel .We haven't painted out there for some time and the water level of the presa will make it entirely different then the last time. Anyone wanting to go, we are meeting at the old train station at 3pm. This is because the mornings have been chilly and foggy until the sun is well up. Let me know if you're going and we can car pool to the site. Hopefully we'll have a good sunny afternoon. You have to sum up the scene fairly quickly as the shadows will be changing getting longer and probably better. happy painting!

At Auction this week, Nopal Cactus at Dawn

"Nopales at Dawn" oil on panel 8"x 8"

This painting is currently on auction on the Daily Paintworks site. If you'd like to bid in this auction click  here

and ... This week our plein air Monday group will be meeting in the Jardin at 9:15. We'll be meeting approximately near the bandstand. Be sure to look around tho' when you get there and see where everyone is gathering. Bring your camera , sketchbooks, view finders and all. This is weather permitting of course. If it looks really overcast and  dull we probably won't be painting. If you have any questions email me : donnaleeartist@yahoo.ca
 here's a photo from on location last Monday-  calle Montes de Oca.

The street was pretty interesting in itself, but then a man with Burros came through with loads of soil and firewood for sale. Never a dull moment! I got some great photos of burros too. So I'll look for you in the Jardin on Monday morning.

Photos from last weeks plein air and new Plein air : Monday on Montes de Oca Nov 18

Here's the subject of last weeks regular plein air class. Monday was a lovely day to be out painting. We had Lorie and Bobbi painting in watercolors and Barbara doing her first plein air in oils. Fun morning. Lots of people to watch coming and going. Lorie, Tom and I chose this area.The vendors are selling hot Tamales.We had to work quickly as they packed up about an hour or so into it. The tamales are sort of light snack or breakfast item so they sell out quickly.

 Look at the great contrast between the orange, red and yellow church against the complementary dazzling blue sky! How could you resist,.. well Barb and Bobbi just had to try it. One thing to keep in mind when painting things like churches is the perspective. The top is getting further away from you- so is diminishing in perspective. Sort of like a rocket ship in shape.

Here's part of our plein air team I haven't signed my plein air yet so I'll add it later to this post.

 Okay this coming Monday we'll be painting on the picturesque street Calle Montes de Oca. This street is so beautiful looking up or looking down over the city. I walk it every day from my house to the gallery and return in the afternoon and have never seen it not look good. Today I was snapping photos walking up ( quite steep) and I encountered a woman coming down doing the same!
So we meet up on Montes de Oca between 9:15 to 9:30 near Garza....Nov.18th
-  translations for street names "Oca" means goose. so roughly Goose Mountain!  "Garza" means Egret.
 See Tom's blog "alotaboutlight" for his take on Mon.'s plein air and view his finished painting.  Donna in San Miguel.

Plein air Monday meet at 9:15am at the gallery

Corner of the Jardin watercolor 12 x 12 in. sold

           This is a quick watercolor sketch from last Mondays plein air. It was a perfect morning for painting. Tomorrow Monday we will be going to the Plaza Civica after meeting at the gallery first. We'll meet at 9:15 am . Make sure you bring your camera, warm clothes in layers as it will warm up as the day progresses. Donna