Class Project - Family photos

This fall I took a drawing class at the community college where I teach.  It was fun to do the project, but I don't think I learned as much as I could have.  The teacher was very laissez faire.  There was one assignment, to create a series of drawings or paintings or whatever that follow a theme.  The theme I chose was optimism emerging from rural poverty.  I used family photos for the portraits and photos I had taken or found online for the landscape and object paintings. 

"Jane & John"  22 x 30 inches.  charcoal and watercolor on paper

 

"Old and worn" 15 x 22 inches. watercolor on paper

 

"John Jr." 22 x 30 inches.  Watercolor and charcoal on paper.

 

"A Window" 11 x 30 inches.  Watercolor on paper.

 

"Karl" 15 x 22 inches.  Watercolor and charcoal on paper.

 

"Open spaces" 22 x 30 inches.  Watercolor on paper.

 

"Clifford" 15 x 22 inches.  Watercolor and charcoal on paper.

It's hard to get good pictures of the drawings and paintings, but you get the general idea.  The charcoal drawings have light washes of blue and ochre under the charcoal.  This is a little bit difficult to see in the photos.  My favorite painting of this series is the old wood and rust.  I found this reference photo online in the Wet Canvas reference image library.  I also like the skyscape.  This is from a photo I took somewhere along I-80 in northern Nevada.  Definitely wide open spaces.  I think I'll hang this in my husband's office.  The photo for the window painting I took in Idaho looking out of an old hay shed with a broken board. 

I like each of the drawings for different reasons.  Jane looks like she has had a tough life.  John looks like he is about to fade away.  John Jr reminds me of someone out of the Grapes of Wrath, or Gary Cooper, or Will Rogers.  This isn't far from the truth, except they never left the farm.  Karl is the transitional figure.  He left the hard life on the farm to go to college and have a better life.  Clifford is a cute kid in an oversized coat.  In the original photo you can see a shadow of his mom peeking out of the window.

It was a lot of fun and I especially liked using old family photos for the references.  Based on the ages of the people I'm guessing the photos were taken in the late 1920's.  John Sr. and Jane died in 1927 and 1925.  It would have been unlikely that they would have had a camera much before then.

The project was a lot of fun and a lot of work.  I was a little disappointed in the class experience, but the end result was good.

more cows

This is a second version of my cow painting.  It is very similar to the first one and I still like it.  The colors turned out a little different.  This one is warmer.  I sold the first one to a classmate.  She is nearly 90 years old and grew up on a ranch.  She wasn't sure if she wanted to keep it for herself or give it to her brother, who is still on the ranch.  It is fun to have someone want your work enough to buy it.  This one I'm going to keep.

Not a creature was stirring...

"Not a Creature was Stirring"

9 x 12 inches

A little something fun after a big series for my art class.

Merry Christmas!

The hair cut

My girl has been growing out her bangs for a long time, three years or so.  They were long enough to work in to Princess Leia buns for Halloween in 2014 and are now below her chin.  When a friend came to school with a cute bob cut we decided it was time. 

Six and a half inches later...

 

 

It is really cute and extra bonus, she can easily brush it herself.  Once it dried it curled up.  I had forgotten how wavy her hair is when it is short.  No more pony tails for awhile, but we are in headband making mode.

Baptism day

My Girl was baptized this month.  We are so happy she chose to do this.  It was a special day.  Unfortunately, I'm a little short on pictures of the family. Grandma and Grandpa came to visit.  Dad baptized her and Grandpa confirmed her.  She wore the dress I wore when I was baptized many years ago.  There's nothing like double knit polyester if you want something to last a lifetime or two.

 

Trailer for the latest blockbuster

Buddy Boy and our teenage neighbor have been working on a movie.  Here is the trailer.  It's a one minute trailer for a 5 minute movie.  They have had a lot of fun.  There were a lot of action shots and even some green screen work.  The little sisters even got in on the action.  I think Buddy Boy especially liked being the star of an action movie.  I can't wait to see the whole thing.

Happy Family

 

We wanted a family photo this year to add to a Christmas card.  We rarely have a photo with all of us in it.  Dad will be sending cards out to all of his clients and I'll send a few to family and friends.  Many of the clients are older and quite a few are Christian missionaries living all over the world.  So, here we are, our happy little family.  It took more than a few shots to get us all looking at the camera with a reasonable expression on our faces.  And bonus, we color coordinate!  I even managed to find a card template with a blue background.

Thank you GranDad for being the photographer.