Teaching Art in the Del Van Gorder School

Demo of a Winter Watercolour Scene

 at the local School

The Grade 6,7,8  at the local school spent from 9am to Noon doing an extended art class when I was substitute teaching at the school.   The objective was to complete a watercolour and incorporate the following skills. 

1. Make a simple pencil sketch on an 8x10 piece of watercolour paper

2. Mask in some snow areas to maintain the white of the paper

3. Do  wet on wet washes using two colours, in stages in different areas of paper (sky, water, snow, trees)

4. Work from light to dark 

5. Use some dry brush technique to add detail & emphasis (trees and bushes)

The reference used for this work was a painting I completed at another time.  

I put the original painting in the front of the room and we used it as a general guide 

but I stressed that they could create their own rendition (no need to copy)

Really take the pressure off and allows creative fun!

I love their paintings and the end product was worth all their efforts!

Reference Painting

Student's Paintings (Beautiful!)

Newest Work, It's a large painting....

I started this piece in the fall and put it aside when I stalled out about half way through.  This sometimes happens to me. I have to put it away and get some distance from it. Also I often "blast" the painting in and then comes the detailing.... ugh! Takes awhile and requires discipline when the painting is 4 feet by 4 feet. I used a lot of texture in the cliffs and the trees and rocks in this painting with impasto.  The photograph does not do it justice.  

Title:  Lapie Canyon, Yukon

Impasto, Mixed Media

48x48
SOLD

STOLEN PAINTING

11x14, Original Acrylic,

 Pelly River, Dena Cho Trail

Stolen

*If you see this painting please call Yukon Artists At Work Gallery

 in Whitehorse Yukon and report it!

1-867-393-4848

There's been a rash of thefts in Whitehorse in the last few months and the target has been works of art. Yukon Artists at Work and Arts Underground were hit and I am not sure if there have been others.  I can't say I have ever had a piece of art stolen ... I guess the thief had good taste.

Latest Commission, Aspens at Fisheye

Original Acrylic

16x20 

Sold

Impasto Aurora Borealis, Two Takes

Original Impasto Acrylic

Aurora Borealis

12x12

This is what I do when I am sick, work on paintings that I don't like to make them better.

Below is the painting before I did this.

I guess this was ok too, but I like the mood in the top one.

Watercolour Christmas Card-Making with Faro's Girls Night Out

On Wednesday Night last week Faro's Youth Group for girls made Christmas Cards. Some chose to do Northern Lights and others Sunsets. Or the Winter Moon, a Snowman or a design with waves and bubbles.  I did a short demo of northern lights and a winter moon but told the girls they could paint what they liked. I thought we would have time to make more than one card but 3 hours went by really fast.  

We used  some iridescent watercolour paint, salt in our wet washes, and some used masking fluid.

   

Original Painting of a Yukon River

Evening Light on the Magundy

Original Acrylic

6x8

Northern LIghts with Spruce & Willow

Original Impasto Acrylic with Sgraffito

Northern LIghts

6x8 

Sold

Early Morning : Blind Creek

Blind Creek Sunrise

8x10 Original Acrylic

On Canvas

This time of year when the light is low, we get some spectacular sunrises. There is this other worldly-light; it hits the snow covered trees and it stops your breath and you silently witness it. It is fleeting,  only for a few minutes and then it is gone. 

 It is -30 degrees outside today at our Magundy home.  Time to start painting and then break for a morning walk.

Impasto Painting with Complementary Colours

Title:  Winter Solstice

6x8 Acrylic on Canvas

Lots of impasto gel in this painting.  I like the effect but I need to experiment and play more with this technique. 

My son looked at it and said, "Mom, where's the fire?"  Response: "In my soul, son!"

The best times when painting is when I just creatively play with a piece and see what happens.  Love the process.

Seniors Acrylic Impasto Painting Workshop 

We chose Northern Lights as a topic and picked a simple composition of trees and skyline.

Step one was putting gesso with pigment for under colour.  

Step two draw your composition with dark marker, and apply impasto gel where you want texture. Leave the gel to dry for 24 hours.

Palette colours:  Pthalo Blue, Pthalo Green, Quinacridone Red, Burnt Umber, Titanium White, Cadmium Yellow Light 

Golden Glazing Medium

This is step one and two of the painting above.

Watercolour Christmas Card

Christmas Star

Original Watercolour

This image will be one of the Christmas Cards I have for sale this year at the Church Ladies Tea in Faro Yukon on November 24, 2012

I plan to do another Christmas Image as well.

Seniors Workshop in Faro, Nov.16,17, 2012

Antique Acrylic Painting Workshop

For Faro Seniors

By Jackie Dowell Irvine

Friday November 16, 4pm to 6pm

Saturday November 17, 2pm to 5pm

Location: Faro Seniors Complex

Cost:  FREE!

                    

Come create your own work of art on canvas using impasto gel to create texture.  Learn how to build up your painting with colour in layers with a technique called glazing.  

Step-by-Step Instruction and Demonstration by the Artist is provided

This workshop is funded by the Government of Canada

New Horizons for Seniors Program

Any questions please e-mail me at irvine_770@hotmail.com

Or Leave Message @ 994-2069    Please Register by Nov.15^th

Hand-made ART Cards for Sale or Mail-Order

I have been making my own Art Cards for a few years now and they are becoming more and more popular.  I actually enjoy making them myself.  It is a bit time consuming but well worth the effort.  The process is simple:  I use a high-quality, acid-free card stock, usually an ivory colour with a deckled (torn) edge and envelope to match. The paper has a distinctive texture which is lovely to write on.  I use printed images of my paintings and then hand-sign each card with the Painting title and my signature.  The inside of the card is blank.
I have thought about having them printed professionally but it takes away from the handmade and personal element of this product and I find that the quality  is superior compared to what you would get from a printer.

If anyone would like to order my cards, locally they can be purchased in Faro Yukon at the Discovery Store and in Whitehorse they are available at Yukon Artists At Work on 120 Industrial Road.  To mail order the cards, I will send an order with a minimum of 6 cards for $38.00 shipping included.
*International Orders please E-mail me.

A Few Samples

Mail Order Selection

You can choose from these images to make up an order of 6:

Little Salmon Lake, Yukon 

Anvil Range, Faro Yukon 

Rose Mountain, Faro Yukon

Swim Lakes Trail, Faro Yukon

Spring Break Up, Yukon River

Aurora Borealis, Yukon

 Pond on the Robert Campbell Hwy, Yukon

Dragon Lake, Yukon

Midnight Sun, Yukon River

Fisheye Lake, Faro Yukon

Sunset: Little Salmon Lake, Yukon

Ross River, Yukon Watercolour Workshop

About three weeks ago, in Ross I had the pleasure of doing some art work with a small and great group of people. We used oil pastel and watercolour to create a scene with Aspens in Fall.  Masking fluid was used as well to maintain the Aspen trees and pencil,  and ink was used for detailing the trees.  The oil pastel and masking fluid "resist" the watercolour making it fun to put washes on. I would like to thank Kitty Sperling and Yasmine Djabri for making this workshop possible through funding provided by:

 Yukon College, Ross River Campus.

Some beautiful samples are shown below:

It always amazes me and gives me such a great feeling to see the finished works!

Workshop  Participants

Yukon River

Original Acrylic, 10x12

SpringBreak Up

Sold

I have painted this particular scene on a 24x36 canvas.as well  Our winters are so long in the Yukon, it is nice to paint a warm sun melting  the cold ice. Break-up is quite a process;  I have seen ice on the lakes right up to June and the flowers are blooming right along side it. 

This piece was painted in memory of a local named Dot Rogers, she had such a sunny warm personality, everyone loved her. I thought of her the whole time I was painting this work. She passed away after her battle with liver cancer a few years ago. The painting was donated to a benefit fundraiser to help raise money for those who need treatments for cancer etc.  in other cities to offset their expenses.