More Tiny Art:A Portrait of My Cat

A little scrap of watercolor paper suggested itself to be used one morning in this watercolor sketch of my cat.

I find that starting with an animal's eyes establishes the scale.  Eyes express the life & personality in a creature.

It's fun to play with colors rather than match reality.  As long as you get the correct light-to-dark values, you can use any colors that appeal to you, and the painting will look real.  

I hope you'll try your hand at sketching animal portraits.  You can use this photo above, or one of your pet as a reference.  If you're looking for more good photos, you can use these to practice drawing or painting animal portraits:

https://betsyblissart.blogspot.com/p/pet-portraits-in-colored-pencil.html

Happy Creating!

Tiny Art Journal

I just finished teaching my Tiny Art class at the Community College of Beaver County.  We had a wonderful time painting small natural items with gouache.

For our final project, we made journals using old books and book covers, and mounted our paintings inside.

I removed the text from an old, tattered textbook, and refilled it with 140# watercolor paper cut to size.

I simply tied the folded pages in with a thick piece of cotton string. No sewing or binding required!

My class demonstration paintings are mounted on the pages within.

Several pages remain blank at the back -- space to add new paintings to my book.

I love the handwriting in old books, and the worn, yellowed look. It adds character.

I invite you to take a class with me.  For a list of my upcoming classes in Beaver & Washington Counties, PA, follow this link:

https://ccbc.coursestorm.com/

Click on "Arts" 

You can also check out my "Take a Class with Betsy" page here: https://betsyblissart.blogspot.com/p/online-art-classes.html

Happy Creating!

Gouache Apple Blossoms Painting

On a rainy, cold Friday afternoon, I cut several twigs from an apple tree blooming in my yard for my Tiny Art class students to paint.

Before class, I made a small painting, starting with a pencil sketch of one of the flower clusters.

The next step was to lay in areas of color and tone -- larger areas of white flower petals, and green leaves.

When painting with gouache, you start with larger shapes and work from general to specific, from larger shapes to finer details.

I layered on details -- shadows and highlights, veins in leaves, and the little stamens within the apple flowers.

I finished with details on the twig -- the bark wrinkles, the green lichen spots.

Above is the finished painting.

Are you feeling creative? I hope you'll make a sketch or painting of the apple blossoms pictured at the top of this post.

Happy Creating!

Copyright Betsy Bangley 2024.  All rights reserved. 

Tiny Art!

Today begins my Tiny Art class at the Community College of Beaver County.  I'm looking forward to class!  

We will be making small paintings of tiny things like flowers, snail shells, seashells, butterflies, feathers, and whatever else inspires us.

Right now, so many tiny buds are opening in nature, unfurling flowers & miniature leaves.  It seems the ideal time to make tiny art.

Above is a photo of Spring Beauty, a native wildflower now blooming.  Its blossoms are 1/2 inch wide, and when you get down close to the flower, you'll see tiny pink veins in the petals.

We will be painting our tiny subjects with gouache, an opaque paint that allows us to layer light marks on top of darker areas.  

Here is a nature journal entry I made with gouache, finishing the details with colored pencils.

If you'd like to take a class with me in person, you can check my class schedule here:  https://betsyblissart.blogspot.com/p/online-art-classes.html

And, you can follow this link to my CCBC Continuing Education Classes: https://ccbc.coursestorm.com/

Click on "Arts" under Beaver County and Washington County and you'll find my classes among the other art courses offered there. Each instructor's name is listed with the course descriptions.

I hope to see you in a class soon! 

Upcycling:Tiny Art in Photographic Slide Frames

Have you seen art journalers reusing photographic slide frames to hold tiny art?  All you have to do is pop open the slide, remove the photographic film, and replace it with your own art. Then glue or tape the frame back together.

I tried this out, and found that it's really easy to fill such a tiny space with art.  It's tricky to fit words into the small area, but if you keep your affirmation short, it works!

I plan to give these to friends and family, and to leave them in public places where folks can find them and feel uplifted.

The world is full of negativity and hardship.  But we can each shine a little light and positivity by making art, leaving encouragement for another person to find.

You can read more inspirational ideas at the Random Note Project website here: 

https://www.randomnoteproject.com/

I received a random note the night before I taught my first figure drawing class years ago.  I was nervous and questioning myself.  This note shifted my thinking and helped me feel more settled.

What message would you love to receive from someone out there in the world?  

What messages would you like to share with others who could use your encouragement?

I hope you create your own random notes of kindness to share.

If you'd like some practice making tiny art, I'll be teaching a class in creating Tiny Art with gouache at the Community College of Beaver County in Monaca, PA starting Saturday, April 13th at 10 AM.

You can learn more about the class and sign up here:

https://ccbc.coursestorm.com/

I hope to see you there!