Utah Trip: Painting

For my birthday my mom bought me painting classes. 

I was able to take lessons from W. David Price. 

He is a good family friend and a mighty fine painter. 

Dave started painting after he retired and is really talented. 

I quickly found that I absolutely love to paint. I had never done it before but always wanted to try. I'm pretty crafty and was hoping I would do ok. Turns out I'm actually pretty good. I guess I can add this to my artistic list. Going to painting was like therapy for me. I got lost for hours (literally, like 5 hours at a time). It also helps that Dave was awesome and such a good motivator. He really boosted my confidence. He even told me that sometimes some of his students come in just to talk and they end up forgetting to paint. Luckily I didn't forget to paint. I pumped out these paintings so fast. I completed 4 paintings in 7 weeks.

 Birch Trees

The final product after having it framed. 

Hawaii

Dave Price actually sold one of his Hawaii paintings to the show Hawaii Five-0. He is famous.  

Boyd particularly liked this painting, so this one was for Boyd.

 The finished product. 

I'm thinking of going with a cork or distressed wooden frame. 

The neat thing about this painting is that it changes with the lighting. 

When it your lighting dims the clouds will glow, giving it a realistic effect.

 Van Gogh, Wheatfield with Cypress

 My first lesson I brought in this picture and told Dave that I wanted to paint it. He gave me a look like I was crazy. Boyd and I have a thing for Van Gogh. We both really love his work and I was determined to paint something Van Goghish. I could tell that Dave wasn't too thrilled with my post-impressionistic choice but he allowed me to paint away. He warned me that it could end up looking like a small child did it and that I might get frustrated trying to work in the crazed detail. The result: Dave kept saying "wow, that turned out a lot better then I imagined it would" Personally, I love it and I'm really proud of myself for finishing it.

 Lily Roo

I wanted to do a painting of a person, but didn't want to have it come out horribly wrong. So I thought I would start with my precious pooch. Boy, this was a tough one! Dave had to help me out with her nose and eyes. Proportions are tricky. I wanted to cry after my first day working on this painting. I went home and told my parents it looks like a two year old drew the outline and it looks like a dog wearing glasses. The second time working on her I thought she looked angry and gruff. I was a little discouraged thinking it wasn't going to turn out so great. Then the third day her features softened up. Layering when oil painting is so crucial and I feel like you have to envision what you are going to paint so you don't get discouraged. By the 4th day working on my doggy she looked more like herself. My final day working on her just stunned me. This painting turned out so so cute!

 

My dear sweet Lily dog came running when I pulled out the camera. She is so well behaved. She knows when I pull out the camera she has to sit and look at me and hold really still. It makes me laugh looking at this picture. She is so funny.