Friday, November 13, 2009

Starting at the Beginning


Ashton is 13 years old and has been with me for just 2 months. She diligently worked on the beginning exercises to learn how to look differently at objects to draw them more accurately. This drawing is her first and she is still in the process of putting in all the different values (the lights and darks). Ashton is becoming more familiar with her pencils, erasers, and other tools to get a more "polished" drawing. She drew her beagle from a resource, transferred it to drawing paper, and has proceeded capturing it's likeness. I can always depend on Ashton being a careful listener, coming to class with all her materials, using class time efficiently, asking good questions when she is unsure of something, and working at home to continue her progress. Awesome work, Ashton!

Learning Pen and Ink



David has been with me since he was 8 years old. He is now 11 and he has now decided to move on and try pen and ink. He first got familiar with an ink pen by doing several exercises practicing different strokes like parallel lines, stippling, crosshatching, and more. He made these different strokes into value studies. These value studies would help him get the lights and darks in a drawing. David then set up his own still life, drew it, and then transferred his drawing to paper made just for ink. He has now just begun this drawing with careful thought on how to begin. Stippling, producing dots, is how David decided to proceed. The image posted here is the cup in his still life. He started with the darkest object, it's shadow and reflection shapes. David is being very meticulous because he knows there is no erasing! We'll keep you posted on his progress!

AUM Gallery Exhibit


I have 3 pieces showing in this exhibit put on by AUM Gallery.

Location: 2227 East Colfax Ave., Denver, CO 80206

Opening Reception: Friday, November 13, 2009, 6:00 - 9:00pm

Exhibit runs through January 16, 2010

There are 14 participating artists with special guest, Terry Ludwig.

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Spring Tulips By Julie Fisher


This is one of my paintings completed in the last months. Small pink tulips in an antique pitcher with a creamer and lace tablecloth. These are some of my favorite things. This is a tonal painting where large shapes are depicted in the painting. The dark background is a strong shape as well as the white or lighter area including the flowers, pitcher, creamer and cloth. This painting also has interesting negative shapes.

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

About the Artist


"That's my grandmother's pitcher!"...."I've been there."....."I can feel the mosquitos already!"...


Familiarity of subject matter is implied in works created by Julie Fisher. The viewer often recognizes or can relate something personal in Julie's portraits, still life and landscapes. Her studies in classical realism is also reflected in her accomplishments.


Julie began her formal art instruction at Arapahoe Community College where she developed varied approaches to her art. However, time spent training with Valorie Snyder strongly influenced Julie's realistic style. Valorie trained at Atelier Richards in Amarillo, Texas under the direction of Kirk Richards. This training is devoted to teaching classical realist techniques. Studying with Cindy Haase strengthened her knowledge in color and painting with Jane Angelheart enhanced the applications of color in her portraits. Julie is continuing to make advancements in work depicting light and shadow and tonal painting with Deborah Bays.




Sunday, March 1, 2009

Student Progress

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......BEFORE.................................................... AFTER..................
Jim, an adult student, came to me eager to learn. His first drawing for me (left image) was before instruction took place. After about 3 months, Jim completed the right image. Jim made progress in leaps and bounds. He worked hard in class. What ever skill he learned in class he took home and diligently continued which allowed him to make great progress. Jim has since moved on to watercolor.



Award Winning Student

Kiowa School is having a student art show! Many works of art were entered by participants using various media. Included were pencil, pastel, marker, oil on canvas, and charcoal. Our own Jaella entered 2 pencil pieces. One piece was a portrait of her sister and one was of a still life that she composed herself. Awards were given to each grade level and Jaella won at the 12th grade level receiving a college scholarship provided by Air Academy Credit Union. Jaella has been one of my students for a little over 2 years. She has worked hard and is very focused when it comes to listening to instruction and application of that information. Jaella has come a long way and is delightful to have as a pupil. Congratulations, Jaella!!
(Pictures of her work will be posted at a later date.)

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Carry That Camera Wherever You Go!


Aren't these new digital cameras great! I have found a new freedom! When you are out and about, you can click away at any subject and shoot as many shots as you want. You can delete them or you can take them home and crop, and/or enhance any that you wish. I find I have more successful photos this way and I've had many wonderful surprises where in the past I may not have taken a picture to conserve film. However, a good picture alone does not make a great painting. I carefully observe values, think of possible compositions, and note colors while on location. Awesome!

Monday, February 9, 2009

Student Progress

(left) This is Jia's Before Drawing
(right) This is Jia's drawing after about a month's instruction. Jia is 8 years old.

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Children ages 8 - 13 Experiencing Watercolor








What great fun we had! We spattered, we used a sponge, we had graded washes, we lifted color, we dropped wet into wet, and much more. Students then drew and cut out shapes that they wanted to combine and make a collage.



There was no pressure to paint a tree or lizard "just right" because they were just playing with color and the different ways to get it down on paper. Later, the kids drew flowers, frogs, and plants etc. on sketch paper and erased when needed. When they were happy with their drawings they cut them out and used them as patterns. The kids had fun and experienced success!

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.Lizard painting by Tori (also the enlarged lizard portion to show details)

.Frog painting by Elizabeth

Saturday, January 17, 2009

Are You Making "The Arts" a Part of Your Life?

Did you know that the music students at DU put on practice performances, many of them for free? An artist friend of mine said that there is nothing like hearing this wonderful music first hand. She said there were opera singers normally affiliated with The Met that were guest singers. Have you seen the latest art exhibit at the Denver Art Museum or visited a local gallery? When was the last time you allowed time for yourself to sit down and draw or paint? Life gets so busy that time slips away and we're so exhausted by the end of the day.



When I was teaching school I put many hours into planning and preparing materials to make everyday the best it could be. Then I would collapse at the end of the day. When time permitted, I would do a bulletin board and I found I would spent an exorbitant amount of time on the silly thing. It always made me feel really good to be "artistic" but what this really told me was that I was not getting enough of my own art "scheduled" into each week. I knew that working on my watercolors always left me with a feeling of accomplishment but it wouldn't happen unless I purposely set time aside each week for painting. One of my students and his wife did that for each other one evening a week. On Wednesday, he would watch their son for his wife and on Thursday, he would come to drawing class while she watched their son. Perfect!
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Portrait by Jim (adult)

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Drawing Skills




Developing ourselves as artists is a lot like building a house, you need a sturdy foundation. We often see a great painting and we say to ourselves, "I want to do that!" So we sign up for a watercolor or oil class, we buy all the supplies and you arrive for your first class ready to go! By the end of class you're somewhat discouraged
that your painting doesn't look like the instructor's or anything like the one you saw somewhere. Now you're feeling bad and here you spent all this money for materials. Well, I'm here to tell you NOT TO GIVE UP!! You may have just missed a step in the process.

To get back to our "house foundation", one step in the art process is getting drawing instruction. This step is often overlooked and then when you go to a class on watercolor etc. you will be expecting yourself to pull what you know on drawing and incorporate it with this new medium , adjust to how this new medium works, and you're trying to figure out how to mix different colors! That is an enormous task to expect of yourself. It's overwhelming and enough to make you quit.




Now just pause a minute! Hang on to those new supplies! Stop and take a good drawing class that will cover good drawing skills. This class should include skills like perspective, contour drawing, composition, and more. When you have a good understanding and you've practiced, then go and take that watercolor or pastel class. You'll find it less overwhelming. You'll retain more information and
you'll be suprised at how well your painting will come out!
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Drawings: Mother and Daughter by Leslie (adult)
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Apple Wreath and Fall Leaves by Olivia (age 11)
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Olivia has gone through the drawing class and has moved onto colored pencil. She set up this composition herself in class and completed it in colored pencil.