What If I Gave A Party. . .

. . . and EVERYONE came! The art show for my students was a HUGE success. It was elbow to elbow for almost the entire 2 hours. The work looked stunning, and if I had been any prouder of my students, lightning might have struck us all.

First, HUGE THANK YOU to Michael, Robin and Sylvia for taking charge of the food and beverages so that no one else got stuck in the kitchen and could just enjoy the show. THANK YOU!

One of my long term students, Jackie, helped me hang the show. I think she has been taking drawing lessons for around 6 years. We grouped the pieces by subject – portraits, florals, landscapes, animals. Then, I just enjoyed it by myself for awhile in the afternoon. (There is more art than appears in this photo, of course. Just didn’t want to antagonize you by showing you all 52 pieces so far away that you can’t really see them.)

The brown box is where you put your ballot after you vote for your 3 favorite pieces. The artist whose piece has the most votes will get a month of free drawing lessons!

This is Jerry – he is the husband of one of my drawing students. He bravely volunteered to be the first at the food table, and to let me photograph him “for scale”. šŸ˜Ž

Kirby and me – 2 different people want to buy her swan drawing! (I couldn’t get the silly happy grin off my face for the entire evening, and my hair did look better in the morning, thanks for asking.)

Kim and me – between us is her first pencil drawing, her cat Scooter. And isn’t it cool that Kim and I are birthday twins, although I am about 1 hour older which means I get to boss her around.

The show will be on display at the Courthouse Gallery of the Arts in Exeter until the Tuesday after Thanksgiving (because that is the last day of drawing lessons for the year and everyone will take their pieces home then.) The hours are Tuesdays 12:30-5:30, and Saturdays and Sundays 10-4.

Student Art Show!

COURTHOUSE GALLERY HOURS

Tuesday 12:30-5:30

Saturday/Sunday 10-4

You are invited to the
STUDENT ART SHOW
an exhibit of original drawings
by the students of
Jana Botkin
November 4 – 27, 2011
RECEPTION NOVEMBER 4, 5-7 PM

Courthouse Gallery of the Arts
Workshop Room
125 South B Street
Exeter, California

Hairstory

After years of having hair all the same length, pony-tails, and infrequent haircuts, this California artist decided to try a Big Girl haircut. This means layers, “product”, styling, and tools. If it doesn’t work out for my inner slob, I can always wear a cap or grow it out or both.

When I finished with my hair tools this a.m. Michael asked me if I like my new cut. I said, “Not yet, because it is doing this flip-up thing and I want it to turn under. I think flipping up is in style, but that doesn’t mean I like it.” He responded with, “It looks like you just slept on it wrong.”

This afternoon, after chiseling paint off a porch post (got about 3 square inches done. . . please pass the caustic toxic paint-stripper juice), washing my car and digging a bucket full of weeds out of the lawn (about the same level of impact as paint chiseling), he said, “Your hair looks good”.

Well, bummer. I don’t have time to fix it using that method every day. Guess I’m stuck with the Slept-Wrong look for awhile. You can see how it looks at the upcoming student art show (unless I am wearing a hat).

Mineral King Bridge Painting, 2nd Layer

Getting better all the time (wasn’t that a song by Chicago?)! Certainly isn’t a Bridge Over Troubled Waters. Long Way There is certainly correct for the road, and Long and Winding Road Ā is even better. Wait – it was called Getting Stronger Every Day by Chicago!!

Clearly I digress. This is about visual art, not auditory art. Ā Here, have a look at the painting after round 2:

It will take at least one more layer to get the colors, textures and shapes right, and then I can start the leaves on the cottonwoods. (Those are the trees on the left).

Things to be learned in drawing lessons, part 2

If you would like to see the completed piece shown in progress here, come to the student art show!

Start with simple things.

Get help on big things.

Good tools make a job easier.

Learn from others who know how.

A second set of eyes is helpful.

Sometimes you just have to do the work, no matter how tedious.

Sometimes you have to walk away and wait for your head to clear so you can get a new perspective on a project.

Good planning pays off.

Not everything can be fixed.

Ignorant gushing praise feels good; experienced honesty is helpful.

Things to be learned in drawing lessons, part 1

You can see this drawing at the upcoming student art show.

Because a show for my students is coming up soon, I’d like to share with you some of the things learned when taking drawing lessons from me.

How to see, really see.

How to break down a complicated picture into manageable parts.

Lots of little steps add up to something good.

Not everything is worth messing with.

Little tiny things do make a difference.

How to take criticism.

How to give criticism.

How to be honest and kind at the same time.

Age differences make no difference in many settings.

There are many different styles of drawing.

There are many different ways to tackle a problem.

If you procrastinate on a difficult problem, over time more will be revealed.

Mineral King Bridge In Paint

We all know that procrastination is not a virtue. However, I’d like to present a few benefits to procrastination:

1. Sometimes the problem fixes itself.

2. Sometimes new knowledge or skill is acquired so the difficulty diminishes.

3. Sometimes the problem becomes a moot point.

4. Sometimes someone else takes care of it.

I’ve been contemplating an oil painting of the Mineral King bridge for several weeks. In the meantime, I’ve made progress on my Huge (yet unrevealed) Project, finished a pencil commission, assembled a new spinning card rack, finished some other pencil drawings, prepared for the upcoming student art show, decided on and ordered covers for my display screens, completed the application for the next Studio Tour, and many other things that might bore you right off this page.

Finally, I’ve run out of excuses. The real reason for procrastination in this case is a little embarrassing: when I’ve gone several weeks without painting, I get a little fearful that I won’t be able to remember how to paint.

Then, when I begin a new painting, my fears appear to be confirmed. Sigh.

p.s. Don’t worry, CL, it WILL get better. They always do!

First Home

If you Ā have been a home owner, you probably will never forget the first place on which you paid a mortgage.

Our first home was built in 1913 and we were only the 3rd owners. I loved that little house too much – it just wasn’t natural to have that much affection for an inanimate object. Even now, Ā almost 13 years since selling it and moving on, I can still recall the sound of each door as it closed.

Most folks’ first homes are small and simple. They usually need work, they usually need paint somewhere, they almost always have lawns, and they seldom have garages. Can you relate?

This is someone’s first home. I don’t know him, but I know his Dad. His dad is a very thoughtful man who knows that his children’s homes are special. He has commissioned me to draw several of these modest and well-loved structures.

These are simple drawings EXCEPT the photos rarely contain enough information, have cars and people blocking views, and require some guesswork on my part. The challenge is to make them as technically perfect as possible so that what they lack in detail is made up for with precision.

Oh, and Mr. Google? This is a California home drawn by a California artist – me.

A Cabin Commission

Cabinart – making art of cabins, using pencil. That is my roots. Now that I oil paint, when a commission drawing for a cabin comes along, I am thrilled. Thrilled, I say!

The defining characteristic of this cabin is the group of massive trees in the front yard. The truth is that I sort of wanted to draw it in a vertical format, focusing on the trees with just a hint of the cabin peeking through. That’s not why people want their cabins drawn, so I provided several sketches and this was the winner. I’m happy when my customers are happy!