Monday 16 April 2012

About Those Eyes

Cats Eye
Direction
Connection

I recently held a watercolour workshop on painting animals in watercolour. These have become all time favourite sessions and because of this I have had to open a new date in July to allow the waiting list of artists an opportunity to come.

In my last animal workshop we started with painting eyes and it became a fascinating part of the day. So much so that everyone was enjoying themselves so much that it was hard to get anyone to move on to painting another animal body part! There was a lot of laughter in the room at times and as much  as art sessions can be wonderfully serious this was a memorable day in that the group were all  completely enthusiastic about their  subject matter.

I love painting eyes. I always have and that is why I adore painting portraits.

Last week I demonstrated colourful washes and it may interest any of the artists attending to know that  the colourful, orange salt wash with the green eye demonstration is now a beautiful version of my own cat Buster.

Rosemary, you wanted to know if I used  all the demonstration washes? Yes I do, some are turned into full paintings as this one is, others are for  more abstract work. And by the way, this really is me typing to you.

It is lovely to be asked if someone else does all my facebook and blog posts for me as I do seem to be very active  in my art career. My posts  really are all my own typing and ideas. And I know there are wonderful people reading each one. I can think of friends all over the world and smile knowing we are in touch. I can surprise Bridget by asking her if she is looking forward to seeing baby owls this year and now I can say Hi to Mike who has walked his dog Lacey in Australia and will be reading my post on his return. When you come to think of it ,this is a rather magical blog page in that it really is bringing some amazing people together, connecting through art.

I do have a PA, a personal assistant who takes all my workshop bookings and who handles all my online sales as that is an area of my life that has taken off to such an extent I could be all day on the computer and not painting!

And on that note I really need to get back to  my brushes!

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If you would like to see my colourful washes that can turn into subjects or eye painting my new DVD "Watercolour Passion" describes how I start each day with colour work and of  course there is a cute dog on the cover which  gives away what is inside!

You can see a trailer via this link,look out for the " cat" orange wash at the beginning!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HwHmyUS_zFo

And you can buy a copy via my web site or from Town House Films directly.

www.jeanhaines.com

2 comments:

Debbie Nolan said...

Jean love your Cat's eye - looking forward to being able to purchase your book - soon. Take care and God Bless

Mike said...

G'day, jean, from Dubbo, rural NSW.
Wow, what a great surprise, thanks very much...now we all know you are really the one on the other end of the line.
last night's experimental wash did yield some slosh(still too nice a word, perhaps), but when I turned the paper over, it also revealed a duck with wavey reflections below.
your explanation of pigment choices is very helpful and much appreciated, thanks very much Jean.
I am really looking forward to your new DVD, which I just ordered yesterday, along with your 'how to paint light and colour" DVD.
I ordered them from Peter at Pulsar Productions, the same day your newest DVD hit our shores.
Peter offers the most impressive customer service, and I am really looking forward to their arrival.
Can't wait. Lacey can't wait for her hugs and walk.
Many thanks again, Jean. Much appreciated, and love your style!