Showcase Art Center

Summer sunflowers make for a happy painting. This video is up now on the video page of www.ShowcaseArtCenter.com. (subscription $10/month for 406 choices) Join us to paint next week live at Showcase to paint sunflowers on Tuesday and Wednesday afternoon 1:30-3:30 PM. Come paint with friends for independent projects in the mornings Tuesday and Wednesday 10:00 to noon. (Classes $25/month)

How do I match the color I want? There is an easy 3 step formula. This week I made a 10 minute video to demonstrate matching two different colors. The video is up now on www.ShowcaseArtCenter.com on the video class page. (Subscription $10/month for unlimited views of 405 choices. ) Next week we will make a game of this process in class Tuesday and Wednesday 1:30-3:30 PM. Bring your paints and a single color object to share as a model. There also will be individual no

Next week we are continuing to paint the beautiful hollyhocks in class. There is a quick firework video you might enjoy on the video class page of www.showcaseartcenter.com. And we are going to party Tuesday as it is my birthday. Expect cake in class. Maybe ice cream. Definitely controlled chaos as we celebrate, bask in glow of the current art show at the Stampede, and maybe paint. See you online or in class at Showcase. Class schedule: 10:00 to noon Tuesday and Wednes

This is one tenacious plant! A hollyhock is blooming from a crack in the parking lot asphalt. There are about a million compositions within this photograph of the plant if the artist crops into the scene to find something to paint. You could paint the whole flower as shown in the photo, or you could crop into the detail and limit the view to a single blossom. I challenge you to find a painting within this photograph. Crop, rearrange, edit, invent. It is up to you to sur

I have noticed everything on television is something I have seen before. It must be rerun season. I am adopting the practice this month for videos. Let's revisit some of the 400+ choices posted. Next week we will paint poppies. There is a video in acrylic and one in watercolor painting poppies on the video class page of www.showcaseartcenter.com. Just put poppies in the title box under the video player and hopefully it will pop up. The index has decided to omit all the

KISS! Keep it simple. Great advice. This simple lighthouse can be made in a variety of shapes, colors and moods. This video is up now at www.showcaseartcenter.com. It is a sample of a way to combine background skies with "L-shaped" compositions. Next week in live class we will do 3-4 similar but different combination paintings. Classes at Showcase next week: Tuesday and Wednesday morning 10:00 AM to noon for independent painting Tuesday and Wednesday afternoon 1:30-3:3

A lighthouse is a great vertical counterbalance to a horizontal landscape. This makes an "L" shaped composition. I took a photo at Lake Dillon last summer. It was a nice photo, but a bit bland. I show you how to spice up a photo by changing the color of the sky, planting flowers in the foreground and repeating those colors in some boats and figures to give the scene more life. The video is up now at www.showcaseartcenter.com. (subscription is only $10/month for 403 choi

"Birds and flowers" is our theme for May. I was in the Ozarks last week. It was a treat to see many birds that we do not see in the west. One was a Carolina Chickadee. He posed for a great reference shot. In this video (just released on www.showcaseartcenter.com) I paint the loose background first and the bird second. This is opposite of the way we painted the Nuthatch. Can you believe we wrap up the month of May next week? Class times are: 10:00 AM-noon Tuesday and W

Happy spring! Classes at Showcase will have a change over the next couple weeks. I am going to the Plein Air Convention in the Ozarks. It is exciting that I get to demo on the exposition hall stage Sunday. While I am gone, you should have something special to look forward to as well. New Greeley Art Association member, Donna Clement, will substitute teach for me. She is planning a lesson on spontaneous landscape. I am taking a break from making new videos this week or

Ready for birds and flowers? A resounding "YES" from the art group. The watercolor lesson of "Nuthatch" is ready on video now at www.ShowcaseArtCenter.com. (subscription $10/month for unlimited views of 401 choices) Everybody got a Birds and Blooms magazine to peruse in class. Pick a bird and a blossom of your choice for show and tell in class next week. We will paint more next week. Classes (details on class page) are: Tuesday and Wednesday 10:00 to noon for independe