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J a n   H a r t 's

 

HartNews©

Volume 07 Issue 2

 

 
 F a l l ,  2 0 0 7
 
 

 

So...What is HartNews? HartNews is my attempt to write about life and watercolor from where I see it. As a teacher, I enjoy passing on some of the things I think about or do in watercolor. As a fellow human, I wish to pass on some of the things that inspire me - or make me laugh!. I've included you in this issue - you who are painters, friends, former guests and/or family - some of you without your expressed permission. So…please reply and ask to be removed from this mailing list if you'd rather not get HartNews editions - or just delete me! Originally, I intended to make HartNews a monthly event. Now, more realistically, I see it as a quarterly or bi-annual publication. If you have something you'd like add or say, just email me! and please feel free to pass this on to your friends... If you'd like to see the back issues - just check the Archives above - more demos, etc. - and don't forget to Bookmark this issue!

Pigments swatch - Zoisite Genuine is a Primatek Pigment from Daniel Smith - naturally ground from zoisite mined in Austria. It is completely lightfast and, as you can see, a terrific granulating pigment. Grayish green in color, I use it more for what it does than its color. I even add a bit to Rose Madder Genine when I want a slight granulation in a rosy color or glaze it after it is dry.

 
 

News Flash!

The book is finished and available now!.....

The Watercolor Artist's Guide to Exceptional Color

Walter Foster, publisher • Author Jan Hart • To order a personally signed copy, see below.

This painting of my little dog, Seurat was done with Zoisite gen., Lunar Black and glazed with Cobalt blue. A bit of Quinacridone sienna was used for his eyes.

In this Issue:

Please click where you'd like to go..

News Flash - Jan's book!

Jan's Workshops Coming Up for 2008

Coming up in 2008- Jan's On-line Auction / Sale of book paintings

 
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You can get it cheaper through Amazon.com - but if you would like to order a signed copy of this book, please send me a check made out to Jan Hart for $30 with your complete mailing address and it'll be sent out right away. Send to: Jan Hart, P.O. Box 1849, Española, NM 87532.

     

And what is next?

I've finished a proposal for another book by contract with Quarto Press...

Painting Expressive Animals in Watercolor I'll let you know if it is picked up by a Publisher. I love painting animals!

 

A Quote Worth Remembering..

 

Chicken Dinner, 15" x 20"

 

Jan's Workshops

2008 Schedule....

 

 

I finally cleared off my desk so I can plan for next year. Here's how it looks. I'll elaborate on each Workshop on my Website. Note - I keep my workshops at max. 12 students to enable lots of personal interaction. Sign up early for accommodations at the Ranchito. See tax and cancellation policy for all Jan Hart events at bottom of newsletter or here.

Andrew Wyeth

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Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep.

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1 week On the Trail of O'Keeffe in northern New Mexico

 

  
 

 

Each workshop is 1 week long, beginning on a Friday evening and ending on the following Friday morning after Breakfast.

Includes all instruction, guidance, critiques, some materials, studio booklet, continental breakfasts, museums & tour of Georgia O'Keeffe's Abiquiu home plus dinners out at three of Jan's favorite area restaurants. Pastel artist, Jonathan Owens will assist and provide instruction about using pastel over watercolor.

Workshop and Accommodations at Ranchito San Pedro reserved on first come basis with deposit of $300.00 or $450 for casita accommodations. Email Jan here.

Minimum number of students - 6: Maximum, 12 for good individual attention.

  

 

Join Jan & artist son, Jonathan for a fun-filled painting and learning adventure as we follow Georgia O'Keeffe's trail through northern New Mexico.

  • $975/person plus tax - Workshop and all activities; Separate motel housing available nearby. Deposit required: $300.00
  • $1375/person plus tax for dbl/triple occ. Ranchito San Pedro (Jan's ) casitas for 7 nights. Deposit required: $425.00
 
 

What's Going On @ Ranchito San Pedro?

As we head into Fall & Winter, a look back on the Ranchito seems appropriate. No new animals other than a friendly squirrel that is storing away pigeon food and a beautiful pink snake that lives peacefully beneath the pigeon loft. I saw this very shy guy only once. He is a many fabled snake known as the coachwhip!

 
     

2 Seasonal Sessions

  • Spring. Friday May 16 - Friday, May 23, 2008.
  • Fall. Friday, Oct. 10 - Friday, Oct.17.

 
   
     

watercolor painting by Georgia O'Keeffe

   

 

4-Day Workshops with Special Subjects at Ranchito San Pedro

 

 

Each 4 day workshop begins on a Friday morning and ends on the following Monday evening after final critique..

Includes all instruction, guidance, critiques, some materials, studio booklet, continental breakfasts.

Workshop reserved on first come basis with deposit of $100.00. Email Jan here. Accommodations at Ranchito San Pedro includes Thursday night before workshop plus 3 more nights. An extra night can be added at additional charge.

 

Now, this is a face I'd love to paint!

 

  
     

 

This year Jan is offering four, 4-day workshops on special subjects. Check it out!

  • $425/person plus tax - Workshop and all activities; Separate motel housing available nearby. Deposit required = $135.00.
  • $695/person plus tax - Workshop and all activities plus 4 nights at Ranchito San Pedro casita, double occupancy ($65.00/night/person + tax) Separate motel housing available nearby. Deposit required = $235.00.
 

The casitas (used to be called cabins) got some loving attention from Gerald, my handyman, in the form of a garden of indigenous sages, Apache plume and other xeriscopic plants along with a wonderful drip irrigation system. It'll be exciting to see the garden emerge in the spring!

The floors (designed and constructed by Donna Caulton) remain beautiful and will soon be a part of a new bathroom for my home.

Take a look on line and book an artist retreat for yourself in 2008.

Echo Rocks by Jan Hart

     

4 (Four) Sessions Only

  • Session 1. Painting Rocks in Light. Friday April 18,19,20,21.
  • Session 2. Color & Pigments in the Landscape. Friday, May 30,31, June 1, 2.
  • Session 3. Color & Pigments in Still Life/ Vegetation . Friday, August 1,2,3,4.
  • Session 4. Painting the Colors of Fall & Pigments. September 26,27,28, 29.

 

Workshops in other Locations
   

 

Currently Scheduled...or in process

 

  • Colorado Springs, Colorado . January 18,19,20, 2008
    • Painting Powerful Watercolors.. Email Kathleen Murray, here or Earlene Hunter here
  • Flagstaff, Arizona . Probably in June.
    • Painting with Exceptional Colors in Watercolor! . not yet scheduled but likely in late June. Check with website for updates.
  • White Rock, BC (just over the border...) August 25,26,27,28,29
    • Painting Powerful Watercolors. . For more information, please call 604-536-6743   Admin@artsociety.ca    www.artsociety.ca <http://www.artsociety.ca>  

 
 
 

Coming up in 2008

An On-Line Show, Sale & Auction of Jan's Paintings from the Book....

Nearly all of the paintings in the book are for sale. You can click on this link for a preview..and you can email Jan to be added to a reminder list here. Just put "reminder" in subject line.

 
 

A Demo...

Gentle Aging, a demo of the Back Lighted Cottonwood Tree

The back lighted subject requires some thought and some planning for great rewards! Here an old cottonwood stands alone in the New Mexico landscape with a glimpse of Black Mesa beyond.

 

    
Pigeon Glow
A Walk on the Beach
     

 

  • All paintings are sold un-matted and un-framed.
  • All paintings are priced according to size, technique and finish ranging from $175 - $475. (Gallery pricing would double the price and include framing costs).
Sale Starts March 15 by email!
       
     
 
 
The value/composition study begins the process and with each stroke of the black colored pencil I am gaining information - thinking about the glow of the outer leaves and the darker sky beyond, the relatively darker value of the front most leaves in shade, the darkest limbs and their drooping demeanor..
After under washing the paper with Aureolin yellow and Rose Madder Genuine - and allowing it to dry completely, I begin "lightest, brightest or scariest" first applying Aureolin yellow nearest the glowing area and immediately adding in Q. Gold, New Gamboge and/or Q. Sienna, wet into wet, allowing each added paint to drizzle down, implying hanging branches. A tilted surface helps. Adding a darker or brighter paint to a still wet lighter paint works well. I take care not to apply any darks close to the far left yellow edge of the tree. I want the edge to glow yellow.
 
I decide to add the darker glaze for the shaded leaves right away, using a transparent glazing mix of cobalt blue and rose madder genuine. Again I wait until all the paints are completely dry. And again I make sure to again stay away from the lightest left edge and I allow some of the glaze to drip and move into some unpainted areas. All of this is done with my 1" flat, using a corner edge for the "drizzle" work. Note that the lavender bluish glaze over orange results in a neutral tone while the brightest areas show through. With glazing, be careful not to stroke the paper too much. You don't want to pick up the under colors. Touch a place with your brush and suggest the flow lightly - almost like you expect the paper to reach up to grab the transparent glaze and pull it from your brush.
                   
Time for some darks so that your eye can see the entire value range. Using a favorite paint, Napthamide Maroon (PR 171) by Daniel Smith, I gesture in some of the trunk and dominant limbs, placing them as I wish, hidden mostly among the leaves and broken by drooping branches. I can add into the dark any of the other colors I've used after I've put the dark down, remembering that I must add with a drier brush so that I don't start blossoms or blooms or oozles....whatever they're called.
Now the ground and distant mesa can be added again using cobalt blue, rose madder genuine and some New Gamboge for the ground. Initial shadows are added using cobalt blue and rose madder genuine in a stronger mix, applying strokes horizontally to make sure that the ground lies flat. Suggestions of shaded grasses can also be flicked in. Cerulean blue is a perfect cool blue for the distant mesa and vibrates beautifully against the bright oranges in the tree. Note the intentional edge of the mesa showing to suggest a strong form.
I decide that it is time to add in some sky to play against the bright, light left glowing leaves. Still using my 1" brush, I apply various mixes of my old favorite tramsparents, cobalt blue and rose madder genuine making sure to create an uneven edge on the tree that does not overlap the yellow. This gives the appearance of a sparkling edge. I decide to bring the shadows down into the foreground to further contrast with the yellows.
                       
     

The finishing touches for this painting are pretty minimal I just go over the entire painting with careful eyes looking for ragged edges, unconnected strokes that stand out too much and places to accentuate. Placing a daub of bright red orange using possibly perinone orange or perylene scarlet near its complementary blue green adds color excitement and provides a way to direct the eye around the painting. A viewer finds a color note which directs his eyes to the same color in another area. In this way the artist can direct the viewer to move around the entire painting to find the delicious shapes and subtle changes in edges and color.

 

If you would like to try this painting, email me to ask for a good photo to be sent via email. Then you are invited to send me your painted result as a jpeg for a quick critique.

 

     
Tax & Cancellation Policy for all Jan Hart events. N.M. Gross Receipts tax must be added to all events occurring in New Mexico. Spaces are reserved on a first deposit received basis. Your deposit is approximately 1/3 of the total charge for the workshop. Once your place has been reserved, there will be a non-refundable cancellation charge of $100 prior to 75 days before the event. The cancellation fee for less than 75 days before the event will be charged according to expenses incurred. The final 2/3 of the total is due 30 - 45 days before the event. No refund less than 30 days before the event unless a replacement participant can be found. We reserve the right to cancel any event, in which case we will make a full refund. Any refund due will be paid within 30 days after the event. Thank you.