Yesterday I took my very first painting class ever and I loved it!
The class was taught by Antje Sonnenschein at Galerie Het Raadhuis in Eenrum, a little village close to where I live.
I thought we were going to paint with acrylics but I didn't read the announcement right (Hmmm yeah, typical me :)) and it appeared to be gouache. But, when I found out, I thought that was actually a nice surprise as I had never used gouache before. So a new medium to try out and discover.
There was a nice group of 16 men and women and after coffee and a short hello we went from the gallery to the community center where we spent the day.
I learned a lot about how to build a painting like this from the back to the front and about working with gouache. I found it much harder to work with than acrylic paint as it is more translucent and not so forgiving.
We were told to work very disciplined because it is very hard to cover up mistakes. Hmmm, me and discipline is not a really good combination I'm afraid. So I also learned that I'm more the acrylic kind of person :)
And I also got confirmed that I don't really like painting from a photograph. I rather use my fantasy. The point is that if I have a photograph to work from there is this perfect picture of how the end result has to look and my work will never be good enough to me because I can't paint it exactly that way. I know that is silly. I know it doesn't have to be perfect and that the picture can be only a guide, the painting an impression, but it's hard to let go of that image in my head...
This one is 30x40cm (12x15 3/4")
When the first one was done I started the second one. It's not completely finished yet and since I don't have any gouache I will probably finish it with Indian ink.
This one is 30x50cm (12x19")
At the end of the day all paintings were exposed and discussed in a positive, stimulating way. It was great to take some time to see all the beautiful paintings and learn from each others work!
Here are all the paintings together. I bet you could have pointed out mine even if I hadn't shown them before, right? :)
It was fun and I really enjoyed the day!
In 2 weeks there is another workshop. That one really is with acrylic paint like I thought yesterdays would be. I was afraid that it would be full but I just got an e-mail that someone canceled today and that I now have the last spot! Yay! Looking forward to that!!
Happy Sunday!
