Video - Painting the Bosphorus

Watch me paint the original watercolor "Evening on the Bosphorus", from the initial value sketch through the final painting. You can watch more of my videos on my YouTube channel or on my website at http://jimoberst.com/videos.html.

Step-By-Step Painting Demo: "Shadows"

Here is a short video I made of the steps I took to paint a seaside scene titled Shadows.  I hope you find it interesting.  This painting is for sale at http://jimoberst.com/paintings/p18.html for $200 including shipping within the U.S.

Ozark Foothills FilmFest Branding Image

Each year, the Ozark Foothills FilmFest holds a statewide competition to find an image for its festival poster, program cover, and website.  One of my watercolor paintings, Summer on the Farm,  has been chosen as the branding image for the 10th annual FilmFest, set for March 23 -27 in Batesville.  I will have an exhibit of many of my paintings at the Batesville Area Art Gallery March 8 through 25, and will do a painting demo at the gallery on Friday, March 11, from 6 to 8 pm.  If you can, please stop by on March 11 to say hello and enjoy my demo.  If not, try to take in my exhibit sometime during March.

Step-By-Step Painting Demo

This is a set of images of my painting The Old Guard, #54 posted last week on my Weekly Watercolor website.  This watercolor painting is small - only 7.5 x 11".

I started with a very simple drawing.  The next step was to paint the sky and the first wash on the water.  When this was dry, I added the distant landscape and the boat on the horizon.  Next, I painted the major shapes of the main boats, and put another wash on the water to deepen its value.  I brushed in the boat reflections while the water wash was still wet.  Finally, I added the details of the rigging.

I hope you have found this interesting, whether you're a painter yourself or an art collector.  If you would like to join me to paint, my next watercolor workshop is scheduled for June in Hot Springs Village, Arkansas.  Go to www.jimoberst.com to learn more.

Demo Painting at Gallery 726

On Thursday evening, September 23, most galleries in Hot Springs participated in a program designed to educate people about art and introduce them to the galleries.  This program was by invitation, and included talks, demos, food, and drink.

I did a watercolor demo at Gallery 726, which took about an hour and a half.  I've posted the result here... perhaps a bit over the top, but perfect for lovers of strong color, high impact paintings.  It's titled Early Snowfall.

If you'd like to see more of my paintings,  visit either Gallery 726 or Artists Workshop Gallery in Hot Springs, or take a look at my two websites:
www.jimoberst.com
www.weeklywatercolor.com

3-Day Watercolor Workshop

I taught a 3-day Watercolor Workshop on July 12 - 14 in Hot Springs Village, AR, under the auspices of Brush Strokes Art Club. Twelve students were subjected to my approach to watercolor painting, including talks on design, perspective, symbols, landscape guidelines, what makes a good shape, color, etc. Somehow they all seemed to not only survive, but to prosper. Intrinsic to the workshop was a half-sheet, 2-hour demo each morning. I've posted here photos of the class and of the three demo paintings I completed. For more information on my watercolor workshops, including how to schedule one for your group, please visit my website workshops page.

Watercolor Workshop Scheduled

I'm scheduled to teach a 3-day watercolor workshop under the auspices of Brush Strokes in Hot Springs Village on July 14th to 16th. The signup sheet filled (12 people) the day we announced it. That is both encouraging and intimidating. I'm really looking forward to doing this - I've enjoyed the days I've taught previously, but never did an entire workshop myself. To learn more about the workshop, click here. We do have a waiting list, and if the demand "holds up", I'll probably teach a second session.

The image is of a quarter-sheet painting of the fountain in front of the Ponce deLeon center in hot springs village. This painting is hanging in the Woodlands lobby as part of Brush Strokes' HSV 40th Anniversary exhibit. There is a "Meet the Artists" reception there at 2 pm on August 24th.

Yet Another Demo

This seems to be the season of demos for me. Last Thursday, Barb Seibel invited me to do a 2-hour painting demo for her Brush Strokes-sponsored beginner watercolor class. I decided to paint a half-sheet Sound of Silence, which I have painted before. I enjoyed both the painting and the discussion of technique and design principles related to the painting. And the painting (attached) turned out pretty well, which does not always happen with demos.

I've also done a small version of this painting that I plan to offer as part of my Weekly Watercolor project.

Demo for TAG

Today I gave a painting demonstration to TAG, the Traditional Artists Group of Hot Springs. I chose to repeat the painting Early Snow that I did for Richard Stephens' class about a month ago. This time I only had about 45 minutes, so I did the drawing and prepared the paper before the clock started. The artists at the meeting seemed to enjoy the demo, and several of them told me they learned a few things.

Watercolor Class with Demo

Last Wednesday, Richard Stephens gave me the opportunity to teach one session of his annual Garland County Library watercolor beginners class, as he was unavailable that day. I decided to do a 1-hour demo (although it's difficult for me to paint that fast, and also to paint vertically) and then to have the students try their hand at the same painting. I did the accompanying painting Early Snow in the class. The students had plenty of questions, and seemed to enjoy the demo and the painting exercise. I enjoyed it, too.

Portrait Demonstrations

Because I won the Gold Award at the Mid-Southern Watercolorists 2007 Annual Exhibition, I was invited to present "How I Did It" at the January MSW meeting.  Because of time constraints, I spent most of the time describing my portrait-painting process, and just demonstrated a few of the steps.  I've attached a photo of me in the process.  (It was more fun than it looks like.)

I'll be repeating this program at the Brush Strokes meeting on February 22.  There, I'll do the painting vertically, to avoid having to have the overhead mirror set up.  I've also prepared a handout of the steps so people can leave with some simple instructions.