» Tag » Liz Miller

Tag Archives: Liz Miller

Conveying Impressions

By | | , , , , ,
Comments Off on Conveying Impressions

Medium, definition: the material or form used by an artist; the intervening substance through which impressions are conveyed to the senses; a liquid (e.g., oil or water) with which pigments are mixed to make paint; a means by which something is communicated or expressed (that fits, right?)

And we have been on a journey exploring different mediums this year and having such fun. All the art theory applies, it’s just learning to use the medium that is the excitement. It’s how we are exploring, gaining knowledge and learning to apply the art experience we already have to a different medium.

We started the year with our usual favorite, acrylics, but exploring how to create a mist or fog effect with our paints using glazes and layers. And they turned out very foggy just as we wanted.

Tree-in-fog-web

Tree in the Fog, Liz Miller CDA

Tree in Fog, Pat, Donna, AnitaNext we have been playing with colored pencil this month, first with a House Finch design of mine House Finchand now each student has chosen a design they would like to create with assistance from me. I can’t wait to see the results. Again we are stretching our knowledge and learning to work with a new medium for most of us. What fun! I’m getting comments from students saying that they love colored pencils.

 

Italian Sailboat pastel

Italian Sailboat, Liz Miller CDA design

Next month we’ll continue our explorations of pastels which some of the students have sampled and enjoyed. We worked on Kay Witt’s awesome fox and our creations were also wonderful and exciting. I’ve just finishes an Italian Sailboat design that I think was lots of fun. We’ll start work on that on March 6. 

Plan to join us on our mediums explorations and exercise your mind. We have more acrylic and watercolor classes coming up! Keep watching the schedule.

Paint Your Cat Party for Purr Partners

By | | , , , , ,
Comments Off on Paint Your Cat Party for Purr Partners

Date: Fri, Feb 22, 6-9p        at   Artful Endeavors   with Liz Miller

Barbara-webClass cost $45/participant

All supplies and surface will be provided.

No experience needed.

Bring your own wine and snack to share

Come join us for an evening of fun where you will paint the face of your own cat on an 8×10” canvas. Don’t have a cat? Purr Partners has many kitties you can paint.  No experience is needed, just the desire to enjoy the experience with friends.

Bring a photo of your cat face for coloring. We’ll use a pattern for the face so no drawing is required.  All supplies and surface are provided.

And we’ll party, so bring a bottle of wine and a snack to share.

Proceeds from our workshop go to Purr Partners Feline Rescue for the benefit of our cats.

Register Now!  $45 

Or mail your check to Liz Miller,

Artful Endeavors 200 Sawmill Rd, Suite 201, Raleigh, NC 27615

Angie

 

Add a Cat

By | | ,
Comments Off on Add a Cat

Blending modes, layers, layer masks, desaturation, brushes…  It’s the language that I’m learning and techniques that I’m learning to use in my Photoshop Artistry course. And so much fun. This course is excellent and contains so much information.  And he give us homework!!  Of course that just means that I get to play with the techniques with my own photographs,… or sometime some of my husband’s or sister’s photos.

This is one of my “creations” using photos that my sister took on vacation. Originally the cat and shutters were not there.web-girl-and-cat_edited-1

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And here’s a photo creation using a photo of my cat.

web-Rocky_edited-1

Kitty, kitty, kitty

By | | ,
Comments Off on Kitty, kitty, kitty

I hope we’ve see the last of being snowed in and can get back to our painting together.

I’m back in the studio now and have worked on our next paintings for classes.  It’s been fun working on this delightful Lydia Steeves design, Bucket of Cats. Of course, painting animals is one of my favorite subjects, … along with portraits, landscapes, still lifes … well, I just love to paint.

I’ve done some progressive photos of my kitten painting so that you can see the painting evolve.  I’m saving the third kitten to paint with our students.  There’s still time to join us since we’ve had to revise our dates since we’ve been enjoying snow days.

Step 1

Step 1

First kitten finished

First kitten finished

Second kitten finished.

Second kitten finished.

Seeing! A Little reference please.

By | | , ,
Comments Off on Seeing! A Little reference please.
old trucks

old trucks

Seeing. It’s what we artist do.  It’s how we create. We’re especially good at observing and turning our observations into art.  Reference Photos is my next tutorial on really seeing rather than just looking.

As Referred To:  As I’m starting a new painting it’s important to me to have reference photos, especially when I can’t go out to see the real thing when I’m ready to work.  I keep reference files on my computer and print out the ones that I feel are pertinent to the design I’m creating.    Read more…

Artistic Mud Pies

By | | , ,
Comments Off on Artistic Mud Pies

As much fun as making mud pies!  Remember those day when you were a kid?  My Grandmother had a wonderful muddy area after the rain where I could create till my heart was content. Always exciting.

We’re adding a little something new to our painting adventures, Play Days.  On our play days we’ll gather to explore a new technique idea, new product, old idea revisited, or anything else we come up with.  I won’t do as much teaching as sharing our creative idea for the day and we’ll all experiment with this concept.  It’s always interesting to see how others develop their version of the same concept, product, or idea. Let’s share our creative spirits and explore our creativity.

Our first Play Day is Feb 28, Friday, 10a-2p. Creating masks for watercolor or acrylic washes.  We’ll use our original photos to create masks and use washes to bring out our design elements. Look for a photo or photos that you can easily reduce to black and white, only these two values. I’ll furnish the paints and the watercolor paper.  You bring your imaginations. All levels, experience not required to share our experience.

Register now!

You can see more detail in my previous post, Watercolor Moo………….

Cow Abstract watercolor

Cow Abstract watercolor

Artfully DigitaLized

By | | , ,
Comments Off on Artfully DigitaLized

While I was playing working from home the last couple of snow days, the cats and I have had fun with some photo art. At least I had fun. The cats mostly slept through the fun.  My actual camera was at the studio so I was ,or was it elevated, to taking photos with my Samsung S4. Who knew I could do so much fun stuff with my phone’s camera and editor.  Well here they are.  I’m ready to do some more of this photo art.

Observer.

Observer.

Up Close.

Up Close.

Did someone call me?

Did someone call me?

Snow Cat

Snow Cat

Watercolor Mooooo….

By | | , ,
Comments Off on Watercolor Mooooo….

I’ve been playing around with a watercolor technique where I reduce a photo down to black and white, increase contrast to the max, and just have fun with washes.  I was pleased my with cow design from a photo that my husband had taken.  Here is the original photo so you can see some of my progression.

I plan to make a video of this design and offer it on Creative Workshops.

You can see this photo on Rick’s web site plus many more of his art photos.

Cow by Rick Watd

Cow by Rick Watd

Cow black and white by Rick Ward

Cow black and white by Rick Ward

Cow Abstract watercolor

Cow Abstract watercolor

 

Sundaes and Sodas for Valentines

By | | , ,
Comments Off on Sundaes and Sodas for Valentines

Our Feb Sundaes and Sodas workshop is scheduled for Valentine’s Day, Feb 14th,  which I thought was appropriate. This is one on my designs inspired from a set of ornament blanks that I found and a memory from my childhood.

Some of you already know that ice cream is my favorite food, especially chocolate. Unfortunately those day of indulging in this long time favorite (ice cream gene inherited from my Father and chocolate gene from my Mother) are just memories now; however, there is no reason that I can’t paint those delicious memories.  I grew up in Salisbury NC, the birth place of Cheerwine!, a cherry flavored soft drink, and another of my childhood, and still, favorites.

So put together the ornament blanks (which were suppose to be coffees and I’m not a coffee drinker), the ice cream, and cherry soda and I had these fun Sundaes and Sodas, in acrylic of course.

I love them and hope you do too.  By the way, they won a ribbon at the 2013 NC State Fair as you can see.

Register at least 1 week prior to class and come by the studio to pick up your ornament blanks. I have just a few sets left.

Sodas and Sundaes

Sodas and Sundaes