New Nude

"Red Pillow," oil, 20"h x 16"w, copyright Jill Banks 2013

After a long hiatus, I took advantage of an open life long pose session at the McLean Community Center (McLean, VA). Yea! Loved it. Loved the setup. For dates/times for open life there, go to www.mpaart.org and click on education (I think).

Hopefully it doesn't take me as long to return again.

 The monitor today -- right at the beginning -- said he'd like to try something ... and turned off the overhead flourescent lights. Huge improvement. I can never quite figure out why art spaces add room lights that can't be controlled individually.  And, flourescent lights don't do anything good for anybody. 
 
Web: www.jillbanks.com
Blog: jillbanks.blogspot.com
100 Faces in 100 Days Project
Email
Phone: 703.403.7435

Events and Exhibits

February 1 - February 28: "Flowers and Chocolate" Exhibit at the Artists'Atelier Gallery, 1144 Walker Road, Suite G, Great Falls, VA. Open hours: Wednesdays and Saturdays, noon - 4pm.
 

"Daisies and the Carousel Horse" Continued and Open Life Today

"Daisies and the Carousel Horse" work in progress, 30"h x 30"w, ©Jill Banks 2011

This afternoon there was an Open Life modeling session at the Great Falls School of Art ... that, no surprise, I thoroughly enjoyed. The result is "Last Few Pages" below.

Randy and I went out to an early dinner so I could return to painting "Daisies and the Carousel Horse" tonight. I absolutely love painting it ... as in can't wait to get back to it. But, I bet when I'm done, I'll be a bit sad about that. I must admit that the fruit and daisies, in real life are looking pretty tired and bruised and suspect.

"Last Few Pages," 20"h x 16"w, oil, ©Jill Banks 2011

Part of why I'm enjoying painting this one is the scale of both the still life setup and my canvas. The dimensions are 30"h x 30"w, so pretty big and the objects are all painted about life sized. That's freeing. And I'm racing to capture what's there before it turns to mush. That's freeing, too.

Okay, and in between posting with no photos and getting these added, I received a comment from Joan Bell-Haynes (Face #12). You've got to read it, too.

Events
August 1 - September 24: "100 Faces in 100 Days" on exhibit at the Artists' Atelier, 1144 Walker Road, Great Falls, VA. Open hours: Fridays and Saturdays, Noon-4pm.

My Still Life and Portrait Painting & Drawing Both classes are full for Fall sessions. See the Classes page on my web site for more information on those classes. Send me an email if you would like to receive notification of other class/workshop offerings -- what kind of courses you would be interested in, days of the week and times.

Sunday, October 2, 10am-5pm: MPA McLean Artfest, juried outdoor arts festival, McLean Community Park, McLean, VA

Saturday and Sunday, October 15&16, 10am-5pm: Great Falls Annual Studio Tour. Major weekend long event with 47 artists from Great Falls Studios participating in a self-guided tour. I'll be in the Artists' Atelier, the studio I share with 14 other artists at 1144 Walker Road, Suite G, Great Falls. Last year, the tour drew 7200+ visitors from throughout the DC area. Don't miss it!

October 20-22, Out & About Norfolk 2011: Juried Plein Air Event and Wet Paint Sale. I'll be spending three days in Norfolk for this 5th Annual Plein Air Competition ... painting away. I'm excited!

November 1-11, 83rd Grand National Exhibition 2011: "Alan" will be on exhibit at the American Artists Professional League Grand National at the Salmagundi Club, 47 Fifth Avenue, NYC. Reception" Sunday, November 6, 2-5pm.

To read more about the 100 Faces in 100 Days project on my web site (www.jillbanks.com), go to the 100 Faces Project Pages 1 and 2 where you can see all 100 of my volunteers. Click on the paintings, and go to my blog post for that person's sitting.

Web: www.jillbanks.com
Blog: jillbanks.blogspot.com
100 Faces in 100 Days Project Page 1 (faces 1-54): www.jillbanks.com/jillbanks/100_Faces_in_100_Days_Project.html
100 Faces in 100 Days Project Page 2 (faces 55-100): www.jillbanks.com/jillbanks/100_Faces_in_100_Days_Project_2.html
Email: jillbanks1@aol.com
Phone: 703.403.7435

Open Life at the Great Falls School of Art

"Beach Journal," 20"h x 16"w, oil on Raphael board, ©Jill Banks 2011

I've been in withdrawals ... without my 100 Faces and a Summer off of Open Life at the McLean Community Center ... so this afternoon's model session at the Great Falls School of Art was a welcome opportunity. And fun!

Zeki was the model, and Terri Parent -- the monitor for these sessions, has been in a decidedly beach-summer mindset. (She was the mastermind of last night's reception -- with Sangria and flipflops part of the equation -- for the Artists' Atelier's "Signs of Summer" exhibit.) She brought in the chair, buoys, beach towel.

I work my tail off in these sessions -- trying to capture what I'm after against the clock. It's a fight to the finish. But, a good fight. I used the palette knife to give it a rough and tumble feel -- and to cover the smooth board faster. It makes such a difference when you've gotten the whole piece blocked in. Looking at it now, I realize I need to add a shadow under Zeki's lower lip ... but hey, I had to come home sometime.

I may post my Beanie Baby of the Day ... number four out of nine a bit later tonight. Or maybe tomorrow.


100 Faces in 100 Days Exhibit and Other News
August 1-31: "100 Faces in 100 Days" Exhibit #2 in the Gallery at the Artists' Atelier
Reception: Friday, August 12, 6-9pm
Ice Cream Social: Saturday, August 13, 2-4pm
RSVP helpful for both events ... but please come anyway if you don't get around to it.

Sunday, August 14: Painting on the Waterfront with the Art League's Plein Air Painters, behind the Torpedo Factory in Alexandria, VA, in the morning.

August 26-August 29: Four-day intensive, still life workshop: "A Painting A Day" offered through the Great Falls School of Art. Space is limited. Details coming soon on my web site: www.JillBanks.com.

To read more about the 100 Faces in 100 Days project on my web site (www.jillbanks.com), go to the 100 Faces Project Pages 1 and 2 where you can see all 100 of my volunteers. Click on the paintings, and go to my blog post for that person's sitting.

"Open Life" Painting and Lots More...

Do you get nervous when I say "lots more"?

Today was a jam-packed day. I worked on "Weekend Edition" this am before heading the Atelier for open hours. There, I worked on the "Piazza di Michelangelo" that sat unfinished during my 100 Faces in 100 Days project. (You'll see it sometime soon.)

"Open Life," oil on linen, 20"h x 16"w, ©Jill Banks 2011

Open Life
From 4 to 7pm, I went to Open Life held at the McLean Community Center (download the PDF on open life sessions near the bottom of the page). I hadn't gotten a chance to do that this year until today. And, next Saturday is the last one of those (long pose) until the Fall. So, good thing I made it!

When I walked in, two painters were there, set up at their easels with large canvases. Actually, one was huge. I had a little 9"x12" canvas in my bag ... that looked ridiculous on the easel. I like little paintings, but, those large canvases looked like way more fun. I trekked out to my car ... and chose a 20"x16" ... not huge, but better.

Open life sessions are fantastic. Such a treat. Easygoing, comfortable ... and I just love every minute of it.

I really like this painting. Everything works, the colors are beautiful and I captured the day. Love those legs, too. Maybe my best legs.

I keep reaping the rewards of my 100 Faces project (read about it on my web site: www.jillbanks.com, go to the 100 Faces project pages). I paint so much more rapidly now at the beginning of a session, which allows me to concentrate on exactly what I want to accomplish with each painting. "Open Life" came together naturally and I spent two of the three hours refining the painting, pushing it in different directions. Being quick means I can take my time even in a relatively short session. A weird idea, perhaps.

"Weekend Edition" work in progress, 20"x20", oil on linen, ©Jill Banks 2011

My only difficulty was the horrible state of my paintbrushes. I promise (myself) that I will clean them tonight as soon as I post this. I didn't have a single small brush to use for her mouth or details. And, most of the larger ones I pulled out were stiff or hard as rocks. Not ideal.

"Weekend Edition" is still a work in progress. It might be my undertaking for tomorrow. I'm trying to get a number of pieces ready for the many juried shows and exhibits that are all right around the corner.

Thinking About Photography
I've been working on pulling together the knowledge and set up for photographing my own work in anticipation of an upcoming article on my "100 Faces in 100 Days" project and publishing a book. I spent a lot of the day Friday working on it ... and there are apt to be plenty more next week. I'll figure it all out, though, with the help of some friends. And guess what that will do? Make my photos on blog posts better and more consistent. Yea!
 

Web: www.jillbanks.com
Blog: jillbanks.blogspot.com
100 Faces in 100 Days Project: www.jillbanks.com/jillbanks/100_Faces_in_100_Days_Project.html
Email: jillbanks1@aol.com
Phone: 703.403.7435