More example paintings

Here are some more paintings that I am making as examples for classes.  I made these before I started party-planning last week for the big cake decorating party, you can read about it here.

My rules for painting these were once again pretty strict:  the paintings had to be straight forward, not too much mixing of colors, and paintable with only 2-3 brushes.  Also, in order for students to complete the painting within a couple of hours, there can't be too much drying time necessary, and I restricted myself to about 45 minutes per painting.

Getting ready to paint with kids (or their parents!)

Bugsy

 I've had a lot of requests for the kids in the neighborhood to come over and paint, which is really fun when I have the time.  The problem is that when everyone has their own painting to work on, it gets extremely labor-intensive for me, and a little chaotic.  I've been reluctant to do these sessions this winter, but it really is kind of fun to paint with the kids, they are so enthusiastic!  So for the last couple of days I've been working on some small sample canvases that I could use for kids to paint from.  Wouldn't this make a great Ladies' night out, too?!

My rules for painting these were pretty strict:  the paintings had to be straight forward, not too much mixing of colors, and paintable with only 2-3 brushes.  Also, in order for students to complete the painting within a couple of hours, there can't be too much drying time necessary, and I restricted myself to about 45 minutes per painting.  I'm really excited about the paintings from my long session!

I used acrylic paint and a stack of canvas boards that really have no other purpose in life...they are all 9x12 inches, and the stores seem to not carry this size of open back frame!  Right now I have a stack of my own kids' paintings that size that need a frame, and a lot of molding that I need to cut and glue to make them.  

This is still a work in progress, I'd like to have at least 15-20 samples representing a broad range of difficulties and subject matter.  This way I could easily offer a set rate per painting, and have everyone in the group do the same painting.  And keep my sanity.  (maybe!)

The never-ending snow...

Waves!

The Swallowtail Butterfly

Midnight cherries

Technicolor butterfly

Wild Cherries!

Sunset at the Summer Cottage

Sunset at my Uncle's Summer Cottage

This painting is by my first-grader, almost 7 year-old.  He wanted to paint something meaningful, and this is probably his all-time favorite place to be.  He painted this from a photo we took last time we were in Finland.  I love his finger-paint clouds and glaze on the water!  He also did a great job with the dock's shadow.  He likes to go sit on this dock, and play with all the frogs in the grass nearby.  The water around the dock is shallow, sandy, and full of oyster shells.