I stepped back from my easel to look at my work when I nearly bumped into a young man who had been watching me paint. If I hadn't been so surprised, he might have been pepper sprayed but I was too busy trying to regain my composure. I had no idea he was even there. We ended up having a nice but brief conversation about the Schaumburg Plein Air competition that I am currently in. He said the most interesting thing about my painting. He said I made "nature cry."  I think that was a very poetic and kind criticism. He said he felt that I could win the competition with this painting but thought I should make it brighter. Here is the inspiration, the block in with pastel and alcohol, and the final painting done en plein air.

So, the painting is called, "Nature Cried" a 10 x 8 in. pastel on paper of a small waterfall near the log cabin on Volkening Heritage Farm in Schaumburg.

Value is how light or dark a color appears to be and that includes white. In my current pastel class at the Center in Palos, we are concentrating on a very important art principle and that is value. I put a white cup on a black surface with a gray background and a single strong light source from the side and asked the students to paint this in shades of gray.

Of course, the tendency would be to pick up a white pastel for the white coffee cup. However, this was really an experience of gray tones. The cup was actually darker than the background of gray poster board. Only the highlight would be white and that is why this was difficult for many. Even the black surface could not be totally black because the cast shadow was darker than the black paper the cup was on. I wasn't trying to trick anyone, but I did want them to see value in shades of gray. It becomes even more difficult when you add color or hue.

The students who have had my class before were given a similar exercise only the white cup was on a red napkin and there was a green circular logo on the front. In this case, I wanted them to see that white was not white but shades of pink because of the reflected light from the napkin . The green circle was at least three different greens because some of it was in direct light and some going into the shadow.

I think everyone found this to be a valuable warm up exercise.

My classes start with a half hour instructional warm up exercise and then the students take a break. After the break they usually start work on their own paintings but sometimes they decide to continue with the warm up. I want the class to paint from life and not just photos. Photos are very limited but that is another subject.

I am still interested in a conversation about my question from the last blog, "Why do you buy fine art?" What motivated you to buy an original piece of art? More importantly, if you do not buy art, why not? Please comment. Let's talk.

Since my last post, I taught a workshop at Crabtree Nature Center in Barrington Hills, IL. Thanks to Carol Foster, the organizer for Art in Nature, we had 12 participants and 30 on the waiting list. I have several painting currently in their lobby gallery and I brought some of my daily paintings.

The workshop was free to the participants. The nature center provided a few materials so that the students could explore the application of pastel to different papers.

I demonstrated a simple imaginary landscape that I have done before as a small daily painting. I wanted to show how pastel could be layered in a dry method for optical mixing of color. Then, I wanted to show how it could be manipulated with alcohol for an under painting. The sky was painted dry and the rest had a wet under painting. I didn't finish the painting at the workshop in the time allotted. I finished it at home. Here is "Sunny Dunes," an 8 x 10 in. pastel on U-Art paper. This could be a common scene in the Great Lakes area where I live.

Time is flying by. This week I will be giving away another daily painting. If you want to be eligible, go to my web site and sign up for my newsletter, http://sueflanagan.fineartstudioonline.com/

I hope this will be a conversation and I have a question about original fine art. By original fine art I mean any 2D or 3D one of a kind piece of artwork that is NOT mass produced. Prints or mass produced photos do not count. If it borders on "crafts" it does not count. If you have ever bought original art, why did you buy it? Did it match your couch? This one sold because it did.

Did it evoke an emotion or memory? This one did.

Did it captivate your imagination? This one did.

Did you like the colors and technique?

Or was it something else like you had a blank wall space and it was cheap? Please, let me know why you buy art.

And for those of you who do NOT buy original art, why not? This answer may be even more informative.

Let's talk.

Sue

I have challenged my painting buddy Judy Goral to a healthy food art war! We will exchange paintings of healthy food. Here is my first painting, "Bunch of Strawberries," a 5 x 7 in. pastel on paper.

This is one of the first fruits that we pick on our trips to Michigan. Actually, we just buy cases. I gave up picking years ago. It is rough on the knees and back.

These paintings will hopefully encourage good eating habits and a lot of painting. OK Judy, what is your healthy food?

Sue and Suzy

I didn't mean to do it! It just happened. I never thought I would paint a series, but I have. Clearly I am inspired by a very small section of land that is about a mile from my home near a bike path. It started with this painting, "By the Path Sunny Summer." It was followed by a commission, "By the Path."

I have taken many photographs of this land in all kinds of weather and different seasons and different times of the day. I have painted en plein air at this location and that is a little creepy since there are tall electrical towers overhead. I can feel the current, a stinging vibration, through the metal of my umbrella. Here is a 10 x 20 in. pastel, "By the Path Sunrise."

The others have followed as the inspiration came to me. These are daily paintings. You can see them under this category on my web site, sueflanagan.fineartstudioonline.com. Some are under archives.

And here is my most recent daily painting of the field.

I doubt this will be the last or should I quit?