Minutes March 11, 2012

Art Guild of Central Texas General Meeting March 11, 2012

The meeting was called to order at 2.05 pm by President Gloria Meadows. Secretary Nancy Cagle read the minutes for Feb. 13 and Pat Blackwell made a correction.
Frank Gutierrez and Bill Franklin reminded us of the March 19 date to carry works to McLennan Community College Ball Performing Arts Center for a show. They said to bring at least 3 each, all at least 16 x 20 (to prevent theft!)

Our demonstrator, Gordon Gandy, was then introduced by Judy Franklin, who has been with him the Watercolor Society for a long time. He first show4d us a drawing of flowers on Index Paper which is large, heavy, and translucent. He uses this, a light board, and transfer paper from a fabric store to get the image onto the thick, opaque Roofing (tar) paper (which is heavily textured but is not sticky with tar as the name sounds.)

As Gordon Gandy worked on his painting, he shared the philosophy he had developed after many years of painting and attending workshops taught by master painters. His work illustrates "abandonment under control." Abandonment allows the artist to let the painting and the medium inform the artist; control keeps the painting from chaos and randomness. He stressed the need to eliminate negativity, keeping the mind clear, and tapping into the right side of the brain. A common theme in his paintings is a recognizable subject matter, with a background of arbitrary designs and shapes which are inspired by his surroundings. He is always conscious of scale, incorporating small, medium, and large shapes in all his works.

He showed us a watercolor painting of a floral arrangement. To develop the painting, he first made a loose contour drawing on Index Paper with crayon, keeping his eyes on the subject, and allowing himself only 20 minutes to complete the drawing. He drew slowly to put more emotion in the work. After he selected his background shapes, he drew them and drew a grid on the back. He selected shape(s) most pleasing to him and enlarged them to fit the size of his finished painting. On a light table with the 140 lb hot press watercolor paper on top and the subject and background papers underneath, he drew the final design on the watercolor paper.™ He showed us the pieces he used for this one.

The painting which he demonstrated for us, was under-painted with acrylic house paint on black tar paper used for roofing. The subject was a portrait of a Native American man with a background of shapes and designs that suggested Native American culture. To get the original drawing and designs onto the tarpaper he drew the subject on index paper, enlarged the details of the background designs and drew them on the same paper. He then placed transfer paper from a fabric store on top of the tarpaper, laid the index paper on top of that, and drew over the lines of the subject and background. The drawing was thus transferred to the tarpaper. His first decision was what to leave black. He decided on the hair. For his demonstration he applied colors, using Benjamin Moore latex house paint in plastic pint jars and Lowell Cornell brushes for acrylic paint. For the background, he used a light blue, blending it with gray. He did not have a preconceived idea of what colors to use, letting the painting and his emotions inform him. He added details to the face, hair, clothing, and accessories. He blended paint on the surface of the under-painting, achieving a smooth gradation of colors. He kept in mind a red, yellow, and blue triad, adding whichever one seemed to be missing as he worked.

The "white carbon paper" he mentioned is a fabric transfer paper bought at fabric stores. He buy small cans of regular quality latex house paint. HE said "don't think too much" Clear your mind and let your spirit take over and you'll get so you can flow and paint for hours" The paint he puts into U-Line brand plastic jars. Since you can add your acrylic paint to the commercial liquid, you can get any shades you want.

His cross against a sunrise and stormy sky was an emotional ly charged piece, using the same techniques described above.

He actually painted the entire portrait of a Native American upside down so that it face us the entire time.

Written by Judy Franklin and Nancy Cagle
Respectfully submitted by

Nancy Cagle, Secretary