The New Renaissance Academy - Six week course

Hi everyone, it's been so long, I may have forgotten how to do this. There's a definite order to this , and I should have posted the pics before I started writing.
Well, it's great to be back home again. The course was absolutely amazing though, and far exceeded my expectations.
It was a very intense six weeks and I learned so very much, and consequently the time flew for me. I was so grateful for cell phones so I could talk to Al each day and keep in touch with my family. It was so wonderful that Al was able to come up with me at the beginning, and we were able to spend a few days together on beautiful Whidbey Island before the course started. (I'll post some pics of Whidbey, WA and my trips on my days off at another time).
I really worked hard, especially on the final piece, which we worked on for three weeks, sometimes I worked until past midnight. (We all did something different for our final paintings). Each day I would tell Al that I could not believe how much I learned that day. It was really an amazing course, and I am so blessed to have been able to do it, and now be a graduate of the New Renaissance Academy. I am so very grateful for such a supportive husband and family. I kept asking them to pray for me to understand and be able to retain it all.
Below are the pieces I did. The first week was mostly academic, and then we began putting into practice what we were learning.
The course was "The Fundamentals of Masterpiece Painting" implementing "The Lost Secrets of the Old Masters".


Section 1: "The Fundamentals of Composition & Light"
This is a charcoal drawing I did of a still life that we set up. It is 18"x 24"

Section 11: "The Fundamentals of Perspective"

This is a pencil drawing that I did in a little town on the water called Coupeville. It is 6" x10"

Section 111: "The Fundamentals of The Natural Laws of Color"

This is 11" x 14" and is done with a very limited oil palette on linen. It was a practice piece we worked on for three days, putting into practice all that we had learned. I chose to do Whatcom Falls which I had visited with friends on my day off. Everyone did something different. The amazing thing about this is that I did not use white for the falls. I used a tinted blue, orange and yellow one on top the other, layer upon layer to make the white falls. Everything has all the colors in it, with certain ones predominating. This is not a very good picture I'm afraid, as I just took it and a part of the top is cut off, but you get the picture =) Look at the depth you get with this type of painting. It takes hours and hours, but it really is worth it! (I'll have a better pic of it put on my website later). Everything is brought up from the shadows into the light step by step, instead of matching the color and simply putting it on the canvas. It's painting the cause of the effect of what you see - not just the effect, ....and everything has all the colors in it.

This type of painting needs to be viewed with the right lighting, like the paintings of the old masters who painted using this sfumato technique, in order to be really appreciated. I'm sorry that my photos do not do them justice.

All our paints, linen (not canvas) etc was supplied for us, and we had the very best quality of everything. The linen is museum quality Claussens linen from Belgium @ approx $100.00 per yard, and one particular tube of Old Holland paint I heard was $69.00 after the discount.
My final painting which you're about to see took me over 150 hours, so from now on I'll have "major" and "minor" pieces. I wish you could see it in reality to see all the colors and the details.

Thanks Al, Christian & Holly, Will, Dana, Tim, Andrew, Owen, little Megan (who missed me so much) Sean and everyone else who prayed for me while I was in Washington. I sure missed you all, and came home to find little Mary Kate not just walking - but running....how wonderful is that!





This was my final piece.
I called it "La Voie" (The Way)
16" x 26" oil on linen

Still on the easel! Under the bright lights in the studio it looks bright, but it is dusk and although not dark, the lamp has come on.

This makes me think of my season of life -it is dusk and hopefully my light is beginning to shine too. (The lamp seems to turn on and the painting lights up under the right lighting - so many analogies - Jesus being "The Light" who shines through us).

It is a place I had been to in France called La Roche Bernard, and had spent a quiet hour and a half there while my group was eating at a restaurant close by. (I had needed some quiet time with the Lord).

I love the contrast between the ancient buildings, the old stone walls, and the beautiful flowers.

It speaks to me of this generation walking in the footprints of their ancestors, living and making it their own by planting flowers (although some are growing there all on their own). They are making the little pathway or "The Way" (La Voie) beautiful , that others would want to go that way as well, and the lamp is on to light the way.

To me it is a picture of my life and what I hope to be, as expressed through one of my most favorite songs "Find Us Faithful" by Steve Green. Here are the words:

"We're pilgrims on a journey on the narrow road,

And those who've gone before us line the way

Cheering on the faithful, encouraging the weary,

their lives a stirring testament to God's sustaining grace.

Surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses

let us run the race, not only for the prize,

but as those who've gone before us,

let us leave to those behind us

the heritage of faithfulness passed on through godly lives.

(Chorus)

Oh may all who come behind us find us faithful,

May the fire of our devotion light their way,

May the footprints that we leave, lead them to believe,

And the lives we live inspire them to obey.

Oh may all who come behind us find us faithful!

After all our hopes and dreams have come and gone,

and our children sift through all we've left behind,

may the clues that they discover,

and the memories they uncover

become the light that leads them to the road we each must find.

(Chorus) "

Hebrews 12:1 says,

"Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses (those who've gone before us), let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God".

Oh may all who come behind me find me faithful!