One more live broadcast on Periscope finished!

Here's the live demo and the original from today, side by side.

Thank you for watching, for the comments and for the hearts! Missed it? You can still see the replay and send hearts for a few more hours on Periscope.tv/michelecoopart  

Periscope videos vanish after 24 hours!

Would you like to see me do the background next?

News Flash! An Artful Touch, in Kirkland, just got in a whole selection of Lamy pens (Safari and Joy) and extra nibs of varying sizes! 

Figure Studies vs. 6-Stroke Figure

If you've been around my blog and/or website for a while, you have probably encountered my tutorial on simple silhouettes, which I call 6-stroke figures. I even have a tutorial page and video on how easy they are to do. They're great for giving scale to a cityscape or adding the human element to a composition.

A 2 page spread from my little DYI pocket sketchbook

While I am recharging my art spirit this summer, sketching all over the place with friends and colleagues, I have decided to kick it up a notch (as Emeril would say) Let's see if I can put a little personality, individuality and expression in the figures I'm adding to the scene. BAM!
I would call these more than a silhouette, but less than a portrait....so maybe "studies" would be a good term to use. I feel that I did achieve a bit beyond the generic and succeeded in trying to make them as individual as possible.

I guess the guys on the fishing boat are half stroke figures, or maybe just a dot! ;)

Encyclopedia of urban figures

On a recent sketching trip to Pt. Townsend, I took quite a few photos with my camera. The ones I took with my cell phone are so much easier to access because I don't have to take out an SD card and transfer them to my laptop.

So I finally got to review the ones on the camera. What do you know! I have captured the "encyclopedia of urban figures"! Just about every example of people walking in town is in this one shot: distant figures, near figures, mid-range, singles, couples, sitting, all ages, variety of overlapping and separation, with jackets, vests, shirts, dark top/light bottom, dark bottom/light top, light to dark local values, with and without hair, variety of stride and foot positions, etc.

Arty, the sketching gnome

"Arty, sketching gnome"

 Original Watercolor by Michele Copper

Size: 8x10"    Price: $100

So back to "painting figures" or more to the point, gnomes. The finished painting is to the left.  Illustrated below is the example from a recent class with a photo of the reference, the sketch, first pale wash, and shadow wash. A few minor details and accents were added to finish.

Cafe society

Here is another page from my 2014 sketchbook project.

It's fun to combine two favorite pastimes, people watching and sketching while enjoying a break at a restaurant.

Man on a bicycle

From the sketchbook
This is a combination of ink scribble and contour drawing with line and wash.
I used a Micron pen without any preliminary drawing and artist's quality watercolor on an Aquabee sketch pad.


It's a process of elimination. Here's the board I used for my students. It shows that the more you eliminate, the stronger your statement is. Choose what you really like and paint that.

New DVD Release--Homer's "Gloucester Boys"

Step by Step 20 minute lesson on DVD

Here's a first look at the cover of my new watercolor  instructional DVD, Homer's "Gloucester Boys."
Release date:
August 31, 2012

The cover art shows the demonstration painting in the lesson.  Discover watercolor secrets of simplifying figures as Michele Cooper demonstrates Winslow Homer's "Gloucester Boys", step by step.

Learn how to simplify the figure into two basic shapes, create strong contrasts of light and shadow, drop in color for skin tones and use specific brushwork for soft and rough edges. There is a bonus section of photo references so that you, too, can create dozens of your own simple but effective watercolor figures.

Price: $20.00 for one DVD plus $5.00 S&H