Gloria J Zucaro's "A trip to the Art Institute"

This is my very early post to Paint Party Friday, as I have a busy schedule for the rest of the week.  I am cleaning out & organizing to get my house ready to sell this Fall.

Last Saturday I went to the Art Institute of Chicago with 3 other artist friends.  I drove as I always do and would not have gone if not for having friends who always go to “the city”!  As you know I am a “country girl” and struggle with the parking and street direction issues in the city.  I would much prefer a drive out into areas with fields of corn and old barns.  However, it is good that friends suggest these adventures to me.  Two of the ladies who went had memberships, so the other two of us got in free as guests.  The exhibit was outstanding.  In glass cases there were actual gowns from the times of Renoir, Sargent, Tissot, Mary Cassatt, Manet, Monet, etc.  There were 75 paintings by artists depicting the beautiful gowns in scenes as if the gowns themselves were portraits.  In one gallery setting the floor was covered in artificial grass and there were park benches to sit on, and “birds” were tweeting!  That was the Plein Air room, of course!  It was really a very wonderful exhibit!  I suggest you all go to see it.  This is the last stop in the tour and has been extended until Sept 29, I believe. 

Even though the “Café” was closed they were serving really good lunch items on the third floor of the Modern Wing in “Terzo Piano”.  The head chef is award winning Tony Mantuano.  His team was serving modern Italian cuisine in a room with huge windows where we could see all the people entering for Lollapalooza. 

   

When we left the parking garage ,a bonus, the other three paid my share of the parking fee.  Thank you, Ladies!   But, I made a mistake, due to street closures from Lollapalooza and I drove us home by Sheridan Rd. and Willow instead of 90 & 53!  It was more scenic, and I pretended that I did it on purpose because of the construction lane closures on the highway.

The next special exhibit starting November 3 is called American Painting, Culture, and Cuisine.

Here is a link to the AI exhibit.  http://www.artic.edu/exhibitions/impressionism-fashion-and-modernity

Gloria J Zucaro's "Lady Prizefighter "

Okay, you may laugh, now!  Or are you horrified?!  :)

The painting below was done in my last portrait class with Ann Feldman...and although I did it in fun, Ann was not pleased!  The story...Ann gave us three sheets of reference photos that had eyes, noses, and mouths, all done by Sargent, or Manet.  We were to practice one of each, then move on to trying a couple others in each category.  Well, I had done my eyes at the end of last weeks class.  So I tinted the bottom 2/3rds of the canvas sheet with a peachy color.  But then instead of painting a nose separately on the middle area under the eyes, I thought it would be fun to attach the other persons(male nose, facing a different way) to my beautiful eyes!  Ann was not amused(at first!).  She said "Gloria, what have you done!, I can't stand to look at it!"  Well, I continued on my merry way with the mouth, too.  But then even I couldn't  look at it.  The eyes previously painted were too small for the big nose and mouth, and too close together.  So I changed the eyes somewhat.  I added an outline of the face(which didn't help!)  At the right bottom is the beginning effort of a mouth by Manet.  I will show you my reference "parts" so you can see what they should have looked like individually.

Happy Halloween!

    

Gloria J Zucaro's "Autumn" and "Manet"

Here is the final version of our third portrait class with Ann Feldman.  After last week's drawing and adding shadows with charcoal, we had sprayed our portraits with fixative.  This week we used burnt umber to cover the entire surface with a wash, then wiped out the lighter areas of the face and neck that were not in shadow with a paper towel or small brush around the nose and eyes.  We then put in all the darker areas with our burnt umber.  I think it is a really neat technique.  
I thought you might like to see the front courtyard of my townhouse.(Three pictures)  I love this time of year, Autumn, when the trees are falling asleep, leaves blowing in the wind, and all the beautiful grasses are turning golden, too. All photos may be enlarged for better detail by clicking on the image.  In case I don't finish another painting today, this post will be my entry to Paint Party Friday.  Be sure to visit!

My Front Entry Courtyard

 The Front Door Area

My Asian Fountain.  It is turned off now and will have the pump removed on Saturday.