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Portraits and Fifty Smiles- November 2010 newsletter

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Portraits and Fifty Smiles- November 2010 newsletter

Well, I'm back, looking forward to sending out art updates and newsletters again. There have been a few changes since my last newsletter. For one, there is a new website, similar to the old one, but a bit simpler and with a few new features. Another update: it is now possible for people to sign up for the art newsletter without my needing to be invited first, which is a better way to get information out to more people.

I will add sketches as well as paintings, so you can see the progression of my ideas and current projects. Perhaps this newsletter will keep me on track - keeping my activity more consistent, helping me to focus on the direction and evolution of my projects, and generate interest by others in my artwork.

As always, I would love feedback from my you: on which sketches you like, which ones might not work for you, and what projects or themes you would like to see more of. This feedback will help me to see my ideas from new perspectives, and develop my art further.

Current Projects

Recently I picked up a Watercolor Artist magazine which features interviews with several artists. Each artist's work demonstrates their own style, and their styles differ from each other as much as rain forests differ from deserts. One artist uses very loose, flowing brush strokes to express fast, blurred motion, while another uses tight, controlled dry-brush technique to suspend the viewer in a specific place and time. With all of the differences in technique and style, I noticed that the one thing each of the artists share is the conviction in solid drawing and compositional skills. Without the basic foundation of good drawing and composition, the artwork suffers.

So I am going to focus a lot more on my drawing and compositions. Beyond that, I have a couple of projects in mind. I am spending a lot of energy in portraiture. I like creating them; portraits are eye-catching and sentimental. I am starting on a long term project called Fifty Smiles, in which the theme of the art will be smiles, of any sort. The pieces may be abstract, realistic, or might just show the mouth, or perhaps just the eyes of someone smiling, but each piece will show a type of smile. I would like to do artwork that uplifts the viewer, but also encourages them to examine the different subtleties and character in different smiles. Eventually, I will get to a point where I will narrow down my artwork to fifty of my strongest pieces for the Smiles project, and I will then publish them in a book.

If anyone would like to contribute any photos, I would be glad to use them as a basis for some of my pieces, and may include them in my book, so please feel free to contact me if there are photos you would like to share for the project. I would love to have such beautiful subjects to draw, and would be happy to provide a personalized print or free copy of the book when it is published to those who participate.

Future projects:
(in no particular order)

Military themed paintings

Pumpkin Still Life (I have a feeling I'm going to time this project wrong)

Family photographs (three paintings, showing different elements of the family, as if they are photographs taped to the background).

So....

I hope everyone is doing well. I look forward to sharing more of my artwork with you, and I thank you for your feedback, your contributions, or for just being on the newsletter list!

Regards,

Andrew Gillette
Gillette Studios



andrew-gillette.artistwebsites.com