This weekends FREE “How To” Art demos at the DANIEL SMITH Seattle Store we have a wide selection Art demos to choose from:  Pastel Portraits with Don Lee and Gold Leaf Gilding (Metal Leafing) with Charles Douglas.  Sunday we have Landscape painting in Plein Air and the Studio with Gage Instructor and Author Mitchell Albala who will be signing his new book, “Landscape Painting: Essential Concepts and Techniques for Plein Air and Studio Practice“ after the demo.

 

Saturday: Portrait Artist Don Lee will be demonstrating how to do Portraits in Pastel.  Don’s demo is a good introduction on getting started with painting portraits in pastels, and to find out if you would like to know more and take his workshop in February. 

 

Saturday: January 16th we have Gold Leaf Gilding with Charles Douglas. This should be a very interesting introduction on Gold Leafing, and if you have been curious about this or Metal Leafing, then this would be a great demo for you.  Charles’ website has lots of information, and his blog “A Gilder’s Journal” is very interesting too.  If you can’t come to the demo, we have 2 articles on Metal Leafing that you may be interested in reading: “Metal Leafing the Easy Way“, and “Metallic Leafing Technique” may provide some information for you. 

 

Sunday: January 17th we have a special demo + book signing opportunity with GAGE Academy of Art Instructor Mitchell Albala who is the author of: “Landscape Painting: Essential Concepts and Techniques for Plein Air and Studio Practice“.  Mitchell will be sharing some of his techniques on Plein Air Painting and how it relates to Studio time during the 2 hour demo.  His new book will be available at the demo and also in our new catalog (coming soon!).  It’s a fantastic book, and looks like one I’ll be adding to my collection! 

Sunday, January 17th from 12 to 2pm (Special Time!) 
Landscape Painting: Essential Concepts and Techniques for Plein Air and Studio Practice
Mitchell Albala 
Have Mitchell sign your copy of his new book during this event!

 

We had a BIG crowd Labor Day Weekend for the FREE demo at the DANIEL SMITH Seattle Store to watch and learn from Encaustic Artist Patricia Baldwin Seggebruch.   The two Sunday demos were also a book signing for Patricia Baldwin Seggebruchs’ book “Encaustic Workshop: Artistic Techniques for Working with Wax” which was a verrrrry popular purchase that day!

1. Encaustic paints (waxes) – R&F Encaustics.
2. Encaustic medium.
3. Beeswax: Pastilles & Block
4. Damar crystals
5. Pancake Griddle with temperature gauge – as a hot palette for tins of colored waxes.
6. Printmaking ink tins (use 1lb size or your brushes may cause the tins to tip over – comes as a dozen too – tip use lids for mixing colors).
7. Electric skillet – for melting encaustic medium.
8. Heat Gun – (hardware store – used for stripping paint)
9. Natural Bristle brushes: 2.5 ” Hake brush, bamboo Hake brushes, soft, fine hair brushes for wax to go on smoothly and Hog Bristle brushes for more control.
10. Oil Paints: such as DANIEL SMITH Original Oil Paint – you want highly pigmented oil paints. 
11. Oil Bars: such as Sennelier Oil Bars - you want highly pigmented oil bars.
12. Ampersand 2in Deep Cradled Claybord - need a ridge surface so encaustic won’t flex off and Ampersand is ready to use and the Claybord readily takes the wax.
13. Metal tools for incising into the wax: pottery tools, bookbinding tools, wire bristle brushes, cookie cutters, razor blades, sequin punch ribbon (find at craft specialty shops) and whatever else you find that can be heated (to clean) and make marks into the wax.

Major Tip: One of Patricia’s favorite asspects of working with encaustics is that it is the easiest, fastest medium to clean up with…you just unplug your Griddle & Skillet leaving the brushes in the melted wax to harden and ready to be melted when the Griddle & Skillet are plugged in for your next painting session!

1. Encaustic medium is a mix of beeswax and damar resin, is used as an extender for the highly pigmented R&F Encaustic Paints, and can be used as a layer between colors to increase a sense of depth in the colors.  The damar also makes the wax more durable, increases the melting point and allows the wax to be buffed to a shine when finished.
2. While you can make your own encaustic paints, Patricia perfers to not work with powdered pigments and likes  R&F’s ready-to-work-with encaustic paints.
3. Patricia does not like working with paraffin (petroleum products) only beeswax.
4. Patricia prefers to work on Ampersand Claybord because it is ridged, takes the encaustic waxes well, and is Gallery ready.
5. Don’t use plywood or other types of glued or laminated wood since you are heating them, you don’t know what chemicals are present.
6. Birch wood is also great to work on.
7. The R&F website has a lot of helpful information, and is a great resource for learning more.
8. Patricia likes to work in front of an open window with a box fan turned around and blowing the fumes outdoors, keeps her cooler too, since she is working with a hot griddle, skillet and encaustic waxes.
9. If you like working standing up, be sure to raise the table up so that you are working at an optimal height. 

1. Prime your painting surface with plain melted beeswax by heating the surface with the heat gun (warm wood for warm wax)
2. Apply a layer of wax with a soft Hake brush.
3. Then heats it again to make sure it is fused to the board. 
4. Paints a layer of red encaustic, then fuses with heat gun.
5. Incises into the warm wax with metal tools to make marks and designs.
6. You can rub oil paint or oil bar into the incised patterns (be sure an use gloves!).
7. Then paint over with a soft brush, a layer of wax.
8. Keep working over the surface until you finish your piece! 

1. Blow off the wax with the heat gun.
2. Heat the board and wipe off the board. 

1.  Patricia likes to buff out her finished pieces with a piece of women’s nylons.  The paintings can also be cleaned this way as well.

1. Place metal leaf face down onto warm (not hot) wax.
2. Burnish the back to transfer on to the wax (you do not need adhesive – the metal leaf with stick to the warm wax).
3. You can apply wax over the metal leaf, but you will lose some of the metal gleam.
4. Metal leafing and encaustics are very traditional since gold leaf would be used in ancient paintings. 

1. Heat up the wax surface.
2. Lay your copier image facedown.
3. Burnish it with the back of a spoon
4. Drizzle some water onto the paper (this helps to dissolve the paper fibers).
5. Burnish it again.
6. Peel and rub off the paper.
7. Then fuse the image with your heat gun. 

• Keep a fire extinguisher on hand because hot wax is flamable and can catch fire.

This Saturday, Sunday and Labor Day Monday, we have 4 differnent  FREE demos for you here at the DANIEL SMITH Bellevue Store so come and learn, and be inspired!

 

Saturday, Michael Lim who you have likely met during one of your trips to the Bellevue Store, will be demonstrating how to stretch canvas.  Stretching canvas can be tricky and Michael will show you tricks to tame un-cooperative canvas and get it properly stretched onto bars. 

 

Saturday, September 5th at 11 am & 1:45 pm
CANVAS STRETCHING: Prep & Stretch for Beginners 
Michael Lim
iismichaellim.com

 

Sunday, Ronald Otto, the inventor of the Otto Watercolor Paper Strecher Bars, will be demonstrating how to use his innovative tool.  The Otto Stretchers allow for stretching watercolor paper without leaving staple holes, tape marks and preserves the deckle edge of your watercolor paper.  The watercolor paper remains flat after drying in the stretchers no matter how wet you make the paper while painting.  If you are a watercolor painter, then you really should come and see this demonstration by the inventor of this great artist tool!

Sunday, Sept 6th from 12 to 2 pm
PAPER STRETCHING: OTTO Watercolor Paper Stretcher
Ronald Otto
ottoartproducts.com

 

Also on Sunday, we will have a Book Signing with Tony White, a well known instructor at DigiPen, signing his book:  “ANIMATION from PENCILS to PIXELS ~ Classical Techniques for Digital Animators”.  If you have an interest in Animation, then this is a great opportunity to meet Tony while he signs his book!

Sunday, Sept 6th from 2 pm to 4 pm
ANIMATION: A Moving Experience! Book Signing
Tony White
blog.animaticus.com

 

Labor Day Monday, Keith Sluder demonstrating Watercolor painting.  In this FREE demo, Keith will be sharing Watercolor special effects tips to create rock & stone in paintings.  It you are a watercolor painter, then you just might want to mark this on your calendar to attend and find out how.

*LABOR DAY SPECIAL EVENT
Monday, Sept 7th from 12 to 2 pm
WATERCOLOR: Properties of Rock ‘N’ Stone
Keith Sluder
signaturesgallery.com

 

With all these great FREE demos and what the weatherman is saying about a cloudy (rain too!) Labor Day Weekend, well, you just might want to spend some time finding out “How To” do some new things in Art!

 

Every Day,  Express Yourself  with  ART….
 
~Deborah Burns
 
Follow DANIEL SMITH on Twitter
Become a DANIEL SMITH Fan on Facebook

This Labor Day Weekend we have fun labor for you!  We have an end-of-summer bounty of great 5 FREE “How To” Art Demos for you this weekend at the DANIEL SMITH Seattle Store.  We have Watercolor, Oil and Encaustic Painting demos for You.

 

Saturday, we have a FREE Watercolor demo, WATERCOLOR: Exploring color and You Personality with Sally Drew.  Sally is very knowledgeable about DANIEL SMITH Watercolors and has an article on the DANIEL SMITH website called “Experiment with Color Mixtures“, so she will have lots of great information and tips on colors to share with you.

 

 

Sunday is the first of our two FREE Encaustic demos (Tomorrow, Labor Day is the 2nd) and this one includes a Book signing.  Patricia Baldwin Seggebruch, author of the book “Encaustic Workshop” will be showing “Techniques for Working with Wax” and will also be signing copies of her book as well!  This is a great opportunity to learn some cool techniques for working with Encaustic paints (waxes) hope to see you there!

Sunday, September 6th at 11 am & 1 pm (please note the different times)
ENCAUSTIC: Techniques for Working with Wax
Patricia Baldwin Seggebruch
pbsartist.com
Don’t forget to have Patricia sign your copy of her new book “Encaustic Workshop“

Also on Sunday, we have a FREE Oil Painting demo with Jim Lamb who paints very atmospheric landscapes with  Oil Paints.  If you go to his website to see some of his work, you will gorgeous examples which will inspire you to come and learn some tips from Jim on “Oil: Simplicity – Key to Stronger Paintings”. 

Sunday, September 6th from 2 pm to 3:30 pm
OIL: Simplicity – Key to Stronger Paintings 
Jim Lamb
jimlambstudio.com

 

Monday, Labor Day, we are having the second of our two FREE Encaustic demos.  This one is an Introduction to Encuastic Painting with Hamid Zavareei (who is a Gage Academy instructor).  So if you have been curious about what Encaustic Painting is (using encaustic waxes) and how to do it, then this is a perfect FREE demo for you to see and find out.

*LABOR DAY SPECIAL EVENT
Mon Sept 7th from 12 to 2 pm
ENCAUSTIC: An Introduction
Hamid Zavareei
gageacademy.org

 

Also on Labor Day Monday, we are having a FREE Oil Painting demo with Tenaya Sims who is a Gage Academy instructor and instructor at Georgetown Art Center.  This demo is on Classical Oil Painting and Tenaya will be sharing tips on painting in the classical manner….think of it as a micro-mini Atelier experience!

*LABOR DAY SPECIAL EVENT
Mon Sept 7th from 2 pm to 4 pm
OIL:Classical Oil Painting
Tenaya Sims
georgetownartcenter.blogspot.com 

 

Well, there you have it, an Amazing Art Weekend to learn so many new Art mediums, techniques, ideas and more….these will help motivate  You to CREATE!

 

Every Day,  Express Yourself  with  ART….
 
~Deborah Burns
 
Follow DANIEL SMITH on Twitter
Become a DANIEL SMITH Fan on Facebook

Sunday, April 13th, Classical Realist Painter Juliette Aristides was at the DANIEL SMITH Store in Seattle to sign copies of her beautiful new book; “Classical Painting Atelier” and talk with visitors.

Many thanks to Juliette Aristides for coming to DANIEL SMITH to launch newest book!

Friday, April 18, 7:00pm, FREE 

Gage Academy of Art, 

1501 10th Ave. E, Seattle, 

Geo Studio, Third Floor