This past weekend we had a Special, FREE “Hands On” Art Event, our DANIEL SMITH PrimaTek Watercolors and DS Extra Fine Watercolor Stick Extravaganza! 

 

Instead of our regular FREE “How To” Weekend Art demos at our Seattle Store and Bellevue DANIEL SMITH Stores this past weekend, we offered one of our Special “Hands On” Art Events.  These “Hands On” Events allow everyone who attends the opportunity to try out the Art Supplies featured at the Event. 

 

The Seattle Store had Annie Van Engelen in the Gallery/Demo room demonstrating, answering questions and encouraging everyone to paint using the PrimaTek Watercolors and the Watercolor Sticks on various watercolor papers:  Yupo paper, UArt Sanded Pastel Paper (wasn’t out but you could use the Wallis Archival Sanded Pastel [mulit media] Papers) and Fredrix Archival Watercolor Canvas Pad.

 

The Bellevue Store had Artists Sales Associates Craig on Saturday, and Joe on Sunday, demonstrating and answering questions at the “Try It” table set up near the front of the store while customers tried out our DS PrimaTek Watercolors and DS Watercolor Sticks for themselves.

 

Every Day,  Express Yourself  with  ART….
 
~Deborah Burns
 
Follow DANIEL SMITH on Twitter
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This weekend we are having a Special FREE Watercolor Event with Winsor & Newton at both Seattle (Saturday) and Bellevue (Sunday) with Artist Christine Hanlon.  There will be FREE Goodies (!) for this Special FREE Event, seating is limited, and pre-registration is required.

 

“This lively and entertaining discussion looks at the history, techniques, and materials that spell success when working in this most legendary of mediums. Impress your friends with your knowledge of flocculation and hydrogen bonding! Learn the keys to color permanence and light-fastness! What mediums will help you capture texture and expressive gesture? What are the three benchmarks for fine water-media brushes?” 
The first 40, for Seattle and the first 30 for Bellevue, to register receive a free packet of water colours and related materials with a combined value of over $35
Seating Limited – Pre-Registration Required

 

Patsy Surh O’Connell will be at the Bellevue Store on Saturday demonstrating Gongbi: Chinese Ink Painting.  Patsy was at the Seattle Store last year with a demo on Chinese Ink Painting that was very interesting.  If you are interested in watercolor painting or ink painting this FREE demo will give you some insight into some new techniques to try.

 

Saturday, October 31st at 11 am & 1:45 pm
GONGBI: Chinese Ink Painting

Patsy Surh O’Connell 

 

 

Seattle Store 
Saturday, October 10th Multiple Demos, Trading Card Table, and Try-it Stations
COLLAGRAPH: with Barbara Bruch 10 am to 12
BLOCK PRINTING: with Molly Hashimoto 12 to 2 pm
SOLAR PLATE: with Barbara Mason 2 pm to 4 pm

10:30 to 2:30 Special Printmaking Demo with Mary Shea with Fine Art Papers and more Sponsored by Savoir Faire

  

Bellevue Store
Saturday, October 10th Multiple Demos, Trading Card Table, and Try-it Stations
LINOLEUM PRINTING: with Dan Cautrell 10 am to 12
ETCHING: with Bill Ritchie 1 pm to 3 pm (August etching demo with Bill Ritchie)

 

Also heads up for Printmaking 101 Workshop: Screen Printing (Silkscreen) with Dave Pruneda beginning this Tuesday.  This is Part 3 of a rotating 4 part Series of Printmaking 101 Workshops. 

 

Tuesdays, October 13th & 20th, a series of 2 sessions at the Seattle Store
PRINTMAKING 101: Screenprinting
with Dave Pruneda

 

If you have been curious about the different forms of Printmaking and would like to find out more, then DANIEL SMITH is the place to be this Saturday!

 

 

My initial interest was to watch Bills’ 1977 video interview with Dan Smith (OUR Dan Smith!) with Dan talking about making etching and litho inks and why, while he worked on making a batch of etching ink.  Bill’s UW (University of Washington) video students were making this documentary as an assignment.  It is so interesting to see how Dan wanted to make the best printmaking inks available to artists such as himself, because he could not find the high quality inks he wanted to work with.  It was fascinating to watch “Making Etching Ink: Featuring D.G. Smith – Artist and Entrepreneur”!  You can watch a 2 1/2 minuet trailer at that link.

 

Bill told us that Dan Smith made the small batches of etching and litho inks and gave them to some UW printmaking students (Dan taught litho at UW in 1976) to test out in their work.  In the video when talking about one of the reasons why he began making inks, Dan says, “I’m into making perfect materials“.  A couple of other phrases really caught my attention; “One of my most favorite pigments is Lamp Black” and Dan goes on to explain why (incredibly rich color) as well as some background info on Lamp Black.  Later Dan makes a really poignant comment that I know many Artists also feel, “I don’t know how to make Art a bigger part of the world.“  I hope you have an opportunity to watch the video (now DVD) someday, it’s very interesting to watch what was originally a student assignment interview of someone who eventually turned his passion for making the BEST Art Materials for Artists into the Art business we know as DANIEL SMITH: Artists’ Materials.  And today that passion still continues to make the highest quality Artists Inks and Paints in the world!

 

Bills’ demo set up added another level of interest because his handcrafted “Halfwood Presses” were amazing sculptures on their own.  The photos on line do not do them justice, they are exquisitely detailed, and while working presses, they look as if they should be on display.  Bill brought his personal Mini Halfwood Press as a display which has a couple of unique and charming features.  The first was a clock embedded in the fine woodwork, and the second….well it has a music box mechanism in it and Bill surprised and charmed several DS store staff when it began playing!

 

For the part of the demo where Bill was pulling intaglio prints, inked in DANIEL SMITH etching ink, off the copper plate, he used a brand new, never-been-used press (#49) to test it before sending off to it’s new owner in Australia.  So not only was Bill debuting press #49, he was also pulling prints off a plate he made to commemorate his DVD of Dan Smith that he had not printed from before….pure performance!  Bill believes printmaking is a performance art and this demo was absolutely a performance.  I hope you get a chance to see his Interactive Printmaking FREE Demo this Sunday at the Bellevue DANIEL SMITH Store:

 

Sun July 26th from 12 to 2 pm Special Time!
INTERACTIVE PRINTMAKING: Daniel Smith Etching Ink DVD
Bill Ritchie Pulling Prints!
emeralda.com

 

Thank you Bill!

[ And Thank You for the wonderful print, I will treasure it! ]

 

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

 

Sunday, there will be a very Special “Interactive Printmaking” FREE demo with Multimedia Artist Bill Ritchie pulling prints off his handmade “Halfwood Press” of a special etching he made to commemorate his DVD of Dan Smith talking, in 1977, about making etching and lithography inks and more.  The DVD will be playing while Bill pulls prints, Bill also has a 2 1/2 minuet trailer from his DVD of the 1977 interview with Daniel Smith which you can watch now.  Bill Ritchie has this posted on his website:

 

Bill Ritchie just did this FREE Special Demo at the Seattle DANIEL SMITH Store on July 18th which I will have linked here once it is posted.  This was a fascinating Special Demo! 

Saturday, July 25th at 11 am & 1:45 pm
Acrylics in the Rough
Gail Baker

 

Bill Ritchie is a Multimedia Artist whose work includes working in Printmaking and Video.  In 1977 a few of his video art students, as part of an assignment, filmed Bill talking with Daniel Smith.  This “Basement Documentary” filmed by Bills’ students, shows Dan Smith talking about why he, as an Printmaking Artist, began making fine art printmaking inks which eventually grew into becoming the International Company DANIEL SMITH: Artists’ Marterials.   Bills’ video shows Dan talking about the struggle to balance making his art and starting his business, while showing Dan making a batch of etching ink, and a few years later at work as an Artist pulling prints. 

 

For this Special demo, Bill will be playing his video, “Making Etching Ink: Featuring D.G. Smith – Artist and Entrepreneur” (you can see a video trailer of the DVD on that link) during the demo while he pulls etching prints off the plate he made just for this occasion.  Bill has not pulled a print off this new plate yet, so everyone present at the start of the demo will get to see the first proof.  As Bill described it to me, it will be a bit of a “performance piece” as he will be pulling the prints off his “Halfwood Etching Press“

 

Seattle: Sat July 18th from 11 am to 1 pm Special Time!

Bellevue: Sun July 26th from 12 to 2 pm Special Time!  
INTERACTIVE PRINTMAKING: Daniel Smith Etching Ink DVD
Bill Ritchie Pulling Prints!
emeralda.com

 

Saturday,  July 18th from 11 am to 1 pm – Special Time!
INTERACTIVE PRINTMAKING: Daniel Smith Etching Ink DVD
Bill Ritchie Pulling Prints!
emeralda.com

Saturday,  July 18th at 1 pm & 3 pm – Special Time!
WATERCOLOR: Figure Drawing
Dan Riley
danrileyart.com

***

Sunday,  July 19th from 12 to 2 pm – Special Time!
OIL: Landscapes
Cal Capener 

 

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

 

I attended most of the first hour of Barbara VanDyke-Shuman’s  2 hour demo (11am to 1pm) with her talking and showing everyone how she creates her Pastel landscapes.  Be sure to visit the Gallery section of her website to see her pastel work. 

 

First I want to pass on to you is, one of the things Barbara told the audience after some questions were being asked about 15 minuets into the demo, was that she learned the answers to many of HER questions about using Pastels and other art materials by attending the FREE demos at DANIEL SMITH!  And, if you did not know already, there are also available on the DANIEL SMITH website in the “Art Tutorials, Articles and Techniques ” link at the bottom of the homepage a great selection of “How To” articles, here is the link for Pastel Tutorials .

 

Okay, back to Barbara’s demo…. 

 

Barbara likes to work in Plein Aire when she can, so she usually works at an easel.  TIP Here: when working on an easel, Barbara has made an inexpensive pastel tray to catch the pastel dust by folding a mat board into a tray.  She scores the mat board a couple of inches from the bottom, then scores it again on the same side the width of her easel tray area.  Barbara then bends at the first score to a 90 degree angle, then at the second score also with a 90 degree angle with the major part of the mat board upright.  Then she lays the mat board in her easel tray so that she can now rest her pastel panel in the mat board tray on her easel.   The now cupped shaped mat board collects the pastel dust for easier clean up.

 

When working in the studio, Barbara works from her thumbnail sketches, and at first studies values in the sketch with a “Picture Perfect Value Finder “.  Then, working on Wallis Sanded Paper or UART400 , Barbara tacks the paper down, then lays down some pastel in large, rough areas to give herself a good, color ground to work from.  Using orderless mineral spirits and a brush, she smooths the pastel ground and then lets it dry before beginning her real pastel work using her sketch as a reference, photo too if she has one.

 

Some of the art supplies Barbara uses include:

Pastels (Unison , Rembrant , Sennelier , and Nupastels ) Sanded Pastel Paper: UART400 , Wallis Sanded Paper , Arches Cover , Finger cots , Pastel Primer, Rubber tipped blender, Brushes , Odorless Mineral Spirits, Barrier Cream, Color Wheel.