Intro to Classical Drawing will be my first workshop in Ajax, Ontario and I'm really excited about it! I'll be teaching some basic (but extremely valuable) drawing skills. You don't need experience, just willingness to learn. This workshop will be great for those who want to refine their drawing abilities or are just starting out and need some tools to help them draw more accurately.

Check out http://www.crystalbrownart.com/2012/05/workshops-2012.html for more information.

Auction for Shelter From The Storm

I am pleased to donate all proceeds of this painting to Shelter From The Storm, an organization supporting abused Canadian women and their children.


 Click Here for more on Shelter From The Storm.

@crystalbrownart

I'm finally on Twitter as of today, which feels strange but hopefully it's a good thing. I'll be updating the goings-on in my artistic life on there, please follow me @crystalbrownart! Happy Tweeting :)

Foray Into Digital

Happy New Year! I'm going to try to make this a happy one at least. I've started doing digital painting recently and it's got my creativity going again, especially since I'm not relying on reality that much, it's mostly imaginative (for now). That kind of puts me in the mood to tackle traditional painting again. Here's what I've been up to:

"Green and Blue Day", 2012

"Sunset", 2012

Still-Life With a Tea Pot (June 30, 2011)

"Separated" (In progress, detail), Oil on Canvas, 2011

I've finally settled on a title for this painting. The concept was in place from the beginning but I was searching for a title that would be the most explanatory without being too obvious. Don't mind the lighting, the tea pot is not painted as light in person. Things are moving along and I'm about halfway finished. The hardest parts are the metal container and just turning those edges on the tea pot, which I haven't done yet. The only object that's basically done is the metal lid, everything else needs more layers and revision. So far so good though...

OAA Annual Juried Art Show (Thursday, June 16th, 2011)

"Laura Horseman" (2011) and "Ruins" (2011, Honourable Mention)

I've participated in this annual juried show for a few years and it's gotten better and better. The work was truly exceptional and I was lucky to be apart of it. I really wouldn't want to judge that collection of work! My recent still life drawing received an Honourable Mention, which is always nice. There are still a couple of competitions I want to enter this year so I better get cracking!

I just became a member of the Portrait Society of Canada, and I'm planning a portrait painting to enter into their annual competition later this year.

Still-Life With a Tea Pot

Here's the first layer of paint for my latest still-life (detail). You can see the dead colour layer as well. I feel myself making a lot of progress with technique, and that's really making this much more enjoyable than previous paintings.