Art for Seniors IN PERSON
Wednesday
May 13
9:30 am - Noon
Jan McNeil
The Ubiquitous Rooster!
I was drawn (no pun intended) to the rooster for today’s subject. (Ubiquitous = something found everywhere, widespread). My husband jokingly called me a “rooster booster”!
The rooster has an intriguing body shape – with a bright red cockscomb on top of his head and colorful feathers and feet. The comb is used to establish social dominance and attract mates. The rooster shape is often placed on church steeples or weathervanes to represent watchfulness and act as a guardian. The rooster often symbolizes vigilance, dawn, courage, herald of the sun, new beginnings. The Gallic rooster is the unofficial national symbol of France – representing their identity of vigilance and pride.
I have 4 images of roosters here for you to choose ONE from. These are photos I took on trips. Chose one to try. I'll share a loosely rendered painting of a rooster during the class. (I thought the rooster would be simple to paint but I learned its feathers can be challenging!)
(To view a larger image of each photo, you can right click the photo and open the image in a new tab.)
- Review the 4 options and chose the one that appeals most to you.
- Study the image you select. Remember you can use artistic license to improve the composition!
- Most workshop instructors highly recommend a thumbnail value pencil sketch. (It helps you solve composition problems before you paint.)
- After the thumbnail value sketch, decide on the painting format (landscape, portrait, or square)
- Lightly sketch outline of shapes – either freehand, light table, graphite transfer paper. Tape edges of paper for best appearance.
- Decide where to start. (no right answer)
Jan McNeill has always loved watercolor but with a full time job and 2 children, there wasn’t much time left over! She was able to begin her watercolor journey 25 years ago when her children became teenagers and she was able to start a weekly night class with Caroline Graham.
Jan has learned a lot from various workshops, teachers, art books, and magazines. She learned that she does her best work on hot press paper with round brushes.
Jan became actively involved with WAS-H after she retired. She’s held a variety of board positions including President, Vice President, Gallery Director, and Publicity Director. She currently is the Board Historian.
Jan loves watercolor and the WAS-H organization! She hopes that you also find it enjoyable and helpful in your own watercolor journey.
“Anyone can master watercolor if they love it too much to quit!” (per Angela Fehr - Canadian artist)
Each Wednesday we host an art gathering for Seniors. This is a friendly and supportive group - all levels are welcome to join and there is no fee for this class however, online registration is required to participate.
Students bring their own supplies (paper, paints, brushes, paper towels, etc.) - only water-media please.
This weekly event is a community outreach to seniors 55+ only.
Safety Alert: Individuals attending this activity should be aware that they require the ability to safely descend stairs in an emergency.
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