Workshop Challenges Part 2

This week's workshop was lots of fun–like last weekend. I really like Dustan Knight as a teacher. One of the things I missed since being out of school is the group critique. I'm glad that Dustan does them in her workshops. Below are some of the paintings from the group during critique time.

In last week's workshop, we used sticks and ink in our paintings. This week we used stencils to create patterns in the background. Using new tools and techniques adds to the fun and freedom and gives the artist permission to explore and stretch the usual. White this won't completely change how I paint, it will inform it and expand the possibilities. I can't wait to get back to painting more next week. (now that my huge paying job is at the printer)

Below are my paintings from the workshop.Tom thinks they are not as good as the paintings from the previous workshop. During the critique, other students suggested I add a pale wash of violet, to make some of the flowers pop in image one. Dustan likes the way the flowers blend into the background. These two paintings are still on boards so they are not "finished" so I'm open to suggestions. What do you think?

Workshop painting one 

Workshop painting two