A Look Back At 2015

Pink House II.  Watercolor.
Approximately 8 x 11 inches.

All right, let me start this by saying my photo is not fantastic.  It is oppressively gray here (and, it has been that way for night on a week), and it is screwing with my white balance when I try and take pictures.  This photo is close enough that you get the idea of the painting.  It's a very loose landscape in an analogous palatte:  Prussian Blue, Quin Purple, and Rhodenite Genuine (all Daniel Smith) on Kilamanjaro 300 lb cold press paper.

Things of note for the year:

Roadside Barn

Roadside Barn.  Watercolor.
Approximately 10 x 14 inches

In a continuing theme, another barn.  This one is more reality base, which means I used a reference photo taken below on a trip from Columbus, OH back to Cincinnati last year.  I'm using the photo just for the shape of the barn, and a little bit as the suggestion of the landscape.  Once I had the barn organized, I stopped looking at the photo.

I did another painting based on a photo from this same trip, which you can find here.  And, I've been doing lots of barns and buildings lately, just for fun.  I need to take a day trip, and snap some more photos.  

The palette is Quinacridone burnt orange, prussian blue, and nickel azo yellow.  On Kilamanjaro 300 lb cold press paper.

I may still need to dim down the barn.  Will think on that.

I did get called away, mid-painting, so I snapped a pic on my way, you can see that at the bottom.

Blue Barn and Silo

Blue Barn and Silo.  Watercolor.
Approximately 12 x 9 inches

I'm still on buildings. I've been thinking about joining the 30 paintings in 30 days challenge that starts on Jan. 1, 2016.  Formally joining.  Last year, I did a series of paintings informally. If you're interested in what it involves, you can get more information HERE.

This painting, in my opinion, is better than my last post, just because it's significantly better organized.  Planning and practice count for a lot more than I'd like to think.  In this case, because it can be a struggle for me to get what I want, I drew out my plan on the paper before I started painting. I did have one major change:  the original painting included a fence in the background.  It didn't work, so I adjusted as I went.

This is phthalo blue rs, cobalt teal blue, and quin gold on 300 lb kilamanjaro cold press paper.

Let Me In

Let Me In.  Watercolor.
Approximately 6 x 9 inches.

I must be feeling extra messy.  Might be the stress of December.

Cobalt Blue and Quinacridone Burnt Orange on Kilamanjaro 300 lb cold press paper.

I must also be feeling brief!

Wyoming's Holiday One Stop Shop

Limited Palette Barn Study.  Watercolor.
5 x 7 inches.

Calling this a study is a little strong--technically, it's a blank note card on Strathmore Watercolor Card Paper (it's 140 lb cold press paper designed to fold), that results in a card that is 5 x 7 inches with an envelope....

Why would I paint this, do you ask?

Because I need some small things to sell...!

I'll be at our neighborhood Holiday One Stop Shop this Saturday (12/5) from 10 am to 3 pm in the Wyoming Civic Center (1 Worthington Ave., Cincinnati, OH 45215).  At events like these (and I don't do many) I like to bring a bunch of these greeting cards.  (I also sometimes put them up on Etsy.  If you're super interested, you can check some examples HERE.)

eta- to correct the street, doh!  We have a bunch of parallel streets that all start with a 'w.'  Almost a decade here, and I still can't keep them straight.

I sell them for a nominal price--usually, $5 each.  And here's the trick: to make it worth my while to sell them at that price, I need to be able to paint them very quickly.  That kind of fast painting, though, the kind that looks elegant and loose and planned, is frequently what I'm shooting for in my regular paintings.  The cards then, work out to be useful for getting better at painting, since to be able to do that, and do it well......well, I still have a lot of work ahead of me. Still, every once in a while, I get something I really like.

Some other things of note--I need to get a stamp for the back of my cards.  Some day.  It's on my list.

I also need to stop taking photos with my phone after dark.  This picture has a horrible yellow cast that I can't seem to completely shake.

Hope to see you out on Saturday!

Amy