Love A Pear....

Pear Apparent.  Watercolor.
Approximately 12 x 20 inches.

This painting is dedicated to Marilyn Bishop--we're part of the same critique group, and when I saw her last week, she'd done a painting inspired by some pomegranants I painted at the end of last year (call me flattered). I don't think I ever blogged about them, but they were up on facebook here.

The Challenging Part of Spring

To The Light.  Watercolor and Crayon.
5.5 x 9.5 inches.

It's been an incredibly busy spring.  As beautiful as the season is, it tends to be overwhelming. Added to the mix--I started a part time administrative job a few months ago, with a lovely pair of attorneys. Couldn't ask for nicer bosses, and I enjoy the job, but even after a couple of months, I haven't quite adjusted so that I can paint every day.  

Siberian Iris, Redux

Siberian Iris, Redux.  Watercolor.
10 x 6.5 inches.

Spring is sprung in Cincinnati, and the flowers are starting to bloom.  Each and every spring, I get caught in the iris.  It's hard to resist these flowers.  They seem to float.  You can see last year's painting here, and then one from last January here.

The best part about this painting, is that it's on hot press paper (Fabriano 300 lb) and there is not anything but watercolor.  I am going to conquer the hot press, thank-you very much.

Phthalo blue red scale, hansa yellow medium, and quinacridone pink--all by Daniel Smith.

It's not easy being green....

Blue Abstract.  Watercolor and Crayon.
7 x 10.5 inches.

Rats--I thought I'd posted this, and I had not.  It was sitting as a draft.  Here you go, a bit later than I intended....

I know, I know--that's a blatant rip off of Kermit and The Muppets.

I own green paint, I really do, but I've used it less and less over the last year or two.  When I reset my palettes recently, I put out two greens--one is phthalo green and the other is ....I can't remember, but that gives you an idea of how often I use it.....

When I sat down to paint, I was thinking abstract, and decided to try phthalo green, phthalo blue, and burnt umber (I think).  Then I threw in some quin pink.  Then--well it was not looking cohesive.  I ended up adding caran d'ache, and then more opaque grayed watercolors over the top.

It's on Fabriano hot press 300 lb watercolor paper.

Hot Press Paper

Layered Pears.  Watercolor and Crayon.

If you've been reading this blog, you've probably noticed that I've taken a shine to 300 lb Fabriano Rough Watercolor paper.  It is fantastic stuff.  You've probably also noticed that I often use an overlay of Caran D'Ache crayon. Also fantastic stuff.  The two don't necessarily go together, though. Crayon over rough paper produces a texture that is not always what I want in my painting, and even after adding water (the crayon is water soluble, and will spread like an opaque watercolor), you can frequently still see the texture.  See for example, this dusk painting, where the texture is highly visible in the painting.