Tippy Canoe

Tippy Canoe.  Mixed Water-Based Media.
Approximately 25 x 17.5 inches.

This poor abstract.  Every time I think I'm done with it, I'll set it aside and a few weeks or months later, I'll be looking at it and think it needs something.  I've even changed the title since when I started I thought it looked dreamy.  Now, I think it looks like a once perfectly balanced sculpture went belly up.  You can see the first iteration here, the second here, and hopefully, I'm about at the final version above.

If you can't tell what changed recently--I used more crayon to intensify some of the colors and added a movement or line to connect some of the shapes.

If you're wondering, Tippy Canoe comes from Tippecanoe, which was a battle.  Logically, I use it to more literally like a canoe that is about to tip over.

Can you save a painting? Maybe.

Upside Down Creamer.  Mixed Media.
Approximately 8 x 8 inches. 

Day 30--30 Paintings In 30 Days. Calm Again.

Calm Again.  Mixed Media.
Approximately 22 x 30 inches.

Kitchen Window.

Kitchen Window.  Mixed Media.
Approximately 9.5 x 7 inches.

This devolved into an everything but the kitchen sink painting.  My inspiration was the dwarf oak leaf hydrangeas, which are looking quire lovely outside my kitchen window (below), but I totally lost the shape when I tried to translate my memory into a painting.  You can see some of the hints of leaf shapes in the quin burt orange above.

I think, that in this case, I might have to look at the photo to get the shapes I want.

The final product, is watercolor, opaque watercolor, caran d'ache crayon, and pencil.  Whew.

Tiny Landscape

Tiny Landscape.  Watercolor.
2.5 x 4 inches

This is one of three very small paintings in the same palette.  This is the only one that I think is done. Here's the whole lot:

The leftmost painting, I think I need to go back in with some line or structure.  The middle one I need to think about....

Cobalt blue, nickel azo yellow, and quin red--all Daniel Smith, on a scrap of Fabriano 300 lb rough paper.

A Spring Storm Abstract

Spring Storm.  Mixed Media.
Approximately 22 x 30 inches.

Last week, on the way home from the grocery store, a huge storm front came in from the east.  (Now that I think about it--that's unusual, they usually come from the west.)  The trees were just barely starting to leaf out and were that particular vibrant first yellow-green, and juxtaposed against the storm looked pretty amazing.

Now you're probably wondering what the painting above has to do with that--well it started as that storm front, and then took off on its own adventure.  Apparently, my hand doesn't always listen to my brain.  This piece started as a straight up watercolor, then I added some crayon, then some acrylic, more crayon, and finally, I borrowed some opaque watercolors from Barb Smucker for a final layer. I'm still thinking about it.  I think I will add it to my dark and dense group of paintings.

And Back Again

Pink House (revised).  Mixed Media.
Slightly smaller than a full sheet!

I finally got my house where I'd like it to be.  It took three or four loop backs and major changes for the entire thing to hang together in an interesting manner.  Call out to  RH Carpenter for her feed back on an earlier version of this painting.

What did I change?  The house grew, the sky went dark.   The foreground went pinker and then darker.  I'm hoping I didn't get the caran d'ache crayon mixed into my paints.  There's a lot more crayon.  I put watercolor over acrylic, which hopefully will not peel or otherwise flake off.  In between, I tried more buildings, trees, a path......)

Part of my issue may be that I am fiscally conservative (you can interpret that as cheap--my kids say the cheapest mom in town), and when I paint so large, in the back of my mind is a chant--you're wasting a sheet, you're wasting a sheet.  I have to let that go.  It ruins the joy of the process.

Huh. The trials of working on a larger size....

Pink House.  Mixed Media.  In progress.
Approximately 20 x 32 inches.

I've been trying to get a full sheet painting organized, and it's a struggle.  I'm putting this up, but it's still a work in progress, and it's already on its third iteration.  It's watercolor, crayon, and acrylic.

I'm not sure it can be saved, but it can't hurt to try.  I think I'm going to back with some warmer colors in the foreground and maybe just over the horizon line.  I only own one acrylic brush, and about three colors, so that's not a huge option....but, I'll see what i can do with crayon.

Mixed Media Month--an adventure for a watercolor artist

In March, I attended  a series of 4 workshops at the Centennial Barn on mixed media--they were taught by Barb Smucker, Roxanne Brett, and Marilyn Bishop.

Mixed media is a lot of fun and somewhat about process--there don't seem to be many hard and fast rules, although approach the end, design, composition, color, etc. still come into play.

The hard part for me is the glue--I'm always getting glue where it's not supposed to be!

In reverse order.....