Same palette continued....

Untitled Landscape.  Watercolor.
About 8 x 10 inches.

I've been painting in the palette since July and finished this piece last week.  It's got quin red, phthalo blue rs, undersea green, and quin gold and I can push it in a lot of different directions.  I hope you like it too.

I've also been painting on 140 lb paper rather than 300 lb.  Mainly because that's what I have.  Soon, I'm going to have to buy more paper.

Finally, worth noting, I tend to latch onto a brush.  I've been using a mop brush rather than a flat or round.  It's messy but fun.    

Ohio Morning

Ohio Morning.  Watercolor and Crayon.
Approximately 15 x 19 inches.

Turtles Stampeding Through Peanut Butter

Turtles Stampeding Through Peanut Butter.  Watercolor & Crayon.
Approximately 8.5 x 11 inches.

Found Some Claybord!

Golden Field at Sunset.  Watercolor & Crayon.
5 x 7 inches.

I went to collect some watercolor paper yesterday and ran across a piece of Ampersand's Aquabord. I bought it ages ago, and I suspect it may be claybord, but a few minutes of research tells me that it's one and the same--just renamed.

This is a piece that's 5 x 7 inches, and one of the big advantages is in the framing.  No glass.  Can plop it right in the frame.  I tried mounting watercolor paper at the end of last year, and I'm not particular enough.  To mount paper requires patience and attention to detail.  You can look at my painting style and know that's not me!

I liked the way it handled the water and paint.  I did the first cut yesterday and went back today to add some darks and a tiny bit of gray crayon just at the horizon line.  I'm pretty pleased.

Indian yellow, phthalo blue gs, and quin violet with a touch of gray caran d'ache.

Welcome Back Cobalt

Welcome Back Cobalt.  Watercolor and Crayon.
Approximately 4 inches square.

I haven't used cobalt in a long time, and I'd forgotten how much I like the way it granulates in washes (see the sky), or can be used as an almost opaque color (see the foreground),  Nice.

Indian yellow, prussian blue, cobalt blue, and quin violet.  Plus some crayon.  On a scrap of paper, which is probably 300 lb Kilimanjaro.

Three Trees and the end of 2016

Three Trees.  Watercolor.
About 5.5 x 8 inches.

This is my 43rd blog post of 2016 and, I believe, my 184 post all together since October 2012.  I aim for about a post a week, but some months there are more and some months there are less.  This month and the last, I've only manage about one post a month.  If you're interested, you can go back and check out my first post ever, which was a plein air painting of sycamore trees.    I'm maybe a better painter now....maybe.  I do happen to like today's painting better.....

I'm going to do the painting a day in January 2017, just because it's so much fun.  I don't know what I'll paint yet, or maybe I'll go in with no particular plan at all just to see what happens.

Here's to 2017.

Phthalo Blue RS, Quin Gold, and Quin Red on Kilamanjaro 300 lb cold press paper.

Trees in Breeze

Trees In Breeze.  Watercolor and Crayon.
Approximately 9.5 x 10 inches.

Three colors of watercolor (quin burnt orange, indanthrone blue, and nickel azo yellow) and two brown gray crayon colors on 300 lb cold press by Kilimanjaro.

You can see an earlier version HERE.

One Yellow Tree

One Yellow Tree.  Watercolor & Crayon.
Approximately 10 x 8 inches.
For sale on DPW.

Fall Morning on the Fairway.

Fall Morning on the Fairway.  Watercolor.
Approx. 7 x 9 inches. 

Dusk While Running

Dusk While Running.  Watercolor.
Approximately 8 x 18 inches

Cincinnati has been hot.  So hot, that exercising in the middle of the day is probably not the most excellent idea.   (That makes me think of Bill & Ted.  Dude.)  I've been getting out to run some mornings, but every once in a while I go out at dusk with my ipod.  (Last night, Ruby & Carlos by James McMurtry popped up--if you haven't heard it, you can check it out here.  Not the best song to run to, but a beautiful song nonetheless--)

The skies have been absolutely gorgeous.  I get so distracted that it helps me believe I'm running fast (I'm not).  The only challenge has been that if the sun is setting, that means it gets pretty dark while I'm still out--luckily I have not tripped.  I have come nose to nose with a few deer.  The deer are unfazed. I tend to shriek

Anyhow, I'm not done with this, but it's a first cut.

Quin pink, phthalo blue rs, permanent yellow deep, nickel azo yello on 300 lb Fabriano rough.

Sorrow. A small watercolor landscape.

Sorrow.  Watercolor.
About 6 x 4.5 inches.

This is the 4th of five paintings I've done with this palette.  It's the same as my most recent irises, and one that I've got on facebook here.  I like this painting a lot for the intensity of the colors.  I'm not feeling chatty today, so we'll leave it at that.

Phthalo blue rs, hansa yellow medium, and carbazole violet on Kilamanjaro 300 lb cold press.

Sky/Tree/Hill. Another glimpse into process....

Sky/Tree/Hill.  Mixed Media.
About 14 x 11 inches.

Mounting A Watercolor

Spring Trees.  Watercolor Mounted On Board.
10 x 8 inches.
(Below the painting is an antique toilet paper roll from
my husband's grandfather, who was a plumber!)

The Weight of the Sky

The Weight of the Sky.  Watercolor and Crayon.
Approximately 8.5 x 11.

Day 20--30 Paintings in 30 Days. Switch Grass in Winter.

Switch Grass In Winter.  Watercolor.
Approximately 11 x 8 inches.

On Monday, Ohio decided to turn off the heat, and this morning it decided to start spitting snow.  Not a fan.  It is oppressively gray.  If feels like the sky is pushing down....mood, shoulders, spirit.  Blech. Don't believe me?  You can see for yourself in the picture I was riffing from below.

Palette is Indigo, Quinacridone Gold, and Quinacridone Burnt Orange (there may be a wee touch of Prussian Blue mixed in, but it is wee).  On Kilamanjaro 300 lb cold press watercolor paper.

Note:  Day 20 in Thirty Paintings in 30 Days, and I've only not painted 2 days.  I feel like a rock star!

Day 12--30 Paintings in 30 Days. Winter Trees

Winter Trees.  Watercolor.
Approximately 5.25 x 8.5 inches.

Day 1--30 paintings in 30 days. Abstract Tree Line

Abstract Tree Line.  Watercolor.
Approximately 8.5 x 12 inches.

I think I mentioned that I was planning on participating in 30 paintings in 30 days, which is organized by Leslie Saeta.  You can find more information here.

I'll try not to inundate you--there may be a lot of photos without too much text.

Again, this photo is not fantastic.  (I'm on a roll!)  There's yellow cast in the whites since I was working after dark.  I'll go back and correct it tomorrow.

Daniel Smith, Prussian Blue, Nickel Azo Yellow, and Quin Burnt Orange on Kilamanjaro 300 lb cold press paper.

Edited--took a better pic this morning (another sunny day--yay!)  see below.....

House & Tree

House & Tree.  Watercolor.
6.25 x 8 inches.

It's been a beautiful fall in Cincinnati.  The skies are almost too blue.  The trees did end up putting on a show, and at the beginning of the last week, they got just beautiful.  Especially the gingkos.  For some reason, I always thought ginkgo trees were tall and skinny.  I've painted some before--you can see one HERE.    It turns out, they come more widespread like oaks.

This is a totally made up landscape.  It's almost the same palette as the last gingko I painted--in this case three warms:  quin burnt orange, quin gold, and nickel azo yellow and one cool--phthalo blue rs.  The paper is Kilamanjaro from Cheap Joes. 300 lb cold press.

Evolution of a Painting

Sycamore and Storm Front.  Watercolor and Crayon.
12 x 11 inches.

A while back, I started a tree, that was a combination of watercolor and crayon. You can read about it here.  I didn't throw it away, but didn't think it was even a remotely successful painting. I snapped a picture with my phone yesterday, so you can see where I was when I left it to sit on a pile of art in my basement (below).

Trees, trees, trees.

Oregon Trail In Fall.  Watercolor and Crayon.
Full Sheet.

I've been messing about with this all afternoon.  I'm not entirely sure that it is done, but I'm stopping for the day.  It is a stand of trees sighted on a street I drive ad naseum each day.  If you have young teens in your household, you can probably relate.  Hate the driving; love the trees.

Some things of note--this is on 140 lb cold press paper, and was buckling like mad.  It is near a full sheet, or nearly 30 x 22 inches (it'll need to be cropped a tad).  I'm using three yellows, three blues and a purple.  That's twice the number of colors I'd typically use, and I'm not sure that was a wise choice.  Then, there's an overlay in the 'sky' with a gray crayon.

Also of note--I set the doofus crayon down randomly and it took me 20 minutes to locate it.  This is not unusual.   Once, I set my keys in the library stacks....it's a chronic problem.