Young Shingle Oak in Two Colors. Watercolor. Approximately 5.5 x 7 inches |
Sunday, December 31, 2017
Saturday, October 28, 2017
Saturday, October 14, 2017
Monday, September 25, 2017
No. 8--Ragweed
No. 8--Ragweed. Watercolor and Crayon. Approximately 10.5 x 8 inches. |
I need more vases. I'm only 8 into my 100 bouquets, and I am wishing for another vase! You can see where else this one has made an appearance here and here.
Daniel Smith watercolor--ultra marine blue, hansa yellow medium, pemanenty yellow deep, and burnt umber. Plus some crayon over the top.
Sunday, September 17, 2017
Sunday, September 3, 2017
Tippy Canoe
Tippy Canoe. Mixed Water-Based Media. Approximately 25 x 17.5 inches. |
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.
Monday, August 28, 2017
Winter Field
Winter Field. Watercolor & Crayon About 6.75 x 9 inches. |
Started as a tree landscape, went to a pure abstract, and then came back to abstract landscape.
Best part? It's signed, matted, photographed, and I'm about to list it on Etsy. That's usually my energy barrier. It's hard to sell art if you don't have any art online to sell. Instead, there's a stockpile in my basement
Phthalo blue (gs), quin gold, phthalo green, and quin red, overlaid with crayon on the top half.
Fabriano 300 lb rough press.
Sunday, August 20, 2017
Come to The Edge 1-3
Come to the Edge, 1-3. Watercolor & Crayon Each about 6 x 3 inches. |
You can see the original paint I laid down on Instagram, here. I like the colors.
The title is from a quote by Guillaume Apollinaire:
Come to the edge, he said. They said: We are afraid. Come to the edge, he said. They came. He pushed them and they flew.Paint--nickel azo yellow, carbazole violet, cobalt teal, an indanthrone blue
Paper--300 lb hot press Fabriano.
Saturday, August 12, 2017
Where Orange Meets Blue
Where Orange Meets Blue. Watercolor. Approximately 5.5 x 8 inches. |
It's satisfying to have a little piece that starts out amorphous pull together in a way that's pleasing to me. Like when a key works on a lock.
Daniel Smith, permanent yellow deep, carbazole violet and cobalt on Fabriano 300 lb hot press paper.
Tuesday, July 25, 2017
Flash in the Pan
Flash in the Pan. Watercolor & Crayon. Three paintings, each about 6.5 x 5 inches. |
Saturday, July 15, 2017
Tuesday, June 6, 2017
Monday, May 29, 2017
No. 5--The Demo
No. 5--The Demo. Watercolor. Matted to 20 x 24 inches |
You can see some iterations of this piece in my practice painting, and then my first final version. Then I decided to go back with some opaque watercolors and lighten things up in the background.
Two days later I went and did a show, and then collapsed in a heap and didn't paint for a while.
Anyhow, because I took this painting along with me, it's already matted. It's fairly large.
Monday, May 22, 2017
Set of Four Abstracts
Four Abstracts. Watercolor and Crayon. Each approximately 4 inches square. |
A while ago, I started working on some small abstracts, and I matted them all up, and boom, sold them. So, being sneaky, or not interested in accumulating a bajillion pieces of art in my basement, I thought I'd see if I could get that magic going again.
These pieces are on hot press, which takes the crayon, well, it's awesome. You can see the first cut of watercolors here. It's isoindoline yellow, lemon yellow, and phthalo blue rs. The crayon over the top is an intense yellow green, gray, and a tiny bit of deep red.
A side note--getting all the images organized in blogger? It wasn't working. I highly recommend a website (app?) called canva. Very useful.
Thursday, May 11, 2017
Small Abstract Greeting Card, Untitled.
Sunday, May 7, 2017
Tulips Revised
Tulips Revised, Watercolor & Crayon. Approximately 18 x 22 inches |
Anyhow, I had this out for a show, and it was bugging me, so I went back in with some Van Dyck Brown to enrich and deepen the background. And, if you ask me it looks better cropped down.
Look at the previous version and tell me what you think.....
Tuesday, April 4, 2017
No. 3--Redbud Branch
No. 3--Redbud Branch. Watercolor. Approximately 15 inches square. |
One of the things I like most is how the trees provide such a burst of color, but when you get up close, the blooms are tiny clusters. Barely there. When there are a lot of trees they look like a ribbon of color.
A note about brushes. My very favorite brush at the moment in an Isabey 1 inch flat pure kolinsky sable. I use it 99% of the time, and for some reason, they appear to not be available anywhere....hmmm. I took my brush on a field trip last week (see here) and hadn't put it back yet--so instead, I did this painting with a squirrel mop brush. I'm a loose painter to begin with, and going to a mop brush forces me even looser. It's fun.
Quin Burnt Orange, Quin red, and Indanthrone blue on Fabriano 300 lb rough watercolor paper.
Sunday, March 19, 2017
No. 2--Daffodils Abstracted
No. 2--Daffodils Abstracted. Watercolor. Approximately 12 x 10 inches. |
You'll notice that I'm not super tied to the set up, which is my preference. My style is definitely free-for-all, with lots of bleeds and mixing on the page. I was also stymied by the fact that I took my model photo with my nose to the counter, which is not how I want to paint. The point of view of the painting and the photo are different.
I don't own that many vases, so you'll be seeing them repeat. This vase is from Neusole Glassworks, which is located in Forest Park. The daffodils are from my front yard.
I'm not just painting flowers. (That would be boring!) It just happens to be what I've been blogging about.
Paint: Carbazole Violet, isoindoline yellow, lemon yellow, cobalt, undersea green, all Daniel Smith.
Paper: Fabriano 300 lb Rough
Thursday, March 16, 2017
No. 200 and No. 1--Orange Flowers From Kroger
No. 1 Orange Flowers From Kroger. Watercolor. Approximately 30 x 22 inches. |
I've met some fabulous people electronically (Rhonda Carpenter and Laura Starrett, I'm thinking of you), and painted and painted, and painted. I think I'm getting better. I'll check back in another 5 years.
My paintings are getting more and more abstract, so logically, I'm starting a project that's literal. #100bouquets. I'm taking this up after following Lauren Everett Finn's similar efforts. This is my first, and it's on a full sheet. I figure to take about a year to get this done, although I reserve the right to take more time. I like to paint flowers, but they all just froze, which doesn't bode well, and I tend to get distracted.
Fabriano 300 lb rough watercolor paper. Daniel Smith, quin burnt orange, quin red, isoindoline yellow, nickel azo yellow, and phthalo blue rs.
Tuesday, February 28, 2017
Blue/Orange/Gray: Developing Some Abstracts
Blue/Orange/Gray. Watercolor and Crayon. Approximately 3.5 x 3 inches. |
Today, I took one of the paintings and finished it with a crayon overlay. Finished piece above. Can you tell which one it was? Yeah, too stripey with a weird growth. It's the second abstract I've finished with that blue. You can see the first HERE. I should probably finish all five so that they're interconnected by color, yes?
Tuesday, February 14, 2017
Found Some Claybord!
Golden Field at Sunset. Watercolor & Crayon. 5 x 7 inches. |
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.
Friday, February 10, 2017
Welcome Back Cobalt
Welcome Back Cobalt. Watercolor and Crayon. Approximately 4 inches square. |
Indian yellow, prussian blue, cobalt blue, and quin violet. Plus some crayon. On a scrap of paper, which is probably 300 lb Kilimanjaro.
Thursday, January 12, 2017
Day 12 of 30. Tea and Lemons
Tea and Lemons. Watercolor with a smidge of crayon. Approximately 9.5 x 8.5 inches. |
The one drawback to instagram is my phone's camera, which is not fantastic. In low light or miserably cloudy days, the colors on instagram are off despite my best efforts at correcting them through limited brightness adjustments.
Anyhow, like the colors and messiness of this. Quin pink, hansa yellow medium, and manganese blue hue on Kilamanjaro 300 lb cold press paper. There's a touch of crayon for line in the mug and along the edge of the cutting board.
I have not been doing a ton of still lifes--out of 12, this is my second. Bonus, I sold my apples. (Another whoop!)
Enjoy the day!
Monday, January 2, 2017
Day 2 of 30: Three Apples
Three Apples. Watercolor. Approximately 7 x 10 inches. |
For the third January running, I'm participating in 30 paintings in 30 days. It's hosted by Leslie Saeta, and you can check out the artist participating here. I highly recommend it if you need some kind of push to get going. It's an excellent exercise.
The painting above is from Day 2, and is the 5th painting I've done using the palette of quin gold, phthalo blue rs, and quin red. You can see an example of one on my blog here. Others are on Instagram.
This is also the 2nd still life I've done of late. I usually paint without any reference, but every once in a while I need to loop back through a reality based painting framework to revisit shapes and composition. I'm not sure it helps, but I struggle with getting almost too loose otherwise.
Here's to a great start of a New Year, cheers!
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