Almost Fall

Almost Fall.  Watercolor.
6.5 x 9.75 inches

School started early this year, and my boys have been back at it for a week. I associate the start of school with fall, and am anxious to have some interesting colors starting to show up in the leaf canopy. Technically, it's been a wet and cool summer, and everything is still, well, green as can be. But, I'm starting to dream about fall.

Fabriano 300 lb rough paper, prussian blue, quin burnt orange, ultramarine blue, and indian yellow--all daniel smith.

Back to Lakes

Dream Lake.  Watercolor.
22 x 30 inches

I feel like I've been painting water all summer.  This is not necessarily a bad thing, but I'm ready for a new subject for a while....and as we head into fall, it's probably time to go back to paint some trees.

Here's a completely different version of the same thing.

Interesting how different two paintings can be with exactly the same palette, yes?

All are limited to three colors:  quinacridone gold, phthalo blue rs, and quinacridone red--all Daniel Smith.   All are on 300 lb Fabriano rough Watercolor Paper.

Angela Abstracted

Angela Abstracted.  Watercolor.
6 x 7.5 inches.

Every once in a while, I get a chance to stop by +Manifest Creative Research Gallery and Drawing Center for their open sessions.  It's a nominal cost, and it's good practice for forcing myself to paint what's actually in front of me.  (I don't typically do that, but the mental exercise, I think, makes me a better painter....)  I met Nancy Gamon there--she's got some of her current work up in her Etsy shop--go check her out. It's nice to go with a friendly face since I don't know anyone, and although, everyone's very nice, they're very good artists and it gets a wee bit intimidating.

Anyhow, I take three watercolors (in this case phthalo blue rs, quin pink, and nickel azo yellow), a brush, a towel, and a traveling palette--about the material I'd have if I was painting plein air.

The power was out!  If you live in Cincinnati, you've probably noticed the rain and storms....and, well, the power was out.  They relocated the model so there was a lot of natural light, and then rolled right into long poses.

For me, a long pose, is an excruciatingly long time to paint one piece.  Whew.  Have to work on that.

Here's my favorite of the two pieces I did that visit.