30/30 January Challenge #27

We are coming down to the wire with only 3 days left after today. In the past these challenges have been a chore for me but this one has been a breeze. I was able to find plenty of things to paint and each painting seemed to be easy to do - talk about lucky!

#1004 - Gnarled Stump - 6 x 8 pen & ink with watercolour

"Gnarled Stump" is another piece based on a tutorial by Claudia Nice - I really like her work!  A stump like this would probably be more grey, but I wanted the painting to match the mat so I made it in browns. I enjoy doing pen & ink art and really should do it more often but, somehow, I never seem to.

I am going to post this on Leslie's 30/30 page , then I am heading to my studio to plan a few more paintings. Have a great day and thanks for stopping by!

30/30 January Challenge #13

It is a good thing I finished this last night because I certainly didn't have time today to paint as Bob and I drove down to Sandpoint for the day.

#990 - Glistening Raindrops - 5 x 7 watercolour

A few years ago someone emailed me some photos of raindrops or dew caught in various plants. I don't know the photographer so I can't give credit but the photos grabbed my attention so I saved them and printed them for my reference files. I think I did a credible job of reproducing the image.

Take some time to visit Leslie's 30/30 page to see some of the other work in this challenge.

30/30 January Challenge #11

I have switched back to my miscellaneous file and found a picture that I tore from another of Bob's computer magazines. This was a fun piece and really didn't take much skill to paint.

#989 - Lurking in the Dark - 5 x 7 watercolour

An undercoat of Quinacridone Gold, then a nice dark mix of Ultramarine and Burnt Umber; some negative and positive painting and voilà it was done! If you are wondering what it advertised here is the caption: "In today's digital economy, predators evolve. Does your security?" The photo really caught my fancy and I am glad to have finally painted it.

It is hard to believe that this is just the eleventh day of the challenge; the time seems to be going so fast. Don't forget to check out the other art on Leslie's 30/30 page because some of the work is seriously amazing.

Thanks for stopping by!

2016 Day 6

I managed to get finished well before dinner time today! I planned my painting last night and worked on it at Art Club this morning so I just needed a few finishing touches after lunch and here it is!

Which Came First?

Once again I have used a home made 5 x 7 x 3/4 canvas board painted with acrylics. The canvas I used to make these is quite coarse and I skimped with the gesso coatings so I had a heck of a time getting the edges of the egg smooth - lesson learned. My reference was a photo I cut out a a magazine many years ago and this is the first time it has been used. You never know when something will strike your fancy.

Just a few words about the Creston Art Club: we have over 40 members and many of us get together every Wednesday morning to paint, share knowledge, help each other and just visit with like minded people. Two of our members travel over an hour to join us; one from Troy, Montana and one from Salmo, BC. Throughout the year we offer a number of very low priced workshops to members and non-members. An art club is a great way to keep the creative juices flowing and gives us a reason to take time from our busy lives and enjoy art.

Painting Day #2

Last week my friend Linda came over again so we could paint together. When we painted in March, Linda supplied the subject; this time I did. I found a tutorial in an old Watercolor Magic magazine - 'The Elegance of Untouched Paper' by Tony van Hasselt and we both were keen to try the vignette idea.

It doesn't seem to matter that we work from the same instructions when we follow a tutorial -  we always end up with very different paintings.

Linda's Painting

Linda chose to loosely copy the subject from the tutorial while I chose a different building.

My Painting - The Old Red Barn

  Most of the elements are the same in both paintings; a barn type building, a silo, a crooked fence, a few trees and bushes and, of course, the same palette of colors. But, our approaches are quite different. Linda often uses a layering effect with blended washes on top of dried washes while I mostly use wet-in-wet techniques. We did try to follow the guidelines in the tutorial but I am not sure how good a job we did.

Here is a synopsis of the vignette guidelines:
-Between 30 and 40 % of the paper should be untouched
-The painted area should touch the edge in 3 or 4 places but not in a sustained way.
 -The untouched areas should have and interesting, interlocking shape - not proportional or equal
-Hard edges should dominate ( I think Linda was more successful with this aspect than I)

We had just started thinking about doing a second painting when I realized that I needed to start dinner so Linda went ahead and painted a second piece.

Linda's Tree Silhouettes

I think our total painting time that day was about 2 1/2 hours. Between eating lunch, visiting, checking out new home improvements, doing dinner and just talking about our lives we don't have a lot of time before Linda is on the road back home.

It doesn't matter how short or how long the time is, painting with a friend is great and well worthwhile.

Summer of Color #3

My first reaction on learning this week's colors was 'How on earth will I do this'. I just couldn't get my head around 2 purples and a yellow; I felt that I had never worked in those colors before.

Anyway, I went off to my studio and started my assignment. I began working on a card because until the pieces are glued they are just a number of separate elements that can be used for other things if they don't work together.

I used one of my home-made stamps and my own painted papers for the flowers and the quilling. Okay, not bad, but I just wasn't satisfied!

I glanced at some reference photos that are lying on my table to be used in another painting and thought, "oh no, that will not look good in purples and yellow'. BUT I decided to try it anyway.

Sun Shadowed 5 x 7 unframed watercolor

All right that worked out okay, AND before I had worked 5 minutes I realized that I had painted this color combination before - more than once! The colors are, of course, compliments and so work together quite well.

I often work wet-in-wet and I wondered what would happen using that approach. Would I end up with a muddy gray mess?

Purple Mists

 As you can see, I added another shade of purple just to make a change. I wet the paper, threw on my three colors (in no particular pattern) and left it to dry. I really liked the end result - no gray mess - but added some misty trees to give it a more finished look.



So, there are my results for week #3 of the SOC. What will she have for us next week?

If you want to know more about this challenge go to http://www.twinkletwinklelikeastar.blogspot.ca/2015/06/the-summer-of-color-5-week-three.html