Triple Report

Things have been busy since I wrote last. I have done some work on my painting 'Poppies by the Fence', I received another postcard from the LYA swap, and I had a lesson with Jeannie.

A few of my blogging friends made suggestions to improve my 'poppies' painting. I wasn't able to implement all of them on this piece but will be doing a second version where I can make more adjustments. Meanwhile, here are photos of the original and the improved painting.

original

improved?

 It is amazing how differently the paintings and the photos of them look. When I compare the second photo with its painting I wonder if I need to darken the shadows even more than I have done already. I am going to put this away for a while and let it gel.

Now for the treasure in the mail! Today's LYA postcard was from Jane Martin of Roanoke, Virginia. It is a charming sketch of a gardener's bench and fits in perfectly with my bedding plants.

Jane Martin's postcard

Jane included a super quote from Picasso on the back of the card:
               
             "Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life."

You can see more of Jane's art at Mary Jane's Studio

And behind door number three... I finally remembered to take a photo of my student's painting!!!

Jeannie's painting

This was based on one of Jeannie's photos from their trip to Hawaii. The colours are a bit more vibrant in the original. We have done very few landscapes together and nothing with such a dramatic sky so this just thrilled me when I saw it at Art Club where she continued to work on the painting. I hope her husband is pleased with it too as it was his suggestion of a subject for this week's class.

#1021 - Storm over the Island - 7 x 10 watercolour

And this is my painting of the same scene. I demonstrate each step of the painting, often going over the same area more than once to help my students understand the process better and to demonstrate that watercolour is more flexible than many think.


It has been a good week!

Just One Step Ahead

It is not often that a student asks to learn something that I don't know how to do but Jeannie surprised me by wanting to try an abstract. Thankfully there is the internet with hundreds of photos to for viewing and learning.

#1017 - Blended Blooms - 5 x 7 watercolour

Not being sure what Jeannie was interested in, I did 'Blended Blooms' as a trial. I liked it but, when she came for her lesson, Jeannie felt that she wanted a more abstract look and less impressionism.

#1015 - Bold Burst - 5 x 7 watercolour

'Bold Burst' started as a demonstration of applying colour somewhat randomly. I finished this after the class by adding more colour and water and letting things flow together.

#1016 - Blended - 5 x 7 watercolour

'Blended' is the painting we did together and, of course, I forgot to take a photo of Jeannie's painting. Jeannie liked her painting in landscape format but I prefer portrait format for mine. It was fun doing this piece so I used the idea for a birthday card I made for a friend.

Card #87 - Birthday Balloons

For the lesson with Jeannie I was just one step ahead so I was happy to get back on track with this week's class with Heather and do something I was more familiar with - skies and mountains!

We used one of my older paintings as a guide for our first piece.

#967 - Clouds on the Mountain #2 - 5 x 16 watercolour

Heather wanted to learn how to achieve the tonal perspective needed for the mountains and she liked the clouds over the mountains. When I mentioned taking photos of her work she was reluctant so I didn't push. We left the foreground for homework because I wanted Heather to try a more dramatic sky.

#1019 - Sunset Storm - 5 x 7 watercolour

We stared out doing a bright sunset but ended up with a 'Sunset Storm'. Many beginners are afraid of using too much colour and I wanted to show her that adding the dark clouds over the sunset could make a more effective painting.

I hope to show my students that painting can be fun! I want them to loosen up and play a bit more; to let the brush dance over the paper and just see what happens. It will come with more practice and confidence and then they will have the skills to paint different styles, from abstract to realistic. Here's hoping!

30/30 January Challenge #21

I have been jumping around all over the place with my subjects for this challenge but I have stuck with my theme which is "Miscellaneous". How's that for a broad theme? There have been small themes within the main theme but generally my paintings have been a pretty eclectic mix.

#998 - In the Battlefield - 5 x 7 watercolour

"In the Battlefield" is from another magazine photo from my files. The lone cannon and the dark threatening sky made me think of the loneliness and the terror of war, something I hope never to experience.

I am planning the next few paintings around some more of the pre-cut mats that I got from the 'going-out-of-business' frame shop. This is a bit awkward as I normally paint first then worry about the matting, but it sure helps clean up my shelves.

Don’t forget to stop by Leslie's 30/30 page to see some of the other art and, if you stop by here, please leave a comment.

2016 Day 18

I worked on three pieces today and none of them turned out very well. The first two got washed off but I continued with the third until I figured it was finished.

Lightening Strikes

More work might have improved this piece but I was all out of umpf so I left well enough alone!

Lightening Strikes is acrylic on one of my home-made 5 x 7 x 3/4" canvas boards. It may get painted over in the future but for now it is what it is.

I hope tomorow will be better!

Rainy Day Painting

The last few days we have finally gotten some much needed rain. While enjoying the cooler weather and the sound of the rain on the roof, I managed to get a new painting done.

In the Eye of the Storm

Last week a friend gave me some old art magazines and as I looked through them I was struck by the paintings of Michael Atkinson. His ability to showcase sun-lit subjects is wonderful and I decided to try my hand at something similar. My painting is based on his painting "Abiquiu". I did not manage to achieve the look I was aiming for unfortunately so, although I am reasonably happy with my piece, I will be trying for this effect again.

"In the Eye of the Storm" is a 10 x 21 unframed watercolor on Arches 140 CP paper.

For those of you who followed my posts during the Summer of Color, here is my painting 'Feathery' completed (remember that I left the bottom right empty and wasn't satisfied?).

Feathery

Let me know what you think of my paintings AND what YOU are up to in the studio this week.