The Cellist ~ WIP 2

Another quick update. I'm hoping to finish this today. We'll see. I had no clear idea where I was going with this when I started. I'm letting this painting tell me what it needs. All I know for sure? This is fun!

The Cellist ~ WIP

Quick update. This is my latest project inspired by a photo I found on PMP submitted by franklin. I'm always trying new things and this time I decide to stain tissue paper with pure watercolor and tear into pieces which I then adhered to my working paper. I chose various violets and golds, one of my favorite palettes. I think the effect is quite nice but I'll have to knock it back a bit for this application. I don't want the border to distract too much from my COI.

Daniel Smith Cobalt Teal & The New Black

I've just completed a commissioned painting, a four cat portrait for their human Mom's birthday. I took photos along the way and I've gotten permission from my client to post the WIP on my blog.

I want to give a shout out to Daniel Smith for their fabulous Quinacridones. I doubt I could've achieved the results I did without them. Quin. Burnt Orange is perfect for orange kitty fur and a few flourishes of Quin. Violet bump it up another notch. One of the cats was predominately grey and black so I went with Quin. Sienna and Indigo for my black mix. I normally use burnt sienna but no more. I was thrilled with the black the Quin. Sienna produced. Very clean and rich and it watered down to a nice neutral grey. But grey is still grey and it needs help. This is where the Cobalt Teal came into play. I had planned to use it in the background so I needed to work it into the cats somehow. I added a light glaze on the grey fur and wow! That grey came to life! It was one of those ah HA! moments I love. It never gets old. I'm happy, my client is happy...now I hope the birthday girl will be happy.

Morels WIP 2

A quick update on this project. I chose a palette of DS Quin. Burnt Orange, DS Quin. Sienna, olive green, DS Undersea green, warm sepia, Phthalo blue and Perm yellow. I wanted more saturated color for this morel painting. After the painting was complete I added copper metallic paste here and there for a more exciting effect. I used my finger to apply. This stuff is new in my tool kit and I love it. I used the paste primarily to highlight all the yummy textures. I just finished giving the painting a light coat of Krylon spray varnish and when it's dry I will add the 'feet' to the back of my substrate as I plan to float mount this in my frame.

In this image you can see my collection of metallic pastes.

I tried spring green on for 'size' but quickly nixed that idea. Love the remaining colors.

Feeling Flamingos

I feel like painting flamingos, that is. I've been mulling this idea over all week and finally did a quick line drawing. I found a few references photos on PaintMyPhoto and worked with those as best I could. My plan so far is to work on Yupo with alcohol ink and collage. I'll be making my own collage paper so I'll have to sort out my colors, etc. The birds will probably be done with acrylic paint similar to the cats on Lunch Rush at Chez Dumpsta'. 

I'll be posting updates so stay tuned.....

I'm Back with a Work in Progress

This past April my COPD flared up which landed me in hospital for the better part of a week. This flare was a real doozy and it was August before I felt human again. During my recovery I found out I now have severe arthritis in my spine so pain management became an issue. Things are looking up at last and I think I've found my art groove once again.

I've decided to start out where I left off this past March ( has it really been 6 months?!) and finish up these kitties. So far this is collage, acrylic, gel medium and crayon on Yupo. I love working with collage on Yupo. No buckling which is a huge bonus. My current working title is 'Lunch Rush at Chez Dumpsta'.

Silverbark at Sundown ~ complete (acrylic and collage on paper)

I'm going to call this done now. It doesn't look like I've done much since my last post but I spent a lot of time just looking at the painting and deciding how I wanted to create the leaves. I finally settled on a paste paper that I copper leafed on one side, painted on the other. I used tracing paper so the copper leaf would show through and tone the yellow. This produced a fairly accurate representation of birch leaves in Fall. Then the issue was where to place the leaves and how many wouldn't be too many. Did they distract or benefit the painting? Branches were never where I needed them and I knew I should've added the leaf placement to the original drawing. Dang! Ah well, a Chinese white pencil and a violet Prismacolor Verithin solved the problem. Cutting those teeny, tiny leaves was a chore, as was using tweezers to handle them. I think it was worth the effort and time, though. I'm pretty happy with it. :) The final size is approx. 6 1/2" x 29".

Work in progress

Silverbark at Sundown ~ WIP 2

Many glazes later...many, many glazes later, I finally started work on the markings on the birch trunks. I love the distinctive 'eyes' they display and am surprised so few artists that paint birch trees fail to include them in their paintings. The trunks will receive more washes of color...red violets, yellow and cerulean blue. I plan to use cut paper collage to add the leaves when the paint work is complete. Birch leaves turn yellow in Fall so I need to make my own yellow paste papers to order. Then plenty of cutting and pasting is in my future.

Silverbark at Sundown ~ sketch and wip 1

This is the beginning of my latest project. It's another birch painting done with acrylic on 140# Fabriano HP w/c paper. I have a few stands of Silverbark birch across the drive from my home so I have plenty of reference material right outside my front windows. I plan to use the palette from my color study (see previous post). This painting will be much larger, approx. 6 1/2" x 29". An odd size but I've always wanted to do a long and very narrow format because I love the look. I've been waiting for a sunny day to forge ahead and that day has arrived. It's been so terribly gloomy lately that I've left lights on all day long. Not ideal conditions to create subtle color variations.

Side note: After painting 'The Rusty Gate Post' I contacted the photographer responsible for my reference image. I wanted to know more about this gate and he gave me enough information to locate the gate on Google Map. It resides outside a charming little B & B in the UK. Here's the Coach House B &B (link) on A413 Brackley Road, Silverstone, United Kingdom. Seems I guessed the wrong finial. Ah, well....

Rusty Gate Post ~ WIP (mixed media)

I developed a small case of artist's block and not even Crabby Cat could rescue me. He's still in the sketch stage where I left him in my last post. I detest that funky feeling when nothing seems to inspire me. In desperation I began going through my reference photos and kept coming back to an image I found on PMP. It was a rusty, ornate gate post and I loved all the wonderful colors and textures but had no idea how to go about painting it. Finally it was time to try. This is a mixture of acrylic paint, collage paper, egg shells and God knows what else before it's complete. It's a project that will keep me occupied for quite some time as I figure out how to recreate all that wonderful chipping paint and patina.

Second Collage ~ WIP 2

All the pieces are now completed and adhered in place. I had thought of adding a few other shapes (maybe flying birds?) but decided against it. I think there's enough going on as is. There was a little struggle at the bottom of the piece so I used a cut mat to create better perspective and wound up adding two more shapes. Now I'm going to call this one done. Pine tree shapes were my inspiration so I'm thinking of titling this collage 'Evergreen'.

Miss Willmott ~ WIP 2-3 & completed

Complete

WIP 3

WIP 2

Rather than keep posting updates I skipped ahead, taking photos as I progressed. I just finished the painting this afternoon and managed to get a pretty decent image for once. I think I've found the perfect spot for photographing my watercolors, weather permitting.

As I went along I wound up tweaking my palette a little although no new tube colors were added. I also wanted this to have a loose look but not go overboard. I did employ a spray bottle in several areas and let the paint run where it may. Then I went back in with a darker shade, carving out the shapes lost that were important. I didn't worry about color accuracy or capturing details. My intention was to give this a morning kinda 'vibe'...soft light and muted colors. I think I accomplished my mission. 

Note: Sorry for the blurry images if you choose to enlarge them. I don't know why that's happening. Man, it's always something.

Miss Willmott ~ WIP 1

Yesterday I managed to transfer my drawing to working paper, in this case Arches 140# CP paper. I laid in some background color and today I started work on the flowers. It's difficult to get certain colors to appear correctly because they are so neutral. In fact, when I tried to scan my color study the scanner read it as a black & white photo so I had to photograph it. When completed, this painting will be approx. 21" x 9". Sorry the painting is photographed in pieces. I was too lazy to set up my easel and do a proper job of it.  

JUGGS ~ WIP 3

This commission has taken over all my studio time. If I'm not tweaking it, I'm looking at it scanning for problems, adjusting values....the list goes on. After taking such care to not drop paint where it doesn't belong I still managed to put a red smudge on the BG. I can take care of that with a little white gouache fortunately. Last night I thought I finally had this where I wanted it but this morning I noticed a bit of black that has crept up onto the jawline of one of the women. Ok, it didn't creep. I accidentally put it there. And while this is going on, in the back of my mind, I'm thinking "This is a gift from a man to his wife. I know I'll never see her through his eyes. What if he hates this?!" I don't know how portrait artists do this sort of thing! Somehow I'm going to have to correct the jawline and then there are the snowflake details on the red sweaters to contend with and those I will deal with by using alcohol ink. I did a few test samples with the Ranger Pearl, gold and silver mixatives. I can add detail with the inks that pearlescent watercolors could never handle. They would disturb the red pigment and make quite a mess of things. BTW, sorry for the poor quality image. It's so gloomy here I can't get a decent photo, even with flash.

JUGGS ~ WIP 2

Update: I've completed the background and started on the clothing. I used DS Payne's Grey mixed with FUB for the BG. Then I sprinkled on some table salt to create 'snowflakes'. I wasn't sure how much soaking the illustration board could handle so it was a heart pounding moment but it held up very well. I had discussed changing the BG with my client over the phone. The photo showed a Christmas tree, a fireplace...the list goes on. Too busy. Because I had been told the women meet at Christmastime I suggested a simple wintery, snow effect and he thought that sounded good. As it turns out it was the right decision.

I'm using Neutral tint mixed with the BG colors for the black vests, Perylene Maroon mixed with Pyrrol Red for the sweaters. The red mixture makes a nice, rich crimson. For the shadows I'm using more Neutral tint, then glazing over with the red mixture. Watercolor can be moved and pushed around on the plate finish fairly easy which is making my job easier, too.

JUGGS ~ WIP 1

I finally started painting this two days ago. I had to make some sketch revisions because the scanned image I'm using as reference isn't the best and it prints out even worse. It's times like this I wish I had a laptop I could mount within view. I've completed the faces and feel I've achieved a fair likeness of each lady. One face gave me a few fits but some faces are more complicated than others. It's too late and too dark now to continue so I'll wait until tomorrow. I don't trust myself to mix colors in the evening even though I have a daylight lamp. That will give me a day to decide if I want to tackle the background next or start work on the clothing.

JUGGS ~ a commission



Just before Christmas I received a call from the gallery. Apparently a fella saw my Red Hat lady paintings and wants a portrait painted in the same style. His wife has three close girlfriends and they have formed a group called 'Just Us Gorgeous Gals' aka JUGGS. I love it! They usually meet at Christmastime every year (from what I understand) and he provided a few photos I could use as reference. Not the best images but I think I can work with one of them. I've just finished the drawing and my Strathmore 500 plate illustration board arrived today. It's not something I usually keep on hand but it's great for portraits. The colors stay vibrant, similar to watercolor on Yupo only you have much more control of the paint. It's also great for fine detail work.

Pecking Order ~ WIP 3

Sorry for yet another bad image. Between our dark days and the shine of the alcohol inks I'm having a devil of a time photographing this piece. Suffice it to say, it looks a whole lot better IRL. I'm just about ready to mount this on Yupo and give it a few coats of varnish but I thought I'd post it at this stage to show how it looks before I work out the puffiness with a brayer. I like that quilted effect for some subjects but not this one. I'll be using Mod Podge to adhere it to the Yupo. Mod Podge works very well because it stays tacky long enough to make adjustments before it dries.

I just noticed I may have missed a toe on one of the roosters. I also have a few areas that need to be lifted (colors that bled or accidently landed in the wrong spot). Hopefully I'll be able to take care of that with a Q-tip and blending solution.

Pecking Order ~ WIP 2

With flash

Without flash

I'm trying to spend just a few hours at a time working on this to avoid breathing too many fumes but it's really difficult when I get in the zone. I've got the chickens finished but it's hard to tell from these images. I tried photographing twice, once with and once without flash and got varying results, neither of which turned out well. I used Ranger's Pearl mixative on the white chickens and the flash lit the ink up like crazy because this particular ink contains iridescent particles. Without flash the painting looks dull but the quilted effect from the waxed paper is less apparent. I decided I'm going to post both images because with all these gloomy days(and no sun predicted in the foreseeable future) I doubt I'll be able to do better before the painting is done.

Pecking Order ~ WIP 1

'Pecking Order' is my working title for now. At least until I can come up with something better. My photo reference came from Sharon Whitley on PMP. This will be the largest faux batik I've done to date. I don't have the final measurements but will post them later. I took a quick photo when the clouds tried to part for a moment but the image could be better.

Instead of India ink I've used walnut ink to prime my waxed paper before applying the alcohol inks. Walnut ink tones the entire surface a nice shade of sepia and I love that look for certain subjects. FYI, for anyone that wants to try my faux batik technique , any shade of India type ink can be used. Because there is so much small detail in this drawing I taped my drawing directly under the waxed paper so all the lines would be visible, then added a layer of clear plastic wrap between the drawing and the waxed paper. There will be bleed through when the alcohol ink goes on and I wanted to protect my drawing. I've been battling lung issues more so than usual lately so I hope this comes together nicely and I tolerate the fumes well. We'll see.