Dragonfly on Matboard~WIP

I just started this a few minutes ago so not much is done but I thought I'd post a quick update. I truly enjoy painting on matboard. I like the interesting textural effects that can be achieved so easily on this surface. I started with a loose sketch of the dragonfly, then brushed on some juicy Quin. gold, perylene green and DS carbazole violet. I spritzed the painting lightly with an atomizer bottle/water to move the colors and let them mix and mingle on the board. I encouraged a few blooms and splattered paint here and there. No plan in mind, just seeing where things lead me. After this dries I may add some ink, colored pencil, more watercolor...I'm only limited by my imagination. This is the method of painting that relaxes me.

Correction: I previously titled this post 'Dragonfly on Mountboard'. I'm working on matboard, not mountboard. Sorry.:(

Delphiniums~Loose Style

I act as the moderator on a Michigan gardening site and recently someone started a thread asking members to name their favorite flower. I didn't hesitate to choose delphiniums as mine, particularily the Pacific Giant cultivars. Delphiniums are one of the few true blue flowers found in nature. Related to the buttercup (can you believe that?!), their common name is larkspur. Like roses, many gardeners have excellent luck growing them while others do not. I've been one of the lucky ones. They make the perfect subject for a loose, juicy watercolor, too.

Chocolate~Complete

I've finally completed Chocolate, the Great Dane. I'm just not sure if the background is complete. As this is basically a full length portrait of this dog, I didn't want to create any detail in the background but I had to find a way to ground him. I used various washes of my original palette (FUB, burnt sienna and cobalt blue deep), applying them at different angles to give a faint impression of backdrop and floor. The reference photo showed the light coming from above which didn't leave many shadows and highlights to work with. As I look at this my instincts are telling me I need to bring in a dark value somewhere to make the dog better relate to the background. I'm just not sure where to place it yet. I've printed out a few copies and experimented with different options but I think at this point I need to set Chocolate aside for a few days until I have an epiphany.

Chocolate~in Progress

Meet Chocolate, a Great Dane and what a beauty he is. My niece, Megan Russell graciously sent me the photo so I could paint him. He is actually a Chocolat Dane, the chocolate color being a recessive gene carried in the harlequin (white with black spots) danes and his blue eyes are considered a flaw so he is not considered 'showable' by AKC standards. According to Megan, technically the spots make him a chocoquin, the spot color combined with white. There are also merlequins (white with blue spots), fawnaquins (white with tan) and brindlequins (white with tiger striped spots). None of these colors are AKC acceptable. What a shame.

I'm painting Chocolate on #140 Fabriano HP and the finished painting should be approx. 12" x 18". My palette is just FUB and burnt sienna. I did use just a little very dilute cobalt blue deep for his eyes.

Duck Duck Goose~Completed

I decided to go with the simple background for this. It may need more work to create depth in the grass but I'm calling it done for now.

At first I planned to do a simple blue sky and low grasses so I outlined a few areas of the goose and the ducks with a Prussian blue Derwent w/c pencil to prevent color bleed. It sounded like a good idea at the time! Unfortunately, the pencil didn't want to blend out as well as I would've thought so I have a nice blue outline showing in some spots and those lines absolutely refuse to budge. Lesson learned once again.

Seeing this on the blog just now made me realize the grass needs a lot more work. Maybe at a later date.

Deciding on Backgrounds & Intention

Do I want to continue developing the detail in this background and create a barnyard scene?

Or do I want the birds to be the main subject with a few simple stands of grass to frame them?

Planning the entire painting before actually starting it is always preferable. However, if you've ever found yourself stuck for background ideas after you've completed the foreground subject/subjects this is a great way to try different options without ruining your painting. Here I've printed out two copies of Duck Duck Goose on cheap printing paper and penciled in a couple possible backgrounds. I can even add color with Prismacolor pencils to see which colors will work best. I'm still undecided but I can continue to experiment indefinitely or until my printer ink runs out.

Another thing to consider is the intention of the artist which will impact the type of background chosen. Do I want to paint a farm scene with a few ducks and a goose in the foreground or do I want the birds to star?

Duck Duck Goose~in progress

I'm not terribly clever when it comes to titles but despite the fact that this title is obvious, it's also the name of a popular children's game in the U.S. and I remember playing it many times with the other kids in my neighborhood when I was growing up. I mentioned the game to a friend of mine that grew up in Great Britain but she wasn't familiar with it so I'm posting a link for those who are wondering how you play Duck Duck Goose.

My reference for this piece is a photo I shot last weekend of someone's barnyard. They had a variety of geese and ducks in a pen near the road and I couldn't resist taking a few pics. This is fairly tight (realistic) and it's been awhile since I've painted this tight and now I remember why I don't like painting tight....too much room for error.:( It makes me nervous and when I get nervous I mess up. Kind of a self-fulfilling prophecy sort of thing. If all goes well I'll post the completed painting. If it doesn't...well, one more for the bin.

Purple Cat

Hey, why not? I've finally used up all the paint on my latest palette, too! This colorful kitty was painted freehand, wet-into-wet on #140 Fabriano Uno. I added some violet Bombay ink with a pen and nib after the painting was dry. I wound up with a few unplanned 'blobs', one right on the cat's face. I'm a menace with bottled ink and nibs. :(

Review~Cirrus Floating Picture Frame

The adhesive square has been applied and the backing plastic is ready to be removed.

Here's a closer shot of the adhesive tabs. I've lifted the backing plastic off slightly. One adhesive tab will have to be applied to each side of the mounting tabs...one for the underside of the artwork, the other to adhere the work to the foamcore backing board.

The 1" adhesive squares actually contain only a 1/4" square of adhesive in the center, sandwiched between plastic. The adhesive is supposed to be repositionable and I've been putting that claim to the test. So far I've removed the mounting tabs from my paper 2-3 times with no damage to the back of the painting.


These are the 1" acid free foamcore mounting tabs and a sheet of adhesive squares.

The locking system is made of sturdy plastic. Flip the tabs up and grasping the sides of the top of the frame, simply pull straight up. When replacing, slide the clips into the frame's channel and once in place snap the tabs back down. Everything is locked in nice and tight.

The hanger system is simple and sturdy. No picture wire to deal with here. The hanger can be easily removed by gently prying up on each side below the holes you can see in this image with a flathead screw driver and it pops back in with some minimal effort.

Here's the frame as it arrived. Well, not exactly. I had taken it apart and replaced the original image crookedly before snapping this shot.:(

The instructions that Framatic included regarding the float mount tabs are incorrect. The adhesive is not already on the tabs when they arrive even though their graphic shows this.

I've received my float mount frame from Your Picture Frame.com and I'm pretty darn happy with it. I ordered an 8" x 10" frame in bronze which will accomodate an image up to 7" x 9" but plan to use it for a 5" x 7" painting. The frame itself is made of aluminum and is 1 1/4" deep with a 1/4" reveal. The reveal is smooth, the sides are slightly brushed. With the combined thickness of the foamcore and the float mount tabs it allows for 1/2" space between the artwork and the glass(no Plexi). The backer board/mat is acid free foamcore in an off white/slightly ivory color(no other color choices). The float mount tabs are also acid free.

Overall I'm very happy with this framing system. The materials are all acid free and this system makes float mounting artwork extremely simple and easy. My only negative critiques...(1.)The instructions contained an error and (2.) I wish they would've included some of those little wall protectors that attach to the lower corners of the back of the frame.

This frame is produced by Framatic of Los Angeles, Ca. and sold through various distributors. I did have some questions when it arrived and found the representative at Your Picture Frame to be friendly, helpful and knowledgable. I'd like to thank Alisha Lee for being so patient and going out of her way to assist me with my concerns.

Trillium Trio with WIP

Trillium Trio~5" x 7"

I'm still playing with the trilliums. I also plan to continue experimenting with different palettes. In this painting I added DS Moonglow (just love this color..it mixes with practically everything) to the Phthalo turquoise and perm. yellow left on a previous palette. Moonglow's purple-y/grey served to neutralize the other colors and brought what I consider a slightly old fashioned look to the finished painting. I also used a working drawing and a small amount of misket to save some edges. I'm not particularily happy with the flower on the top left. The angle is too sharp and horizontal and leads the eye off the painting.

This painting was done on #140 HP and I'm still using Kemp's paper prep technique. I like the ability to lift paint on this surface, especially when dealing with white flowers.

Doodling Online

My Doodle Cat

I found these links (see below) on Vivien Blackburn's blog and it's a ton of fun! She called it a time waster and she's probably right. Vivien also called it addictive and I have to agree.

Doodle Online

Mr. doob's Blog

Mr. doob is aka Ricardo Cabello, the man responsible for this graphic program

Trilliums~Fast and Loose

Last year I took several photos of trilliums for reference but never did a thing with them. Instead I went off on another tangent and the images were forgotten. In 2009 Spring came about 6 weeks late and stayed all summer so trilliums were scarce. This year Spring has arrived very early in N. Michigan. The trilliums aren't blooming yet, though. The poor things probably don't know what's going on!

This is more of a study than a finished painting. I wanted to try Kemp's paper prep technique with HP Fabriano w/c paper. Hotpress paper contains a lot more sizing than coldpress so I was able to achieve more detail and definition but it tended to dry out much faster which presented it's own problems. Lesson learned? HP paper needs to be soaked to maintain the same moisture levels as CP. Just brushing water on both sides of HP won't work. The good news...it all depends on the end result you want which paper will work best using Linda Kemp's prep method.

Metal Float Mount Frames

I wasn't sure they even existed until I did an extensive search online. I don't have the supplies on hand to frame with wood and I really don't want to spend the money on them at this point, not to mention...wood frames are pricey! Even the simplest wood frames aren't cheap. Most of my work looks just fine in metal frames and they're so simple to put together.

In my search I found Your Picture Frames, a company which sells metal float mount picture frames(!) so I ordered a sample frame today. I'm not sure what I'm going to get but the description sounded good so I'll let you know what I think when it arrives.

Cardooning

I'm really enjoying using Linda Kemp's method of prepping w/c paper. No tape, no staples...just wet the paper liberally on both sides with a clean brush and water and place on Plexiglass. Voila!

I prepped a small (5"x 8") piece of #140 Fabriano Uno and dropped on some thick juicy Phthalo turquoise, Quin. rose and Cerulean blue. The paint fanned out beautifully into some lovely patterns. I got a nice violet from this palette and added a smidgeon of perm. yellow to make an interesting green. Some Indanthrene blue may have gotten into the mix because I haven't been bothering to clean my palette lately. I've been playing fast and loose with the attitude that whatever happens...happens.

I then let this dry completely and came back to see what I could see in the paint and what I saw were cardoons. A nice little cluster of three...one large in the forefront, one in back and another smaller one to the right and down. I then decided to use colored pencil to further define the shapes.

I've been admiring Vivien Blackburn's recent sketches of cardoons on her blog and we seem to share a love of thistle-like plants. Vivien works plein air and I love her expressive style and bold approach to her subjects. Please check out Vivien's blog on my blog list.

Thinking in the Negative & Looking for Shapes

It's a school of fish! I'm not sure what kind of fish(?)but all kinds from the look of it. I simply 'picked out' the shapes I saw. I see even more now that I look at this on screen. Can you see the other fish?

Here I've expanded on my original landscape and tweaked some areas.

I'm still playing with the negative painting. It's also fascinating to look at random shifts in color and value on a piece of paper and pick out shapes. That's something I've never tried before but always wanted to attempt. It seems these two approaches go well together. The other obvious lesson one can glean from negative painting is the use of values and color to create depth. The darker or cooler the color the more it recedes. The brighter or warmer the color the more it moves forward.

Negative Painting ala Linda Kemp

I've been finding myself at a loss for inspiration recently so I grabbed a book I purchased a few years ago titled Painting Outside The Lines by Linda Kemp.

I was (and still am) very much fascinated by her approach to landscape painting. It's like nothing I've ever seen before and I'm finding it's extremely tricky to accomplish. Linda doesn't stretch her paper or even use tape to secure it to a board. She thoroughly wets both sides of a piece of #140 CP watercolor paper with clear water and lays it on a sheet of Plexi glass. The paper is held in place by the tension of the water against the Plexi and also by the sizing on the paper itself. She recommends drying your painting on a wooden board after completion but I left mine on the plexi and it dried nice and flat without sticking to the glass.

In her book she illustrates some simple compositional tips, how to create the desired mood you wish to convey in your painting and also includes some simple step-by-step demos on how to apply the paint. Learning to think in the negative, meaning to focus on the shapes around an object rather than the object itself, is quite another matter. Looks easy but trust me...it's not! It requires a shift in our normal way of looking at things. This may come more easily to some than others. I found I had to continually step back and look at my painting to get my bearings, so to speak, but I feel if I continue to pursue this method of painting it will eventually become natural.

Mushies~ Finished & Framed

It's interesting what can be done with palette muck so don't waste it! I took the liberty of matting and framing this one online just to see how it would look. I chose a dark wood frame so it doesn't show up well on the blog.

'shrooms

This is a little project I started to use up leftover paint from my landscape and an odd size piece of 300# CP w/c paper. I think morel mushrooms are fascinating little fungi. They grow wild in the woods around here in Spring, can be elusive, have a taste like no other mushroom and are coveted by gourmet restaurants. Serious morel hunters have their secret places they hunt and never divulge the locations. I have fond memories of foraging through the woods, hunting them with my Dad. The first one is always the hardest to spot but once you've found it suddenly they seem to appear everywhere, almost like magic.

Birch Landscape~ Complete!

SOLD

Well, almost. I need to tweak the markings on the birch trees a little but I'm close to calling this one done. As usual, the colors are a little off. I tried my best with my photo editor but I lost some lavenders and pale yellow in the stream and some soft grey/blues in the background. Also, the actual painting looks a bit softer overall. I really enjoyed using the gesso as a painting medium. It gave the effect of oils where I needed it.

Another Sketch~Yup, More Birch

I've painted more birch landscapes these last few weeks than I care to count. All hit the bin. I felt my confidence begin to fade and when that happens nothing I paint seems to work. Yesterday I was browsing on Facebook and found the oil paintings of Michael Godfrey. He's done a series of winter landscapes, none with birch that I saw, but I was entranced with the way he handled the snow and that winter woodsy atmosphere. This has been my main issue...how to make a white landscape with white trees sing and not look terribly stark and boring. Also I had certain colors that needed to be incorporated(and more to be left out) to make this painting work with it's companion. Commissions can be tricky.

There's a certain freedom with oils that's not enjoyed when working in watercolor, at least for me. How to achieve the same look as Godfrey's work with watercolor was now the issue. I decided to use gesso as a painting medium, something I've never done before and it worked pretty well. It's great for hazy backgrounds. I also switched to 300# CP paper for texture.

BTW, if you're a member of Facebook please take the time to look up Michael Godfrey's work. You won't be sorry. If you do check out his gallery you'll spot which painting I took my inspiration from easily.

More Birch Trees!

Same study, more tweaking. I darkened the foreground, shadows and some of the sky. Because of the light today my sky looks lavendar and the white of the birch bark is lost.

This is the best photo I could get of my latest birch study but it should convey an idea of the sunrise effect. I will most likely play with this some more and bring in some deeper shadows on the snow in the foreground. If it doesn't work out it's just a study. I used to hate doing studies and thought they were a waste of time but now I'm enjoying them, especially when I'm so far out of my comfort zone. They waste less paper, less time and they provide a wealth of much needed information.

I emailed my customer the last two color sketches/studies and she decided on the second sketch. She said it looked the most like the area where she lives and I have to agree. She didn't care for all the orange and red in the first study but did say she was open to bringing in a little more color to the one she did choose and suggested a sunset landscape. I thought early sunrise would work much better. I love the look of all those amazing pastel colors that bathe the landscape just before the sun appears on the horizan. At that time of day there's usually a bit of mist hanging over the lake and the waters are usually calm and reflective.

Birch Landscape~Color Sketches

This was done w/o any prior pencil sketch and some negative painting. The trees on the right are lined up like ducks in a shooting gallery but that's an easy fix.

This one brought in that cold winter 'feel' but it's rather dull. I need to work out something better for the foreground, too.

Even though I haven't been posting much lately I have been working. Landscapes aren't a strong point for me and this one poses extra challenges. The customer would like certain colors included in the finished painting and it also has to tie into the companion painting, Berries & Birch #1. The obvious choice would be to use those colors, a grey blue and burnt sienna, to make them mesh. So far I've done 6 color sketches and these are the latest two, done quickly and 'sketchy'. I'm not entirely satisfied with either but I wanted to get them up on the computer to see how they look. Sometimes seeing an idea on screen reveals things I can improve on and tweak to get the desired result or in the worst case...to just chuck the whole idea and start again.

Know Your Subject

This image was taken on a cloudy day. I can hardly wait for a sunny day!

If you don't work plein air(which I don't) you should at least know your subject. That's probably why I do well painting cats and florals....I own cats and I grow flowers. I have a passion for these subjects because they mean something to me on an emotional level. Today I took the time to really look at birch trees in an effort to really see them. I can't speak for everyone but I know if I have something around me everyday I tend to stop seeing and just look. There's a difference. It's subtle but it's important.

I'm quoting myself here..."Face it...birch are pretty much black and white, a few interesting greys with a peek of peach color where the bark has peeled back." Boy, was I wrong.

Across the drive from my home there's several natural stands of white birch aka canoe birch aka paper birch. I look at these trees every single day and have for years but today I saw them and what I saw was incredibly beautiful and unexpected. I was so excited I couldn't help but grab my camera and capture some images. How could I have missed such incredible color all these years? I looked but I wasn't seeing.

Stuck

January in Michigan and one cat with serious cabin fever...my Digby. We've had a recent thaw and I've since taken down the wreath. I posted this because of the expression on his face. After creating yet another unsatisfactory birch painting, I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror and saw I was wearing the same exasperated look.

Yes, I seem to be stuck at the moment. Not a good way to enter the new year but here I am nonetheless.

Berries & Birch #1 has been spoken for and the customer would like a companion piece to go with. As this is a fairly close view of a birch I'd love to do a birch landscape. I was blown away by
Cecy Turner's 'Early Winter'. A cropped version of this painting was featured on the cover of the February issue of Watercolor Artist and it's simply yummy. It's a birch landscape but the painting is really about the colors. I love the reflected glow on the birch bark. Face it...birch are pretty much black and white, a few interesting greys with a peek of peach color where the bark has peeled back. Anything to spice up a birch landscape is welcome. I drew up a new landscape that would fit my format and I knew I would have to tweak the colors to have it make sense beside the first painting. Sadly, my version didn't make the cut. Make that version...sss. I've painted this three times and I'm still not happy. Nothing even worth posting, IMO.

Feeling frustrated, I started Googling birch trees in watercolor and stumbled across
Guan Weixing's 'Autumn Rhythm'. Wow! Artists are doing wonderful things with birch trees. Why can't I seem to find a way? Last night I found myself lying awake in bed wracking my brain for an idea that would work for me, my customer and ultimately, the companion painting. If the two paintings work together everyone will be happy. I think it's time to walk away for a bit and clear my head. Time to let go of the thought process and let the creative part of me work it out. Does anyone else ever run into this? I hope it's not just me. :(

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Note: I can't seem to link directly to Cecy's painting. Follow the link I posted and select 'Landscapes' on her site. The painting I refer to is in the second vertical row, 6th painting down. You won't be sorry for your trouble. It's gorgeous.

First Collage~WIP

Sorry for the bad photo. Grey days and photo distortion make for bad pictures. My lines are straight!

JoAnn Fabrics opened a huge new store in Petoskey so a friend and I spent almost two hours last Wednesday browsing the place. Talk about creative overload! Crafters/artists alike could easily go broke in a place like that. I've wanted to try my hand at collage art so I picked up a few things. Not knowing what I needed or without any plan whatsoever, I grabbed a stamp, some ink pads and a gold metallic oil based paint marker that promised a heavy pigment load. I hate wimpy metallics and this marker delivered. Unfortunately, because I used it on a porous surface it ran out of paint before I completed the lettering. 140# w/c paper sucked up that paint like crazy. I should've known. Live and learn.

The next task was to come up with a concept. I don't have any crafting supplies other than what I had just purchased but I knew I had some lovely paper samples that I received from Twinrocker. Problem...they're small. This was going to be a creative project in more ways than one. I did find some gold tissue paper left from Xmas but it was too flimsy to work with so I crumpled it , then glued it to tracing paper with good old Elmers. It worked! Next, I found some peacock feathers I've had in a brass vase for years so I grabbed those. That's when my concept was born. I'd make peacock orchids out of real peacock feathers!

Then came lettering. I found a free font site online and copied a few fonts I liked, chose one and traced and transferred it to my paper. I would've loved to have used my own script but my handwriting is awful.:( This project is now on hold until I can get back to JoAnn's and pick up another pen which, after this collage is completed I won't use again on another porous surface. These markers aren't cheap. I vowed to also buy a book on collage art which I'm sure will prove very useful with my next attempt.

Happy 2010!

2009 has come and gone and boy, did it go fast! 2010 is here and tonite there's a blue Moon. I've used the phrase," Once in a blue Moon" numerous times but never truly understood where that particular phrase originated or what it actually meant. I had always assumed it meant something that was a rare occurrence and I was mostly correct. A blue Moon is simply a second full Moon occurring in one month. I did a little research and found some interesting facts regarding Blue Moons. Actually I think it's kind of neat that this particular blue Moon is falling on the eve of the new year but I have a friend that works in a casino and she isn't as thrilled. It seems things get a little crazier during full Moons with casino crowds and twice in one month... well, she's not looking forward to work tonite.

Accessing my artwork these past 12 months, I'm pretty excited with what I consider clearing my biggest hurdle which was loosening up more and becoming much more adventurous. I'm looking forward to exploration not only with watercolor but fluid acrylics, collage and I plan to continue experimenting on different surfaces as well. I'm thrilled and grateful that I've gained more followers and have met many wonderful artists through blogging and Facebook. I don't know where I'm headed with my art but not knowing is half the fun...at least for me. Afterall, life is an adventure and art is a big part of my life.

May all my visitors have a wonderful, inspired and productive 2010. Happy New Year!

Happy Chrismukkahkwanzaayulemadan!

I want to thank all my visitors for stopping by my blog and special thanks to those who took the time to leave feedback & encouragement. It means so much to me.:)

I found this little animation online and thought it had everyone covered and whichever holiday you choose to observe, I hope you all find some peace and joy in the spirit of the season.

Crabby Cat Christmas

With some text added

I wasn't planning on printing any Xmas cards this year because I didn't want to spend the money at the printers just before the holidays. Maybe next year...huh? Last night I was fooling around with Elements and decided to try printing out 'Snowflake Flies'. I haven't had much luck with my home printer lately so I never expected the cards to turn out but they actually did!

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This gave me the impetuous to try another Xmas card idea I had floating around in my head. Pressed for time, I drew out my sketch and outlined it with a micron pen. Then I scanned and enlarged it. Today I printed out the sketch directly onto #140 HP w/c paper and added color with Prismacolor pencils and watercolor. I will probably add some text and will post the image again when it has been added. For the rest of the day I will be printing out the new cards and getting them ready to take to the gallery. I hope it isn't too late. Nothing like cutting it close.

A Photo Sunset

This is my first attempt at working with watercolor on photo paper...very cheap photo paper. I had a vague plan to paint Fall leaves when I laid down my first brush strokes but the paper had other ideas. I had expected the paint to bead up but instead it took each stroke and showed the trail of every bristle. When I want paint to move and soften I'm in the habit of lightly spritzing it with water from an atomizer but as soon as the mist hit the photo paper it buckled like crazy! There was nothing I could do but wait until it dried. Fortunately, the paper flattened itself out eventually so I looked at it trying to decide what I could work out. Because of the way the paper buckled it created a landscape of sorts, at least to my eye, so I proceeded to follow that up with some tweaking. The above image is my result. I DO plan to try this paper again, a little wiser but knowing full well I will have very little control over the end product. That's kind of exciting actually.

Yupo Replacement

Check out Myrna Wacknov's latest blogpost. She used photo paper in place of Yupo with some very interesting results. I'm excited about this news because I recently discovered our local $1 store carries photo paper...8 sheets for a buck(!) and I've been wanting to give Yupo a try. I think I know what my next project will be.

Snowflake Flies~Xmas Card

With Text

Without Text

I finally got this card done. I had to enlarge my tiny sketch to 12" x 16"as there was so much detail to tackle. It's times like this I wish I had a projector. Maybe next year.

I may tweak this with some pastel pencils and/or some colored pencils OR I may just leave it alone. I see I missed adding the stripes to that little candy cane peeking out of Santa's sack. Gotta fix that!