Spin Cycle

"Spin Cycle"

Image Size 15" x 22"

Watercolor

I finished another old painting this week.  I was hoping for some time to work on a new project but things have been pretty busy so I'm hopeful that next week will be better for art.

Drifting

When I began this painting, this was NOT what I had in mind.  I soaked a piece of Winsor Newton cold press watercolor paper and began painting a wave in a horizontal format.  I could tell as soon as I wet the paper that the sizing in the paper was no longer there.  I've probably had this paper at least 10 years.  I've had problems with sizing before with other brands of paper and found out a few months ago that sizing is a plant based substance and it does degrade over time.  I can't remember if I've told you that before or not so if I have, I apologize for repeating myself.  The loss of sizing does not harm the paper and has no effect on the longevity of the artwork, but it does alter how paint reacts on the paper.

Anyway, I've got a lot of older watercolor paper (I had a little too much fun buying art supplies for awhile) so when I start a painting and the sizing is no longer there, I coat the paper with matte medium which seals the paper.  It creates a different surface than sizing does because when the paper is sealed, the paint sits on the surface, which can be good and bad.  Lifting paint becomes very easy but care must be used when glazing so that previous layers aren't lifted.  Also, it's harder to build deep darks.

In this case,  I didn't seal this paper.  I had really saturated the paper with water and when the wave didn't seem to be working the way I had intended, I decided to paint an abstract.  I really do love abstract paintings but don't paint them too often because I find them hard to do because I'm such a literal and realistic painter.

This is painted with transparent watercolor and I also used some watercolor crayons and Derwent 'Inktense' watercolor pencils.  Such fun!

I think I like the painting with this orientation the best but I also like it in a horizontal format with the darker part on the bottom.  Which way do you like best?

Drifting
Image Size 22" x 15"
Watercolor

Stressed

I felt the need to throw some paint and this is the result.  I looked back at last year's post at this time and it is very similar.  You can check out that one, "Strained" if you'd like and you'll see that this time of year  is not my favorite but it's my own fault.  I always feel out of control.  Last year, I made plans to do a better job of being organized about the holidays but obviously that didn't happen.  I just don't think I have it in me to get things done in a timely manner and that causes STRESS.

Phew....now it's over for another year.  I know those of you that love Christmas think I'm crazy but I'm really happy that we can get on to the new year.  I'll make the same resolution to be more organized and we'll see what the outcome is for 2012.  Who knows, if I get everything done ahead of time for the holidays next year, Christmas may become my favorite holiday.

This is a watercolor with bits of acrylic which I had to use (the white) because it was getting so dark.  It sure was liberating to throw all of that paint though.

Stressed
Image size 15" x 22"
Watercolor

Fragrant Plumeria

Last spring, I was fortunate to see the work of Joseph Raffael in person.  There was an exhibit at Soka University and it was truly amazing.  His work is beautiful on his website but can't be appreciated fully until you see it in person.  His paintings are HUGE and very intricate.  I could have stayed at the show for days and not tired of looking and finding new things.

I decided to try to paint like him.   I started this right after seeing the show but it then I ignored it until last week.  Most of his paintings have these incredible borders that look like confetti.  The way he paints them (I think) is to put the confetti colors on first and then paint around them.  He had blooms in the background color of the border that I didn't want so I did my background color first, leaving white areas that I could fill in with color and then I used plastic wrap to get more texture.

My intention for the flowers and background was to NOT care about blooms and be very loose and messy.  Well, I started out that way but it was really stressful for me so other than one bloom in the background (which drove me crazy) and the type of border I did, this is nothing like Joseph's work.  I had good intentions.  Maybe if I'd had a glass of wine first it would have turned out differently.  Also, I think the flowers I picked really didn't lend themselves to the broken, textural color that he does so well.

The border on this was fun.  I've always used borders in my silk paintings but rarely in my watercolors although I'm not sure why that is.  I'll probably use borders in the future but I doubt if I'll do the confetti look again.  That just seems to be too much of a signature of Joseph's.

To check out Joseph Raffael's beautiful paintings, click on his name.  He also has videos on his site that are fun to watch.

Inspired by Joseph Raffael
Image size 22" x 30"
Watercolor

Orvieto

I took the photo for this painting in 2005 in Orvieto, Italy.  It's such a charming town and I love this scene.  In fact, I painted it before in a landscape format twice as large.  For this painting,  I wanted to use the portrait format to emphasize the height of the building in the foreground.  Also, this one is painted more loosely and colorfully.  I never took a picture of the original painting and although it is hanging in our home, I'm too lazy to try to take a picture of it through the glass.  They never seem to come out well without a lot of reflections anyway so you will just have to imagine what it looks like.  : )

Orvieto

Image Size 22" x 15"

Watercolor

Lake Powell Reflections

I'm really enjoying these watery, loose paintings.  I know I will go back an forth between painting like this and really tight but variety is fun.  As much as I like really controlling the watercolor, wet into wet painting gives beautiful effects.

Lake Powell Reflections
Image Size 22" x 15"
Watercolor

Lost Canyon III

Here's another Lost Canyon abstract.  This has some interesting textures that aren't really showing up in this photo.  I love what watercolor pigments do on wet paper.  You can't get that with any other medium.

Lost Canyon III
Image Size 15" x 22"
Watercolor

Lost Canyon - Watercolor

I felt like doing an abstract this week.  I'm really happy with the colors and textures I achieved with this one.  I think I might try to get a similer look in oils on a large canvas.  To me, abstracts are much more impressive when they are really large.  I think if I work the oils with a lot of turpentine I can get the look of a watercolor.  It will be a fun experiment.

As an update, (July 2011) this painting received an honorable mention in watercolor at the Orange County Fair.

Lost Canyon
Image Size 15" x 22"
Watercolor

Galactic Litter Redone

This may look familiar to you.  Above is a re-worked painting that I originally painted about 6 months ago but there were parts of it that I didn't like - to the point that it almost made me shudder when I looked at it.  I loved the background but the shapes in the foreground looked like internal organs to me.  Yuck!!!
Below is the original:

The picture of the re-done painting (at the top of this post) is actually brighter but it isn't coming across very well on the computer.  I didn't change the background except to add a little bit of red to lead the viewer's eyes around.  While I like the colors better in the new version and the loss of the body parts, I miss the strong sense of depth that the painting had because now it no longer has the strong value contrast that I originally created.  It no longer looks like "Galactic Litter" to me.  Now it looks like an underwater scene.  Or maybe it's some of the litter that we've dumped in our oceans that's floating on top.  What do you think?  Do I need a new title?  Also, I would love comments (positive or negative) on what I've done.  If you like the original better, too bad!  It's gone forever. : )  I can sleep better now knowing that I won't ever have to look at those internal organs again.
One of the things that I really like about abstract paintings is how everyone sees something different in them but once I saw those original shapes as internal organs, I couldn't see them as anything else.

Short Circuit

Here's another abstract - not as dark as last week's in color or theme.  I'm really happy with how this turned out.  I love the colors and the mix of hard and soft edges as well as the areas of pristine, white paper.  The glow of that white paper, to me, is one of the most beautiful aspects of watercolor that just can't be achieved with any other medium.  Also, the way the watercolor paint reacts and separates on the wet paper is unique to this medium.  I love to experiment with other mediums but shall always return to watercolor.

Short Circuit
Image Size 13.5" x 19"
Watercolor

Strained

If I could take a picture of the inside of my head, it might look something like this.  Disorganization rules  in there.  It always surprises me when people think I am an organized person but after seeing this self portrait, they may change their minds. : )

It gets especially bad this time of year with all of the hustle and bustle of the holidays.  I never feel like I'm in control.  I envy the people that are able to fully enjoy the season because they have done their shopping early, have the presents wrapped and are able to relax and bake cookies knowing that everything is done.  Each year, I think I will do better but I seem to be getting worse.  My feeling of bah humbug gets worse every year too.  I'm writing this on Dec. 23rd (and pre-posting) in case you're thinking that I should be able to relax now that the holidays are over.

I plan to change in 2011.  I'm beginning to make my list of new year's resolutions and you can bet that being ready for the holidays will be first on my list!!!

Strained
Image Size 22" x 15"
Watercolor

Rocky Falls

This was a fun, loose painting.  Most of it was done wet into wet and then did a bit of detail once it dried.  I'm really happy with the colors and feeling of this painting.

Rocky Falls
Image size 22" x 15"
Watercolor
Unframed
$275.00

Nature's Majesty

These two paintings were painted from the same photo.  The first one was painted a couple of months ago and the second one was finished today.  I took the picture in Alaska in Tracy Arm.  It is such a beautiful place.  I think the two paintings make the scene look very different.   The first one is a palette knife painting and the second one is a watercolor.

I like the texture in this one:

Nature's Majesty

Image size 6" x 6"

Oil on canvas

Unframed

$100.00

I like the softness of this one:

Nature's Majesty II

Image Size 15" x 21"

Unframed

$275.00

Paradise Lost IV - Watercolor

This is the fourth painting in the Paradise Lost series and is a re-do of one of the paintings that I did in 1995 when I first thought of this idea. The original painting is shown below. My idea was to show how Orange County's original crop and namesake has changed and now we have a new 'crop'. In the painting that shows the oranges growing on the tree, I used pure, clean colors to show nature's beauty and in the painting with the houses 'growing' I used a more muddied palette to give a sense of a less clean, more man-made environment.

Paradise Lost IV

Image Size 11" x 11" each

Watercolor

Unframed

The above painting is the original 1995 painting.

Running on Water

"Running on Water" is my first attempt at an abstract in watercolor. I'd been planning to do one for a long time. I found a piece of paper in my my art supplies that was a cream color which was interesting because I've never seen a watercolor paper that color. Well, after starting to paint on it I realized that it is probably printmaking paper because it is very absorbent and didn't seem to have sizing in it or on the surface. That made the paint react differently than usual which made it a challenge. It was hard to get the dark colors dark enough because the color kept absorbing into the paper. I ended up using the black straight from the tube which is a weird feeling with watercolor because it doesn't flow.

Running on Water
Image Size 15" x 22"
Watercolor
Framed