Cactus Flower-watercolor on TerraSkin

I'm still playing around with the TerraSkin paper surface.  I love the watery effects I can get with it and it forces me to paint more loosely.  I took some pictures of cacti flowering at Sherman Gardens a while ago and had been wanting to try painting them.  The flowers on these cacti are so beautiful I will probably paint them many times in several mediums.  This is a very small painting but I think a huge painting of these would be amazing.

Cactus Flower
Image Size 5.5" x 4"
Watercolor

Stone Hollihocks- TerraSkin

What a weird title for this painting, right?  Well, it's painted on "stone" of a sort.  I found out about this new "paper" from a blogger (sorry I don't remember who) and hunted it down because I just had to try it.  It is called TerraSkin and is made from 75-80% stone (recycled calcium carbonate, the mineral in marble) and an environmentally friendly polyethylene resin.  It uses about 50% less energy to produce, no bleach and little to no water.  It is also acid free.  When I heard about it, I couldn't wait to try it.  I'm always looking for interesting substrates for my art.

One of the environmental perks of this "paper" is that it is biodegradable in 3-9 months with enough heat, moisture and sun.  Of course, I don't want my art degrading but I would imagine that a piece of regular paper would be destroyed much, much quicker in that type of environment than this surface would.  Remember people, don't put your art in the direct sun and definitely don't put your paintings in the landfill and expect for them to survive. : )

This paper has a wonderful chalky feel to it and it comes in various weights.  I think this painting is done on the heaviest paper.  The paint sits on the surface much like on yupo (I'm talking about watercolors) but I think this surface is more forgiving in a few instances.  I started a completely different design on this paper and erased all of it and that didn't seem to change the surface of the paper.  With Yupo, I've found that erasing is a big no no.  Also, fingerprints don't seem to be such an issue with this paper as they are with Yupo.  Lifting paint was similar when the paint was freshly dried but seemed to be a little harder to lift as it sat longer.  It could still be lifted but didn't feel as impermanent as on Yupo and it was easier to get a blended edge when lifting instead of being either white or the color.  Of course, I have NOT had much luck working on Yupo so for those of you that know what you're doing, these issues are probably not even problems for you.

I like the TerraSkin surface and look forward to painting on a large piece of it.  I really like the effect of the paints on this paper, which is similar to the look on Yupo, but working on TerraSkin seems easier.

I would love to hear from anyone that has painted on this surface with watercolor and what your experiences have been.

Stone Hollihocks
Image Size 5.5" x 4"
Watercolor

Bougainvillea in Colored Pencil

I really need to get some new reference material!  I love bougainvillea but I think I've painted them enough!  We have been traveling and I needed something to work on while on the plane.  Colored pencils are the best medium for me in this instance because it doesn't take much space and if there is turbulence, there are no spills.  There were a few pencil skips during turbulence but it worked out okay.

I am so amazed by artists that use colored pencil as their primary medium.  It is a very time consuming process and being stuck on a plane is about the only time I have enough patience to work with them.  It sure makes me appreciate the skills and time needed to finish a colored pencil painting.  This is a small one and it took many hours more than if it was done in any other medium that I use.  Even though I really like the look of colored pencils that have been burnished, I didn't burnish this one because there was a bit too much texture in the paper, even though it is a hot pressed watercolor paper.  I usually like using smooth Bristol paper for colored pencils.  This paper did have a little more tooth to hold more layers of color, which was nice, so I guess each type of paper has its pros and cons.

Bougainvillea in Colored Pencil
Image Size 7" x 10"
Colored Pencil

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

Gamblin Oil Paints

We just got back from visiting friends in Portland, Oregon.  When I found out we were going up there, I contacted Gamblin Oil Paints and asked if I could tour their factory and they graciously said yes.  I've always liked their paints and mediums and they have one of the best, most informative websites I've seen so I was really excited to be able to see their facility.

When I got there, I was surprised by how small it is considering that they have an international presence with their product.  Every step of the process is checked and their quality control is wonderful.  I am now a complete Gamblin convert and plan to only buy their oils when I need (want) new colors.

Not only are they really focused on keeping their quality high and consistent, they are also careful about the health of their employees and the environment.  They use an air filtration system to capture the pigment dust while the colors are being mixed, which could be harmful if inhaled.  Once a year, they make Torrit Grey paint using everything collected in the filtration system.  The grey varies from year to year because the colors and amount of dust from each color made each year can vary.  Torrit grey is released around the end of April and is only available while supplies last.  It is given as a gift when another tube of Gamblin oil paint is purchased.

Artists can enter their annual Torrit Grey competition in which they use only Torrit Grey, white and black in their painting.  This year the deadline has been extended until Oct. 1st.  You can visit the Gamblin website to get the details and see examples of past work.   If you can't find Torrit Grey in your area, I just got some at Art Supply Warehouse which is located in Westminster, CA but they sell on-line also.  I don't know how much they have left but I was really surprised that they still had any because it's usually gone from stores pretty quickly.  If you contact them, be sure to mention the Torrit grey because some of their employees (the first on I talked to) don't know about Torrit grey and if they look on the Gamblin color chart they won't see it.  This company is different than the Art Supply Warehouse with the website aswexpress.com (one of my favorite places to buy supplies) They ran out of the Torrit Grey a while ago.

I'm hoping to try a painting or two to submit.  It will be a really good exercise in value control.

This is a painting I did awhile ago but I never posted it to the blog.  It's one of my first oil paintings and I painted it in a traditional manner glazing many layers.  The color is much richer in person.  I just love these dramatic, huge flowers.  They have a long blooming season and are really flashy in a garden.

Garden Angels
Image size 24" x 18"
Gallery wrapped canvas painted on sides.  No frame needed

Fairbanks, Alaska - Silk Painting

I found this log cabin while I was traveling virtually in Fairbanks, Alaska.  I used a bit of artistic license with the yard.  I got rid of some of the stuff they had sitting around the yard and then re-landscaped.  I know it's very green but that's one of my favorite colors and there really is a lot of green up there.  I haven't done a silk painting for awhile so I decided to do a graphic painting of this scene.If you want to see the street map view I used, you can see it on Google street maps here.

Fairbanks, Alaska
Image Size 8" x 21"
Silk dyes on silk

Water Violation - Watercolor

Here is a painting that was a struggle from the beginning ( well over a year ago).  I started by pouring a very light color over a dry piece of paper which gave the foreground design which is very similar to my painting "Fish and Flotsam" in how it began.  In this painting, I broke up the poured area into interwoven sections and because this is a handmade paper with lots of texture, I used my most sedimentary paints to show off that texture.  Unfortunately, I put no thought into how those colors would look together and what I ended up with was a cacophony of disharmonious color.  I tried to wash it off in the bathtub and then chose colors that worked better together while still trying to get a lot of texture.  Once I got the colors the way I wanted them I still didn't have any type of focal point and I think you need that even in an abstract so of course I added......Koi!  There's a reason I used to be known as the flower and koi artist.  Anyway, after a year, I'm calling this finished.  I think I actually am happy with how it turned out but I certainly would recommend starting a painting with a little more of an idea of where it is supposed to go.

Water Violation
Image size 22" x 30"
Watercolor

Summer Stream - Oil

Virtual paintout's location this month is Fairbanks, Alaska and points north.  There's some beautiful scenery in that state for sure.  My husband and I visited there last summer on a cruise so we didn't make it to Fairbanks but the places we visited were beautiful.  By the end of the week I felt like my eyes couldn't handle any more of that green, lush scenery.  As I was virtually traveling through Alaska this week, this spot caught my attention because of the yellow foliage along with that little stream against the mountains in the background.
This is an oil painting done with a brush.  I was very tempted to use a palette knife in the foreground but wanted to keep a soft feeling throughout the painting.

Summer Stream
Image Size 6" x 6"
Oil

Fuchsia Fuchsias - Oil Painting

This is an oil painting that I actually used a brush to paint.  I've used only palette knives for oil paintings for the past year.  I've started out using brushes on a lot of paintings but after a couple of strokes, I've picked up my palette knife and dumped the brushes.  For this one, I felt I needed a little more control so that I could give the flowers a more delicate look.  It was a lot of fun and I think I'll pick up the brushes again soon.

Fuchsia Fuchsias
Image Size 6" x 6"
Oil