Giclee Prints

I am offering this image as a giclee print.  I've done prints for a couple of paintings in the past.  It's definitely not my focus but this particular image was used for the cover of the Tustin Garden Club Yearbook a couple of years ago and there has been a lot of interest in it.

I have cropped a portion of the original painting to use for the giclee.  I really like the contemporary look of the succulent up close with the square orientation.

This is available as a limited edition print.  It can be printed on canvas or archival watercolor paper.  Both are 20" x 20".  The canvas print is on a gallery wrapped stretched canvas and has the image continuing around the sides.  No frame is needed for this option.

Graptoveria Giclee

Canvas - 20" x 20" 1.5" thick gallery wrapped canvas    Price:  $125.00

Paper - 20" x 20" print on archival watercolor paper       Price:  $75.00

Really Ripe

Painting fruit can be so stressful!  Don't get me wrong.  I love painting pears.  However, I'm not used to painting something that has a short shelf life!  I'm used to painting from photographs (bad habit, I know) so I usually have no time limit for finishing a painting.  As you've probably noticed, sometimes my paintings don't get finished for years.  I don't know of any fruit that's going to patiently stay fresh for that long.

I started this painting one day last week.  Then I got busy.  Every day, I stressed about getting the painting finished before my fruit became a mushy, ugly inedible mess.  Finally, today I finished it and the pears seem to be the perfect ripeness so... guess what we're having along with our dinner.

Really Ripe

Image Size 8" x 16"

Oil

Breaking Through

This is a small oil.  It's been a couple of months since I've painted in oils and I've got a few projects planned in that medium.  It's fun to switch between mediums and practice different ways of painting.

I've painted this photo before but used much softer colors.  I wanted to give this painting some drama so I darkened the sky and used more color.  

Here is the painting that I did before of this same photo.  Which do you like better?  

Breaking Through

Image Size 6" x 6"

Oil

Yippee!!

I'm so excited that one of my paintings has been juried into the San Diego Watercolor Society 33rd Annual International Exhibition.  I've known for about a week but wanted to wait until the packet came in the mail so that it felt more official before I posted it here.

This will be the 3rd time that one of my paintings has been juried into the SDWS exhibitions so that makes me eligible for signature membership.  I know that probably doesn't mean anything to most of you but becoming a signature member of the top watercolor societies with international shows has been a goal of mine for a very long time.  This will be my first and now I'm motivated to tackle all of the rest!

Here is the painting that was accepted.

Crash

Morning Surf

I decided to use that paper without the sizing again that I used for "The Squadron" a couple of weeks ago.  I enjoyed painting on this surface just as much as the last time.  It gives a fuzzy look to the painting that I like but it looks fuzzier in this photo than it does in person.  I still have some small pieces of this paper so I think I'll try painting a still life to see how the effect is with a different subject.  Even though painting waves is really fun, it will be nice to see if this softness translate well when painting something else.

Morning Surf
Image Size 7" x 10"
Watercolor

Echeveria

I have so many photos of beautiful succulents.  I really enjoy painting these plants.  The combination of colors in each leaf/petal/whatever-it's-called looks almost iridescent.  I think this is a type of Echeveria, hence the title.  If I'm wrong, please let me know.

This took a lot longer to paint than I thought it should.  I'm not sure why it did, but I was really ready to be finished with it.  I might fiddle with it a bit more to play with the value contrasts in the future, but for now, I'll just prop it up against the wall and look at it with fresh eyes as I pass by each time.  That's how I usually catch my mistakes or see something that looks unfinished.  What do you think?  Does it need something more?

The color is actually a bit warmer than it shows in this photo.  I tried to change it in Photoshop Elements, but I'm not very familiar with that program and couldn't find a way to change individual colors.  I'm used to using my old Photoshop CS2  on my old computer, which is a more comprehensive program that has more controls, and it is really easy to adjust colors to make them match the original painting.  I suppose I could upload it to that computer and fix it, but right now that sounds like too much work.  : )

Echeveria
Image Size 12" x 16"
Watercolor

The Squadron

I checked with my knowledgeable friend, Google, to see what a group of Pelicans is called.  One of the names is a "squadron" which seems like a fitting description.   They are ready to launch an attack as they fly close to the water looking for a quick meal.

I love watching them skim the water as the waves are crashing.  Even though they are large, clumsy looking birds while on land, they are very graceful in flight.  These are brown pelicans, which are prevalent in Mexico on the Pacific side.

This was a challenging painting because of the paper I used.  It is a piece of Lanaquarelle 150# watercolor paper that I've had for a very long time.  I've never heard that sizing in paper goes away over time but this certainly didn't seem to have any on it.  I've used other Lanaquarelle paper that was purchased in the past year and really liked it.
As soon as I put brush to this paper, I knew it was going to be a hard surface for painting.  It absorbed the paint immediately like a blotter.  I was tempted to throw it out but it was the only paper I had with me (I was out of town) so I continued and eventually enjoying working on it.  One of the problems was that the paint kept absorbing into the paper and was pretty pale when it dried.  The back of the paper looks like it was painted also because the paint bled through.

I don't think this would ever be a favorite paper but it was interesting to have the paper completely soaked and apply paint and not have it spread.  I think working on surfaces that challenge my usual way of working is a good exercise.   But...next week I will paint on a less stressful surface.  : )

The Squadron
Image Size 11" x 15"
Watercolor

Orange Lilies

Orange has never been my favorite color.  In fact, it's my least favorite color.  So....why did I paint these flowers orange?

This was drawn a long time ago.  I don't even remember drawing it and don't know what photos I used as reference.  This paper was attached to one of my watercolor blocks and I wanted to paint it before I cut it off so that the paper would stay flat, which is the whole purpose of having a watercolor block.  I wasn't that motivated to work on it and I didn't want to paint white or pink lilies again so I guess that's why I decided to paint them orange.

The orange paint I usually use, mostly in mixtures so that it's not really orange, is Cadmium Orange.  After painting watercolors for 20 years, that tube of paint is finally gone.  : )  The only other orange I have is called Brilliant Orange, which is made by Holbein.  It's a nice clear color but but it isn't a very strong color.  I had to use this almost straight from the tube to get this much color.

This wasn't one of my favorite paintings to work on but the good news is that my watercolor block is now ready for a new project.

Orange Lilies
Image Size 12" x 16"
Watercolor

Foggy Morning

This is my first attempt at painting a foggy subject.  I'm not sure that I'm happy with the result but it was fun to try.  The photo from which I worked was taken by my husband when he was visiting Oregon.  It had much less color than this but that lack of color wasn't reading well in the painting so I pushed it a little more.  This is painted on Ampersand Aquabord.  It's a fun surface that makes it easy to lift paint, which was perfect for this one.

Foggy Morning
Image size 6"x 6"
Watercolor

Cool and Cloudy

We don't usually have dramatic looking skies here in Southern California.  Most of our days are sunny and when we do get rain, we rarely get really cool looking clouds.  I have taken a lot of cloud pictures as I've traveled and now I want to do a series of paintings featuring the sky as the focal point.

Today is a rainy day (one of the few we've had this year) so it seems appropriate to post this painting.  Of course, our sky is just gray, but I can pretend that it looks like this one.  I'm just really happy that we are getting some much needed rain.  

This is painted on 300# Arches cold press paper.  I'm going to have to crop some of the top because of that annoying watermark that they use on their paper.  It's so maddening!  I do like the way this paper works for wet into wet painting though.  I soaked it and then played with the sky until I was happy with the result.  Then I let it dry before painting the ground and trees.  That small area was painted wet into wet also.

Cool and Cloudy

Image size 8" x 30"

Watercolor