After The Break

I love painting waves, especially in watercolor.  The photo that I used as a reference for this painting has such a sense of power that I knew I had to try to paint it.  This is a pretty large painting.  It is a full sheet of watercolor paper which is 22" x 30".  It is painted using only transparent watercolor.  The whites are the white of the paper.

Most of this was painted on a very wet piece of paper but I was careful to allow for the color spreading and was able to save the white areas.  I used Fabriano Artistico 140# paper because it was the only paper I had that was really white.  It was easy to work on but it isn't as strong as some other papers that I've used.

After The Break
Image Size 22" x 30"
Watercolor

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

Autumn River

A friend from my school days and I just returned from the east coast where we were visiting another childhood friend.  She lives in New Canaan, Connecticut which is a beautiful town.  Actually, I didn't see an area of that state that wasn't beautiful!  We took a day trip north to go apple picking and to find more trees that were changing color.  A lot of the trees had already started to lose their leaves but we did see some great autumn color.  We stopped at a spot in Kent with a covered bridge above this river.  The covered bridge was nice but I thought the river was much prettier.

This is another oil painting but I think I will be switching back to watercolor.  I enjoy it so much more.  I feel like I'm always fighting with oil paints and I really prefer the flow of watercolor and thinned acrylics over the thickness of oil paint.

Autumn River
Image Size 12" x 6"
Oil

Torcello Bridge

I started this painting several years ago.  I'm taking an oil painting class for just 6 weeks so I thought I would take this in to the class to finish it. After dusting off the cobwebs, I toned down the colors and finished painting the foreground.  It looks a lot better than it did but I think I will re-try this one in watercolor.  Oils are still a challenge for me.  The shadows look much darker in this photo than they really are in the painting but the rest of the colors/values look pretty true.

I've always loved the photo from which this was painted.  It was taken in Torcello, Italy which is one of the islands by Venice, near Burano and Murano islands.   Each of those three islands are completely different and each has a special charm.  Torcello is a very quiet, calm island with very few tourists, which was a nice change from the rest of our vacation.  This funny little boat really did have that unusual shape.  Those Italians are very creative.  : )

Torcello Bridge
Image Size 16" x 20"
Oil

Lakeside Reflections

I put that gesso mixture on another old painting and of course I forgot to take a picture of what it looked like  before I added it.  It was a wishy-washy watercolor.  It's no masterpiece now but I do like the textures I was able to create.  I still have at least 10 more paintings that are major rejects that I plan to re-work using this process.  If you missed the post where I talked about this you can find it here.

Lakeside Reflections
Image size 15" x 22"
Watercolor

Fuchsias on TerraSkin

Fuchsias are such delicate looking flowers.  I really like them but I don't have any planted in our yard.  They seem so fragile and I think I'd probably kill them if I did have them so I appreciate them in other gardens.  They look like they are dancing as they hang on their delicate stems.

This is another painting done on TerraSkin.  I painted the background first so I could play with the textures.  I was able to lift the stamens out instead of painting around them which is one of the benefits of using this surface.

I was contacted by Lea at Mitzart to do an e-mail interview about TerraSkin, which I was really excited about because as you have probably noticed, I'm pretty passionate about this product.  When I first found out about this surface, the only place I found it was on Etsy.  Now it's available at Cheap Joe's but there are some other weights available on Etsy.  If you are interested in reading the interview, you can find it here.

Fuchsias on TerraSkin
Image Size 6" x 4"
Watercolor

SDWS exhibition

Last night was the preview opening for the San Diego Watercolor Society's International Exhibition.  I always look forward to this show each year.
At the opening last night, I received my signature membership for SDWS.  An artist has to have had a painting juried into the exhibit 3 different years to receive that designation.  I am excited and honored to now be part of that group!  Here is my painting that's in the show:

If you are in the area, please go see the exhibit.  It will be on display until October 31st.  Visit their website, www.sdws.org  for all of the information about the show. 

We are fortunate to have three international watercolor shows in the Southern California area each fall.  The other two coming up are exhibits by Watercolor West and the National Watercolor Society.
Along with the exhibitions, there are demos given by incredible artists and I usually sign up for most of them if my schedule allows.  It's so inspiring to hear how different artists approach a blank piece of paper.

Today, I'm attending a lecture given by Dean Mitchell for the National Watercolor Society.  I'm very excited because I've always admired his work.

Red Sweet Pepper on TerraSkin

Red bell peppers are one of my favorite foods whether they are raw, sautéed or roasted but before this could be used for dinner, it begged to be painted.  I really like its twisted form.  Earlier in the week, I was picking out red peppers to use for stuffed peppers.  For those, I was trying to find full, straight peppers.  Then, two days later, I returned to the store to look for a pepper that had an unusual form that would catch the light in an interesting way.  If anyone was watching me pick out this pepper, they probably thought I was a bit nutty because I spent so much time picking out just one pepper and it was such a weird looking one, but I'm very happy with my choice.

I've been wanting to try using oil paint on TerraSkin so this seemed like a good subject for a quick painting.  TerraSkin has a slicker feel than most traditional oil painting surfaces so I wasn't sure how the oils would behave.  At first, I didn't like the feel of the paint on the surface but after a few minutes, I began to like it.   I wanted the paint to be very transparent so that the glow of the paper would show.  I'm pretty happy with the outcome.  I would use oils again but only thinly as was done here.  I think that watercolors and acrylics benefit the most from this surface because a variety of textures can be achieved.  Of course, I have a very strong bias toward water media paintings.  : )

Red Sweet Pepper

Image Size 5" x 8"

Oil on TerraSkin

White Iris on TerraSkin

I'm playing on TerraSkin again.  The more I paint on it, the more I love it!  I think the textures that are created from the mixtures of water and paint are very interesting.  This painting is very small but I'm getting ready to do another large poured painting on TerraSkin using acrylics.  Also, I think I want to try using oils on this surface.  I'll probably thin them down a lot to take advantage of the properties of the surface and to get a sense of transparency.  I tend to want to make everything look like a watercolor because I love that look.

Irises are such delicate looking flowers and for this painting, I chose to paint a very dark background to make the white flower really pop.  I enjoyed mixing my variety of greens.  It's always a challenge to mix greens without them looking too intense and unnatural.  I'm not sure why the paint manufacturers make such fake looking greens but it is easy enough to tone them down I guess.

White Iris on TerraSkin
Image size 7" x 4"
Watercolor

Foxgloves in Colored Pencil on TerraSkin

Last week went to see the International Colored Pencil Society's exhibit at the Brea Gallery.  It was crazy good!  I think my mouth was probably hanging open in awe the entire time I was there.  I was able to see some work done by some of my blogging friends which was really fun.  I've always been amazed by art done by colored pencil artists.  I haven't used the medium very much but I have done enough to know how much time and patience goes into each piece.  

Anyway, seeing the show inspired me to drag out my colored pencils, wipe off the cobwebs and give them another try.  This piece is about as big as I'm willing to go using colored pencils and it still took longer to finish than a painting in any other medium twice the size.  It was fun to do though.  Using colored pencils puts me in a very meditative state.  It is a much less stressful medium than watercolor.

I wanted to try using my beloved TerraSkin for this drawing to see how it worked.  I really didn't expect much because it has such a smooth surface.  There is a little bit of a tooth but I didn't think I would be able to layer more than two layers before the tooth filled up.  I was pleasantly surprised.  Some areas have 5 or 6 layers and the surface probably could have taken even more.

I'm even more impressed with the TerraSkin now and that's saying a lot. 

The colored pencil show will be on display until September 13th.  If you are in the area and are able to go see it, I would definitely recommend it.

Foxgloves

Image Size 6" x 4"

Colored Pencil