Michelle's Watercolors

First Sketchcrawl of 2012

2012-01-21T15:55:00.000-08:00

It was barely 20 degrees and snowing hard this morning, so I did the sketchcrawl at home. I only got three sketches done because when you are at home, you get distracted by other things. First up is a sketch of my breakfast along with the view from my kitchen window. Next is my "snow removal guy", my son Kevin. And last is a view of my street going North. By this time it was late afternoon and the plows had come through and the street was clear.

Merry Christmas

2011-12-22T19:17:00.000-08:00

Maine Trip and Pumpkin Festival

2011-11-01T08:46:00.000-07:00

I recently took a trip to Maine with my sister Joan. We sketched at some of our favorite spots, like the Curtis Island lighthouse and a park near Boothbay Harbor. We visited the Colonial Pemaquid Historic site, and sketched in the cemetery. We discovered the Oven's Mouth Preserve, and did some hiking along with sketching. We enjoyed the Damariscotta Pumpkin Festival, and stopped at Marginal Way on our way home. It was a quick and fun trip and I got to add several pages to my Maine journal. I also did a few sketches of the Pumpkin Festival from photos after I got home.

2011-11-01T08:37:00.000-07:00

I did these last four sketches from photos after I got home. The chef pumpkin and the lobster pumpkin were huge, and two of many decorated pumpkins outside the businesses in downtown Damariscotta. The regatta sketch was done from several photos taken quickly while the race was going on.

A New/Old Collage

2011-08-25T08:03:00.001-07:00

I started this stained paper collage a couple of years ago during a Gerald Brommer workshop. It was on the last day, and I didn't get to finish it, and never got around to working on it again after I got home. Recently one of my painting buddies saw some stained paper collages in a magazine and suggested that we try them at our weekly painting sessions. I told her that I had one that was already started, but didn't know whether I could get anything good out of it. I ended up finishing this one successfully and starting another one. This collage is based on a photo I took of the Junipero Serra Museum in San Diego. 11x15

Two Florals With Fun Backgrounds

2011-08-12T09:03:00.000-07:00

I worked on these two at my Thursday painting group for two weeks. They are based on a book called "Watercolor Without Boundaries" by Karlyn Holman. I liked her backgrounds, and tried to incorporate them in my work. The rose (from my garden) is 15 x 15 and has a white border all around. The rose of sharon (courtesy of my friend Anna) in a vase is 11 x 11, also with a white border all around. These were really fun to design and I like the effect, so I will probably be doing more of these in the future.

Painting With the Grandkids

2011-08-11T05:19:00.001-07:00

I spent the month of July with four of my grandchildren. They each had a week with me, and we had fun swimming, painting, taking photos of animals, mini-golfing, movies, and playing ball. In addition, my granddaughter and I made some beaded jewelry. Here are some of our paintings. Justin did a painting in primary and secondary colors (after making a color wheel) as a requirement for his Cub Scout art belt loop. Ethan did a watercolor of a red tailed hawk, and Joe did a painting of a bald eagle. The boys were very into photographing and painting animals on our trips to the zoo and nature center. Jadyn did a painting of the turquoise and shell necklace that she made. And since that week, the WetCanvas journalling forum was doing gems and minerals, I did a journal page of some of my own specimens.

Two New Paintings on Masa Paper

2011-07-06T19:07:00.001-07:00

Both paintings watercolor on masa paper approx. 11 x 15

Latest From My Flower Journal

2011-06-04T09:50:00.000-07:00

I've been keeping a flower journal during the month of May, but even though May is over, I still see new flowers in my backyard just begging to be painted. This is my latest page. I have a shrub rose that looks like it might be very prolific this year. The flowers are a lovely dark red, but they have really short stems and are not suitable for cutting unless I want to cut several buds along with the flower. I really enjoyed painting these today.

Going Digital

2011-05-31T06:09:00.001-07:00

This is a digital painting that I did as homework for an online class called "Layering in Photoshop Elements" that I've been taking on WetCanvas. It will never replace watercolors, but it can be fun (and frustrating) in it's own right.

Lots of Yellow Tulips

2011-05-13T09:46:00.000-07:00

I've worked on this one on and off for several months while I was more focused on sketchbooks and journals, but I finally completed it yesterday. Originally I had planned on a dark background, but I really like the way the tulips look on the light background too much. I think it has a delicacy that I would not be able to keep with a dark background. This was done from a photo I took at the Philadelphia Flower Show two years ago. 15x22

Two More May Journal Florals

2011-05-09T17:51:00.001-07:00

Continuing with the May journal. I received a beautiful Mother's Day bouquet from my daughter Karen, which was the subject for both of these sketches, and hopefully more to come.

May Sketchbook Page

2011-05-03T14:43:00.001-07:00

I have been working more in sketchbooks recently than on larger paintings. After painting a lot of red rocks in my fake journal, I had the desire to see color, so the theme of my May sketchbook is flowers and plants. These are done in my 9 x 12 Aquabee sketchbook.

International Fake Journal Month

2011-04-02T14:34:00.000-07:00

This is the first page of my "fake" journal. To see an explanation of what it's all about, and to see more of the journal, see http://flatmickeyIFJM.blogspot.com

After the Workshop - Pawley's Island

2011-03-24T10:09:00.001-07:00

After the workshop, Joan and I took a side trip to Pawley's Island to do some plein air sketching. Here is one of the beach houses I painted there. I loved this little island community.

Done in Arches Travel Sketchbook with tiny watercolor palette and a waterbrush.

Jean Grastorf Workshop 4

2011-03-24T06:55:00.001-07:00

(Couldn't get this one uploaded correctly either.)

This is a half sheet - should be turned counter-clockwise for correct viewing. While everyone's poured paintings were in the process of drying, Jean showed us a new technique. We used a special clear wash-out tape to cover a half sheet. Then we used a quilter's rotary cutter to cut out shapes. We did the darkest shapes first, which made me have to think a little backwards. I had a little bit of trouble with the rotary cutter, and switched to a razor blade for the circle and the rectangles. I added some stamping at the end.

Jean Grastorf Workshop 3

2011-03-24T06:52:00.001-07:00

Since so much waiting is involved in this process, I started another painting. This time I tried to simplify. I did it smaller, simplified the design, and only used two pours. I masked the entire background. This one is 10 x 10.

Jean Grastorf Workshop 2

2011-03-24T06:40:00.000-07:00

(Blogger insists on uploading this one sideways. You will have to turn it counter-clockwise in your imagination).

This is a half sheet of a Ti-Plant. I think it had three pours, but it could have used at least two more to get more values in. However, I didn't have enough time. It takes a whole day to dry the painting enough for the next pour, and then we had to wait for an available tub to do the pour. I removed the masking so that I would have something to show for "Gallery Night" on Friday, and so that the masking wouldn't "cook" in the trunk of the hot car on the trip home. I could remask it and finish, but I think I would rather do a new one now that I have the hang of it.

Jean Grastorf Workshop 1

2011-03-24T06:37:00.001-07:00

Last week my sister and I took a "pouring" workshop with Jean Grastorf. This was our "starter pour" to get our feet wet (some of us actually did). We traced our hands and some letter and number stencils and then masked out shapes, starting with the lightest. I think this had 3 pours. Afterward I added some stamps.

Sketchcrawl 30, January 22, 2011

2011-01-22T18:54:00.000-08:00

It's cold and snowy so it must be time for a January Sketchcrawl. My sister Joan and I spent the day at the James McFaul Environmental Center. I did one sketch from her car, and two from the observatory windows in the visitor center.

It's Almost Christmas Day

2010-12-24T10:47:00.000-08:00

Wishing you a Very Merry and Blessed Christmas!

Tidepool Reflections

2010-10-29T10:36:00.000-07:00

If you have ever visited Pemaquid Lighthouse in southern Maine, you may have noticed the tidepools that form between those famous striped granite rocks. And you would have seen people searching for reflections of the lighthouse in those tidepools. I have always wanted to paint one of those tidepool reflections. This painting is 5x7 and was done for my SWAP partner who lives in Australia. I like the way this came out so much that I'm thinking of doing a larger one.

Sketchcrawl October 16, 2010

2010-10-18T06:31:00.000-07:00

Saturday was the latest Worldwide Sketchcrawl (www.sketchcrawl.com), and after some discussion about where to crawl, my sister Joan and I decided on a couple of Paterson, NJ landmarks. The first one was Lambert Castle, which sits on the top of a hill overlooking the city of Paterson. After painting the castle, I did a very quick pencil lay-in sketch of the fountain that was behind us. No time to refine it, as we were on our way to the Great Falls of Paterson a short distance away. This beautiful waterfall is right in the middle of the city. On our way home we stopped at a local farm stand to sketch some of their produce. It was chilly and windy, but a good sketchcrawl.

A Field Trip With Crayons

2010-07-18T18:12:00.000-07:00

I haven't posted here for a while, since I've taken a slight detour from watercolor to play around with sketchbooking, which led to the WetCanvas Weekend Drawing Event. I'm working my way through Suzette Morrow's "Make Sketchbook a Habit" and today is Day 12 - "be a kid again". I decided to combine both events, doing my WDE sketch in good old Crayolas.

"Sheep in Field" 7 x 7 approx., Crayona Crayons

Photo by Yorky, provided by WDE host Signchick

Tulip Magnolia

2010-04-23T13:05:00.001-07:00

My next door neighbor has this beautiful tulip magnolia tree that sits right at the property line, so to many people it looks like it belongs to me. I take advantage of it's closeness to photograph it and to paint it every spring. This year the blossoms were more prolific than usual. "Tulip Magnolia" is 11x15

Lavender's Blue

2010-03-25T09:34:00.000-07:00

I found these Clematis hiding among many much larger plants at the NJ Botanical Gardens at Skylands. The sun was peeking through the shade at just the right angle to light up these blue/purple beauties.

15x11

Miniature Orchid Sketch

2010-03-23T12:11:00.000-07:00

I bought this miniature orchid at the flower show. A leap of faith for me, as I somehow manage to kill live flowers/plants almost immediately. I did the sketch from life, as opposed to working from a photo like I usually do. It was nice being able to see how everything worked, and to turn the plant if I needed to see better. And so far I've kept it alive for two weeks. LOL

Small Orchid Painting for SWAP

2010-03-18T13:47:00.001-07:00

This is a small 5 x 7 that I did for our SWAP group. It went to Brenda in Texas. I did it from a photo I took at the Phila. Flower Show recently. I have lots of good reference photos from this show, so it should keep me busy for a while.

Monochromatic Snow Scene

2010-03-08T18:25:00.001-08:00

I painted this snow scene with just Paynes gray for a project on one of my watercolor forums. It's from a photo I took a week and a half ago when we had almost 2 feet of snow.

Snow Scenes From a Solo Sketchcrawl

2010-02-28T03:57:00.001-08:00

Yesterday was the 26th "Worldwide Sketchcrawl" . I usually do the sketchcrawls with my sister Joan, but yesterday I did a solo crawl from the warmth and comfort of my home. I only managed two sketches, one from my front window looking at the house across the street, and one from my back window looking at my backyard and some of the houses behind me. I did these as I would have on location, with my Cotman kit and a waterbrush.

Pa-Rum-Pa-Pum-Pum! Merry Christmas!

2009-12-20T18:53:00.000-08:00

My grandson, Brandon, posed for my Christmas card this year. With 10 grandchildren, I always have lots of models to choose from.

And Now the 7 "Things About Me"

2009-11-14T07:23:00.000-08:00

1. I am old enough to remember when my siblings and I paid 50 cents for general admission seats at Yankee Stadium on "Ladies Day".
2. I was an "athlete wannabe" when I was a child, and this syndrome has recently reared it's head again. I am now playing over 60 basketball, and participated in this event at the 2009 New Jersey Senior Olympics.
3. I started learning to play piano a year ago. Although my grown children flee to another room when I play, I'm enjoying myself immensely, and my grandchildren don't seem to mind hearing me play.
4. My two favorite places are the coast of Maine, and Hawaii.
5. I taught sunday school (or CCD to us Catholics) for 13 years.
6. I received an award at the very first art show that I participated in - and it was the Grumbacher Silver Medal.
7. I love to paint flowers - possibly because I can't seem to grow them without killing them.

2009-11-14T06:53:00.000-08:00

I was recently "tagged" with the "Kreativ Blogger" award by Teresa Palomar Lois, http://www.lostinwonder.blogspot.com/. Thank you Teresa! The purpose of these blogger awards is introduce our favorite artist-bloggers to others. The rules for this one are to tell 7 things about yourself, and to pass the award on to 7 other artists. I have been tagged several times, and have pretty much run out of people to pass the award on to - with one exception, and that would be my sister Joan. So I'm going to cheat a little and just list some of my favorite artists and give you their websites in the hopes that they will become your favorites too.

1. Gerald Brommer - http://www.newmastersgallery.com/ArtistsB/brommer.htm

2. Jean Grastorf - http://www.jeangrastorf.com/

3. Susie Short - http://www.susieshort.com/

4. Ann Pember - http://www.annpember.com/

5. Nicholas Simmons - http://nicholassimmons.com/

6. Karen Knutson - http://karenknutson.com/

and last but not least - and the one I WILL pass this award on to:

7. Joan Tavolott - http://www.watercolorsbyjoan.blogspot.com/ - Joan recently returned from a trip to Paris. You will love her small Paris paintings!

Hangin' at the Y

2009-11-14T06:44:00.001-08:00

This month, my friends and I, who call ourselves "Les Belles Artistes" have an exhibit at one of our local YMCA's, in Wyckoff, NJ. We have all been painting together at art classes and workshops on and off for many years. They are all talented artists, and I am proud to be among them. Here is our group, and me in front of "my wall".

Bouquet

2009-10-15T21:05:00.000-07:00

I received this bouquet for my birthday this past March. I thought it would make a great painting, so I painted it twice - once as a birthday card for my granddaughter, and just recently as a 5x7 for my SWAP partner (Sharing With Artist Partners). It went all the way to Ursula in Brazil. The mail was a little slow, so I was on pins and needles hoping that it hadn't gone astray. The SWAP is a secret, but now that my partner has received it I can post it here.

"Birthday Bouquet" 5x7

Rhododendrons

2009-10-10T11:42:00.001-07:00

This spring, I bought several new rhododendron plants for my front and back yards. I took a lot of photos of them when they were in bloom, and painted this one recently.

"Rhododendrons" 11x15

Natalie's Sunflowers

2009-10-10T11:22:00.001-07:00

Yes, I've been painting, but I haven't posted any new ones in a while. This one is from July, when my painting buddy, Natalie, brought her sunflower plant in for us to paint.

"Natalie's Sunflowers" 11x15

Plein air at Skylands

2009-07-01T12:35:00.000-07:00

This was painted outdoors at Skylands Botanical Gardens on a 7x10 Arches watercolor block, with my Cotman kit and a water brush. It was painted the same day that I took the reference photo for the tree peony below.

Pink and White Tree Peony

2009-07-01T12:32:00.001-07:00

This is a quarter sheet of a pink tree peony from my photo taken at Skylands Botanical Gardens in New Jersey. As usual with peonies, it was drooping and I had to hold it up to photograph it.

Love and Peace

2009-05-28T15:55:00.001-07:00

It's SWAP group time again, and this is the painting I did for the swap. This time it didn't go far, as my partner Christine is from New York. I grow these "Love and Peace" roses in my backyard. The painting is 5x7.

Sketchcrawl 22

2009-04-13T06:39:00.001-07:00

Saturday morning was another rainy, miserable day to have a sketchcrawl. I love doing the sketchcrawls, but so far we have not had the greatest weather for outdoor sketching. So my sister Joan and I decided to do something that we had wanted to do for a while, that is, to sketch at one of the NYC museums. We drove into Manhattan to the Metropolitan Museum of Art and found an unoccupied bench in the Greek and Roman room. This is my sketch of a Marble Statue of a Muse. Did you know that they only allow pencil sketching in the museum?

I did several other sketches which you can see on the sketchcrawl forum (http://www.sketchcrawl.com/) and then we went to see the AWS show. What a great show! I wish I could have spent longer there, soaking up the great art and hoping that some of it would rub off on my own watercolors.

A Bunch of Daffodils

2009-04-09T14:06:00.000-07:00

As planned, we painted daffodils today. There were a few different kinds, which made it more interesting. They were in some sort of a square-ish glass container with beads hanging from it - I wasn't really crazy about it so I just did the flowers. This one was also a quick one, as my friend usually leaves early and she took her flowers with her again. Oh, both this one and the tulips from yesterday are quarter sheets.

Yellow Tulips

2009-04-08T18:24:00.001-07:00

One of my painting buddies brought a pot of yellow tulips to our group on Thursday and I got to paint these from life. I had to be quick, since she was leaving early and the tulips were leaving with her. Tomorrow she says she is bringing daffolils. I'm getting quite a workout in painting yellows this month.

A Cyber Award

2009-04-05T18:56:00.001-07:00

My sister Joan http://www.watercolorsbyjoan.blogspot.com/ presented me with this cyber award (do you think she might be a little biased?). Here's what she said about me in her blog:

" Michelle Himes (my sister) who's wonderful watercolors inspired me to begin watercolor painting, She is a good art partner, plein air partner, and workshop partner whenever I want one, and a great sister too." Right back at you, Joan!

There are a few of these awards going around, and I've been "awarded" by a few of them before, and embarrassed to admit that I did not always respond to them. I've decided to respond to this one. The "rules" are to name seven things that I love (easy), and to name 7 other artists that I think deserve this award (a little harder). Not that I can't think of many artists that deserve an award for their passion for painting, but since Joan and I know a lot of the same people, it's difficult to come up with someone new.

Here are my choices for the "A Passion for Painting" award:

Cecilia Price - http://www.artmaker-cecilia-price2.blogspot.com/ Cia paints beautiful flowers, and has made some great instructional CD's for her students, and sells her work on eBay. I've known her through several art forums for many years.

Enrico Casarosa - http://www.sketchcrawl.blog/ - Enrico is the "inventor" of the Worldwide Sketchcrawl. I discovered this phenomena a while ago, and have participated in several of the crawls. Enrico and his sketchcrawl have inspired me to start drawing again.

Marilyn Fuerstenberg - http://www.marilynfuerstenberg.blogspot.com/ - You will love Marilyn's beautiful watercolors.

Jane James - http://www.janefranart.blogspot.com/ - Jane is equally proficient in watercolor and pastel, is very versatile and does wonderful realistic and abstract work, landscapes, figures, and animals.

Susie Short - http://www.susieshort.com/ - I "met" Susie when I stumbled into her Yahoo group for watercolors about 10 years ago. Susie is an awesome watercolorist, and teacher, and has helped me out with my paintings many times.

And the last is a group of friends that I have painted with for many years - http://www.lesbellesartistes.blogspot.com/ - I love these girls

And the 7 things I love:

1.Family

2.Friends

3. Art, especially watercolor

4. the beach

5. summertime

6. Maine

7. ice cream

Eric Wiegardt Workshop Day 3

2009-03-21T13:08:00.000-07:00

After my disappointing painting of boats, Eric's next demo was a street scene. Hmmm....I didn't have any street photos. I watched his demo of a street in Italy with some people walking. The lesson was on combining shapes. When I looked through my photos, I found one that I thought I could use for the lesson. It is a photo of a couple of people walking down to "Fish Beach" on Monhegan Island, Maine. One of the people was my sister Joan. We had gone there to paint, so I just turned the other person into myself to make it more personal.

This time we worked on wet paper, and I had a little bit of trouble making my buildings hold an edge, which made them look a little wonky, but that's part of doing a "loose" painting. Here is my version of a "street scene" (done in a place that doesn't even have streets).

On Day 4, Eric did his demo of a market with a flower stand and several people. It was loose and colorful. I started a painting of some people walking down a garden path. I haven't finished it yet, but Eric liked it enough to have me put it up for "gallery night" on Day 5, even though it was clearly not completed. I will post it here on my blog when I finish it. The last day, Friday, was only a partial day, so I watched the demo Eric did of a snow scene, and then worked some more on my garden painting. It was a great workshop - wonderful demos, lots of painting time, hanging out with other artists for a week, a few walks on the beach, and a party at the end while we admired each other's paintings.

Eric Wiegardt Workshop Day 1

2009-03-21T12:56:00.000-07:00

Two weeks ago my sister Joan and I took a workshop in Myrtle Beach with Eric Wiegardt. We painted several full sheet landscapes using big brushes. It was a little outside the box for me, as I usually paint flowers, and I am definitely not known to be a loose painter.

The first day concentrated on values, and we were required to do a value study before each painting. Value studies are not new for me, I've been taught to do them before, but I rarely do them. This time I did, and they really do help. Eric demonstrated value ranges with a monochromatic version and a full color version of a barn with some outbuildings. Since I had a similar photo in my stash, I decided to paint my own barn. I used burnt umber as my color. Following his demo, I did a graded wash for an underpainting, and then tried to stick to my 3-value study. This is the result.

Day two was a boat demo, and then I did a boat painting. The demo was about not overmixing your colors. I'm pretty good about my colors, but I am horrendous at drawing boats, so I am not going to post my boat painting here. So on to day 3.

White Rose

2009-02-21T17:52:00.000-08:00

Here's a small white rose that I painted for the latest SWAP. I like painting white flowers - they always pop against a dark background, and it's a challenge to paint the shadows, keep them colorful and yet still make them look "white".

Rings Around the Roses

2009-02-21T14:37:00.001-08:00

I painted this abstract with a little help from Kay Smith http://www.kaysmithbrushworks.us/. Kay had recently taken a workshop with Karlyn Holman, and had posted one of her workshop paintings on WetCanvas. I liked it and asked a lot of questions, and Kay sort of guided me through the process that she used. I had a lot of fun and will definitely try this again.

2009-01-29T18:37:00.000-08:00

Those sideways "daisies" are actually Chrysanthemums, but they sure look like daisies to me. (I just spent about an hour trying to get blogger to put the image in horizontally - does anyone know why it insists on showing it sideways?). My friend Natalie brought them to our painting group today, and I painted them on wet hot pressed paper with watercolor and Karan d'ache watercolor crayons. I usually work from photos, but I couldn't resist these colorful, cheerful cut flowers on a cold, gray, icy day. 11x15

Marigolds

2009-01-29T17:51:00.001-08:00

These marigolds were painted sometime in December, but I hadn't gotten around to posting them during all the Christmas festivities. I love their bright yellow faces!

Marigolds - 11x15 on Arches

Another January Sketchcrawl

2009-01-11T08:26:00.001-08:00

Yesterday was Sketchcrawl #21, and being January, it was COLD. There was still some isolated snow patches on the ground and they were predicting more snow later in the day. I went out early and did a sketch in my car of a path and some trees at our local park. While I was sketching it started to snow, and since I had to deliver a painting to a juried show after 12:00, I decided to go home and do that before the roads got bad. After dropping off the painting, I came home to get some lunch, intending to go out to sketch again afterwards. As I pulled into my driveway I decided to sketch the Christmas-light deer on my front lawn. By the time I finished with that, it was snowing really hard and sticking, so I cut my sketchcrawl short for the day. I am a real weenie about cold weather, and especially about driving in snow, so I'm pretty happy with getting in two actual outdoor sketches.

If anyone would like to know more about Sketchcrawl, and to see the sketches from around the world, you can find them here: http://www.sketchcrawl.com/

Christmas 2008

2008-12-22T10:25:00.000-08:00

May you find the gifts of peace, love and joy this Christmas.

This was the image for my Christmas card this year. Thank you to grandsons Andrew, Matthew and Brandon for being my models.

Experimenting with Acrylics

2008-11-22T08:20:00.000-08:00

My friend Natalie has been taking a class where she uses liquid acrylics, stamping, scraping, and layering, and all manner of interesting stuff. She gave us a mini "workshop" at our usual Thursday painting group to show us what she learned. Most of what she did was too complicated for a first timer, so I tried to simplify. Here is one of my finished pieces. (I have another one that I like much better using red, black and gold, but it too closely resembles something that I used for inspiration, so I am afraid to post it here).

This one would be my second best out of four tries. I started with a quarter sheet of Arches coated with gloss medium. I brushed on a thin layer of raw sienna (quin gold would have been better but I didn't have it), floated a bit of turquoise, scratched and stamped and let it dry. I stamped an interesting border (borrowed the stamps) on top, and sectioned off a vertical band and painted some narrow borders. I used a "writing" stamp in the vertical border. Lastly, I painted the orchid with gesso mixed with gloss medium, and mixed some shadow colors and painted the leaves. What I liked about this is the underneath layers showing through. The samples my friend brought were a lot more sophisticated in this technique. And I liked designing the different borders. I occasionally make use of borders in my watercolors, so this wasn't entirely new.What I didn't like was the shine from the gloss medium that we mixed with the paint, and the fact that the paint dried too fast. I would love to incorporate what I learned into a straight watercolor painting, or possibly one using liquid acrylics but without the gloss medium.

It's Worldwide Sketchcrawl Time Again

2008-10-27T07:48:00.000-07:00

Saturday was the 20th "Worldwide Sketchcrawl", but it was not the greatest day for outdoor sketching. My sister Joan and I started out at a local park where I knew we could sketch from a gazebo and from an indoor observatory. Unfortunately, the building was closed, but we did manage a sketch of the pond from the gazebo. It was only drizzling at this point. Since we couldn't get into the building, we drove off to the site of a historic building called the Hermitage in HoHoKus. It's an old "gingerbread" type house with lots of additions - all sorts of roofs, chimneys, and windows - perfect for someone like me who has trouble with perspective. :-) We found a parking spot with a good view of the side of the building - no parking at the front. It was raining harder by now, but we were all warm and cozy in the car. I actually enjoyed sketching all the nooks and crannies of the building. Then we moved on to a local plant nursery where they had pumpkins on display. By now it was POURING! We were right in front of several pumpkin displays but could only see them for a few minutes at a time, before the windshield was so covered with rain that the pumpkins were a big blur. Whenever Joan saw me squinting, she would put the wipers on for a few seconds to clear things up. After that, we attempted to sketch at Barnes and Noble, but it was very crowded - all the tables at the cafe and all the seats in the reading area were taken, and the occupants didn't look like they were leaving any time this century, so we decided to call it a day and went home with only three sketches. All in all, I think we did pretty well considering.

Group Show

2008-10-18T14:59:00.001-07:00

Last year six friends and I formed a watercolor group for the purpose of exhibiting our work in local venues. Today we "hung" our second show at the Louis Bay 2nd Library in Hawthorne, NJ. I'm really proud to be a part of this excellent group of artists.

Peony

2008-10-18T09:45:00.001-07:00

This pale pink peony was so much fun to paint with it's ruffly petals and the soft yellows, pinks and blues.

May Bouquet

2008-07-17T18:51:00.001-07:00

This is another of the paintings I started in the Janet Walsh workshop in May. It was started without drawing. I just started painting in the flowers as I saw them, starting from the top and letting the paint run downward, for the first wash. I did draw in a few of the azaleas after the first wash dried, so that I could paint in the deeper shadows, and I drew the bowl in after the flowers were done. I think I am going to leave the background white on this one.

11x15 on Arches cold press

Tree Peony

2008-07-11T16:44:00.001-07:00

In May I took a workshop with Janet Walsh on painting florals as still lifes. In one of the first exercises Janet had us hold a flower in our hands and paint it. I chose this beautiful dark magenta tree peony. Later in the workshop we got to try some liquid acrylics for backgrounds, and I added a yellow green background. I thought it needed a more interesting background, so yesterday I toned down the yellow green with some greens, blues and pinks, and added more leaves.

Rhodies 1 & 2

2008-07-11T16:39:00.000-07:00

These two Rhododendron paintings were painted simultaneously - I worked on one while the other dried. Both were started with an underpainting, and then painted negatively without drawing. I like the soft gentleness of the first one, and stopped painting earlier than usual so I wouldn't lose that. I worked on the second one a little more to get some depth into the darker flowers.

Amaryllis Collage

2008-06-27T07:16:00.001-07:00

This collage was done for a project on WetCanvas. The object was to take an old painting and cut it up, and weave another painting, or other paper through it, adding other media, to make a new piece of art. I cut the old amaryllis painting into strips, and used matte medium to paste it onto black paper. I interspersed five strips of gold scrapbooking paper and went over the watercolored stamens with a gold pen. Now I need a name for the new piece.

Sketchcrawl 19 - Carousel Dragon

2008-06-23T19:59:00.000-07:00

This was the last sketch I did during the "Sketchcrawl #19" on Saturday. I never got to finish it because they closed the carousel at 5:00 p.m. sharp, and started to lower the metal doors that closed it in while I was still sitting there. The rest of the dragon is a dark green with some yellow green accents. I had to pick up and move a few times since the dragon did not always stop in front of me when the ride stopped. You can see all the sketches that my sister Joan and I did, and read all about our sketchcrawl here http://www.sketchcrawl.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=38&t=3106

What is a "Sketchcrawl"? Several years ago an artist named Enrico Casarosa from California spent an entire day sketching in the San Francisco area. He thought it would be more fun to do it again with friends, and he made a blog about it, and the "Worldwide Sketchcrawl" was born. You can read about this fun activity at http://www.sketchcrawl.com/

Baby Louis

2008-06-12T17:45:00.000-07:00

This is a quarter sheet painting of my 10th and newest grandchild. Isn't he a cutie! I'm not completely happy with the composition, and I may end up cropping some of the bottom off, but then I keep changing my mind. I won't cut unless I'm positive.

I love that rosy cheeked, innocent "newborn" look, and they don't stay that way long. Louis is now three months old and he has already changed a lot.

Irises

2008-06-07T12:48:00.001-07:00

I painted these irises from life at my Thursday painting session with my friends. Anna, one of the other artists, picked these from her garden for us to use as reference. I love the purple/yellow/green combination.

"Anna's Irises" 11x15

This duo was painted from a photo I took at Grey's Iris Garden last year. I like the rich red/purples contrasted with the lighter tops.
"Twin Irises" 15x11

Tulips

2008-05-10T08:56:00.001-07:00

Nothing says Springtime like a bunch of happy tulips!

11x15 on Arches cold press

Bouquet on Masa

2008-05-10T08:31:00.000-07:00

I painted this one from life on a quarter sheet of Masa paper, using my favorite crinkle technique. I did something different this time, in that I usually adhere the Masa to a piece of watercolor paper first, and this time I didn't. Supposedly it is better to mount first because the paper is very delicate when wet, but it was only a quarter sheet and it was fine. I actually liked the feel of painting on it unmounted and may stick with unmounted sheets unless I am working much larger.

Trying a New Medium - Pastel

2008-05-10T08:26:00.001-07:00

Every once in a while I get the urge to try a new medium, so when a one day pastel workshop was offered less than two miles from my home, I was there! Below is a still life that I did in the workshop by Christina Debarry http://www.debarrystudioarts.com/ , and a solo attempt at some dogwood blossoms that I did after the workshop. Both of these were done on Strathmore paper with Nupastels.

March Madness and SketchCrawl 18

2008-03-31T08:32:00.000-07:00

March was a pretty busy month for me. It started out with the Gerald Brommer watercolor workshop in Myrtle Beach (see below for workshop paintings). I came home to my street blocked by a fallen tree and no electricity, heat, internet, or phone. It took 10 days before everything was restored to normal.

My newest grandson was born in March - Louis Joseph - a bouncing 9 pound 10 ouncer, and my 10th grandchild.

I celebrated my 63rd birthday on the 28th.

And I finished the month by participating in SketchCrawl 18. This was my second SketchCrawl. My sister Joan and I started at the Fort Lee Historic Park and our first sketch was the George Washington Bridge. I couldn't believe how close we were to the bridge. It seemed to be right in our laps as we sat and sketched. We did a few other sketches in the park, one of them a sketch of a gentleman who was dressed in period costume in front of a soldier's hut sewing a pair of "britches". While I sketched he told us a lot about the living conditions of soldiers in Revolutionary War times. On the way home, we stopped at the Celery Farm in Allendale where I did a watercolor pencil sketch of the marsh from one of the observation platforms set up for bird watchers.

Gerald Brommer Workshop Day 5

2008-03-16T14:12:00.001-07:00

Day 5, the last day of our workshop. We were ending early on Friday, so we only had time for one painting. This time the exercise was in IMAGING. The object of the lesson was to work without reference material, and to "image" a painting from memory. Again, we were to make thumbnails of a subject, choosing several elements that we wanted to include. At first I didn't think I could do a landscape without a reference, but decided that if I could, it would probably have to be of Maine, because I can probably paint Maine in my sleep. So I decided on a lighthouse, rocks, the sea, and beach roses - all things I have painted enough times that I should be able to "see" them in my mind. After 5 thumbnails, I chose this vertical view.

On Friday evening, we had Gallery Night. The rooms were cleaned up and everyone had several paintings matted and hung. We dressed up, and enjoyed wine, hors douvres and piano music as we viewed the paintings of our class as well as the other classes that were there that week.

It was a great workshop, and I was very sorry to see it end. I learned a lot and hope to incorporate the things I learned into my future landscapes.

Gerald Brommer Workshop Day 4

2008-03-16T14:05:00.000-07:00

On Day 4 Jerry did a demo on fog, and he pinned up several other paintings depicting interesting weather, times of day, or seasons, explaining that each of these were another way to show CONTENT. I chose to depict fog and rain, which, in hindsight, look quite a bit alike except for the slight streaks on the "rain" painting. It was a challenge to keep the colors muted and pale in the distance, and darker and slightly more colorful but still somewhat grayed in the foreground. I decided to go back to my white house reference for this exercise.

Gerald Brommer Workshop Day 3

2008-03-16T13:58:00.001-07:00

It's day three and Jerry had a new challenge for us. He handed out a printed sheet of adjectives that described MOOD. We were to choose three adjectives for each of two paintings - again using the same reference. This time I had a simple house framed by two trees. My adjectives for the first painting were PEACEFUL, QUIET, COZY, and for the second SNOWY, ISOLATED, BLEAK. As you can see, I tried to make them as different as possible. They don't even look like the same subject, but if you look at the second one, you can see the same house way off in the distance, framed by the two trees. We wrote our "mood adjectives" on the back of the paintings so that Jerry could try to guess what we were trying to say. I really enjoyed this exercise.

Gerald Brommer Workshop Day 2

2008-03-16T13:48:00.000-07:00

On Day 2 we were able to use our own reference photos. But there was a catch! We were to choose a few elements from our photo - white house, rocks, pine trees, lupines, sea and rearrange them in several thumbnail sketches, then choose 2 of our sketches to make paintings. This would be our routine each day - to do two different paintings from the same reference/references. I enjoyed doing this one, using a photo that I had taken in Maine a few years back. Great minds think alike, because my sis ended up chosing the same sketch as I did of the barn on Day 1, and her day 2 paintings also had Maine, and lupines as subjects. You can see Joan's workshop paintings at www.watercolorsbyjoan.blogspot.com

Gerald Brommer Workshop Day 1

2008-03-16T13:39:00.000-07:00

Last week I took a watercolor workshop in Myrtle Beach with Gerald Brommer. My sister Joan and I took this workshop together. The emphasis of the workshop was on CONTENT.

We started day 1 out by looking at slides of landscapes, and we had approximately 5 minutes to do a sketch of each one. You could hear the groans as the class tried furiously to sketch each one. Then we were assigned to take one sketch and do two paintings from it, one high key and one low key. I chose this barn because it seemed to be the least complicated, and therefore, the easiest to translate from my far from adequate sketch into a painting. I wasn't really crazy about the high key version, since I really like color, but I was pleasantly surprised at the low key one.

Here are the results from Day 1.

Wiped Out

2008-02-21T13:42:00.000-08:00

This iris was done using a technique made famous by Cheng Khee Chee and Roland Roycroft. I wet my paper thoroughly, and dropped in some blues, greens and purples, and while it was still wet I used a "thirsty" brush to wipe out the white iris. Of course, it didn't come out pure white, but that was okay - in fact, my reference was a pale blue iris. When everything dried, I added some shadows and the yellow beards. It's an interesting technique, and I felt that I really struggled with it, but I like the effect.

And Now the Collage

2008-01-31T16:01:00.000-08:00

I started this collage before the Masa one and gave up on it. But I don't like to give up, so I went back to it today. The camera cropped it a little close on the sides - it's really a square. I'll try to get a better photo if the weather is better tomorrow. This was done with stained and torn washi (rice papers) mounted on Arches 300 lb. rough 11 x 11 inches. The element of design is still "texture".

Masa for Texture

2008-01-24T16:49:00.000-08:00

This is the third version of the Ti plant, focusing on TEXTURE. My first effort for this one was a collage, which I was not too happy with, so I got out my trusty Masa paper. Crumpled Masa creates great texture, and I love the way the paint settles in the cracks. I used an underpainting of Quinacridone Gold (my "mother color"), various greens, blues and reds, sometimes mixed with the Quin Gold and sometimes on their own. I think I'm ready to move on to something new now.

Sketchcrawl 17

2008-01-19T17:20:00.000-08:00

I don't sketch enough. In fact, I rarely sketch at all unless I am doing a painting en plein air. So when I read about Worldwide Sketchcrawl, I knew I had to try it. A sketchcrawl is an all day sketching event held simultaneously all around the world. I wasn't expecting the next one to be in January.

It was cold, so my sister, Joan, and I went to one of the local parks where I knew we could sketch through the observatory window. We did a few sketches through the window, and some from the aquariums and displays inside the building. Then we drove to another park which had a little zoo. Many of the animals were gone or inaccessable for the winter. The only ones we could find were a few bison which were too far away to sketch, and some farm animals. I sketched a cow and started on a sheep. By then we were freezing, and the zookeeper actually made us leave before I finished my sheep drawing because it was getting late. So we went to a nearby mall for coffee and sketched some people and called it a day.

You can see the rest of my sketches at http://www.sketchcrawl.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2789

It's All About Shapes

2008-01-11T17:53:00.000-08:00

This version of the Ti leaves is all about shape, so I painted the shapes negatively. I first poured the background - Winsor Red, Winsor Blue and Winsor Yellow, and then painted behind shapes layer by layer, going darker with each layer. This was a relaxing painting to do. The hardest part was waiting for each layer to dry.

Emphasizing Line

2008-01-03T20:12:00.000-08:00

Through my internet buddy Rhonda, I found Myrna Wacknov's blog and have been watching her and other artists as they work on challenges that Myrna proposes. This month's challenge had to do with the Elements of Design. I've modified Myrna's challenge a bit to make it less complicated for myself and have chosen a subject and an element. My subject is a Ti plant that I photographed in Hawaii, and the design element I want to emphasize is LINE. Originally I was going to draw the lines with pen, but just before I started it got the idea to paint red lines instead. As I went along it occurred to me that I could leave some of the leaves white for more interest, and then I decided to put the black rectangle in the background to add more lines, as well as a good dark to make the subject "pop". I evidently did not take my photograph entirely straight on, so please forgive the little bit of distortion in the rectangle. Next I will be doing the same subject emphasizing SHAPE.

Ti Leaves 11 x 15 on Winsor Newton Hot Press

Christmas Greetings

2007-12-19T17:33:00.000-08:00

Wishing everyone a wonderful Christmas with family and friends.

Koi

2007-12-19T17:25:00.001-08:00

When Daniel Smith announced their Toucan Triad sampler, some of the artists on WetCanvas decided to start a Toucan Challenge. I decided to do a painting for the challenge, and my first thought was "Koi". The colors in the triad, Ultramarine Turquoise, Quinacridone Gold Deep, and Transparent Pyrrol Orange, were perfect for the koi, and the cracks in the crinkled masa paper can easily be seaweed or the movement of the water. I think this is my first non-flower subject done on masa.

Pouring Watercolor

2007-12-16T11:59:00.001-08:00

I don't usually include my failures on my blog, but these failures were so much fun to do that I decided to share them.

Last spring my sis and I took a collage workshop right next door to where Jean Grastorf was doing a pouring workshop. We peeked in a few times and everyone was having so much fun that we decided we had to try it. Last week we both did a few small "pours". Mine were on 7 1/2 x 11 Arches, kept small so that we could easily pour into a foil roasting pan. The colors were Winsor Red, Winsor Blue and Winsor Yellow.

This technique involves a lot of masking, something I usually avoid doing. It's supposed to produce really vibrant, glowing colors. Well, my first pour created a really pretty mixture, but as I masked and poured subsequent layers I ended up with DULL. In my estimation, my colors are dull, my whites too white and blobby, my lights are too dark and my darks are too light, even after several attempts to darken. A lot of work for not so satisfactory results. I suppose I could add brushwork to these and improve them, but I think I will save them as learning aides for my next try. Yes, I will try it again.

I've been tagged again!

2007-12-13T11:27:00.000-08:00

Sandy Maudlin http://www.sandymaudlin.blogspot.com/ tagged me this time. Here are 5 more things about me that you probably don't know:

1. I am the oldest of 5 children and was born while my dad was in the army waiting for things to wind down at the end of WWII.
2. I spent 12 years in Catholic school.
3. My first job was as a dictaphone typist for the U.S. Civil Service Commission. If you were investigated for a job in any government agency between 1962 and 1965 I may have typed up the results of your investigation.
4. I have three grown children and will soon be a grandmother of 10 - yes ten!!!
5. My happiest memories from childhood involve being with my family at the beach - usually Jones Beach on Long Island, NY. I can still smell the salt water, feel the sand between my toes, and I loved jumping off the wall at the far end of the beach.

The people I will tag this time are:
http://www.ginahallstudios.blogspot.com/ - Gina is in the process of painting a bazillion dog portraits for Christmas gifts but I hope she will have time to respond.

http://www.maineart.blogspot.com/ - I've loved Laura's work ever since I found her on Ebay a number of years ago. She paints watercolors and oils of Maine - one of my favorite places.

http://www.watercolorist.blogspot.com/ - you may have seen Jane Freeman's work in the Splash books. She has recently published an instructional book of her own through North Light, and is working on an amazing painting of glass crystal and peppers. Hope you have time to play too, Janie.

http://www.onewingoriginalwatercolors.blogspot.com - Tracy just started her blog a few days ago, so I'm pretty sure she hasn't been tagged yet.

http://stopanddrawtheroses.blogspot.com/ - I met Stacy (Fireman's Kid) while participating in the Drawing 101 class on WetCanvas.

If anyone is interested, check the archives for my May post, or just scroll down a little ways, and you can see the stuff I posted and the people I tagged last time.

Happy Birthday, Joan!

2007-11-30T13:23:00.001-08:00

It's my sister's birthday today. This is the image that I used on her birthday card. We frequently paint together, and we both recently purchased Daniel Smith's Toucan Triad - Quinacridone gold deep, Pyrrol Orange, and Ultramarine Turquoise. Those colors were perfect for this cactus. (Reference photo provided by Gina Hall)

"Birthday Cactus" 5 x 7 on Arches Cold Press.

Les Belles Artistes

2007-11-16T16:42:00.000-08:00

This is a photo of myself and a group of artists that I met more than 10 years ago while taking watercolor classes together. We have stayed in touch and some of us have taken workshops together. Earlier this year we decided to exhibit our art as a group. One of our members, Monique, named us "Les Belles Artistes". Recently we hung our first show at the Gallery of the Franklin Lakes Presbyterian Church in Franklin Lakes, New Jersey. I decided that it would be fun to make a blog just for our group, and you can find it at www.lesbellesartistes.blogspot.com.

Lots of Leaves

2007-11-11T14:36:00.000-08:00

I painted this "negatively" by painting around each leaf and then blending it out, putting one leaf behind another until the paper was filled. Some of these are from stencils that I made a few years back to paint t-shirts, and some of them are from new leaves I found in the driveway.

Sunflowers Win Award at NEWS Show

2007-09-09T19:19:00.001-07:00

This painting was posted here previously but today I found out that it won an award at the North East Watercolor Society Members Show. It was a surprise, as they evidently do not let the award winners know ahead of time, and there were no awards attached to the paintings or listed in the catalog. I found out with everyone else when they announced the winners at the awards ceremony. Quite exciting!

Wave Watching

2007-08-14T08:30:00.000-07:00

Don't you just love watching waves! I must have taken hundreds of photos of waves at the Jersey Shore, in Hawaii, and in Maine. This painting was done on Yupo (that plastic "paper") from one of my Hawaii photos. Yupo is great for painting water - it runs and puddles all over the place, but you can wipe out the whites if you need to. And you get neat puddling effects that you can't predict which makes it really exciting.

Approximately 10x14 on Yupo

Myrtle Beach Palms

2007-08-12T13:52:00.001-07:00

Recently I sold a small palm tree painting and wanted to do another a little larger. This is a half sheet watercolor (15 x 22) of some trees I saw while taking a workshop in Myrtle Beach last spring. I focused in close and left out the large hotel in the background.

White Rose Travels to India

2007-08-12T13:25:00.000-07:00

This little painting travelled to India last week as part of a swap with an international group of watercolor artists. I have previously sent paintings to the Philippines and to England, as well as several states in the USA, and have received paintings from some interesting places as well. My latest swap painting came to me from Steve Sorrell in Tasmania.

I've Been Tagged

2007-05-26T16:19:00.000-07:00

I've been tagged by my sister Joan. http://watercolorsbyjoan.blogspot.com
If I understand the rules correctly, I now have to tell 7 things about myself that no one knows (well, my sis probably knows all of them), and then tag 7 other people. Let's see if I can find 7 people I know who haven't been tagged before.
About me:

1. I was named Michelle after my father, Michael, and got the nickname "Mickey" from one of my father's boyhood friends. My brother Joe was named after my Mom. We sometimes do things a little backwards in my family.

2. I was exposed to art at a young age when my aunt took me to the art museums in NYC on my birthday outings. I knew right away that I wanted to be an artist when I grew up.

3. When I was about 10, I accidentally stuck my hand into a wet oil painting belonging to an artist who was next to me on the Fire Island ferry. I was trying to keep from falling when the ferry lurched.

4. I wanted to play for the Yankees when I grew up (in addition to being an artist, of course). The closest I came was a mom's softball team when my kids were little.

5. My favorite foods are lobster and ice cream (not together).

6. I met my husband on a trip to a dude ranch with a church youth group. I was from New York and he was from Pennsylvania, and we met in Massachusetts.

7. A couple of years ago I joined a beginners senior tap dance class and have performed in two of their annual shows.

The 7 people I tagged are:

Rhonda Carpenter - http://rhcarpenter.blogspot.com
Susan Roper - http://wcbysusanroper.blogspot.com
Cia Price - http://artmaker-cecilia-price.blogspot.com
Jane James - http://janefranart.blogspot.com
Dabs - http://artbydabs.blogspot.com
Marilyn Fuerstenberg - http://marilynfuerstenberg.blogspot.com
Elizabeth McRorie - http://emcrorie.blogspot.com

African Violets

2007-04-12T21:22:00.000-07:00

I started these African violets from life at my friend's house the week before I left for the workshop. I didn't finish it, and luckily the plant was still flowering so I finished it up today. Watercolor 11 x 15 on Arches.

Sunflowers

2007-04-12T21:17:00.000-07:00

I started this painting over a month ago, and I finished it today. We do not get many sunflowers in suburban New Jersey, so when I saw these last fall I made sure to get a photo. This is 11 x 15 watercolor on Arches.

Two more small collages

2007-04-03T04:50:00.000-07:00

Here are two more small abstract collages that I did to show my Thursday painting group the techniques we learned in Jerry Brommer's workshop. I hope to do one or two larger ones with them this week. I was happy with the purple and yellow radial design, but it took some work to resolve the blue collage. It didn't come together until I glazed some Winsor blue over it to unify, and added the whites with gouache.

Workshop Days 4 and 5

2007-03-28T17:02:00.000-07:00

On the 4th and 5th days of the workshop we did landscapes. As I watched Jerry do his demo, I decided on a photo I had of the gazebo at Laguna Beach, California. There were no flowers on the hill in the photo, but I knew that flowers grew there in the spring, so I put a lot of color into my collage. Jerry said it looked more like Tahiti, so I guess I will have to call it something like "Tropical Surprise". On Friday after our last class we had a "gallery night" where all the classes displayed their work for the week. I truly enjoyed this workshop, or as I call it - my trip to art camp.

Workshop Day 3 - Flowers

2007-03-28T16:58:00.000-07:00

On Day 3 Mr. Brommer, "Jerry", had us do flower collages. Being a flower painter, I was really looking forward to these. It took me a while to get the hang of it - they were harder to do than the abstracts, because we were just trying for the "essence" of flowers. I liked my third attempt best.

Workshop Day 2

2007-03-28T16:50:00.000-07:00

The second day of the workshop we did larger abstracts on 11 x 11 inch paper. My first design was a horizontal one with a cool (blue) dominance and warm accents. The second is a "box in a box" design with a warm dominance and cool accents. It was fun to see how many different collages the class managed to come up with for this assignment. We spent many nights after class staining papers for the next day.

Stained Paper Collages - Gerald Brommer Workshop

2007-03-28T16:42:00.000-07:00

Last week my sister and I took a "Stained Paper Collage" workshop with Gerald Brommer. I have been a fan of his work with both watercolor and collage for many years. During the 5 day workshop we learned to stain paper - lots and lots of paper. And we learned about several different designs and how to utilize them in both abstract and representational work. These three small abstracts were done on 7 1/2 x 7 1/2 Arches rough with watercolor stained washi. The designs used were a "bridge", a "T" and a "cruciform".

Snow and Fog

2007-02-20T08:46:00.000-08:00

I took the reference photo for this painting a year ago at Ramapo Reservation, near my home. It was still snowing slightly and it was sort of foggy and soft. I loved the way the distant trees and mountains looked, and I think I nailed them pretty well in my watercolor. The foreground evergreens gave me a little trouble, since I found it difficult to put the snow on the branches without making it look too sharp and defined. I originally masked it, which was a mistake, and so I had to scrub them to soften, and then add some midtones and darks trying to keep it somewhat indistinct. I think I succeeded somewhat - not what I originally had in mind, but not bad.

Pemaquid Point

2007-02-01T17:45:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago I painted a smaller version of this scene from Pemaquid Point, Maine on yupo. This one is on Arches 140 lb. rough, and is a half sheet. Pemaquid Lighthouse and the rocks that surround it are my favorite landscape subjects. I was probably standing with my back to the lighthouse looking down to the left when I took the reference photo for this painting. I also love to climb down on the rocks, find a comfy place to sit, and do a watercolor sketch in my journal. It's getting harder and harder for this out-of-shape, almost 62 year old to get down there and back up again though.

Something Different Again

2007-01-29T08:09:00.000-08:00

This is a "posterized" portrait of my grandson David, which I did by following a tutorial on the WetCanvas website. I had been admiring the posterized portraits done by a couple of WetCanvas regulars, and when the tutorial was posted, I decided to follow along. It was interesting to see how getting the shapes and values right made an accurate likeness.