Mexican Birds Diptych

We just came back from Mexico so it seemed fitting to paint some tropical flowers.  I've always loved Birds of Paradise.  They remind me of my childhood.  

Sorry about the crooked picture.  This is a diptych, two paintings that are painted as if they are one.  I painted them to hang one inch apart but a person's eyes will complete the picture through that one inch space.  I think it makes the painting a little more interesting because it's different.

Mexican Birds Diptych

Image size  24" x 12"

Acrylic 

A Pungent Bundle

This is probably the loosest watercolor that I've ever done.  It was fun to play with the washes and leave indistinct edges - so out of character for me.  I started this as a poured painting but only did a couple of pours and decided to paint it in a more traditional way.  I like the variety of colors in the garlic which is from the initial pours.  I used a 140# Arches hot press paper.  The paint lifted a little too easily on this paper and it was hard to build up my darks.

A Pungent Bundle
Image Size 28" x  20"
Watercolor and Gouache

The Lone Tree

Just a small oil painting for this week.  I painted the canvas with a thinned cadmium red and allowed some of it to show through.  It's a warmer and more subtle red than I've used recently to prime other canvases.  I think I like it better than the bright red for a scene such as this one.  Also, by using it thinned rather than as an opaque red, the white of the canvas is able to glow through it.

The Lone Tree
Image Size 6" x 6"
Oil

Tracy Arm Falls

I was out of town for several days this past week and I didn't have much time to paint so I decided to finish a painting I had started a (long) while ago.  It is such a good feeling when I finish a project that's been hanging around the studio so I don't know why I have so many unfinished projects.  I guess it's an even better feeling to start a new project.  : )

Anyway, I was glad I had a painting that was almost finished so I could stay on track with finishing a painting a week.  I was cutting it a little too close this week.

This scene is in Alaska.  We were on a cruise a couple of years ago and I have many photos of wonderful places that will provide reference material for paintings for a long time.  Alaska is so beautiful that by the end of the week, my eyes had overdosed on 'beautiful'.  The Tracy Arm, where the reference photo for this painting was taken,  has many waterfalls and amazing vistas as well as wildlife.  I was wishing that my camera had a better zoom so that I could get some close-ups but even without it, I got some nice pictures.  The water in this area is such an lovely shade of turquoise.  The glacial ice pulverizes the rock as it moves over the surface and as the ice melts, the powdered rock is suspended in the water and it reflects the light and makes the water a milky turquoise color.  It looks unreal.

Tracy Arm Falls
Image size 8" x 16"
Oil

Determination

Don't feel sorry for this poor neglected onion.  Obviously, it was past its prime for eating purposes, but  was determined to use its strength to grow, even though it sat ignored on the kitchen counter.

This onion was part of a still life set-up that my friend brought over for us to paint.  The other vegetables on the plate didn't catch my interest enough to paint them, but I thought this onion with its greenery had a graceful look and a lot of personality.  I also liked that it could grow so much without dirt or water.

I used a dark background to give it a dramatic effect and a sense of importance.  This poor onion that was so neglected has now been immortalized, which is good because I never did plant it and now it's gone forever.

Determination
Image Size 14" x 21"
Watercolor

Italian Stream

I've been playing with wax again.  This is an encaustic of a photo I took in Italy.  I love how the wax flowed and the painting transformed as I fused the layers together.

I think I will try painting flowers next with this medium.  So much fun.....

Italian Stream
Image Size 6" x 6"
Encaustic

Rocky Point

I've been missing my palette knife lately so I did this little painting.  The canvas was painted red first and once it was dry, I picked up my knife and really laid on the paint.  The texture of the paint shows really well in person but I'm not sure it's coming across well in this picture.  Also, the red really pops more in person.  I like having a bright color as my base in a painting and letting it peek through the finished painting.  I think it adds an extra bit of excitement.
I got the idea for this painting from a picture I took in Italy but I've changed it so much that it really doesn't even resemble the original photo.  I didn't start out planning to change it but as the painting progressed, it took on a life of its own.

Rocky Point
6" x 6"
Oil

Creek At Descanso

This is painted from an old photo I took during a trip to Descanso Gardens.  It's one of my favorite places in So Cal.  I thought this was finished but after seeing it in this photo, there are several things I can see that I need to work a bit more.   That's the nice thing about oils; areas can be covered over many times until I feel it's good.  That's a very freeing experience after working with the constraints of watercolor for so many years.

Creek At Descanso
Image size 6" x 6"
Oil

Costa Brava Cliffs I and II - Oil and Encaustic

I played around with some more encaustics this week.  I painted a seascape in the wax and then did the same scene in oil to see how different they would look.  Here's the oil painting:

And here is the encaustic:

So far, two people (who have seen them in person) have said that they like the oil painting better.  I think I like the encaustic better because it is more loose and wild looking and I like the brighter colors.  Also, it was really fun to paint which probably enters into the mix.  I also really like the shine on the wax after polishing it.   I must admit though, looking at them in person, sometimes I do like the oil better.

These are both small.  The oil is 6" x 6" and the encaustic is 6.5" x 6.5".  I'm anxious to try a larger painting in the encaustic but I should probably continue working small until I learn the medium better.

Costa Brava Cliffs I
Image Size 6" x 6"
Oil

Costa Brava Cliffs
Image Size 6.5" x 6.5"
Encaustic

Encaustic collage

On Saturday, I participated in a four hour encaustic workshop at a local art store.  It was such fun!  The teacher from Encaustikos was wonderful and she had us try many different techniques.  This was painted while the board was on the warmer so the paint flowed very easily.  Then I added the collage pieces and a final layer of clear wax.  I hope I didn't put the characters upside down or backwards.

I know the last thing I need is a new medium to learn but this is such fun.  Today I mixed some of my oil paints with clear encaustic medium so I'll have some colors to use without a huge expense.  The pre-made encaustic colors are expensive and I already had a lot of oil paint so it seemed like a good way to save money and use up some of my extra art supplies. I'll try using my homemade colors first until I see if I want to continue with this medium.  I know they won't be as intense or concentrated as the professional ones but I know I'll still have fun with them.

Encaustic collage
Image Size 6" x 6"
Encaustic with collage on mat board

P.V. Coast

Twenty years ago, we went to Puerto Vallarta and I took this photo at the hotel where we stayed.  I've painted it several times using either watercolor or gouache but this is the first time I've used oils.  I need some new inspiration for paintings if I'm digging up twenty year old photos, don't you think?

P.V. Coast
Image Size 6" x 6"
Oil

Del Mar Bromeliad

I had never seen a flower like this before I found one blooming at Sherman Gardens in Corona Del Mar, CA.  It was so perfect and sturdy looking, it didn't seem real.

 It is a bromeliad - Aechmea "Del Mar", which looks nothing like any Bromeliad I've ever seen.  I wonder if these flowers last as long as typical Bromeliad flowers.  I think I need to search for these in the local nurseries so I can add them to our garden.  They are very showy flowers and I love the color.

My plan was to paint this in a looser fashion like I learned in Karen Frey's workshop but I had done the drawing for this painting several weeks ago on 300# Arches paper.  That is a very thick paper which sucks up the water and makes it hard (for me) to control the paint action so it ended up being tighter than I wanted but I am pretty happy with the results anyway.  I used to really like 300# paper but  I find that if I'm trying to mingle colors, they look really nice while they're wet but because they stay wet for so long, the colors lose their individual properties and blend too much.  I have a lot of this thicker paper but I think I will be using the 140# paper instead for awhile.

Del Mar Bromeliad
Image Size 20" x 15"
Watercolor

Pastel Bougainvillea

This is a small painting, only 3" x 15" but I really like the format.  Long, skinny paintings and square ones are my favorites.  I used a scrap piece of dark green archival mat board that I coated with pumice gel to make it like a sanded pastel paper.  It was fun to work on this surface because it grabbed a lot of pastel and it was nice to have the background color there before the painting was even started.  The color in this photo is a bit washed out.  It's more vibrant in real life.

I've cut my own mats for years so I have a lot of scrap mat boards that I just can't seem to throw out, even when they get this small.  But see, there is a reason for keeping them!  I'm kind of crazy about recycling and it's hard for me to throw an object out if I think it can still be used for something.  No, I'm not a hoarder, except maybe with art supplies.  It feels good to make something creative using what would be considered trash by a lot of people.

Pastel Bougainvillea
Image Size 3" x 15"
Pastel

Soft Yellow Clivias

What a fun week!  I attended a three day workshop with Karen Frey, an incredible watercolor artist and teacher.  I've always admired her work and been amazed by her control of water and paint in her paintings so I was thrilled to be able to learn from her.  Check out her website.  She's also a master in encaustics and works in a realistic style that I haven't seen any other encaustic artist achieve.

She's a little dynamo with a lot of knowledge to impart but her techniques will take me a lot of practice to master.  She made it look so easy but I know that comes from years of experience.  This was my painting that I worked on during the three days.  It's a lot looser (in the background) than I'm used to doing and I am really happy with the runs and softness in it.  I can't wait to try another painting using her techniques.  As I was finishing this at home, her voice was in my head coaching me and I hope I will still hear that as I'm painting my next painting.  Timing and the ratio of water to paint are very important to her technique.  There is so much to remember and I hope I can retain that as I paint in the future.

Soft Yellow Clivias
Image Size 15" x 22"
Watercolor

Waiting For Weather

I wish our sky looked like this right now!  I'm so tired of the heat and humidity.  I shouldn't complain because it's fairly rare weather for our area but we've been dealing with it for well over a month and I would like some nice cool rain.

I know the majority of the country has been dealing with heat and humidity for the entire summer and I'm sounding like a real sissy but I'm used to our usual mild and dry summers.  I thought that painting something that looked cool and wet would make me feel better and maybe act as a suggestion for some cooler weather - an artistic rain dance.  After all, it is Fall now.  We probably won't get any rain for at least a month or two but I can dream, can't I?

This is an oil painting on a small stretched canvas.  I did an under painting of red and after it was dry I used a very limited palette of muted colors, letting pieces of the red show through.

Waiting For Weather
Image Size 6" x 6"
Oil

Lake Powell Canyon II - Acrylic on TerraSkin

This is painted from the same photo as last week's painting.  The colors and lighting are pretty different though.   This painting is much larger than last week's and the majority of the painting was poured using liquid acrylics.  I went pretty bold with the color.  It's much brighter in real life.  There are things that I like best about each painting but I can't decide which one I like better overall.  I would love to have your comments.

Lake Powell Canyon II
Image Size 25" x 17.5"
Acrylic on TerraSkin

Lake Powell Canyon - Watercolor on TerraSkin

Here is a small painting on TerraSkin.  This time, I used watercolor instead of acrylics.  It was a bit harder to build layers since the watercolors are very liftable on the TerraSkin.  The one exception was the color that I used in the sky.  For some reason, these blues didn't want to lift and, of course, I started with the sky and wasn't very careful because I expected to be able to lift off my messy areas.  The blues I used were ultramarine and cerulean which aren't staining colors so I'm not sure why that happened.  I think I'll try this scene on a larger scale with the acrylics and do some pouring.

We used to go to Lake Powell every year on a houseboat so I have lots of pictures from there.  Lake Powell is so beautiful with the sculptural rocks and the natural blue/orange complementary color scheme.  Nature's so amazing!  The sky there really is ultramarine blue at the top blending into cerulean blue at the horizon.  No wonder I like using those colors in my skies.  Of course, we don't see those kind of skies here in So. Cal. but I do know they exist.

Lake Powell Canyon
Image Size 12.5" x 9"
Watercolor on TerraSkin

WIP slideshow for Watery World on TerraSkin

Here is the WIP slideshow for Watery World.  I think it was harder and took more time to make this than it did to paint the painting.

I've decided that I need to stick with painting and stay out of the technical world as much as possible.  It's much too stressful!

The music that is playing is "Fingerdance" by Billy McLaughlin.

Watery World - on TerraSkin

This painting wins the prize for the most fun to paint.  I've always loved to paint Koi - which you know if you've been following my blog for any length of time - but painting them on Terra Skin is wonderful!  The surface, along with using acrylics like watercolors, allowed me to get the feeling of water and know that I could layer without disturbing my previous painting.  I am going to continue fiddling with this a bit more but I wanted to post it for this week's painting.  It took SO long to paint.  It's large, 25" x 35", and a lot of the time was spent waiting for layers to dry.  This was painted with  a combination of pouring and direct painting.  So far, this probably has about 20 thin layers of paint, which gives it a wonderful translucent quality.  I took WIP pictures which I will make into a slide show later this week (if the pictures turned out) so you can see my process.

Watery World - on TerraSkin
Image size 25" x 35"
Acrylic

Water Lilies on TerraSkin

I'm working on TerraSkin again.  I just can't seem to put away my acrylics and TerraSkin.  It's my new addiction.  This painting was a bit harder than the paintings I've done on this surface in past weeks, entirely because of my own stupidity.

I've been using a combination of pouring paint and direct painting with the acrylics.  I do several pours initially and then put resist on my design to protect areas from future pours.  Then I add more layers of paint to the background until I get the effect I want.  I am working really wet and because the TerraSkin is not porous, the water and paint sit on the surface and it can take awhile for each layer to dry.  Being the impatient person that I am, I put the painting out in the sun to speed up the drying process because I was excited to add another layer of paint.  I know (from reading and from experience) that paintings with resist should not be put in the sun or exposed to heat (from a hair dryer) because the resist can get gummy.  It's been really hot here this past week so the painting in the sun was probably dry in about 5 minutes and if I had taken it out of the sun in such a short period of time, it might have been okay but I got busy doing something else and forgot about it for about an hour.  The good news is that the paint was dry.  The bad news is that the resist was very gummy and not easy to remove on about half of the areas.

At this point, most reasonable people would have thrown the piece away and started over but I'm stubborn and was determined to save the painting.  I did, but it probably added a couple of hours to the process.  I think it was probably harder to remove from this surface than from paper because the goo just kept sliding around on the surface.  I finally used dry flour on the surface to make the resist more crumbly which worked better than anything else and then removed the final film with alcohol, which didn't work really well.  Maybe I should have tried fingernail polish remover but that may have harmed the surface.  So...don't put a painting with resist in the sun or leave the resist on the surface too long.  I've done that twice so hopefully I have learned from my mistakes now.

Waterlilies on TerraSkin
Image Size 16" x 20"
Acrylic

Wisteria on TerraSkin

Painting on TerraSkin is quickly becoming an addiction for me.  I really love the effects I get when using liquid acrylics on it.  Also, I probably have more acrylic paint than I could use in one lifetime so I might as well use it.  Using watercolor on the TerraSkin is fun too but I really like being able to paint so many layers with the acrylic and know that all of the previous layers are permanent.  Of course, then I am giving up the lifting qualities that are so wonderful with this surface.

Wisteria on TerraSkin
Image Size 18" x 24"
Acrylic

Snowy Iris

Painting this was a bit out of my comfort zone with it being so non-literal but I did have fun with it.  I'm beginning to really like painting with oils.  The thick paint is less of a problem for me than it used to be.  I think I'm just getting used to it although I still prefer the fluidity of watercolors and silk dyes.

Painting more loosely is easier for me with oils than with watercolors.  I can really appreciate other artists loose watercolor paintings but it's a joy for me to be very meticulous as I paint with watercolors.

Have a good week.

Snowy Iris
Image size 8" x 8"
Oil

White Lilies on TerraSkin

I had such a good time painting this one.  This is an acrylic painting, but I've used the acrylic watered down like watercolors.  For me, this is my favorite way to use acrylics.  I just don't like the feeling of thick acrylic paint.  I always feel like I'm fighting with it.

The surface I used is Terraskin, that stone and resin 'paper' that I've used that is similar to Yupo.  I love the textures I was able to create in the background.  The reason I used acrylic paint instead of watercolor was because I wanted to use several layers of paint and I didn't want to lose the textured effect as I added more paint.

White Lilies on TerraSkin
Image Size 18" x 24"
Acrylic

Abutilon

I really dislike orange flowers so I'm not sure why I didn't change the color of these in this painting.   I still need to work on these a bit because I'm not sure that they are reading as abutilons, but the paint is too wet to get much detail at this point.  I won't add much more detail but I do want to add some to the one flower at the top that is facing us to make it more of a focal point.

Abutilon
Image Size 9" x 12"
Oil

Sunny Low Country

Deja vu?  Yes, this is the same scene as last week's painting, but this is how it really looked the day that I was there.  It was a beautiful, sunny day with lots of puffy clouds and the temperature was perfect.  I'm not sure which painting I like better.  They each have a very different feeling and it's fun to have the freedom to interpret a scene any way I want.  : )  Ah, we artists have such power!

Sunny Low Country
Image Size 6" X 6"
Oil

Stormy Low Country

In May, I visited some friends in Charleston, South Carolina and I painted this from one of the hundreds of photos I took while I was there.  Of course, in the photo, the sun was shining and the sky was a beautiful blue.  We went to a plantation which had really beautiful grounds and this was one of the views.  The day before, there was a tropical storm watch and a threat of a hurricane - all very exciting/scary so this is my artistic combination of the nice view and the stormy weather.   I think I will also paint the scene with the sun shining, as it is in the photo, later this week.

Charleston is such a beautiful city with such charming people.  I really had a wonderful time and I look forward to painting more of the local scenes and visiting there again some day.

Stormy Low Country
Image Size 6" x 6"
Oil

The Beach

On June 30th, I participated in a plein air workshop given through the Tustin Art League.  Kevin Davidson was the instructor and I really learned a lot.  Kevin is a wonderful artist (and instructor) that works in both oils and watercolor.  For his watercolors, he usually works on yupo paper and is truly a master at it.  He makes it look so effortless.  I find it very frustrating.

For this workshop, he painted in oils.  He did a demo for a little over an hour and then we worked on our own paintings with him giving us pointers.  I find plein air painting just as frustrating as trying to paint on yupo but I'm glad I took this workshop and it does get easier each time I paint on site.  It will never be my first choice in painting experiences because I have a very short attention span.  By the time I get set up I'm usually ready to leave.  Also, I enjoy my creature comforts of being in my studio, close to the kitchen and other facilities.  : )

I am really happy with how this little painting turned out which will probably make me sign up for the next plein air experience with a little less kicking and screaming.

The Beach
Image Size 6" x 6"
Oil

After The Rain

The photo from which this was painted was taken last summer in Burano, which is one of the islands around Venice, Italy.   My husband and I had been there about 10 years ago but it was cloudy then and I didn't get any pictures with sun and shadows so I was very excited to be able to go there again, this time with our kids, so that they could see Venice with its surrounding islands and so that I could get some better pictures.  Of course this time it was raining!  We took the ferry and went to Murano first (an island where glass blowing is common) and just as the ferry pulled up to Burano the sun came out!  Lucky me!

I was happy to see colorful umbrellas throughout the city hanging on the shutters to dry.  It added charm to an already charming place.  So it turns out that the rain was a good thing.  We almost waited until the next day to go because of the rain but it's a good thing we didn't or we wouldn't have seen Burano at all.  That day all of the people that worked in transportation were on strike.  No ferrys, no gondolas, no trash pick up either so I guess it wasn't only the transportation people on strike.

Burano is known for its beautiful lace.  I'm not much of a lace person but it's always interesting to see hand crafted items.  In Burano the buildings are all brightly painted.  The color of this building was turquoise but I changed it because I felt that bright color would take the focus away from the umbrellas - artistic license at work.

After the Rain
Image Size 22" x 22"
Watercolor

Brussels Sprouts

Brussels sprouts seem to always get a bad rap so I've never felt the need to try them.  I was really intrigued when I saw the unique way they grow.  I never gave it any thought but if  I were asked how they grow I would have guessed that they grow close to the ground like a cabbage.

I was in Trader Joe's last November and saw the brussels sprouts for sale still attached to the stalks and decided they would be an interesting subject to paint.  When I took them up the the checkout, the cashier asked how I was going to prepare them and I said "Oh, I'm not going to eat them, I'm going to paint them".  He was appalled!  Then he asked me if I was going to at least compost them and I had to tell him no.  I felt so guilty as I left the store that I decided I would try to eat them even though I had negative feelings about them because I'd never met anyone who actually liked them.

I took lots of pictures of them to paint from since it usually takes me too long to paint something this detailed and I figured the only way these would have a chance of being tasty would be if they were really fresh.

To prepare them I cut them in half, tossed them with olive oil, salt and pepper and roasted them.  I must admit they were pretty tasty.  In fact, I had some again last night.  They probably won't become my favorite vegetable but I do like them.  If anyone has a good recipe for them, please share.  : )

This is a watercolor on 300# Arches rough.

Brussels Sprouts
Image Size 30" x 11"
Watercolor

Cactus Flower II

We had friends visiting this week so I didn't have a lot of time to paint.  Here is a watercolor sketch on Aquabord.  I really enjoy working on this surface so it was a fun project.  It's so easy to lift the paint from this surface.  I was able to lift the spikes on the cacti and the light areas in the flowers with no problem.

Cactus Flower
Image Size 6" x 6"
Watercolor

I received some great news this past week.  My painting, "Gone...Again" has been accepted into the San Diego Watercolor Society's 32nd Annual International Juried Exhibition.  To say I'm excited would be an understatement!  Here's a photo of that painting:

Murky Waters

I painted this from a photo that I took in La Manzanilla, Mexico at a crocodile farm.  I wanted to have 'crocodile' in the name but since there are no crocodiles in the painting, I thought it probably wouldn't make much sense.

The crododiles in the farm looked fake.  They were so large and most of them didn't move until food was thrown to them.  They looked like they were made out of cement!  I didn't know that they could grow that large.  I've heard that they can move very quickly but these guys were very lethargic since they really didn't have to do anything to get food.  Crazy humans throw food to them all day - and yes, we were some of the crazy humans feeding them.  There was a place at the entrance selling frozen fish parts.  Watching them eat was gross and fascinating at the same time.  Ugh!  They sure are ugly and evil looking.

Anyway, in these murky waters, you can be sure that those creatures hide just below the surface.

Murky Waters
Image Size 22" x 30"
Watercolor

Silky Sunflowers

Here is the last of the silk paintings that I had started to use when I did the demo at Chemers Gallery back in April.  I painted a silk painting using these sunflowers several years ago but used a different background and border.  I like my first one better.  I meant for the blue border in this to be much darker and it is darker than it looks in this picture but not as dark as I wanted.  I just wasn't paying attention I guess.

Anyway, now I'll get back to my more serious paintings.  I have a few drawing done for some watercolor paintings so I'm excited to work on them.  I've gotten silk painting out of my system for now.

Here is the original sunflower silk painting which sold several years ago.

Silky Sunflowers
Image Size 17" x 17"
Silk dyes on silk

Silky Bougainvillea - Silk Painting

I started to work on this a few weeks ago intending to paint it while I was demonstrating silk painting at Chemers gallery.  I put the resist on 3 silks and ended up working only on one - the clivias that I posted earlier this month.  Like that silk, I used a design that I have painted before (I didn't have much time to get things ready for the day) but I made changes that I think make this look entirely different.

The first time I painted it, I used very bright colors and a wrought iron design for the border as you can see below.  For this new one I painted a soft background, more delicate flowers and changed the border.  I also left some of the flowers out.  I think the new one looks more traditional.

I still have one more silk painting to finish that has the resist on it.  I'll probably work on that one this week since I'm trying to clean up my studio and the best way to do that is to finish some of my many unfinished projects.

Silky Bougainvillea
Image Size 13.5" x 24.5"
Silk dyes on silk

A Nice Award - National Orange Show

Last night I got some good news.  I had entered two paintings into the National Orange Show All-California Juried Art Exhibition in San Bernadino, CA.  Both were juried in and I was awarded third place for one of them in the Citrus category.  When I originally saw the prospectus for this show and saw that there was a citrus category I knew I had the perfect paintings to enter.  The paintings could be up to 5 years old which is unusual for an art competition.  Usually the requirement is that they must have been painted within two years.  Three years ago I painted a series titled "Paradise Lost", my statement about the over-building of Orange County.  The first two paintings in the series were my favorites and they are the paintings that I entered and were juried into the show.

Paradise Lost II is the one that received the award last night.  I was really happy because I've always liked this painting and have entered it into many shows where it has been rejected.  I was glad to have this one last chance for it to get some glory before it is retired from entering shows.

Paradise Lost II

And here is the other painting that was juried into the show.

Paradise Lost I

Paradise Lost I was awarded third place in Watercolor West in 2009.  This series has been good to me.  If you would like to see the other three paintings in the series, click here.

One of a Kind

Hmmm, what to say about this one?  I think the paper I used for this is Arches 140# cold press which is the paper I've always used the most but for some reason this seemed to react differently. I had a hard time getting my colors bright which is odd since I used a lot of yellow, orange and red.  The colors looked really bright while wet but faded so much when it dried and I had to keep adding layers and I would like it to be even brighter.  Maybe I'm just getting used to how beautiful and bright colors are when I use silk dyes on silk and the watercolors pale in comparison.

I think I will try painting a similar subject in another medium and see if I can turn up the heat.

I was playing around with the background and can't decide whether it is distracting or interesting.  What is your opinion?

The Traveling Chicken - Poolside

Here's the result of a fun project that Jill Polsby invited me to join.  Jill is a fellow artist whose blog I follow.  She and I have never actually met but like so many other fellow artist bloggers, I feel like I know her.  I think that someday we will meet in person because she lives only about an hour away.  I was happy that she thought of me to participate in this project.

This small ceramic chicken was purchased in England by Azra to use in one of her paintings.  She decided to offer it to other artists to paint and The Traveling Chicken was born.  This chicken has her own blog so you can keep up with her travels and see each artist's ideas for a painting using this ceramic dynamo.  You can sign up as a follower if you are on blogger or sign up to get e-mail updates as this world traveler is immortalized in each new city (or country).  I am the fourth artist to participate in this venture and I must say it was a lot of fun.

This was painted on 140# hot press Lanaquarelle.  The reason I picked this paper was because I had a few pieces left on a watercolor pad and it was the size I wanted to use - not the best reason to chose a paper.  I don't have anything against Lanaquarelle, I really don't like working on any 140# hot press paper.  It's very different than a cold press or rough paper because the paint sits on the surface more and when additional glazes of color are added, the previous layers are easily lifted which is frustrating to me because I like to use lots of layers of color and build up my darks.  It's also hard to get smooth washes on this paper.  The hot press paper that I really love is the Arches 300# hot press.  Wow! That is a wonderful paper.  It's the thickness of the paper that seems to make the difference.  It has a soft surface and the paint seems to settle into the paper better and it gives a beautiful end result to the painting.  Waterford's 200# hot press also seems to have that softer surface that allows the paint to settle better.

Anyway, this was a nice side project to get the artistic ideas flowing.  Thanks Jill.

The Traveling Chicken - Pool Side
Image Size - 6.5" x 9.5"
Watercolor

ACEO - Spirit Island

I haven't done an ACEO for a long time but I got a notice from an e-bay group that I've been part of for a long time (but never participated in) about a photo challenge so I decided to try it.  One of the members, Leola, posted a photo and gave permission for everyone to use it.  I usually don't use someone else's photos for my paintings but it was a requirement for this challenge. 

ACEO stands for Art Cards, Editions and Originals.  They are all 2.5" x 3.5" and are basically artist trading cards.  If you visit E-bay and search ACEO Originals, there are thousands of them up for bid.  I've sold a few of them in the past and it's fun to play in that arena - not profitable but still, it's always fun to follow an auction.  I've posted this one just to see what happens.

This is done mostly with colored pencil with a little bit of watercolor added.  The surface I used is Terraskin, which I've used a few times in the past with watercolor.  It's 80% stone dust and 20% resin.  It's very smooth so it's a great surface for colored pencil and this small format is also good for colored pencil as far as I'm concerned.  I don't usually have the patience to use that medium although I really admire artists that use colored pencil as their main medium.  Those larger drawings can take forever with it.   The Terraskin I used was very thin so I attached this to a mat board to give it some thickness and stability.

Click to bid

ACEO - Spirit Island
Image Size 2.5" x 3.5"
Colored Pencil and Watercolor

Gone...Again

I was missing doing my fun watercolors so I did this painting.  I've been thinking of this concept for awhile but never took the time to actually draft it.  "Draft" is a good word because it is very structured.  I played with the perspective so that it would look like the piano keys were floating.  I hope that is the effect you see.  The background is many layers of glazes which finally gave me the depth of color I was trying to achieve.

Gone...Again
Image size 11" x 30"
Watercolor

Silk Clivia II - Silk Painting

This is the silk painting that I was using as a demo piece on Saturday.  I finished painting it today but it hasn't been steamed or stretched yet which is why it looks wrinkled.  Also, the white lines will be brighter once the resist is washed out.  At least I finished painting it.  : )  

This is a design I have painted before but the first one didn't have a border.  I'll post the first painting at the end of this post.  This one also has lighter flowers.

These flowers are Clivias, also known as Kaffir lilies.  Typically they are orange but a few years ago I saw some pale yellow ones that I had to have.  They are a lot harder to find than the orange ones. The yellow is such a soft yellow for the garden.  Usually yellow flowers are pretty bright.

I was so happy when I finished painting this without having any bloopers.  I was really nervous painting the black.  It's really easy to flick the dye while lifting the brush and have it go in the worst places.  That would have ruined the whole painting if black had gotten on the flowers or leaves.  Originally, I painted the border a flat green.  The flowers are so delicate that I didn't want a busy border to clash with that.  After painting the border, it looked really blah to me so I held my breath as I added a different color.  

When a color is added over an already painted area, the underneath color is activated enough to cause hard lines very quickly so it's impossible to get a smooth color wash.  The effect is actually pretty cool but it would be hard to control the effect on a border because I have to start in one spot and switch off painting in both directions so that the dye doesn't dry and create an even harder edge.  I added salt as I painted to create a more overall texture.  I'm actually very happy with it.  The salt drew the color that I added (brown) but didn't lift the original color (green) so the color mix is really pretty.

Below is this painting with the green border before I added the brown and salt.

And here is the original silk clivia painting I did a couple of years ago.  After I steamed it and washed it, I noticed a white area (you can see it in this photo in the lower left corner area) in the black background so I repainted it and re-steamed it.  I learned a lesson.  The black and oranges bled in a couple of areas so even though most people think it looks fine, I could never sell it so I've always intended to re-paint is because I really like the design.  This photo was taken before I re-steamed it so you can't see the color bleed. 

Which of the three versions do you like best?

Silk Clivias II

Image Size 22" x 22"

Silk dyes on silk

Scenes of Tustin

Well, both of my paintings are in the Scenes of Tustin show at Chemers Gallery.  The opening is tomorrow night, April 28th from 5:30 - 8:00.  I didn't get an award for either of them but it's always fun to try, right?

Also, tomorrow from 12:00 - 2:00 I'll be doing silk painting in front of the gallery and other artists will also be painting.  Enderle Center, where the gallery is located, is having their Spring Fling.  I'm not sure exactly what will be happening but I've heard there is a DJ and food.  Sounds good to me.

If you're around the area with nothing to do, you should stop by.  The address for Chemers Gallery is
17300 17th Street, Suite G, Tustin, CA 92780

Lone Fuchsia

I wasn't in the mood to paint today but needed to get something done to post so that I didn't miss my self-imposed deadline to post a painting each Monday.  I was out of town until yesterday so I had to do a last minute painting today.

Usually I can dig up some motivation but today a combination of it being a drizzly day and having no ideas of what to paint made painting a frustration. I started looking through my old, tired reference photos and found this lone fuchsia.

I also tried a different paper for this one.  A friend gave me a sample pack of Kilimanjaro paper and I chose one of the 300# pieces.  I've used Arches 300# before and generally like it but all of the heavy papers tend to suck up the paint and the colors that look so nice and rich when wet fade dramatically when they dry.  I lost all of my lights too but that had more to do with not paying attention than a problem with the paper so I played with a pen that has opaque white ink that I just got to add some playful white accents.  I'm not sure whether or not I like this paper but I will give it another try when I'm in a better mood.

Lone Fuchsia
Image size 4" x 6"
Watercolor

McCharles House

Here is my second painting that I'm entering in the "Scenes of Tustin" juried show.  I'll find out next week if they got into the show.  The McCharles House is one of many beautiful Victorian style houses in Old Town Tustin.  It is a tea house (I don't think that's what it's called but can't think of a better term right now) and they also have small weddings there and special events I think.  Anyway, it's a charming place and the food is good too!

This started out as a poured watercolor.  Usually I would use mainly just red, yellow and blue and let them mix on the paper to create the other colors.  For this painting though, since the house is green (a much brighter pea green than I've painted it) I also used a green paint.  It is definitely a green painting, isn't it?  Of course, I love green paintings - they are my favorites.  I think it doesn't have the look of a traditional poured painting because there is so much green in it but really, if the house is green and the foliage is green the painting is going to be green, right?  I'm happy with the soft, antique effect the muted greens gave to this painting.

Mc Charles House
Image Size 15" x 22"
Watercolor

The Vintage Lady - Silk Painting

This is going to be one of my submissions for the annual Tustin Art League's "Scenes of Tustin" juried show.  If  it gets juried into the show it will hang in Chemers Gallery in Tustin for a couple of weeks.

This is a quaint building that I've always loved in Old Town Tustin.  Unfortunately, it was damaged by a fire last December.  From the outside it looks like it might be able to be saved but I don't know if it is structurally sound.  Anyway, I had taken pictures of this building a few years ago intending to paint it and never got around to it.  I thought this year would be a good time to immortalize the image since it is no longer the Vintage Lady.  I hope someone is able to save this building and bring it back to its original charm.  I'll be very sad if it has to be torn down.

I had a lot of fun creating this silk painting.  I used techniques that I've never used before.  I wanted the foliage to have a softer look so I painted the lightest green color then after it dried I covered some of it with wax to save the light green.  Then I painted progressively darker greens and saved them with the wax.  By doing it this way, I was able to not have the foliage surrounded by the white resist lines.  I like the look of the resist lines but by having some areas without them I think the painting has a more complex look.

I also used a product called "No Flow" which keeps the dyes from spreading. This made it possible to paint the sign and filigree at the top of the facade.  This painting took a long time to finish but I'm very happy with the result.

The Vintage Lady
Image Size 22" x 20.5"
Silk Dyes on Silk

Buellton Vineyard

This brings back memories of an idyllic day of wine tasting with family and friends last summer.  We went to Buellton which is north of Santa Barbara, CA.   It's a beautiful area that doesn't have the crowds that you might find in other well known vineyard areas in California.  This is the area that is seen in parts of "Sideways" the movie.

I painted this in watercolor on Aquabord, a surface where the paint sits on the surface rather than being absorbed as it is when paper is used.  It's a completely different way of working for me but gives a refreshing effect.  Another nice thing about this surface is that I can spray a sealer on the painting and then it can be framed like an oil or acrylic without using glass to protect it.

Buellton Vineyard
Image Size 6" x 6"
Watercolor

Koi Ripples

What a surprise, another koi painting!  I just can't seem to stay away from them.  I painted this while I was in Mexico.  My friend that lives there was looking at my reference photos of the Koi and since she had never seen this type of fish before she said how beautiful they were and asked if they taste good.  When I told her that people don't usually eat them and that they can be very expensive she looked at me like I was crazy.
This is a 48" x 48" acrylic painted on a cradled wood panel.

Koi Ripples
Image Size 48" x 48"
Acrylic