Earth day art

A little 4"x4" square to honor Earth Day ( a week belated)...as well as it being part of a larger project that I'm working on, but I'll post more on that later.
Also, having some fun playing with some negative space lettering.

One, three, five daisies in watercolor

Just thought I would share some daisies that I was practicing. These were created by painting the negative space around the flower and then adding in some shadow and detail. Each one is less than 2 inches wide since I was working on a scrap of watercolor paper from a previous piece...yes I am frugal with my watercolor paper. The odd numbers of flowers just seem to balance the composition better without being too symetrical.

Monet bridge second version

Here is my second Monet Bridge that I started at home midway through my David Lobenberg workshop. I began the same way as my first Monet Bridge with tracing a photocopy of the bridge with pencil (I need to keep my pencilwork much softer so it doesn't take away from the end piece), then put in some light washes (tea consistency, as David Lobenberg refers to it) and then the color on the bridge and some of the shadows.  I noticed that I didn't have the same saturation of color in this one. I need to make sure I am using more pigment to bring out more color in my paintings.

Finished piece, Monet Bridge #2

Here is my first one to compare it with. They both have parts to them that I really like (as well as some flaws) 

Monet Bridge #1

Monet Bridge, a David Lobenberg workshop

I just completed a workshop with David Lobenberg with the subject being the Monet Bridge and it's reflection in the water ...perfect for me! I love the challenge of reflections. Here is a progression of the piece I worked on during this class (I also started a second one for "homework", but I'll post that one later)

This is the "completed" painting at the end of the workshop.  I have not removed the tape because there are still a few areas I'm still pondering...not sure if its finished yet. I will have to let it sit for a few days and come back to it.

The link to my second attempt of this bridge and the final version of this first one is here.

Afternoon fishing on the American River, watercolor

I decided to take my pencil drawing of Afternoon fishing on the American River and turn it into a watercolor. I liked the composition of the drawing and I had all of the light and dark values.  I just needed to put in color.  To simplify things, I took my original drawing and enlarged it on the copier. Then by putting it up on the window (instead of  a light box), I traced my main outlines. From there, I just had to get creative filling in the colors, drawing from what I remembered  a month ago when I was sitting down by the river.

I've got this painting ready to enter into the "Painting Where the Wild Things Are" show at Sacramento Fine arts Center,  art inspired by the American River Parkway.

Easter rose, a watercolor of a single rose

Happy Easter! With all of the flowers in bloom, it's hard to resist painting them.  I had never attempted painting flowers other than in a landscape where they are generalized to a blob or dot. So I decided to start simple instead of a bouquet:  A single rose, inspired by a recent visit to The McKinley Rose Garden.
At first, I was overwhelmed by the detail of each petal but then realized that I needed to generalize the details, just like I would in a landscape, to get the gist of the rose. Artistic license is a great thing! Now to paint a dozen roses. . . we will see.

Easter Rose, 6" x 9"

The Longbarn cabin, a portrait of home: photo progression

Here is a photo progression of a watercolor I have been working on for my brother in law, Walter Bankovich.  This cabin has been in the Bonelli family, his grandmother, for a long time and I thought I would honor the house with a portrait.

I had just taken a workshop from David Lobenberg and was amazed to realize that it was ok to trace! I guess I just needed permission from another artist. It's is one of those preconceived beliefs that I had that it's "cheating" if I trace.  Other than the project from that workshop  (which I am still working on), this was the first time I had enlarged a photo and traced right onto the watercolor paper with the extremely fancy technique of taping it to the window! Once I had the structure of the house and the main areas of light and dark,  I laid down a light wash to create some depth and leaving highlight areas. Then it was just a matter of going back and putting in more and more detail, including the house placard "the Bonelli's" and street number done in pen ( they don't show up very well in the photo).

Plein air painting vernal pools

Today, I went to the Phoenix Park Vernal Pools, a place that I had driven by for years, but never stopped to see it...of course it never seemed to be the right time of year. The flowers in these pools only bloom for a short while in the spring. So when I got an invitation from David Peterson through the Sacramento Plein Air Meet-up group for a Saturday morning paint out, I knew I should take advantage of it.



I ended up doing two paintings of the same pool but from slightly different perspectives. I tried using a little different style for each on, but they turned out very similar. Which one do you like better?
 

Woman with guitar, watercolor portrait

Here is my monthly portrait practice...nothing like a free model to motivate me to go paint! I'm noticing I've been painting the same head on view the last several months...time to change it up next month.

Quan Yin, watercolored with berries

While hanging out in a friend's backyard a couple weeks back, I saw a bush with a bunch of berries.  It got me thinking...if I could paint a leopard with coffee, could I paint something with berries? So I grabbed a small batch of berries and took it home. With a little research, I found out it's called a fatsia bush. The berries aren't poisonous, but I don't think I'll try eating them!
First, I put a pot with a little water on the stove and boiled the berries down till I had a sauce, then strained it through a coffee filter into a cup. Then I let it sit for a couple of weeks...not intentionally. I just had not been inspired. It actually thickened up even more, almost to a cream consistency ( thicker on the bottom, watery still on the top). Hmmm...I might be onto something here.
So I decided to paint a small portrait of Quan Yin. The "berry paint" just doesn't flow quite as well as higher quality paint, but it does the job, from thin wash to darker coverage. I have to be careful not to dredge up too much sediment though.

Plein air painting small rapids

I am taking advantage of this wonderfully warm spring weather...although the down side is that we need more rain. The river is particularly low right now.  I am fascinated with the movement of the water, and the effects it has on the reflections on the water, bouncing light and colors in different ways. So here is my attempt to capture this small section of rapids as it flows over the rocks.