Buddha in primary colors

This painting had a different process than I usually do. The portrait was  inspired by a quick ball point pen sketch of a water fountain that I had done several months ago in a notebook.  Later, as I was going through the notebook, I thought that it might make an interesting painting, so I enlarged the sketch,  originally only 2" high.  The fountain was a blueish-grey color, which worked well for the ball point drawing, but I thought I would add some color to the painting.  So I worked with a limited palette of red, blue, and yellow to create " Buddha in Primary Colors".

Forest stream...photo progression

I've been a little slow creating this month, but here is a painting that was inspired by a demonstration by Juan Pena at the Sacramento Fine Arts Center. He makes it so easy, and although a lot of his work is plein air, he did this one from memory.  I love his bold colors and the loose, flowing style that he calls "representational watercolor". Here is my attempt at imitating his style.

Angel of light and love

My Artists Way group gets together once a month to be creative in some way or another, as well as getting us out of our comfort zones sometimes. This month we worked on collaborative projects to be donated to Collage for a Cure. It is a fun process working on a painting with another artist, bouncing creativity off each other yet practicing having no attachment.  I worked with fellow artist Teresa Rodriguez on this piece, using acrylic on watercolor paper. Acrylic is still not my favorite  medium,  but it sure made the process different  as we built up layers of paint, very unlike watercolor.
I also have to give credit to Tina Greene for coordinating the donation process, and helping with the framing!

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.