Orange Poppies

12x12 watercolor on Saunders 140 lb cold press, from one of many garden specimens photographed just waiting to be painted loosely and with passion.  This painting is SOLD.

Finished - Heat Wave, sunflowers

15x22 on 140 lb cold press paper as described in preceding posts.  As we are now in our 3rd week of triple digit temps, I thought its title was justified.  Let me know what you think!

WIP sunflowers continuing

Continuing on across and down I work the background and begin petals and sunflower centers weaving warms and cools as my brush progresses, not knowing how it will end up.

WIP Watermedia beginning painting

Now is time to begin laying in color, the fun part, behind the lower right sunflower and background.  I will probably leave in the white areas left that were under the coffee filters as that might be a nice suprise element.  With no photo references to guide me, this one will be pure intuition and color sense, or just plain nonsense!

WIP Watermedia - Line Drawing over Abstract Background

Now over the wild background I've laid one of my old line drawings to get an idea of what to put where.  I'll add a third bloom and rearrange the flowers by lowering the right top one to right side below and omit the small ones.  A medium sized flower will go top left and center of interest will be the largest diagonal sunflower face as you can see here on its profile.  Stay tuned as I'm off to the light box to put drawings on tracing paper underneath.  Now comes the hard part.

WIP filters removed

Okay now dow to the paper with all items off and dry, ready to do a design now.  So stay tuned.

WIP Watermedia close up of coffee filters

Step 2 Watermedia WIP: Gauze and filters

A view of the coffee filters and gauze covering the abstract underpainting.  Paint added is watercolor.  I also spritzed green, yellow, blue, and pink from small water sprayers directly onto the items. 

What Will it Be?

Yesterday I grabbed two acrylic yellows and one fluorescent red and using an old brush splashed colors onto a dry half sheet, 15x22 watercolor paper, then let dry.  I had in mind to do sunflowers loosely so let's see if that will happen or what will transpire.  Next into the wet paint I stretched long pieces of cheesecloth and two coffee filters, the brown cheap kind.  I'll add other colors to those such as Midnight Blue, Prussian, and Ultramarine along with permanent rose.

Final version Just Beachy

Yesterday I worked on this one again adding texture for sand onto the towel all around using American Journey Coastal Fog and white, then intensifying shadows.  Hopefully it reads better now, so let me know.

Just Beachy

15x22 watercolor, completed still life over the weekend.  I used cut masking tape for the white scarf headband lines on the straw hat, and splattering completed the dirt and sand debris.  Now I'm ready to see some water and Coppertone oil!

Mystical Magnolia

15x22 watercolor on Saunders Waterford 140 lb cold press paper, painted wet in wet showing quite abstract forms of leaves and branches.

Magnolias in Bloom

22x15 inches watercolor of these fresh blooms most of which are imaginary leaves, branches, twigs and colors in this composition. Several have asked to see samples of my magnolia paintings so will post them for you.

11x15 tulip magnolia watercolor.  This painting is SOLD.

WIP Just Beachy next step

As you can tell more work was done on the towel and its folds that stretch across the composition diagonally, an important design consideration.  Bottom right will be neutral colors and the white of the paper for beach sand.

Work in Progress: Just Beachy

15x22 watercolor painted wet in wet on Saunders 140 cold press paper, a work in progress of still life items ready for the beach.  I set up an old straw floppy hat, my old towel with blue dolphins, and my Brighton sunglasses.  So stay tuned! I want to go see some water! This heat wave drought is driving me bonkers...

Woven Watercolor: Country Icons



Here it is! Two into one completed work, 22x15 inches that I will mount onto a support, mat, and frame.  Hopefully the viewer can make out what the still life is with lemons, grapes, zinnias and the blue and white pitchers and bowl.



Woven Watercolors: Two Become One

In this photo I've cut both half sheets, 22x15 inches into wavy strips.  One is vertical as on the left and the other horizontal as seen on the right.  The next step is to weave them into one.  That means probably at least 3 strips will be left out.  Since the watercolor on the right was the original one in which I messed up the foreground table, I'll remove that bottom horizontal strip.  So do stay tuned and I'll show you the finished result.

Hanging Out to Dry

"Hanging Out to Dry" 5 3/4 x 8 1/2 inches, Winsor Newton paint, Saunders Waterford 300 lb cold press paper. This little mini was done in my hotel room while on a 3 day trip. I used my WN travel kit, #8 round, and the very tiny brush w/ the kit. We had clotheslines/poles just like this when I grew up and all smelled so fresh. Several articles of clothing were drawn from life or imaginary.  This work is SOLD.

Hummer Summer

Finally done with this complex garden art scene featuring the two hummers previously posted, the flying jewels going about their daily drink of nectar.  Composed of my many references and a background of imagination and negative painting, I hope this one is cheery and just the thing to lift up your spirits. Size is 11x15, transparent watercolor on Saunders 200 lb cold press paper, American Journey/Winsor Newton paints.

Detail - Hummer WIP watercolor

This detail is about 4x6 of another hummingbird in upper left of the new nature garden painting. Part of pansy leaves lower right you can see aren't yet painted. It is so dry here that my paper kept evaporating its water at a faster rate than my brush could keep up layering background areas. Don't forget to stay tuned and check back later on this work in progress.

Start of Something New

Just a tease till I get the new painting done. It is a detail from a set of pansies pots in which I drew hummers hovering about waiting to sample nectar; 11x15 watercolor. So stay tuned!

French Daisies

15x11 watercolor on Arches 140 lb hot press paper, American Journey paints, just finished today here in New Mexico. Ref was featured on weekend drawing event on WetCanvas! and I changed its background to include a window. As I've said, there is something about fresh flowers with a window behind.

Country Scene still life

22x15 watercolor on 140 lb Saunders cold press paper of these country kitchen items. I first painted this scene as a class demo and love the blue and white spongeware pitchers and bowls holding grapes, lemons and zinnias from the garden. It was done wet in wet. My plan is to take the demo piece and cut it into strips vertically and this one cut horizontally then weave together as one painting.