SEEN THE USA - 5

Some time ago I had painted a series of old cars and I decided to look back at them to compare to this old Chev, to see if I felt that progress has been made.

So, for the swan song of this painting, here is another old rusty Chev that was done some years ago for comparison to the new Chev.

I’m not really sure that I’ve made any painting progess – I still like the old one!

What do you think?

SEEN THE USA - 4

Well, now I’m starting on the background – first coat of light washes.

More work on the background. Can this still be ruined??? Why, of course it can!
My thought was to layer miskit and paint, gradually building up the darker colors.
I also added some vegetation around the car.

At the end of this process, I hate the background. After removing the miskit it looks too “scratchy” to me. I may try more paint, or some collage or . . . it’s a do-over (which is the direction I’m leaning).
I had such high hopes for this one. Oh well, lesson learned. I’m very happy with the car itself, though!

SEEN THE USA - 3

I'm baaaaaaaaaaack from my annual painting retreat - didja miss me????

While I was gone, I worked on the old Chev some more.

Here more rust has been added – on the trunk . . . .

. . . . and top.

Here is a close up of the rust.

SEEN THE USA - 2

Starting to add the rust.

This old car was in a cow pasture down in Tennessee.  A friend and I ventured "off the beaten path" to get some photos.  Fortunately, we live to tell the tale!

SEEN THE USA - 1

Finally – an artful post! Oh well - slow but sure.

However, due to my schedule, I may not be posting often for the next couple of weeks or so, but promise to have more soon.

Here is a little more on the car I began for the art club demo.  I am going to post this as I work on it; usually I "edit" my posts so you just get the better, but I'm taking a chance with this one!   I'll have more next week.
As a refresher – here is the start.

I’ve added some raw sienna on the body of the car and some (I think) cobalt (or maybe french ultramarine??) and manganese hue in the windows.

DEMO

The beginning of my demo.

The last couple of weeks (in between bouts of dizziness and doctor visits) I spent some time working up paintings in fluid acrylics for a demo for an art club that I belong to. Any time I give a demo I worry that the audience will be bored, or that I won’t be clear in my presentation. But the group seemed to enjoy the presentation and I had some audience participation so I know they weren’t asleep!

Since there was less than an hour for the presentation, and since I paint at the speed of a slug racing a snail, I decided to do work on more than one painting (at home) so that I could show them different processes and possibilities for their own paintings, should they want to try fluid acrylics. And, this time, I decided to work on paintings that I am really interested in bringing to completion for myself, rather than a generic painting for show and tell.


In the beginning there was a very wet sheet of paper . . . .

During the demo, I began one painting, showing them my usual process, then went on to show some paintings in process, and by then the time was up!


. . . that became the start of a painting . . . .

Besides some favorable comments on my paintings, I think they also liked my apron which I made years ago. It says “So little time, so much to paint”!

I have no idea why I was waving this painting around?????

Yep, that’s me standing in front of the group looking so gorgeous, don’t you think! Make especial note of the hair, since I’m trying to let it get a bit longer; it’s in that weird stage of not short enough to be bangs but just long enough to curl into your eyeball, so I have to keep it clipped back. Oh yeah, quite stylin’!

Like I always say, the only reason my friends keep me around is to make them look good in comparison!

Here is the start of an old car.  I had painted a series of old cars many years ago and when I saw this one in a field in Tennessee I had to take it's photo.  I've got high expectations for this one, but, as always, we shall see!

IRIS - FINAL

I puttered with the flowers and buds and sharpened them a bit.

Then a loose, washy background and the painting was completed.

IRIS - 1

This was a demo painting for a class. As you can see, I began with the main iris stem crossing another, and then decided I didn’t like it.

I completed the iris, and then redrew the stem going more straight down.

EMERGING - FINAL

I applied some salt to the background in the final wash of dark green.

After paint was applied to all areas, the masking tape and miskit were removed.

I loosened just a bit of the paint in a few areas to create shadow areas, and the painting was complete.

This worked out better than I had anticipated!

Emerging, Watercolor, 22x15

EMERGING - 1

This painting is an experiment in taping, but was begun by miskiting the white areas.

Then a blend of yellow was poured loosely in the areas I anticipated keeping yellow.

Tape was applied, rather than miskit, on each successive layer, building up the darks.

GEORGIA WATERCOLOR SOCIETY

Now I can sign it . . . .

. . . since I just earned my Signature (status) from Georgia Watercolor Society! Yippee!!

I’m very excited, and honored (especially since the other person just earning his signature in the Society is none other than Laurin McCracken.  I’m in no way comparing my abilities to his, far from it; but, wow, it’s exciting to me to think that I’ve got something in common with him!

GWS has a point system: ½ pt. for a members’ show and 1 point for a National Exhibition. And, all of their shows are juried, so it doesn’t matter whether you are a member, you still might not get into the shows. Well, over the past couple of years I have entered 4 paintings which have been accepted into 2 national and 2 members’ shows! Since there are always different judges, and I never bribed any of them (ha, ha) I have concluded that maybe I can paint.

I’m aware that some artists do not want to participate in pursuing signature status in any of the watercolor societies, believing that it is elitist and/or political. But, it’s only human nature to want to know “where we stand”. Having your painting hanging on the wall next to other artists’ work is one of the best ways to figure that out. As far as I’m concerned, achieving signature status is a validation of an artist’s skills and hard work.

In any event, I’m very happy about this and just wanted to share with you.

This was one of those paintings that I loved from the start. In other words, very rare!

I “painted” it in my head first, and it was beautiful! Then came the hard part – actually painting it!

Once I had decided on this subject – a photo taken a few years ago at the local farm show – I cropped and enlarged the photo. Then I decided to use watercolor, full sheet.

I have found that the paintings that I work out in my head and take my time with usually turn out the best. Gee, planning and execution – who woulda thunk it!

Industrial Revolution, watercolor, 22x30.

SHAKER FAST FOOD - 4

Here is a list of colors used in this painting – do you think it was too many??? By my count, there are 28 colors listed below! I just don’t understand that “limited palette” idea!

Table - Sepia, Van Dyke brown, quin gold deep (limited), monte amiata
Background and areas on the various cans - Hooker’s green, sap green, thalo blue and thalo turquoise
Beets - Quin magenta, perylene maroon
Lima beans - hooker’s green
Tomato – quin sienna, perylene scarlet, quin gold deep (limited)
Cans - sodalite
Also – appearing in a supporting role – quin gold, indanthrone blue (seems I can’t paint a painting without these two!), quin. burnt orange, permanent brown, permanent lemon yellow, arylide yellow, aureolin yellow, Venetian red, Indian red, French ultramarine, raw sienna, cobalt teal, cobalt blue, cerulean blue
Most of these colors are from Daniel Smith.

Shaker Fast Food, watercolor on Arches 300#, 15x22

SHAKER FAST FOOD - 3

Some might call this “paint by number” and they would probably be right! But I am enjoying the challenge to get the colors similar to what is in the photo. This is not photorealistic (like Jacqueline Gnott or Laurin McCracken)  but as close as I’m able to get! I thoroughly enjoy these detailed paintings. Maybe because I can paint a small area and while it’s drying I can start dinner or switch the laundry and by the time I’m back the painting has dried enough for me to continue working.

Another layer of paint over the words.

More work on the cans.  I decided to do the labels first since they are so detailed, and then I’ll do the cans all together and then I’ll mix up some black for the lettering and labels.

I have never done a painting this detailed before. I even had to buy a “0” round brush for all those little spaces and letters!
I enjoy seeing this painting come to life!

SHAKER FAST FOOD - 2

These cans were set up on an old table in a dining area and the colorful labels caught my eye. It was a revelation to me that they had canned goods “back in the day”! (This is the source of the painting’s name). I’ll have to do some research on this! So this painting captures both a happy memory and a little slice of history in a colorful way!

I applied the miskit on the words, which took several hours! I used the miskit since I want to remove the graphite before I apply the last layer of paint to the background. When I remove the miskit it will take off most of the graphite and then I can erase any residual before I apply that last background layer.

I put on a few layers of green and blue over the background.

Then I began layering on browns in the table area.

Then I started on the cans.

SHAKER FAST FOOD 1

We always have a reason to create a painting and viewers want to know that reason. If you follow this blog you know that I have painted some still lifes which incorporate items left to me by my mother and grandmother; simple items that, while not worth much monetarily, have sentimental value for me. I’m told that those paintings tell a story and go beyond just seeing the objects. If so, that’s great, but I don’t usually paint with a deep psychological bent; I just paint things that have meaning for me and if that comes through to the viewer, all the better.

This particular painting is one of what I hope to be a series of paintings from my trip to Shaker Village at Pleasant Hill in Harrodsburg, Kentucky last year with Rhonda Carpenter and another friend. (To see another painting composed from that trip go here .  It was the first time we had traveled together so I was a little concerned how it would work out. Turns out there was no cause for concern – the three of us had a blast! – and I got some decent photos to work from.

Here are the cans drawn out - the edges were taped so that when I added the words I wouldn’t accidentally trace them over the cans.

WATERCOLOR PENCILS

I received some favorable feedback on the watercolor pencil lighthouse tutorial!

So . . . . let me know if you created a watercolor pencil painting as a result of this series of posts! 

You can either email the info to me in the form of a small resolution photo and I'll post it, or you can send me a link to the painting on your blog.

NOT JUST FOR NEWBIES* - WATERCOLOR PENCIL LIGHTHOUSE DEMO – 11 - FINAL!

I added some red stripes to the flag – and noticed that the tree on the right had bled into the lighthouse.

Once again I used the scrubber brush to lift that paint – see below.

After the paper had dried, I reapplied the green more carefully to sharpen up the edge of the lighthouse. I also added the blue to the flag. When that dried I used the gray pencil for the flag pole.

Then I added the lines of the blocks with the black pencil and then went over the lines with a damp brush to soften them.

I lifted out some “waves” on the water and checked the picture. I added some darker blue/green at the base of the trees – and called it DONE!

Please don’t be too critical of my work here – remember, it is aimed at *Newbies!

Hope you had fun seeing this little picture completed.

NOT JUST FOR NEWBIES* - WATERCOLOR PENCIL LIGHTHOUSE DEMO – 10

I decided to combine two colors to create the roof color. I believe I used a burnt sienna and the red for the color on the left; not sure what I used for the color on the right, but that was too pink.

The colors were scribbled on top of each other and then water was brushed on.

I colored in the chimney and then used the black pencil for the windows and lighthouse markings. I wet the tip of the black pencil and colored in the black areas, then went over the right side of the lighthouse with a damp brush and blotted to lift some of the black.

I sharpened the pencil for the smaller area at the top of the lighthouse, and used an ultra fine Sharpie marker for the small black lines.

NOT JUST FOR NEWBIES* - WATERCOLOR PENCIL LIGHTHOUSE DEMO - 9

I’m ready to put some shadows onto the buildings, so I’m using the gray pencil again. Above I am wetting the tip and below you can see that I have colored in some small shadow shapes. They look a bit dark because the color is more intense when you draw with a wet tip.

Above, I have painted over the shadow shapes with a wet brush . . . .
And below I have blotted those areas with a tissue to lift some of the excess paint.

Above, I have used the gray pencil on the lighthouse. This time I have colored a line slightly off center, and then wet it with the brush and pulled the color out on either side of the gray line.