WHY?????

WHY does the cat insist on drinking water from the toilet and puddles outside??? She has fresh, clean water in her bowl daily.

Froggie - after several glazes with a plaster gesso, and an initial glaze of shriek yellow.

Owl - glazed with a red/yellow/blue mixture of acrylic.

Basset hound - first glaze

Mr. Przewalski 

and Awesome Possum

The paper mache figures have been much more work than I anticipated - fun, learning process, but a lot of work. They were all glazed several times, and sanded between glazes, with a home-made gesso consisting of plaster of Paris, white glue, water and vinegar. And now they have had a base- coat glaze with a heavy-body acrylic thinned with water. Next, the real painting begins. Here's hoping they look better when finished!!!

Thank you for dropping by! Your comments are always welcome.

Trying to Gild the Lily ... or ... Another Class Project

I left this painting for a few days, as I couldn't decide what to do with the background.  Considering the ornate style and rich color of the bloom, I thought it best to do as little as possible. So I sketched light pencil lines to get an idea of placement, and applied paint w/w.  As with the rest of the painting, the only colors used were aureolin, quin. sienna and phthalo green.

Thank you for visiting! Your comments and questions are always welcome.

Auction: Dry Hydrangea Study

Dry Hydrangea
9 x 7 inches/ 23 x 18 cm.
Artist quality transparent watercolor pigments on Arches 140 lb. CP
I offer for auction this unframed and unmatted painting.  I am setting the bid to start at $65.00 Cdn. and that includes shipping.

Every day,  I will check my blog here, and let you all know what is the latest offer. I will keep the auction on for one month. If you wish to make a bid, please leave me a note here, or on the facebook post.

Thank you very much for dropping by. Your comments and questions are always welcome.

Another Class Project ...

I started with an overall wash of aureolin, applied wet-in-wet.

I masked out the stamen and pistils. Then, again w/w, I dropped in quin. sienna. I also put down the first wash of the base of the petals, using aureolin, quin. sienna and phthalo green.

I stroked some alizarin crimson on the petals, and painted the stem with the yellow, orange and green mixture, adding shadows w/w with just the green and sienna.

At this point, I am trying to achieve an appearance of depth to the petals, using alizarin crimson, w/w.
Long way to go yet. This demo is more advanced, but I hope not too much so.
I'd like to put a background in, but I'm not yet sure what I want to do ... not too dark.

I thank you for dropping by. Your comments and questions are always welcome.

Creature Feature - an Update on the Paper Mache Beastiary

Froggie still looks good, though had some minor orthopedic surgery this morning. There was a crack in his left forearm - quickly set with paper and paste. He has been gessoed, with a home-made plaster gesso, and sanded. More gesso to be applied ... 

This is Mr. Przewalski III, still in the pre-gesso stage.

Basset hound, being gessoed and sanded ...

  ... love the ears!

Awesome Possum

And the owl, which doesn't quite look too owlish. I am hoping the paint makes a difference ... a BIG difference!

These figures are more work than I originally thought they'd be, mostly with the multiple gessoing and sanding sessions. But I still think they're cute, and am having fun with them. I have started to put together a large goose, as well. That will be finished in a different way - something called "cloth mache". It's all a learning process ...

Thank you for dropping by! Your comments are always welcome!

Amaryllis, a Class Project ... and ... Another Process

I masked the pistils and stamens, and then painted [wet in wet] the large shadowed areas of the petals. I used cobalt blue, aureolin and quin. pink for the grays -  one a neutral gray, the other more blue.

I then did some w/w applications of green, using aureolin and phthalo green.

I  lightly stroked and dabbed some quin. coral on the damp petals.

The simple background was a gradated application of cobalt blue and phthalo blue.

Amaryllis   9 x 12 inches

I darkened some of the existing green with phthalo green and quin. violet, and added some detail at the flower's center with alizarin crimson and green. Then I removed the mask, and touched up the pistil and stamens. I think it's a nice, clean, simple painting, and I hope it is not too difficult for a class. 

A few months ago, I was out dog-walking. I thought all of us should take a peek into a local art center. There, we were met by the manager, who thankfully loved dogs.

We had a lovely chat, the upshot of which entailed my submitting a proposal to teach a series of watercolor classes. The course will be called something like "Creating Luminous Florals in Watercolor". Hopefully, there will be enough people interested in the course to have full classes.

Thank you so much for dropping by! And your comments are most welcome!

Oh ... This and That ...

The tugboat has been bought - YAY - and will be sailing off this afternoon to its new home way east of here, in the prairies. The purchaser wishes to remain anonymous, but I thank her very, very much!

Green wave parrot tulip

I am working on ideas for another tulip painting. A friend of one of my sisters fell in love with the one I had done for my aunt, and bought it. As my aunt found the painting a bit overwhelming with its dark background, I will try to restrain my inner drama queen, and keep the painting more in the pastel color range. I have found some interesting references for a parrot tulip called the green wave, and will compose something with those in mind.

Four of my paper mache beasties are ready for gesso. I'll get that done today. But I had to start the horse for the third time - just not right. I wanted to recover the wire I had used for its leg armatures, so I tried to pry the legs off. The paper mache dries SOOOO firmly, I finally had to resort to using a hammer ... HARD! Wow, that stuff dries beautifully! I am still loving the paper mache. Somehow, I find it so calming at those times when I let myself get too wired up. So for my next therapy session, I am making a rather large goose - it will probably stand about three feet tall. Then I have in mind a pig, maybe like the painting I did of the singing pig ... and then ...

Thank you so much for visiting! Your comments are always welcome. 

Looking for a Forever Home ... or ... Auction

My friend, Pat, prefers the greens, so ...

... I have decided to put this first of the tugboat paintings up for auction.
The painting is unframed, and the size is 18 x 12.5 inches/ 46 x 32 centimeters.
It is on Arches 140 lb. CP, done with transparent and permanent pigments.
I am starting the bid at $95.00 Cdn., and the price includes shipping anywhere.
Every day, I will check my blog here, and let you all know what is the latest offer. I will keep the auction on for one month. If you wish to make a bid, please leave me a note here, or on the facebook post.
Let the bidding begin ...
Latest bid is $105.00

Thank you for dropping by! Your comments are always welcome!!!!

... and Now a Word from My Paper Mache Friends ...

Here's my Basset hound, with her ears attached.

I have her posing in front of the blue version of the tugboat painting for contrast.
As Pat prefers the green version of the tug work, I will be finishing this blue version soon, and offering it up for auction on my gallery page. Stay tuned ...

Horse, with hoofies attached ...

I have also finished with the paper mache part of the frog. He is sitting on a pile of newsprint that was part of his armature while I worked. Yes, I eviscerated him! ACK!!!

... hole cut out with exacto knife ...

... covering back in place.  The frog, owl and possum are ready for some gesso applications. Then I will paint them, and apply some sort of varnish to seal them. As I work with these structures, I am amazed at how very strong they are - probably at least as sturdy as clay work.

Thank you for visiting! Your comments are always welcome!  

The Seaspan Pat Has Reached Home Port ... or ... the Tugboat Painting Is Finished

It was all detail work ... painting the mast, darkening the shadows, indicating the ports and hatches ...
I also darkened the hull, and gave it more of a working tug appearance with some dry brushwork.

Here she is ...

Now it's off to play with the paper mache menagerie, and think of what next to paint!

Many thanks for dropping by! Your comments are always welcome!