THE BIG PUSH

   These are a few of the photos I have selected from my photo library. They all have some element of watercolor painting in which I want to improve. I have about 60 of them, so over the next several months, you will be seeing my efforts. The owl I would like to paint loosely [EEK!!] alla prima. How to interpret the frost on a fallen leaf. Grass in watercolor - I think there have been books written about that difficult watercolor subject. Of course, improving my techniques at interpreting animal hair and fur. And fire - I have never painted a flame before. So it goes ...
   My other push is getting my art seen and purchased. I have been consulting with a career counsellor for the past several months [dental hygiene opportunities in B.C. are non-existent] and we are working on a plan to get my art noticed. Like most artists, I would really rather paint than go out and drum up business, but that is what I must do to make my art viable.
   As always and ever, please leave your comments. They are much appreciated!!!  

Portrait Classes

Our classroom, very bright and airy, with good lighting

   I must say I am really enjoying the classes. Lalita is a fantastic, upbeat, wonderful person; just being around her makes everyone feel better, more positive. The class is small. The information is extremely well presented, and hand-outs are provided. We even get "homework"! So it's three hours every morning,  Monday to Thursday for two weeks. My brain "feels full" after each session.
   I took the portrait of Dr. Wong to class yesterday. Lalita liked it, and said it expressed my description of the model. Her only suggestion was to darken three points around the face, to increase focus to the face. I have done so, and the result is below.
 

Three spots darkened

Another view of the classroom

We're working on portraits in "pieces" - head shape and proportions, eyes, ears, mouth ...

Lalita, helping me to define the portrait I would like to paint 

My set-up

Lalita, with another student [Betty]

The Carpster

   It took a bit of "intestinal fortitude" to get to the point where I could lift some of what I'd done to create the illusion of ripples on the water surface. I marked it off with a dinner plate on the outside, then measured off the inside circles. I did it in an irregular manner, to get more of a look of reality. I also darkened the orange of the face, and some of the scales.
   I think what is left to do is to give the body more depth with some form shadow, and darken the pectoral and tail fins. What do you think needs doing?

Carp Update

   I really have been having fun playing with the colors and scales, especially as I thought it would be impossible to create a decent impression of the scales without meticulously painting each one. But this has turned out to be OK. Now I think it's time to tackle the water, again in a more impressionistic yet realistic way.

Miss Carmella

working sketch
17 x 12 inches

   I've been working on and off all day prepping this sketch to paint. I previously did a small painting, mostly to work out the color scheme, and it was approved by Rhonda, the owner. I also was told the story of how Carmella received her lumpy head. She was caught in a situation with a three-year-old girl and an upset horse. It ultimately came down to Carmella or the child, and Carmella decided to save the girl, and take the flailing hooves herself. Such is the way of all good dogs!! She ended up with five stitches and a very large bump on top of her head.

Mr. Buddlington's Saga

Original photo, taken in shade with flash [1st mistake]

Buddy II, at which point I realized I could not create deeper shadows to give illusion of depth

Start again; same colors, with lavender wash on dog to indicate shadows

I am here; still a ways to go, but to me, it already has more depth 

Progress Report ... or ... the Life and Times of a Perfectionist

Original photo

I was here a few days ago

Creeping along, darkening leaves an right side of foreground building.

Swept Away . and Now I'm feeling a Bit Lost

Sketch, with scribblings

Masking on; 1st glazes - quin. gold, warm & cool pinks, cobalt blue

Softened pinks with 3 thin glazes warm grey
Foreground darks floated in, to better estimate values throughout

Some detail started

Trying different techniques for street
Photo in background

Large color masses placed
Playing with building texture [love doing that]

More building detail
Started leaves

I am here
Lightened road surfaces, and worked on leaves till I was cross-eyed

  I was, as I said, swept away by a photo my aunt took, when she and my mother were in Greece. It's an amazing, vibrant picture of a side street in the Turkish quarter of Athens. I LOVE painting old buildings, so, the same day I found the photo, I got a sketch going. I couldn't wait; the photo itself looked like a painting. Well, I've been at it for three days, and my initial fervor has dimmed a bit. The detail of the leaves was getting to me. So I'll put it aside for a few days, and look at it critically then. Any comments or ideas???

For a Facebook Friend

Reference

Very light underglazes

A road map of shell colors

Some sand, some sea, some more color

Done

   I've never painted anything like this, so it was a good opportunity to experiment a bit. I must say, the entire process was approached with a much more casual approach on my part. Not so much of the "stay inside the lines" attitude. Madame Turtle took about two days of play, and I am quite pleased with her.  It was fun and fast [for me] and I enjoyed the process.  

Yes, I Started Again ... or ...Buddy the Second

2nd time going much faster

All body colors laid in

Intensifying colors

I am here, and it is starting to look like Buddy

   With the first "Buddy", I got to a point where the brown points looked too dark and orange, so I started again. The flip side will be used for a trial of another idea I want to pursue about my farrier. In retrospect, the original would probably have worked, with a bit of careful lifting here and there, but it's all a learning experience. I'll be working on the head details now. I don't quite like his left leg; I think if I "mould" his body color a bit more, it will look more like a leg than a flipper. Any ideas??
  

Another Project

A cropped shot I took last summer

Warm wash behind, cool in front

Start on B-Man
Colors used are aureolin, quin. burnt orange, quin. violet and indanthrene blue

Gradually increasing intensity

A bit of definition within tan and black

   I am also working on a smaller portrait of my landlady's dog, Buddy. Buddy was a lost-and-foundling, discovered mooching around some local farms. Pat took him in as a companion for another dog, and he has been living in BLISS for the last ten years. He truly adores Pat. I'm sure it is mutual; I quite often hear her having "conversations" with Mr. Buddlington [as he is known formally] He really is quite a cool dog; if you believe in reincarnation, Buddy is most definitely an old soul. It is a pleasure to be painting him for Pat's birthday.

Still at the Day job, BUT Trying to Paint, Too

I am here

   My apologies for the inconsistency of the color intensities - me, the camera, the lighting, the computer. I have started on the center of the flower, and also deepened some of the petal values with variations of lavender [aureolin, quin. pink and cobalt blue] And I still REALLY want to mask the flower, and pour some sort of warm, dark green over the rest of the painting. I'm trying to resist the temptation, knowing that in later removing the masking fluid, I will lose a lot of the flower color in very irregular patches.

Peony Update ... or ... This Is Being Painted with One and a Half Eyes

As of yesterday

More pinks this morning

More pink, and some shadowing started

    As soon as I finished the background, I started thinking of ways I could have better handled it. And I am still sorely tempted to completely cover the flower, and pour some warm greens over everything else.[probably NOT a good idea at this point] I am using a quiet "flower" pink, and a hot pink in a few areas. The greys are aureolin, pink and cobalt blue.
   As for my eyes, I had what I thought was a retinal detachment about ten days ago - giant floaters and flashing lights, and "seeing" things out of the corner of my eye. When examined the next day, the condition was diagnosed as a "gel detachment", and it would resolve on its own. But my vision is still a bit blurry in my left eye, which had been the dominant eye. RATS!!!