Narcissus: Emergence - a Step by Step Process ...

My model, growing in a patch by the riding ring.

My drawing [and value idea]

I masked out the flower, and applied a thin, graded wash of quin. gold, let it dry, then did a thin graded wash of phthalo blue.

Another, more intense wash of phthalo blue

The leaves done, using combinations of gold and blue. I didn't want them to overwhelm the painting, so they were done with thin washes.

I started the flower with w/w applications of aureolin in the trumpet and reflected onto some of the petals, and phthalo blue on the shadowed areas of the surrounding petals.  

I intensified the shadows on the petals so they were as close as I could get to the value of the surrounding sky. I wanted to create a lost-and-found look - have them seem to emerge from the paper. I added some shadows around the center of the trumpet with a pink/yellow/blue mixture, let it dry, then glazed with yellow and burnt orange to warm it up.

Some thin blue applied to the perimeter of the trumpet ...

... which you can see better in this close-up.

This is drawing of another narcissus I'd like to start soon. I'll paint this one with different techniques and colors.

Thank you so much for dropping by!!!

Taking a So-So Painting to Completion and Playing in Watercolor Class

My nemesis - the dreaded magnolia

First attempt

Further on with the background - it was at this point I realized it wouldn't work.

Second attempt - I just flipped the paper over, and re-traced the image.  I masked first, then started applying quin. pink, quin. burnt orange and indanthrone in a wet-in-wet manner.

Many wet ones later ...

Glazed stem and buds in pink, then started to paint with truer versions of their local color.  The stem was a mix of indanthrone, pink and orange.

The buds were done with lighter and a darker mixes of indanthrone and quin. gold. Quin. pink was used in the petal accents. And the shadows were a combination of pink, orange and indanthrone.
The paper was not very obliging as far as accepting color went; between soaking twice, using the "wrong" side and applying masking fluid, the surface was quite roughened up.

Last Saturday, the class asked to have some tree demos.  I like the opportunity to be able to paint faster and looser, but I'm not sure I could finish an decent, completed painting in this way. 

More of the class demo's - again I really like that tree on the left, but wonder if and how I could integrate it into a finished painting.

That's it for this week. I hope to get started on another seascape. I would like to give a painting to my sister's old boyfriend in thanks for finding me a very lovely car at an excellent price. [My Honda was written off in an accident last October.] Gary's dad worked on a seiner for years, and I know he would love a painting of the ship, which still heads out from Steveston to fish.

Thank you all very much for dropping by!

It's Been a While ... Chickadee - Work in Progress

I think you may have seen this drawing earlier.

I wanted to something different with the background,  something suggestive of brambles. I used daVinci's indanthrone[which is a not transparent] and some raw umber, splooshed them on wet paper, and then dropped on some plastic wrap, and let it set. It gave a nice random texture to the heavy pigments.

Started to work on the bird's local color. Those are my handy color reference photos beside the painting.

I lifted here and there in the background, trying to follow the pattern set by the plastic wrap.

More thin glazes ... I used my favorite triad - quin. burnt orange, quin. violet and indanthrone in various combinations to get the browns and blacks.

A bit more glazed shadowing, and I am here now. I think he's done, but I'll let him perch for a few days to see how I feel about the painting as a whole.

Meanwhile, it's been a bit chilly here - frozen ground, heavy frost, and Bruno snuggled in two blankets at night.

Another scene from our walk. We are out every morning. My dog, Maggie, dances at the front door waiting to go, and her friend [my landlady's dog] barks from her spot inside her house where she can keep an eye on me. I don't dare ignore them!!!

There have been a lot of coyotes this winter - very large, healthy-looking specimens. I don't believe they'd go after  a fair-sized dog alone, but if they are in a pack, definitely. The one above was trotting down a main road out here at 8 AM. Then he stopped and watched the three of us disappear into the park. I am keeping a close eye on the girls when they are off leash.

Thank you very much for dropping by! 

No ... I Have Not Disappeared into a Black Hole ... or ... Some Works in Progress

What is on the go ...

The peony is done, trimmed, and ready to be mounted on a cradled frame I have prepared.

The geese are waiting, too.

Reference photo for latest work.

I masked the flowers and stems, and laid in two washes of phthalo blue for the background.

The stems were aureolin, quin. gold and phthalo green, The flowers started with some permanent rose.

I decided to finish the stem on the right first. I used the pink, and mixtures of aureolin, pink and cobalt blue for the various greys of the shadows.

More glazing, and eventually a lot of dry brush work.

I used a bit more of the intense, staining colors for the flowers on the left, as well as the softer greys I had mixed earlier. This is a 9 x 12 inch work, and will be varnished, and mounted on a cradled frame as well.

Miss Pumpkin
She came here about seven years ago. She already had some sort of abdominal hernia. It became much worse over the last two months. Surgery would be horribly expensive, and with low probability of success. So I asked my horse vet if he would euthanize her, and she passed on quietly on Monday out in the garden with me and Mario, and the dogs [at a distance].  

We have had some very weird weather here as well. The temperatures have been in the low to mid-30's C, with not a drop of rain for ages. Of course, there have been forest fires as well with the dryness. The above photo shows the sky on Sunday - that is smoke, not cloud. Thankfully, the smoke is clearing today.

Well, that's life on the farm right now. Thank you for visiting!

UH ... MOO??? ... or ... Another Step-by-step Animal Painting

I wanted to re-do the painting I had done of the calf earlier this year ...
so I started in with my favorite color combinations for painting animals - quin. burnt orange, quin. violet and indanthrone blue. I did several glazes of differing browns. I also used a touch of quin. sienna and alizarin crimson for the ears.

There were a few tense moments [of a watercolor-y variety]  when painting the eyes, trying to get  a soft fluidity with the colors.

I just kept on doing more w/w washes over the ears and head to darken and shape the calf.

 I glazed an almost-black over all, and painted some very gentle colors on the right to indicate the calf's body in the sunlight coming from behind her. I also painted a drop-in-the-paint type wash [using cobalt blue, a pink and some aureolin]  on the top and upper left to define her shape, and show off her sunlit ears and top of head. Did you notice the little drop of milk at the corner of her mouth?

UH ... MOO??
10 x 10 in.
25.5 x 25.5 cm.

Lastly, I gave her some long eyelashes, and painted some detail around her eyes.
I may do a bit of dry brush on her face to define the shadows and hair, but  I am quite pleased with her as she is!

Thank you so much for dropping by!! I hope you enjoyed the visit!

It Only Took a Month ... but It Felt Like SIX!

I can't believe it's been only a month since I started this. It truly feels so much longer. This was Aug. 22.

Today, I finished all the small details on the tack, and played a bit - very carefully - with the background. Then I sent an image of the painting to the buyer for her final approval, and got back "gorgeous". I am thrilled! Always, whenever I work on a piece, it looks worse to me the longer I work on it. There must be some sort of "law of art", like the laws of physics, to explain the phenomenon - the inverse art appreciation law???

I had an accident at work last Thursday. I was taking an x-ray, moving at full tilt, and caught my toe on a water-line. All of us at the office have done it, but I was traveling with such impulsion that I went straight into the edge of two walls. I split my scalp and bashed my thumb [thankfully left hand] into the wall. So that was it for work. I went to a nearby doctor's office, and he glued my scalp back together with "New Skin", very much like "crazy glue". I tottered off home, somewhat stunned and shaken. Then went for an x-ray of my thumb - nothing conclusive. But that's not too important, as you treat most fractures of fingers and toes very much like a sprain - ibuprofen and ice and immobility. I made myself a splint to wear at night, and I do not ride Bruno [though I have been lungeing him, and doing work on hand as he gets bored and cheeky very quickly when not being worked]. I am so lucky, and glad it was not my right hand!!!

Thank you for dropping by!! 

Curiouser and Curiouser ...

my sketch

first w/w washes - quin. sienna and quin. burnt orange
I previously did a thin glaze of pink & phthalo blue for the shadows.
Then I tried to get as much pigment on in the washes as possible.

phthalo blue gradated wash for the sky

Curiouser and Curiouser
10.5 x 7.5 inches/ 26 x 19 cm./ unframed
$115.00
Available through my blog via paypal

quin. gold and some weird green [I don't remember the name, but it granulates nicely] for the grass
I thought "Curiouser & Curiouser" was an appropriate title. When I was taking photos of the heifers, they were all but crawling through the fence to see what I was doing.

The middle one is my reference.

Up close and personal! :)

I met with the owner a few weeks ago, and have, since then, been carefully darkening Krystie. The top photo shows more of what the background is really like, and the bottom one shows [somewhat] the darkening. If I leave the painting here much longer, I will nit-pick it to ruin, so I had better get it to the owners this weekend!

Thank you so much for visiting, and your comments are always welcome!