More Cheshire Cats ...

First was a w/w wash of quin. rose with quin. burnt orange. I let it dry, then did a wash of black.  The eyes were started with a very wet application of gold, with some burnt orange dropped in.

More black, and a thin wash of orange with a thicker mix of orange and quin. violet dropped in. Apparently she has very dark brown eyes - rare in cats.

Still more black, and a thin glaze of brown in the eyes.

You've got it ... still more black. I also added some of a red-orange inside the lids of her eyes.

I started with two separate w/w applications for this cat's coloration. The first was a mix of pink and orange. Then, when dry, an application of taupe[aureolin, pink and cobalt blue].  Her eyes were done with aureolin, orange and touches of cobalt blue. 

Intensified the colors with more of the same mixtures of colors.

Added some stripes using the dry-brush technique, and lined her eyes with black. I also did some subtle shading around her muzzle with pink, cobalt blue and orange.

A few touch-ups later, and I think she is done.

This is all I have to show this week. I started another painting twice, and liked neither.  I find I am more occupied with preparations for teaching - figuring out what particular aspect of drawing I would like to offer in class, and going through my photo library to find images for the watercolor class. But I still love teaching - I'm learning, students are learning and we are all enjoying the classes.

Thank you for dropping by!!

Herding Cats and Slogging Paint

I made myself sit down and finally do some drawing on the cats. Some I did free-hand from the photos, others I used a grid over the photos on the computer screen. They were difficult - the photos were not the best for gleaning information. I think I had my nose almost pressed to the computer screen at times to see! But it's a start.

Masked, then wet-in-wet with indanthrone blue.

Again wet, and drizzled on some quin. rose and quin. gold from the top.

In hindsight, I probably should have left it at this stage for background darkness.

I did a pour-drizzle from the top onto wet paper, using a mixture of indanthrone, quin. rose and the gold...

... let it dry, then painted islands and two small fishing boats in the distance. The closer seiner is yet to be done. I'm not sure if I like it or not - it's rather dark.

In the world of Horse, I had a set-back with Bruno. We were out in the park a week and a half ago, and he thought he saw a leaf making a move to attack. He dropped under me about six inches, and spun like a dervish. I flew off his back, and slammed down partly into a soft ditch, but managed to crack my head onto hard-packed gravel. He hadn't taken off far, so I got him, took the reins and walked him back to the start of the trail so I could use the mounting block. And we did the trail again, this time with no accident. I was stiff and sore from the landing, and later started getting very dizzy and nauseated, so I must have received a fairly decent concussion. I have tried to take it easy, but I'd like to start riding again next week - going squirrelly without my dose of horse!

That's it for this week. Thank you so much for dropping by!

A Bird in the Hand Is Worth Two in the Bush????? ... Works-in-Progress

I liked the sketches, and had good plans ...

... somewhere along the line, I lost it.
Started off with some brown madder.

Darkened the madder with some burnt orange and indanthrone.

Branch was painted with quin. sienna and alizarin crimson.

Then I made the mistake of sponging on cobalt blue and burnt orange. It might be salvageable ...

Bird #2. Again started with brown madder. It's a lovely soft pinkish-brown.

Browns and greys made with brown madder, indanthrone and burnt orange.  For the blacks I used quin. violet rather than the less intense madder.

A bit of burnt orange to brighten him up.

And another so-so background. ARRRGGHHHHH!!!!! 

I like the chickadee, but I'm hoping I think of something spectacular to improve the background.

There's still Bird #3 ...

In class last Saturday, students wanted to work on a simple landscape. So I started this one [again - it works well as a teaching demo].

I couldn't resist taking a photo of this adorable face.  I was on dog-walking duty for one of my neighbors last week. I think she has two or three bull terriers, all rescues.

Bruno is "ride-able" again, in a very limited way. I can only walk him for 20 minutes at most, with no tight circles, nothing fancy, just big and easy movement. But it is SOOO GOOD to be back in the saddle, and he likes the work and attention, too!

Thank you for dropping by!

SADDLE SHOES ... a Short Walk down Memory Lane ....

Drawing reference for painting. I almost always use a grid when doing something requiring more accuracy.

First washes - a thin glaze of indanthrone on the "saddle" of the saddle shoes, and different mixtures of aureolin, permanent rose and cobalt blue for the greys and browns. The soles are painted with quin. burnt orange and alizarin crimson.

Ahhh ... that's looking better. I have done some applications of  black, using quin. burnt orange, quin. violet and indanthrone.

Here, I have scuffed up the toes and heel a bit, using a dry brush technique. Still a work-in-progress ...
Framable size  22 x 27 cm.

Voodoo [and he really suits that name]

My reference drawing

A slow start ...
36 x 28 cm.

The arts program director where I teach recently asked [well, asked several times] if I could do a painting for an charity auction the center is supporting. The theme is fashion. No longer being the fashionista I once was, I had a hard time thinking of a suitable subject. Then I had an inspiration from an old memory. When I was very young, every August my sister and I walked, with my mom,  up to the local shoe store to get our NEW school shoes. I always found this such a happy experience. It's strange what one vividly remembers. I can still feel and see myself walking home in the new shoes, too heavy and clunky for the hot summer afternoon. And I found it fascinating to be able to put my feet into a machine where I could see my bones glowing green! Now I realize it was some sort of x-ray device, probably not the most brilliant method of checking the fit of shoes, but it sure looked cool!!! Anyway, it was a great memory, and gave me a good idea for a painting - some scuffed up, old saddle shoes.

Thank you so much for dropping by!