A Tale of Two Parrots ...or ... Works in Progress

Since the last post, I went over the shadowed areas of the head with alizarin crimson.

Next I painted the blue ruff around the neck with ultramarine blue. Then ... the FUN part ... wetting the head, and blorping [a very technical watercolor term  :)] on lots of cadmium red. Right now, I like how it looks. We shall see what happens.  

I also started another parrot - same drawing, smaller format. I started by masking all the white feathers that were in direct sunlight. I wet the entire sheet, and loosely applied aureolin, quin. coral [a warmer version of the quinacridone pinks] and quin. sienna. 

I let it dry [no, I carefully used a hair-dryer, not feeling particularly patient], wet the entire sheet again, and applied thin washes of coral, sienna and ultramarine. I tried to encourage the blue to move more to the bottom, and ended up with two wubbles [another technical term] on the lower left.  

No problem! I dried it, re-wet it [using a firmer stroke than usual when applying water to loosen the areas of mistakes], and applied quin. coral and quin. sienna. It looks like that correction has almost completely eradicated the wubbles. Now I'll let it dry completely, and see what it's like when the masking is removed.

Thank you so much for dropping by! 

Why I'm Not Getting as Much Painting Done ... and ... a Parrot's Progress ...

Can we go for a walk NOW???
As soon as the sun starts to rise, Maggie is ready and raring to go! She has SO much energy! I take her and my landlady's dog out for an hour in the morning. And of course, Bruno; on the days I ride, it's another 2 - 3 hours there. Teaching is also taking time away from painting, especially the drawing class. But I'll get all of it organized ...

This is my reference photo, taken by a woman with whom I work. I loved the pose, and the colors in the neck area.  I had planned to work those colors into the background of the painting, but got swept away in a different direction,.

I masked the cockatoo and some palm leaves, wet the paper, and  dropped in some aureolin, pink and phthalo blue.

I started drawing in more leaves, and masking them ...

... and totally lost the bright colors.

So I will try something else. The parrot will now be red. I am painting the shadows in ultramarine blue, and the parrot will be done in cadmium red. These are both colors I never use, so this will be interesting.

My color swatches - I had thought a thin glaze of phthalo green would be a good shadow, but the ultramarine blue actually looks better. The green was quite dull-looking.

This is a photo I found on the internet that I am using as a color reference only.

Thank you so much for dropping by!

Vancouver Scenes, and a Bit of Painting

This is the side entrance to the Vancouver Art Gallery. It was a gorgeous, warm, sunny day, and I wanted to be outside, but I also really wanted to see this exhibit - it was the final day. The gallery was showing an exhibition of 500 years of Italian art, on loan from several Glasgow museums. There were several exquisite Renaissance works - very inspiring!

I had to take a photo of the skyline near the gallery. Vancouver has changed so very much. Every time I visit [which isn't often],  there are major changes.

Photos were not permitted in the gallery proper, but I was drawn to some of the renovation work that is being done inside the foyer. To me, it looks quite lovely and has  a European flavor.

I had my sister pose at the bottom of the winding stairs. 

On the way home, we drove through an older section of  Vancouver called Gastown. This isn't  the showy, store-front view. It's one of the grungy alleys, and I thought the photo would be a perfect reference for an exercise in perspective for my drawing class.

The other side of the street - another good perspective shot.

We passed through Chinatown ...

... and along Commercial Drive where some fair was being held. I just had to get a photo of the "bee-man" with his wings.

Also on Commercial, I took a photo through  the windshield of this woman's wild green dreadlocks. I am like a tourist in my own city. My niece once said that going out in the city with me was like going out with an alien from another planet - always looking, always fascinated and amazed at what I saw. 

I did some painting this week - finished the contented cow, by giving her a solid shadow and ground.

And I am still slogging along with the tugs. I was darkening the treed areas in small bits and pieces with a dry brush technique, and it was so slow going.  So I decided to bite the bullet, and put some masking on and get it DONE. I will have to darken the water and foreground tug, and then re-assess.

The watercolor classes are still going so well - all are happy with their work, and inspired [including me].

I taught my first drawing class last Tuesday. That was not so inspiring! The class is extremely diverse - from those with absolutely no drawing background to others with many years of doodling and drawing. As for me, I have been drawing for as long as I can remember, and I'm finding it somewhat awkward to explain something that is so natural to me. Like ... how do you explain to someone how to walk who has never done so??? Somehow, I'll figure it out. I think the next class will involve much looser work using charcoal on large sheets of paper. One overall mistake I noticed with the class was that they were all very tight, and trying to be "perfect" in creating a drawing. And I must do more demonstrations.

Anyway, that's life right now. Thank you for dropping by!

The Contented Cow and Other Stories ... Works Finished, Works in Progress

I added a bit more shadowing to Missy, and gave her a spot on which to lie.  I took this photo in late morning bright sun, so it is somewhat washed out, even after increasing the overall saturation. But here she is ... finsk!

I finished the trio of goslings. 

I did this a few weeks ago, and liked the texturing, but not the overall composition so ...

... I am giving it another whirl.

I am still slogging away on the tugboats. I didn't like it, and couldn't decide why, and almost gave up to start again.  Then I tried playing with the format  - mostly the size [the tugs were lost].  If you look closely, you can see the pencil marks I made at the perimeter. I think it will be fine in a smaller format, and perhaps with a bit more saturation of color here and there.

And Batman was finally picked up but the purchasers, and taken to the framer.  My riding instructor and some of her students commissioned it for another [horse] trainer.

As for life in general, I am thrilled! One of my sister's friends manages a car dealership, and he found another car for me. I fell in love with it! It is a lovely graphite-colored Golf, and I am picking it up tomorrow.

Classes are going well - at least the watercolor class. I will also be teaching a drawing class, starting tomorrow. I have a rough outline, loosely based on the book "Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain". It's always something of a challenge teaching these classes, as I don't know what, if any, experience the students have had with art, and it is a bit demanding teaching something which comes to me quite easily. So I always plan for the absolute basics, and take it from there. Drawing tomorrow will be upside down, to dissociate the analytical/ verbal half from the holistic/creative side.

That's it for now. Thank you for dropping by!

Goslings Waddling along Nicely ... Baby Geese - Work in Progress

After the last post, I dry-brushed some aureolin here and there.

Then I mixed up a purply-brown and started dry-brushing the colors in their feathers with a mixture of burnt orange, violet and indanthrone. I also got serious about the anatomy and shadows of their legs. I used aureolin, burnt orange and indanthrone to get an almost-black olive green. 

Right now, I am continuing with the dry-brushwork on their feathers - this technique seems to work best for achieving that fluffy appearance. I think I'll put it aside for a bit, to let the colors set, and work on the tugboat painting.


Thank you so much for dropping by!

The Baby Goose Has Some Siblings ... Work in Progress

You remember this little cutie. Well, there were actually at least a dozen of them scurrying around the field.

I masked the geese, and then painted three wet-in-wet graded washes - quin. burnt orange, pink and indanthrone blue. Then I removed the masking, and started working on their form shadows with a mixture of orange, pink and indanthrone. The beaks were first done with indanthrone.

The blacks of their eyes and beaks were painted with a mix of quin. burnt orange, quin. violet and indanthrone. And I did a wash of aureolin on their legs.

I am here now. I've done two glazes on their form shadows, and am ready to get their local color  - a purply/grey - started. I have also glazed their legs with a green made of aureolin, indanthrone and orange. I have a feeling the color to be added to their feathers will have to be dry-brushed on ... carefully. That's why I have stopped here to take a break. And Bruno is hollering from his paddock. Time to RIDE!!!

Thank you so much for dropping by!

Odds and Ends and Works-in-progress ...

I was asked to do a skateboard-themed painting for a local charity. So I came up with this work [and in record time for me!]. The colors are new gamboge, quin. sienna with a slash of phthalo blue.  It was a large piece - about 18 x 24 inches.

I've also been playing with these fungi this past week. I started with the "shrooms", using aureolin, new gamboge and quin. burnt orange. For the tree bark texture, I carefully sponged on water to give random texture, and then, onto the sponged spots, applied mixtures of quin. burnt orange, quin. violet and indanthrone.

More work on the mushrooms, using burnt orange.

I extended the tree shapes to create a vignette, and have been working on intensifying the tree bark in spots, as well as building up the depth in the fungi. This is a much smaller work - 12 x 8 1/2 inches.

I started teaching regular classes again this last Saturday. So again, my emphasis was on playing with the pigments in a wet-in-wet manner. I have found most people, when painting, want to stroke and stroke with their brushes on damp or dry paper, which essentially ruins the effect of watercolor. So my primary theme in every class is to encourage "playing" with the pigments on very wet paper. We had a very successful class in that respect. I had two of the students absolutely mesmerized, almost lost, touching their brushes to the paper and watching what happened as the paint moved on its own. It always rekindles my passion for this medium when I see people so blissfully lost in the beauty of the process, and then so happy with the results.
The above work is my demo start, and I think it's caught my eye - I'd like to see where this goes.

I've also started a large painting [18 x 25 inches] for my aunt. A friend of hers decided to move back to Toronto. So auntie wanted something reminiscent of British Columbia to send as a gift, and felt some tugboats lost in the coastal fog would be good. So here we go again ...

Thank you so much for dropping by! Hope you are all having a lovely end to your summer!