In a Hurry to Finish These ...

Good effects around the dogs,  though I think it is too dark on the walkway. 

I do like the spatter effect. If I was finish this as a proper painting, I  would do at least one more spatter with more concentrated color. And the shadow does nothing for the piece at all.

OK, that's two experiments finished. On to something else ...

Thank you very much for dropping by!

Feeling Like a Chicken with It's Head Cut Off or Maybe More Like a Pithed Frog

I am not overly fond of this pose, so I am using it a test piece for trying out different ways of applying paint to darken. Who knows? ... it may turn out well. 

Like this one better, so I am going more slowly.  

I did 2 demos on Saturday in class. This is the wet application of the three primaries, followed by spattering, using indanthrone blue and quin. gold.

At home, I did another spatter, using more saturated paint. I got a wee bit carried away with the spattering, but I like the effect. So this is definitely a technique to keep for future paintings.

The second class demo was a poured watercolor. I used the image I did earlier of the two dogs heading toward the Golden Gate bridge.

At home, I did a 2nd and 3rd pouring. It looks quite dark, but I'll reserve judgment till I remove all the masking.

I really like this view of the two bums - the farrier and the horse. I am re-working the original drawing, correcting perspective and shadowing, and will paint it, and varnish it on a 10 x 14 inch cradled frame.

The geese of the Eurhythmy persuasion are also getting a re-vamp. I like the original, except for that horrific puddle of ultramarine blue at the bottom. Whatever possessed me to do that, I will never know!

And here is why my life is different and busier right now. Here's my aunt - I have her set up comfortably outside, bundled up, reading a good book. She is staying here for a while till my sisters and I get her medical issue straightened out. The doctors think she has kidney stones. It's apparently a very painful condition, so the medication she has to take is very strong - leaves her dizzy, loopy, just really out of it. My place is good for her - as there are no stairs, she loves being out in the countryside, and she has Dr. Maggie to provide TLC [and me, too]. So I am doing nursing duty this week.  I am not used to having another person living with me, so am feeling [how can I describe it] not like myself.
So that is life at Kathryn's country spa.

Thank you very much for dropping by!

Voodoo II Is Underway ...

This is the reference for another Voodoo painting.

He's very large, about 17.2 hh. [his back is well over my head] He is not classically "pretty", but he has a very noble face and eye.

Another shot, giving more of an idea of his size, and the boniness of his head.

Sketch

I masked out his eye, and did an all-over wet-in-wet application of cobalt and indanthrone blue. Then I started working on the structure and shadows of his head and neck with a black mixture.

I removed the mask over the eye, and you can see the "white" of the paper there - looks almost beige, in comparison to the background of the painting.

I worked on him for several hours today, going back and forth between very dry applications and softening the edges, and painting very wet. At this point, I think the basic idea is there. I'd like to get some hardness to the look to give more of an impression of the boniness of his head. And, of course, an eye would be good, too!
That's it for today.

Thank you very much for dropping by!

Painting Progress, and Maggie Does the Hay Room

Not too bad. I like the effects you get from doing those all-over, three-color washes with the spattering afterwards.  This is another demo I started in the class, and finished later at home.

Still darkening Voodoo and the background. I have another slightly different pose that I drew, that is waiting on the watercolor paper, after having done only one wash using two different blues. Might get to that this afternoon.

As I was heading to the barn the other morning, something caught my eye. It turned out to be a raccoon. I fed Bruno, then got my camera. My barn assistant was in hot pursuit. Thankfully the raccoon was well up in the tree by the time Maggie got there. Would not want her tangling with one of those beasties. 

There's the rascal, making his escape. I kept Maggie inside for an hour to give the raccoon time to escape. I think a family has moved into the area - I've seen them off and on for the past few months.

His Imperial Highness, after our ride.

Yes, it's a horse bum ... but a horse bum with sweat marks in the right place. It shows he has been using those powerful hindquarters properly.

While Bruno has his munch, Maggie and clean up, and clean and refill his waterbucket.  Maggins has discovered the joys of hunting in the hay shed!!! Today, she actually looked at me like she was asking to be allowed in. So in she went ...

She jumps and bounces from bale to bale ...

... looking for rodents.

I think she is probably a hunter, quite like a Jack Russell. She also shares the same intenseness and focus of that breed.

I just looked at the clock - 3:00 already, but it feels like it should be only 1:00. The time change has really discombobulated me this year.
Anyway, thank you very much for dropping by!!!

SO FAR ... Works-in-Progress ...

Voodoo is getting some background - permanent rose and quin. burnt orange.

Right now, I am in the process of darkening it. I'm sure I'll have to intensify the shadows on his head as well.

I used this as a reference photo for the class yesterday.

Again, I masked what I wanted white, in this case the few balsam standing at the edge of the pond. I wet  the paper thoroughly, and applied aureolin, alizarin crimson and cobalt blue, then sprayed and let the colors blend on their own. I did a second similar wash, using quin. gold instead of aureolin. Then I covered the sky and water with scrap watercolor paper, and spattered gold, quin. burnt orange, alizarin crimson and cobalt blue, and then sprayed to let them flow together.

Here, I have removed the masking, and am working on the trees, and getting some strategic dark shadows around the focal area.

That's it for now. The sun is shining warmly and invitingly, and Bruno awaits! He is in serious shedding mode - hair flying everywhere.

Thank you so much for dropping by!

Some Scenes from the Countryside

I had to go to the feed store to buy supplies for Bruno. This is one of the views on the route I take.

... a closer shot - that's Mt. Baker looming in the distance.

The lilies are putting out leaves in the ponds. 

A shot of our trail today.

Maggie, in a blurry photo. She is always on the move.

I was tempted to try to cross one of these logs over a gully. Thankfully, I thought better of it - I'll wait till it's drier, and the moss is not slippery. 

I think this will make a good demo for the next class. Once again, we will be doing a very w/w painting, trying to capture the light of a scene.

I spent most of yesterday inside painting, with a quick trip to buy some feed for Bruno. I really need to be outside every day, getting some exercise - woke up with a stinker of a headache. So this morning before work, Maggie and I headed out to the woods.

Thank you so much for visiting!

FINALLY Feel More Like Painting ... or Do..., Do that Voodoo that You Do So Well

This is from one of my favorite comedies, Blazing Saddles.  I thought the comment about Voodoo was appropriate. So here's a bit of humor ...

And this is the Voodoo I know.

I became so absorbed in painting,  I forgot to take any earlier photos. I had started doing the form shadows of his head with a dry brush technique, but it wasn't giving me the results I wanted, so I returned to good, old wet in wet. The only pigments I am using are quin. burnt orange, quin. violet and indanthrone. There is a touch of alizarin crimson in the inner canthus of his eye. 

Most of the mask is off, and I have glazed some dark brown in his forelock and the shaggy hair in his ears. The next steps will be more and more and more wet in wet washes to get the depth of the shadows. I have absolutely no idea what I will do for the background.

Thank you so much for visiting!