Florida Beach #1 and #2

Florida Beach #1, 5" x 7"

Here are the beach scenes I just painted. Not too much architecture thank goodness. I really wanted to try using some of my acrylic paints with some different mediums to see if I could get them to act more like oils. I did this one first without using gesso as an extra undercoat. I used some gloss medium mixed with the paint and this seemed to work better--it was a little easier to blend the paints and the finish is a little shinier.

Florida Beach #2, 5" x 7"

Painting #2 is only slightly different than #1 so I could compare results. The second one has a gesso underpainting and I used a gloss gel with cerulean blue and white for a light blue wash under the clouds. The white clouds came out softer because the undercoat was still moist. I would like to be able to paint beach scenes with clouds in acrylic like Australian painter Mike Barr. His paintings seem fresh and effortless. I guess that comes with lots of practice (and talent).

Ken & Mel at the Beach

Here's another watercolor pencil "painting." I had planned to have this done for my daughter-in-law's birthday last week, but didn't make it. I had to combine two photos to create the composition I wanted. The perspective was slightly different in the second photo so I didn't make it as high as I wanted (less perspective to deal with). I almost gave up because of the architectural details. I've painted houses, but I guess I just wasn't in the mood for a hotel. It didn't come out quite the way I expected. I also used a different set of watercolor pencils than I used for Carnegie Festival and didn' t have enough colors to choose from. Also, this would have been a good project for Photoshop, but I don't have it installed on my newer computer yet. I tried Gimp (it's a free program sort of like Photoshop) with limited success.. I think I'm going to paint beach scenes next.

Nature Break - Photo

I can't believe I got a photo of the elusive hummingbird moth! I was taking pictures of some new flowers that just bloomed and I didn't plan to take any more, but while I was keeping an eye on my cat so she didn't go into the neighbor's yard, something landed right on the tiger lily I was standing in front of. It was a hummingbird moth. It looks like a cross between a bee and a hummingbird. It has a long proboscis like a hummingbird and the coloring of a bee. I got two pictures, but I had the camera set for closeup flowers not flapping wings so one of the pictures is a little blurry. Check out Hummingbirdmoth.com. It's cute/funny.

Carnegie Festival

Carnegie Festival - Watercolor Pencils

I was trying to do a watercolor pencil drawing/painting for Pam for her birthday and I wanted to look at this painting for reference. So I went over to my son Tim's place this afternoon to get a photo of this, but I forgot to check the back for a date (or title) and didn't measure it. I think it's about 12 x 18" without the mat and frame. I won an award for this at a local art show, "Carnegie Painted," about three years ago, but I don't know what prize I won. Unfortunately, I didn't attend the opening reception so I got a form letter congratulating me for winning with a check for $22.50 which I think was half of maybe fourth prize or one fourth of third prize? I try to enter the show every year if I can. This was the first time I won anything. The actual painting is much lighter. I think I need a better camera or I need to learn how to take better photos of paintings. The subjects of the paintings for the show have to be of Carnegie. The local artist Philip Salvato has the show at his gallery, "The 3rd Street Gallery" every year in September.