"Almost There" (South Florida Beach with Umbrellas)

I really wanted to use the new Daniel Smith watercolors I got recently and I found a photo of this beach with a lot of color in it. (I don't remember which beach it was--south of Lake Worth somewhere I think.)  I used Bee 100% cotton paper. I did another painting with this paper and I didn't like it, but this time I liked it. It's 140 lb. cold pressed and it's smoother than Arches which is good for small detail like the umbrellas. I used a little bit of masking fluid for the umbrellas so I could paint the water in one wash. I did mess up the line of the beach, but I decided to not try to fix it which would probably make it more noticeable.

I  also used a couple of the Daniel Smith Primatek colors--Rhodonite is great for adding to blues for a soft gray and for pinkish glazes.

In the Country

 

 

This was supposed to be done for World Watercolor Month, July 25 "Farm Life" but I didn't get it done in time. It could also qualify for the prompt on July 27 "Clouds in the Sky" which was yesterday. I guess I'm a day late for that one too. I was supposed to try to get looser, but I don't seem to be getting there. I did this in a small sketch book (5x8) because it was supposed to be just a sketch. I kind of overworked it in places, but it didn't turn out too bad. I almost gave up half way through. I recommend watching Jenny Moed Korpela's summary of all thirty paintings that she did for 30x30 Direct Watercolor for June in which she advises not giving up:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZtwI-jf3FTE&t=1639s

Beach Ballerina (version2)

 

I decided to do a little more detailed painting of Beach Ballerina on better paper (Arches 140 lb. cold pressed). As usual I didn't quit when I was ahead and tried to "improve" the tutu and I think I got it too dark. I tried to lighten it up by wetting the paper and blotting in places but I had trouble getting the white of the paper back. I then realized that I had used an Alizarin Crimson mix for the pink/purple tutu color and, if I remember correctly, that is a staining color. I also learned that if I wait a few days and let the paper dry very thoroughly, I can use a small battery powered electric eraser and lift off some color. I think I should quit at this point before I ruin it completely.

Pansies

 

When I wrote the post title the first time, I wrote "painsies."  It must have been a subconscious slip of the fingers. I took a break from finishing my second painting of Emma and thought I would do something simple, like a pansy. Pansies are not as easy as they look, at least not for me. I wish I could do them as well as a painter I found on Daily Paintworks; her name is Tatsiana Mikhailova and her blog is http://tatsianaartstudio.blogspot.com/. This is another one to put on my re-do list.

 



Tutu and Tootsies

 

I don't know what possessed me to do a portrait when I haven't been painting for a while. I got some new pictures of my granddaughter and I couldn't resist. I wasn't sure what to do for the background; she was leaning up against a white louver closet door and sitting on brownish tile. I didn't want to get too detailed on the background, but not sure if this works.

Is there a method for painting a tutu? Should it be more detailed?

 



Seascape No.2



This is the try again seascape, but this time I made it lighter and used a slightly different arrangement. I used regular watercolors, but for some reason, it looks like I used watercolor pencils.

Try Again

I don't know what made me think a watercolor seascape would be an easy "get back into it" painting. Not my best work, but it's a start, again. It's a little fuzzy at the edges because the paper was larger than my scanner. I'm not happy with the waves--I used some old liquid frisket (masking fluid) and didn't mix it up as well as I should have. I couldn't remove it in some places because the coloring in it stained the paper. There were supposed to be white sea shells in the sand, but they came out pink. I might try this again.

Older Painting

I wanted to post something more cheerful than the last post, so I dug around in some of my older paintings and found this watercolor from 2006. The flowers were from my yard at that time.This is painted on Bristol vellum. I really like working on this surface, but you can't get it too wet. It's good for watercolor pencils too. I'm not sure what I'm going to paint next or in what medium. I have so many photos that give me ideas that I don't know where to start. I might just view some of my Artist's Network videos for a while and then decide.

More Carnegie Painted

Little Park off Main Street, 11" x 14"

I did this watercolor in 2008 for the Carnegie Painted show. The color is a little too dark in the first photo and is a little washed out in the second photo. It's actually somewhere in between. The first photo I took inside with two lights on each side and the second one I took outside in the sun. Part of the problem is that it is already framed under glass and I had to be careful I didn't get glare. I found some tips for photographing your art on the web site EBSQArt.com. Apparently I shouldn't take the picture in direct sunlight or with lights shining directly on the painting. I will keep trying to figure this out. Fortunately,If it's small enough I can just scan the painting.

Pears Again

Pears, 9 x 12

I'm not losing my mind--I actually found the pears I thought I had done. I used Yarka pan watercolors again. And, yes, the pear on the bottom left is a pear-- an Asian pear.

Autumn Leaves

Autumn Leaves, 9 x 12

Detail - Autumn Leaves

I painted these late last fall in November in water color and colored pencil. I used the Yarka pan colors again. In some of the real leaves I thought I could see metallic colors, like copper, gold and silver. So I searched around to see what I could find in metallic colors and found some metallic colored pencils and used them on the darker colored leaves. They don't show up too well--I think I need some metallic paint.

Pears and Fruit

Pear, 4" x 5"

This is one of the pears I thought I had done earlier this year, but the date I marked on the back says September '09. So much for relying on my memory. Guess I better date everything! This was done in acrylic on a 4" x 5" canvas panel. I think I was going to go back and lighten up the background; and the next time I use canvas panel, I think I'm going to first put on a coating of gesso or just an extra layer of paint to fill in some of the texture of the canvas. I think I prefer a smooth working surface.

Pear, 6" x 6"

Here's another pear I did about the same time in oil pastel on pastel paper. I set this up in the spare bedroom which I didn't go into very often at that time and forgot I left it there. I didn't notice until I smelled something kind of fermenty. Oh well, it looked tasty.

Two Peaches and a Plum, 6 x 6

I thought I had done another pear, but couldn't find one. But here is some other fruit I did about the same time I did the pears. This is done in watercolors on Bristol vellum which is not supposed to be used for watercolor, but I really like the surface. It works as long as you don't get the paper too wet. Not sure I like the background. I think I used Yarka pan watercolors, which I bought when I was in Florida last year. My son Doug and his wife Pam live near West Palm where there is a Jerry's Artarama. Pam took me there again this year and I got another set (for backup) and some other goodies.