Leaf Abstraction in Colored Pencils

Today was the day we picked up my paintings at the gallery where I had my solo show.  My daughter Beth, and two dear friends helped Rock and me take down the show and then pack the van.  Afterwards we went out to lunch.  When I got home it was time to leave again for Wapakoneta to teach my watercolor class. By the time I got back home after teaching  tonight, it was 9:00 and then my d/h wanted me to type a letter for him on the computer - soooooooooooo- at 10:00 I started my "daily creation!"  I decided to do a greeting card in colored pencils.  The composition is 5" x 6 1/2" and is completed with watercolor pencils on card stock.  This quicky creation  is from my crazed, exhausted mind!  It is especially exhausted because I was awake most of the night listening to thunder, lightening, hail and wind, plus a shivering pooch who is afraid of storms!  What a night!

Watercolor Weaving

I decided to create in something other than paint today, so I took two reject paintings I had sitting in a sack and cut them in strips and wove them together.  One of them was a pink waterlily and the other was a crystal bowl painted monochromatically in red.  It gives a sort of nice complementary color contrast to the project with all the reds and greens.  My high school students always liked to weave their watercolors and they produced some beautiful projects - much better than this one I will have to admit!  It was a fun way to spend a Sunday afternoon.  I cut both watercolors to 8" x 10" and both paintings were done on 140 lb. cold-pressed watercolor paper.  This is a cool way to use rejected paintings!

Impending Storm

Today's creation is 8" x 14" and is painted on 300 lb. Arches cold-pressed watercolor paper with the acrylic inks I had left over from painting the truck plus a little white gesso on top.  I left the lids off of the souffle cups I mixed my paints in, and the paint began to evaporate and thicken.  At this point - it became opaque instead of transparent.  This is a wild, confusing piece, but is still todays creation!

Aurora

This is my offer to the painting muse for the day -  Aurora over the city  (dawn over the city)!  I poured the background and then painted the city wet-on-dry.  The painting is from my mind - no source photo was used.   The painting is 5" x 7" and it is painted on 140 lb. Fabriano Artistico cold-pressed watercolor paper.

"Grunge Truck" - Final Painting

This painting is finally finished.  I finished it this afternoon in our Thursday afternoon painting group with the Muses.  I am calling it Grunge Truck, because that is what Pamela titled the photograph.  The painting is 22" x 28" and is painted on 300 lb. Arches cold-pressed watercolor paper.  Many thanks to Pamela for the source photo and to Brenda Vogt for the very wonderful sheet of watercolor paper.  This painting was a challenge, but I am happy with the results.

Pamela's Truck: WIP 4

The painting is almost finished - one more day should do it!  I finished detailing the truck and the wood in the back and painted in the weeds and the trees in the back.  I still have to finish the structure behind the truck and then do the final tweaking!

Pamela's Truck: WIP 3

The continuing saga of the red truck...I removed the miskit from the painting this evening and then worked on the front of the truck with the watercolors in a traditional manner.  It is going to take a while...slowly but surely!  (I hope!!!!!)

Pamela's Truck: WIP 2

I spent the afternoon and evening mixing paint for the initial wet-in-wet pouring and then doing the first layer of paint wet-in-wet.  The first layer of paint is fluid acrylics used in watercolor mode.  I do this because when I start defining and detailing the painting, the bottom layer will not lift.  In the top picture, the painting still has the masque on it - I will remove it tomorrow, and I have started defining some areas with watercolor on top of the first layer, wet on dry.  There will be a big difference once the detailing and defining is completed.

WIP Drawings of Painting of Pamela's Truck

This is today's daily creation!  I drew most of this afternoon and evening.This is the second of Pamela Baker's beautiful truck photographs that I am painting.This painting will be 22" x 28" and is on 300 lb. Arches rough watercolor paper. I finished the drawing today, and added the masque where I want the painting to remain white when I come to the pouring phase of the painting process.  Pouring comes next!  Below is the photograph that I am painting.

Stately Lady

This is the creation for today - a small watercolor - 5" x 7" and is painted on  140 lb. Arches cold-pressed watercolor paper.  It was a very pleasant way to spend a winter Saturday afternoon.

Demonstration Drawing

This is my daily creation for today!

This isn't a painting - at least not yet!  It is the drawing for a painting which I finally finished tonight.  This will be a large painting - it is drawn on a full sheet of watercolor paper 22" x 30".  I drew it using the grid method and have partially masked out the edges of the petals and the center of the bottom flower because I plan to pour the first layer of this painting with fluid acrylics, wet -in-wet and I want the edges to remain white.  I can paint some of them in color later on in the painting process.  This is for a demonstration for Lima Area Watercolor Society in March, and I am praying that the mask will not set up too much so it can be removed after the pouring process.

Line Drawing in Sepia

Today's daily creation is a drawing in sepia watercolor on 140 lb. watercolor paper.  I used the sharpened handle of a paint brush dipped in the sepia watercolor to draw the face over a light blue watercolor wash.

Cookies and Tea

This is the painting of the day - 5" X 7" and is painted from a photo I took this evening before I had my snack of - cookies and tea!

Still Life: Grapes and Pears with Rice Bowl

This is today's daily offering to the painting muse - it is 6" x 8" and is painted on 140 lb. cold-pressed Fabriano-Artistico watercolor paper.  The source is from a Wet Canvas photo image photograph  submitted by M Prince. This is the painting I will be teaching at Riverside Art Center next Monday evening.

Rainbow Village

Well - another scene from my imagination - I know...deformed houses!  Well - who knows what goes on in the minds of men! (or women!) Tee hee!  This was a quick watercolor after class tonight - an hour and a half - maybe that explains the deformed houses!  They look like they belong in a Dr. Seuss book!  :-D

The painting is 5" x 7" and is painted on 140 lb. Fabriano Artistico cold-pressed watercolor paper.

New England Coastal Village

This little painting is 5" x 7" and is painted on Fabriano Artistico 140 lb. cold-pressed watercolor paper.  It is a semi-abstract painting and is a figment of my imagination.  I limited the palette to Antwerp blue, sap green, indigo, payne's grey and dragon's blood and painted it all with a 1/2 inch flat brush.

Sue's Rose

This is today's daily painting, a lovely rose from a source photograph taken by Sue Drennan of Watercolor Workshop who lives in  south-eastern Kansas.  The painting is 5" x 7" and is painted on Fabriano Artistico cold-pressed Watercolor paper.

Vicki's Roses

Well - I killed 2 birds with one stone today with today's painting. First of all I just managed to complete this painting before the witching hour of 12:00 midnight and secondly I completed one of the Watercolor Workshop projects.  This subject is the February project painting for Watercolor Workshop where the members all paint from the same photo.  The source photo was provided by Vicki Greene.  She has beautiful photographs of her flowers.  This painting is 11" x 8" and is painted on Fabriano Artistico cold-pressed 140 lb. watercolor paper.

Pine Tree in Snow

This painting is from a lesson on the website of Susie Short, www.susieshort.net.  She has a wonderful web site with lots of watercolor information and beautiful paintings.  This painting is 11" x 7" and is painted on Fabriano Artistico 140 lb. cold-pressed watercolor paper - one of my favorite brands.

Apple Reworked

I wasn't happy with the apples with yesterday's painting, so I reworked the front apple a little while ago - now it looks like an apple!

Little Green Apples

Michelle called this a.m. and asked if I wanted to paint this afternoon - of course I said "yes" and she brought beautiful green apples with her.  So - we spent the afternoon painting.  This is my painting - 8" x 10"  and it is painted on a canvas panel.  We had our Irish Coffee which kept us warm on this cold winter day!

Peggy's Pomegranate

Today I revisited the blue coffee pot and pomegranate.  The first painting was an oil, this is a watercolor painted on 140 lb. cold-pressed watercolor paper and is  6" x 6" in size.  My sister-in-law Peggy brought me the pomegranate when she was here Jan. 14th for the reception of my art show.  I fear, that although I would like to eat it, that it may now be too ripe.  I am going to give it a try.

Floral Study 1

I started this small painting this afternoon, but had to teach this evening, so it is now 11:30 p.m. and I am just now posting my daily painting.  I started painting again tonight at 9:30 after returning from teaching and am just finished.  Whew!  I wanted to post before midnight! This painting is 5" x 7" and is painted on 140 lb. cold pressed watercolor paper.

Birch Trees in Early Winter

Today's daily 'creation' is an oil painting, 6" x 6" and is painted on a canvas panel.  I have discovered that I can't paint and watch the Super Bowl at the same time!

Falling Down in the Early Snow

I finished the WIP of the old barn today and have posted the final painting and also the work in progress.  Sometimes people like to see the process in creating a painting.

This painting is 9" x 12" and is painted on 140 lb. cold-pressed watercolor paper.  I used indian red, dragon's blood, payne's grey  and sepia in the barn, and antwerp blue for the sky and the snow.

I consider this part of my "snow" series, but it is actually the painting that I am teaching my class this coming Monday evening.

Rainbow Fruit

This is todays offering to the Muses - I still had my palette out today that I used for yesterday's painting - Primary Pomegranate - and couldn't resist doing another oil painting with the paint I had left.  The funny thing is -it doesn't look at all like yesterday's painting.

This is 6" x 6" and is painted on a canvas panel.

Primary Pomegranate

Today was our Thursday painting group's day to paint.  Due to the snow and ice, there were just 3 of us who were here.  This is the painting I did today.  Michelle visited the Antique Mall in Wapakoneta and bought a sack full of still life items this week and this blue coffee pot and salt shaker were two of them  My contribution was a very ripe pomegranate.

This painting is 12" x 12" and is an oil painting painted on stretched canvas.  We had a great afternoon - painting, talking and drinking Irish coffee!  Very good drink on a very cold day!

Old Barn WIP

This is the painting I am preparing for the class I am teaching on Monday night.  I worked on the drawing today and will probably start painting it this evening.  The size of the paper is 9" X 12" and is 140 lb. cold-pressed watercolor paper.  I thought it might be interesting to see the work in progress of this painting.

Woodland Flora

This is today's daily creation -sort of another abstraction painted from my head -  it makes it interesting when one flower has 6 petals and the other two 5.  Mother nature doesn't make those mistakes, but I do!  Tee hee!

This one is approximately 5" x 8" and was painted with a wet-in-wet background with mostly negative painting around the flowers.