Write it on your heart that every day is the best day of the year.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Tuesday, September 30, 2014

30 Paintings in 30 Days: Day 30: Zentangle Inspired Art using a Tole Design



Yipee!  This is day 30 and I made it in spite of some pretty big hurdles like my dear husband being hospitalized 2 weeks ago.  He is doing fine, but it took some juggling to get everything done during the time he was in the hospital.

This design is drawn from the design on a gift bag received from a good friend, Rosie.    It is not exactly the type of design used in Zentangles - more of the type of designs found in tole painting in the 70's, but it did make a pretty design with the addition of tangles.

This Zentangle Inspired Art  is 6 inches x 6 inches and is done on good white drawing paper with Micron-Pigma pens and Prismacolor colored pencils.

Monday, September 29, 2014

30 Paintings in 30 Days: Day 29: Zentangle Inspired Art Two




I created this zentangle inspired art with my watercolor class tonight at Riverside Art Center.  I did one of these with a leaf motif last week and decided that it would make a good lesson, so that is what we did this evening - I painted this as they worked along. Firt they drew the leaves in pencil and then did a wet-in-wet watercolor over the drawing in colors of fall.  Then they zentangled tangles over the leaves with the micron-pigma pens.   

They really enjoyed the project and we will photograph it next week after all are completed.  This painting is 12" x 9" and is on 140 lb. Canson cold-pressed watercolor paper.



Sunday, September 28, 2014

30 Paintings in 30 Days: Day 28: Pepper Triad


I love green, red and yellow peppers!  I love drawing and painting them too, so I thought this 30 Paintings in 30 Days challenge would be a good time to do a small painting of them.  This painting is 5" x 7" and is on 140 lb. Canson cold-pressed watercolor paper.

Saturday, September 27, 2014

30 Paintings in 30 Days: Day 27: The Delft Elephant



I have an elephant collection and this little Delft elephant was one of the first and also one of my favorites.  This is small -  about 4 inches wide and maybe 3 inches tall.

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

Portraits

A couple weeks ago, my intermediate watercolor class did some portraits.  They worked monochromatically in Payne's grey and also did some drawing using skewers and Payne's grey on wet paper.  Their drawings/paintings were awesome.  All of their drawings looked like different men, even though they all started with the same basic, simple drawing of a man.  We all enjoyed this lesson very much.

Friday, September 26, 2014

30 Paintings in 30 Days: Day 26: Leaves on Golden Ground






I had a small canvas, 8" x 10" on which I had painted in plein air a landscape with which I was not happy.  This painting is totally from my imagination - no source picture.  

I sanded the painting smooth and covered the surface with the new Golden ground for watercolors.  I find that the ground works very well - this was much like the watercolor canvases which you buy.  

I found that the paint will lift if you go back in, so you have to be cautious where you work, or drop water, etc.  You can glaze over colors as long as you just lay the color over the surface and do not stroke with the brush.

30 Paintings in 30 Days: Day 25: Vino and Canvas at Riverside



 Not everyone finished - hopefully they will in the future!  Everyone did a great, great job on a difficult subject.





This was my 30 Paintings in 30 Days painting for the day - along with 11 other painters!  We offered another Vino and Canvas party for guests at Riverside Art Center in Wapakoneta, Ohio.  We painted in acrylics on 18"x18" stretched canvases and they painted along with me.  Our source painting came from the website Paint My Picture. We had a great time - lots of good conversation and art!  Many thanks to my dear friend, Misty Steinke, for her fine photography!

Tuesday, September 23, 2014

I Am The Diva Challenge #186: Leaves in Zentangle Inspired Art

The Diva's challenge this week is to use leaves in our tangle.  I decided to use a watercolor wash with the ink tangles and create some Zentangle Inspired Art!

The piece is 12" x 9" and is done on Canson's 140 lb. cold-pressed watercolor paper.  I used Micron-Pigma ink pens .005 and.03, and QoR Watercolors from Golden Paints.

Monday, September 22, 2014

30 Paintings in 30 Days: Day 22: Flower Fantasy



I had to do my daily painting after class tonight, so this one was a quick one - a small watercolor 7 1/2 " x 5".  It is painted on a chip of Arches 140 lb. cold-pressed watercolor paper with QoR watercolor from Golden.

This painting is entirely from my mind/imagination - no sources used on it - I think that is obvious! Eh?

Sunday, September 21, 2014

30 Paintings in 30 Days: Day 21: Watercolor Workshop Monthly Project - a Study in Value and Atmospheric Perspective


This monthly project for Watercolor Workshop is a study in value and atmospheric perspective.  This is a small painting - 6" x 7" and is painted on 140 lb. Fabriano Artistico cold-pressed watercolor paper.

Saturday, September 20, 2014

Abandoned House with Trees


I finally finished this painting today.  It is 12" x 9" and is painted on 140 lb. cold-pressed watercolor paper with Qor watercolor from Golden.

The painting is taken from a source photo from Pamela Baker (www.bakercreekdesigns.com), a good friend and excellent photographer.  We are going to do another "Side by Side" show, and this is the first painting in that new series.  Thank you, Pamela, for sharing your wonderful work with me.

I Am The Diva Challenge # 185: Philcops and Diva Dance

This is my rendition of Philcops and Diva Dance.  I started out determined to make this zentangle in asymmetrical balance with the three philcops in the center, and still ended up with a symmetrical design after I added the area outside the circle.  For some reason (maybe the fact that I am a Libra) - everything has to be balanced in my life.  When I am painting in oils or watercolor I have no trouble doing them in asymmetrical balance, but as soon as I zentangle - the symmetrical genes kick in - guess I will just go with it!

This tangle is 6" square and is done on good white drawing paper with Micron-Pigma pens and Prismacolor colored pencils.

Thursday, September 18, 2014

30 Paintings in 30 Days: Day 18: Decorative Indian Corn



I prepared the lesson for Monday night this afternoon while visiting and painting with our Thursday group, The Muses! It was a great afternoon. 

This painting comes from a tutorial I found on The Frugal Crafter's blog.  She has the most wonderful ideas and I thought this would be perfect for a lesson.

This painting is approximately 7 1/2 " x 6" and is painted on 140 lb. Fabriano Artistico cold-pressed watercolor paper.

Wednesday, September 17, 2014

30 Paintings in 30 Days: Day 17: Abandoned House and Trees (continuation of painting posted previously)



Well, almost finished with this one.  I still have to finish the trees and also the ivy branches on the house which you can't see in this.

As I said yesterday, this one is 12" x 9" and is painted on 140 lb. cold-pressed watercolor paper with the new Golden watercolors, QoR.

Tuesday, September 16, 2014

30 Paintings in 30 Days: Day 16: Abandoned House and Trees (continuation of painting previously posted)



This is my painting for the day...I continued working on the painting of the abandoned house and trees from the photograph by Pamela Baker, my good friend and excellent photographer.  It is taking time since all that wood is in so many different hues.  I see now that I will have to darken the house since the trees and the house are both so close to the same values.

This painting is 12" x 9" and is painted on 140 lb. cold-pressed watercolor paper with QoR watercolors from Golden paints.

Monday, September 15, 2014

30 Paintings in 30 Days: Day 15: Fall Trees in Watercolor and Miskit



This was our lesson tonight at our intermediate watercolor class at Riverside Art Center.  I have previously posted the picture on the left and the one on the right is the one I painted along with my students.  Their work was so nice and I will post that tomorrow evening.

This painting (both actually) is 12" x 9 " and is painted on 140 lb. Arches cold-pressed watercolor paper.  This was a lesson in drawing with liquid miskit and also wet-into-wet watercolor.

Sunday, September 14, 2014

30 Paintings in 30 Days: Day 14: Trees at Abandoned House



Today I am painting, but will not finish a painting.  I am working on this painting which I started last week with the contour drawing I posted.  It requires a lot of effort and detail and will not be completed in one day.  I assure you, I will continue to be painting most of the day!

This painting is 12" x 9" and is on 140 lb. cold-pressed watercolor paper from Canson with QoR watercolors from Golden.

Saturday, September 13, 2014

Still Life with Apples



I painted this still life today for day 13 of the 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge.  I am also going to use it for my intermediate watercolor class at Riverside Art Center in Wapakoneta, Ohio.

The painting is 9" x 12" and is painted on Canson 140 lb. cold-pressed watercolor paper with Golden's QoR watercolors.  I love them - the pigments are so intense and keep the intensity as they dry, unlike a lot of other watercolors.

Thursday, September 11, 2014

All Strung out!

This little watercolor is my painting for day 10 in the 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge - I know this is the 11th, but my dear husband, Rock, has been in the hospital since Tuesday, and I was not able to post this yesterday.

This is 7" x 5" and is painted on printmaking paper with QoR paints from Golden and wet-in-wet drawing with a skewer.

Tuesday, September 9, 2014

I am the Diva's Weekly Challenge#184: "Ing"

I had some trouble with "Ing" and am still not certain if I did it correctly.

I did this tangle on a piece of printmaking paper that I had left over.  I did a wet-in-wet background in burnt sienna and yellow ochre using QoR watercolors from Golden and then did my tangle on top using an .03 Micron Pigma black drawing pen.

Monday, September 8, 2014

30 Paintings in 30 Days: Day 7: "Blackbird Call!"

For day 7, I painted a study of a blackbird.  The painting is 5" x 7" and is painted on 140 lb. Canson cold-pressed watercolor paper.

Saturday, September 6, 2014

Monochromatic Watercolor: Jean


This is my painting for day 6 for the Challenge, 30 Paintings in 30 Days from the Slices of Life website of Leslie Saeta.

This painting is 12" x 9" and is painted on 140 lb. cold-pressed Canson watercolor paper.  The linear portion of this painting was painted wet into wet using a skewer dipped in Payne's Grey watercolor on wet paper and then the shadows were painted on   with a brush.  This is completely monochromatic - Payne's Grey on white paper.  The photo appears to have a rose tint - this is not in the original
.
This will be the lesson for my watercolor class this coming Monday night at Riverside Art Center.

The source for this painting is a photograph I found on Wet Canvas from the photographer Lost Art.

Friday, September 5, 2014

The Cook's Spot in Wapakoneta; A Watercolor Painting

This is my painting for day 4 in the 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge on the website "Slices of Life" ...  it is a commission piece that I finished yesterday.  The "Spot" is in Sidney, Ohio and is a fixture on the courthouse square and has been since 1941.  This art deco building  is the current building, the original Spot restaurant dates back many more years.  When you walk into the restaurant, you feel like you have walked into a 1940's diner.  George W. Bush ate there when he was campaigning for president in 2004.  It's true claim to fame, though, is the delicious food!

Thursday, September 4, 2014

I am the Diva Challenge 183: X-Did

This is my answer to the X-Did challenge for The Diva's Challenge, #183.  It is 6" x 6" and is done on good white drawing paper. I used Micron-Pigma pens and I shaded with pastels and Prismacolor colored pencils.

Monday, September 1, 2014

Elegant Elephants

This is my latest painting and also my first painting in the 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge on Leslie Saeta's web site.

It was also the subject of our lesson tonight at the Intermediate Watercolor Class at Riverside Arts Center in  Wapakoneta, Ohio.  This is the second painting of the same subject since I always do one ahead of time and then one with the class.

This painting is 9" x 12" and is painted on Fabriano Artistico 140 lb. cold-pressed watercolor paper.