Back to Yupo. Singer at Kwitzkey’s in Mississippi. Not going this year but a fond memory. I’ve tried this several times before but never liked it as much as this one.
This sketchbook, which was a gift from Susan six years ago, also contains this sketch from 2016, the year we went to Paris between Thanksgiving and Xmas. It’s the passageway from the street to the courtyard of the apt building where we stayed, decorated for Xmas. It reminds me of how lucky I am to have such memories preserved in watercolor. And how lucky I am to have this watercolor community! Merry Christmas to all!
Well I tried the lilies again on hot press. I liked what happened with the colors but I miss the lightness of the Yupo version. I also like the yellow green lily pads in a line across the middle and the reflections that I got with a lot of scrubbing (another good reason to use hot press).
This week's theme seems to be difficult subjects. In this case, daffodils and snow, both of which I love but haven't totally captured their essence. This is mostly watercolor. Before I added any watercolor, though, I used white oil pastel to reserve some of the snow. That didn't work too well, so when I was finished, I went back with water-soluble oil pastel to add snow to branches. The water soluble pastel is much softer and more opaque than the regular oil pastels. If you zoom in, you'll notice the texture.
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| Daffodils in the Snow 8"x11" |
Still intrigued by snow, I added another hard topic—perspective. It's a cold snowy day on the el platform at Washington and Wabash. Right now, it's at that mid-point where I hate it and am tempted to tear it up and start over with something easier. But I'll keep on and see what happens. I do like the snowy white view of the tracks down the center and the way the angle of the tracks points to the empty white center of interest.
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| Washington and Wabash 8"x11" |
And here's a sketchbook study of a street in my neighborhood. When I saw this, the sun hit the red tree like a spotlight, catching some of the yellow leaves too. All the rest was in shadow. I've also done some value sketches but nothing comes close to the actual experience. I may keep working towards a final painting, but this is another hard one—capturing the brilliant colors of autumn.
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| approx. 4" x 5" |
Wishing everyone a wonderful holiday season, whatever you celebrate. See you next week.
Fiddled with a fish, but it just wasn't working out, Looking for something else I came across this photo that I took five years ago which I have had in the back of my mind to paint for a few years.
What intrigued me was those three stripes of sunlit water and the different shades of blue. The problem for me is going to be those big areas of the same shade of blue. They will have texture which means I will have to go over a large area with the same thing over and over and am likely to get bored and careless, Well maybe I will tart them up a bit.
With those days I lost fiddling with the fish, and thinking about how I was going to go about this, I find myself with no real painting so I am going to send some of my preliminaries so you guys won't think that I am some sort of sluggard.
I made this delicious anjeo old fashioned and decided that it would make a nice addition to my drink series. Watercolor on 9 X 12 140# coldpress. It may be my favorite cocktail painting.
Greeta and I were sitting in the backyard having a martini on one of the last warm autumn evenings and when I noticed the hydrangea bush on the wall over the lamp. I didn’t think that it would make a good painting because I didn’t know how the values would play. Watercolor on 12 X 16 on hot press. I haven’t used hot press in awhile but it enabled me to bring a softness to the work.
I didn’t realize until I saw them together that I used the same palate
I've been pondering this whole mixed media thing and I've decided to add new media deliberately to take advantage of specific qualities. So, here's a painting I've struggled with in pure watercolor. This was a snowstorm back in April (the 15th, to be exact), after the daffodils had bloomed. I'm using oil pastel as a resist so I can paint the flowers with abandon. I probably have to add more pastel later, but it's early days yet... we'll see.
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| 9" x 12" |
Same principle here... I've carried around this idea for a while, but couldn't figure out a way to do it without being too fussy. Here, I used oil pastels to reserve clumps of the flowers (white and pink). Then, I did a watercolor wash for the sky and came back with water soluble oil pastels to refine the blossoms and add the branches.
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| 5.5" x 7.5" (spread) |
Here, I was just playing with the oil pastels to get acquainted—no laughing! This is water soluble oil pastel on canvas. I didn't take full advantage of the water soluble part though. The first one is just direct drawing; then, I did some blending and added a background. I stopped here because I like the texture of the canvas showing through and found some of the blended passages getting muddy.
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| 10" x 8" (each) |
More playing. This is standard oil pastel on sketchbook paper. I blended a bit (fingers, palette knife and rag) and even tried a bit of scaping in the fur collar until the paper began to pill. The background is straight watercolor--just because I wanted to fill in the space more quickly than using the oil pastel stick.
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| 8.5" x 5.5" |
I am grateful for teacher Pat for giving us 3 styles of portait interpretations! I wish I could be as confident as these inspiration artists. In my desire to share my latest painting tribute with mutual friends with an "almost likeness" product, I realigned the facial features of the Dec 5 painting, thru nights of burning Comed. I have to stop somehow, life goes on! Enclosed also is the reference photo! I appreciate my fellow artist for encouraging feedback on my portrait endeavors. I usually painted landscapes & figures with barely there poses in only 3 hours only, our art class sked. To a beginner, portrait or figure art is an unforgiving & demanding world of patience & long hours, no half day job! An unexpected gift of pandemic 2020 is : " I have all the time in the world"! Thanks all fellow artists for helping maintain Showtime! A lighthouse on a stormy sea!
Who would be up for like a one hour zoom session, say at eleven or twelve like when we used to do Showtime? These comments are ok, but they sound a little stilted, and it's king of clumsy clicking through blogspot to to them. Not that I want to stop doing them, I think we could do both.
And thanks to the positive comments about the “resist” sunset painting last week, I did a quick sketch combining oil pastel and watercolor. I really like the effect on the tree branches.
This “homage” to Bonnard combines watercolor, oil pastels, and water soluble wax pastels. I drew with the oil pastels (which are really hard to blend), painted over it with various shades of blue watercolor and then added some water soluble wax pastels at the bottom. It’s pretty off the rails. I still like the mixed media approach but I haven’t found the right mix yet...all of there are 4 x 5 ish...
Finally here’s my portrait of the week. I’m feeling sort of mixed about the drawing (a result of too much mixed media?!) I think it resembles her but I didn’t capture the sass — her attitude, which is what makes the photo, imo. But I just can’t figure out why. Suggestions welcomed!
Today's painting is inspired by a photo of my friend Beth during a recent vacation in the Philippines (Ph). The background behind her right ear is a life size statue of a cardinal, thus I painted it in metallic tones. For the background behind her left ear, I painted Bonnard's sky and sun. I added the bamboo sticks and my Ph roof. Beth & I bonded in our 20's as CPAs working in the Management Division of our Audit Firm. We deemed ourselves too as the " poorest" since we took public transit and our fellow staffers used family cars. After I got married & migrated to Chicago, Beth became a firm scholar in Master in Mgt. This led to speedy promotion & she was assigned to our firm's branch in Hongkong. Later she joined the private holding company of the personal banker of Saudi royal family & stayed there until 1993. Meanwhile, Beth & I lost touch for 40 years plus. When she returned to Ph, she bought a pineapple farm, owned a realty company & started painting like myself after taking art classes. An IT friend of us tracked me thru the internet. We reconnected in 2016 & became email pen pals since. Tony & I enjoyed short & sweet memories of our Ph vacations in 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020,with her & also the use of her 3 cars plus driver! A prolific writer, she wrote artistic feedback of my watercolor art. She also viewed our Saturday showtime blog faithfully! I am grateful that both of us managed to reconnec with gusto & enthusiasm. Beth died of Leukemia& Lymphoma last Nov 30!
Here's my farewell to spring and summer. I deliberately focused on the flowers and windows and kept the rest soft, loose and low key, like the season.
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| 9" x 12" |
Meanwhile, I've been amazed by the colors we've had this fall and thought oil pastels might be just the medium to capture them. This is a small white house with a red door that was framed with a blaze of yellow leaves. I loved how the little door held its own even surrounded by all the flamboyant color. It's not there yet, but I am having fun and learning a lot about oil pastels (layering, blending and, mostly, patience). These make great sketches and studies.
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| 8" x 5.5" |
And then, I bought some water-soluble oil pastels. I had to do it—it was just enough to get me to free shipping. Anyway, I think these will be a perfect bridge between watercolors and oil pastels for me. They'll soften the "crayon" texture and garishness and allow better color blending...at least that's the plan. These are very soft and creamy though; now I'm wondering if I need to fix or seal these. I'll let it cure and report back next week.
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| 5" x 4" |
