My Little Workout Book is Back

 Have never come close to mastering washes so will try to do it on my next project from a great FB photo via Pictures of Chicago. Looking at Ellen Hutson videos for guidance. 

 It's all about the texture.  Have to admit that even I got a little tired of the dit dit dit towards the end.

September 6, 2025 — Elaine O.

I made an impulse purchase from a clearance endcap and I've already recouped my $10 investment in fun—and waffles! To document my latest obsession (and my first waffle!), I started this small painting on Aquaboard. It's not finished yet, but it's a celebration of quiet Sunday morning fun.

6" x 6"

A ramshackle tree and even more ramshackle flowers.

 I lost the tenderness of the first time I posted it.  Did different treatments for different parts of the tree but I like to think that the ramshackle has some charm.

 Kind of an experiment to see what I could do with just two of my favorite go to paints, indigo and burnt yellow.  Needs a little mop up work, but I think I am on the right track.  Eager to try another two paints only painting.

August 30, 2025 — Elaine O.

Finally! It's taken a while, hasn't it? There are things I like and things that frustrate me—like the ripped paper from leaving the mask on too long. It was an experiment; I masked a couple of highlights, painted around others, and tried to lift others. From now on, I'll stick with the "paint around." Best results (for me) and no ripped paper!

14" x 11"

A Little of This and That

 Facebook knowing everything about me, sends watercolor reels to my feed. Short without color or equipment tips and usually accompanied by music, they play over and over so you can keep up. Took out a sketchbook never used and doing the ones that appeal to me.  Very instructive to watch the brush strokes. Great way to keep going when I don’t know what to paint. 

A couple more trees

This is a reworking of that tree that had a couple branches hanging down from the lowest branch which I could never do so I yupoed them out and worked on the tree and on that verdant meadow.

 A tree on that lagoon on the north side of Graceland not far from Ernie Bank's tombstone.  I think it looks promising at this stage.

August 24, 2025 — Elaine O.

I don't know whether to blame a) those lazy, hazy days of summer, b) the general busyness of life or c) the fact that without Saturday class sessions, there's no accountability. Anyway, I've made some progress on this painting, but it still isn't finished.

14" x 11"

Going Small

 8 x 5-1/2. Trying it small before a big one is attempted. Have fiddled with it so much that now I’m sick of it. In the reference photo there’s a beautiful historic fence and that dark area has rear view of heads and torsos of onlookers. That was all too much. 

A few odd paintings….

 This one’s not too odd, but it’s just trying on the frame for size…it all works well imo…

I love these peaches…

Now here’s an odd painting. If you look at it too long, you’ll get seasick! I was out to prove I could paint cloth just like Elaine, but I can’t and I’m not really very good at setting up still lifes either! But it was an interesting exercise.

A couple of beach scenes, top one still in progress. I like the sky in the second one but I have to work on my squiggle people…I saw a painting in a thrift store that was a watercolor beach scene that was just flat blocks of color and it worked so well…not getting the same effect here…

Stuff I did this week

This is the way last week's coneflowers ended up.

 This was kind of an experiment, I sloshed a lot of indigo and sepia on the yupo, let it dry a bit, blotted it, repeated that a couple times aiming for a sky vibe and only then thinking of what to do next, and this is what I did next.

August 16, 2025 — Elaine O.

Another busy week in the neighborhood meant fodder for the sketchbook....

... and not a lot of time for actual painting. What's that saying about life being a bowl of cherries?

Stop talking about the lamp!

 

Well, I hope this clarifies all the issues concerning the lamp! Not my best work but it’s done! Now go have a peach….

Still a work in progress….

Where To Keep Your Birds When You Don’t Have A Cage

 

My bird paintings are so small I thought about making them into a collage. Then I spotted the box my Apple tablet came in and made reduced copies of the birds, glued the copies to the top of the box, brushed on modge podge and dropped them in. Now they won’t fly away. I did this on a book cover with paintings of houses in my neighborhood. It’s fun. 

Elaine Osborne, this is your life. Well your house anyway

Twenty seven years ago you, Elaine, rendered the homestead in watercolor (Who remembers what boffo art show it was in?)   Just presenting this as a sidebar to your post

 

August 9, 2025 — Elaine O.

I realized I've been neglecting my sketchbook lately—especially since there's a lot going on that needs documenting. Lots of construction...and this time, it's mostly ours! So, after a particularly hectic week, I finished this spread. 

11.5" x 16"

It's not fine art, just enough to roughly document the week for myself. Sadly, most of the work involves dirt, brick and concrete—hence, lots of grays and browns. The work around the neighborhood continues though, and next week promises to be more colorful.

More coneflowers

A single coneflower, or is it an octopus?

9x12 done.

Several coneflowers or are they jellyfish with roots?  

9x12 unfinished.

Random Radishes

 They’re supposed to be lying.on the ground but instead they’ve taken flight. 

August Coneflowers

 Coneflowers have been the Lords of the Lurie Gardens for the past two weeks, but they bow out early leaving their stalks waving like heads upon a stick.  

August 2, 2025 — Elaine O.

Sometimes, you just have to know when to step away. This was based on a small, old B&W reference photo. After some direct watercolor sketching, it was time for fine-tuning and finessing. But I find I like the ghostly feel of this, especially for a vintage scene like this. It feels like a memory. So I'm walking away.

11" x 14"

Alan New Hip 1

 After getting my new hip,I couldn’t sit in one position for more than 10 minutes so I tried painting while standing-no go. But I’m ok now. So here are two paintings on cold press. The first is 9 X 12 and the second is 11 X 14. 

I’d spend more time on the steps but I’ve scrubbed it out so many times that there’s not much paper left.

I did a small sketch of the view down my block at night of the corner gas station where I get my milk and Cheetos and decided to make it a full sized painting. I like the feel of it but I’d draw the bottom differently. 

I’m too old to be this busy….

 

Well part of my problem is I think it’s Thursday instead of Wednesday…Whatever, I just unpacked my art bag from class on Saturday…totally forgot I had painted this mostly in class. I like the colors and the building detail, need a little more work on leaves and branches.

AAlso worked on this one, which I can’t seem to crop. Not sure about this…gotta go to exercise class…

When It Blooms

 My favorite pot this summer. Took photo when pink Angelonia was in full bloom. Shortly after the photo it gave up but the sweet potato vine has reached the ground. Many parallels between gardening and watercolor painting. 

A tree and a meadow

I think this needs something more but not sure what.

I think this one is done.

 

 

July 26, 2025 — Elaine O.

Here it is in all its glory—a bathroom window. I loved the light bouncing around all the reflective surfaces, framing the solid backlit plant. I tried to rely on color rather than value to get that effect and I think it worked. At any rate, I am very happy with the way this turned out.

The Bathroom Window    9" x 12"

After all that dancing visual patterning, I wanted something calmer and simpler (and easier?). Same bathroom, but a more serene corner. This may be a study. I like the composition, and I like the blue-green color, but the paint has some opaque white in it and it feels chalky and splotchy. I do like that liquid soap bottle, though!

approx. 10" x 13"

Makes me wonder if I've found a new series—bathrooms?

Almost There

 Grandson Wyatt. His first beard. It amused me that he grew it while he still had braces….but ended up not including them. Hope I’ve learned the lesson after this…Use a bigger piece of paper😳

Can’t see the forest….

 

Here’s a painting I did a few years ago . It’s on a piece of crummy sketch paper,  but i  really like it and that’s what I’m trying to recreate in a larger format.

So these are all the trees I’ve been painting and this is my reference photo. And it just dawned on me this minute that the first painting is not confined by a window frame…and I know, none of the paintings look like the reference photo…and the reference photo looks nothing like the first painting that I really like…I’m just a confused person….does anyone know what happened to Alan and Greeta?

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Watercolor Painting     Sat 9:00AM - 12:00PM    TR Bldg 1 - Rm 3901    Sep 6, 2025-Oct 18, 2025                 

ADLTART 1003-SC2 (37051) 

Watercolor Painting     Sat 12:15PM - 3:15PM    TR Bldg 1 - Rm 3901     Sep 6, 2025-Oct 18, 2025
                
    
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Watercolor Painting    Sat 9:00AM - 12:00PM     TR Bldg 1 - Rm 3901    Oct 25, 2025-Dec 13, 2025                                                                                                                             (off Nov 29)

ADLTART 1003-SD2 (37053) 

Watercolor Painting    Sat 12:15PM - 3:15PM     TR Bldg 1 - Rm 3901    Oct 25, 2025-Dec 13, 2025                                                                                                                               (off Nov 29)  

                                                                                                                             

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In progress

No trees I am afraid.  I love the flowing undulations of the Lurie Gardens.  Maybe too many different colors and maybe it could use some tall plants close up.  

Tree is going to need some work to fit in, but I need to fill in more background to find out how that might work.

 

July 19, 2025 — Elaine O.

Here's the dilemma when you have a really good reference photo. Do you try to paint it, knowing it may never be as good, or do you just let it be its own beautiful photo self and paint something else? I took a chance painting a photo of my Mom's bathroom window. I'm about 75% finished here and I haven't ruined it yet. Next week will tell, I think.

approx. 9" x 12"

 

Winter in Summer 71995

 The first version of this neighborhood scenery sometime in February 2025 drew comments on the dog and her walker. The rest of the painting was a major application of white or lightest values to show it was a heavy snowfall. I was not able to show the silhouettes of the houses across the street nor did I highlight the bodies, the leaves and the trunks of the 2 trees. Thus, when I prepared my painting stuff into my 2 paint bags, I picked up this February painting with a plan to improve the values and create an acceptable Andersonville snowball winter story. During the Saturday class of July 19, I converted the 12" X 9" into a square 9" X 9" by cutting the top 3 inches of the paper which showed  the painting of  the curtain like mini canopy of the pine trees of my house & my neighbor's. The removal made the composition easier to arrange. I added the bike & stop sign at the top right empty space. I defined the houses across the street and added the blue car on the left. I added the  turquoise shadows of the dog and the walker. And then I have the revised snow scene of July 19! Happy Painting!