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.