Playing around….

 I did a quick new version of these two lovebirds, with a larger, more dramatic sky. Not sure it’s the direction I want to go in…here’s the other version for comparison …inexplicably they appear larger in the first version below, but they are actually the same size in both paintings. I’m favoring the first version (below) because the emphasis is on them….i also like the less dramatic water and sky….

Oh, and here’s the recent self portrait— directly painted…I didn’t even comb my hair…

A motley crew

This one got away from me.

This one never went anywhere.

 And this one. Well I have some hope for it.

No More Portraits Under Pressure

 

Moved to a different photo. Still doesn’t look like him. Time to paint some flowers or trees. 

March 28, 2026 — Elaine O.

Small changes—yet, it's taken hours to imagine and sketch a person who is still not quite right. And then, something's happening where the paper around her won't take paint right. All in all, this takes the painting from a "masterpiece" to a "learning experience." Still, there are things I like and I'm happy with the memory.

Pont-Neuf, Having Just Missed the Train, 14" x 10"

By the sea….

 

This turned out not too badly. I’m trying to get that look of the weird sunlight that pops thru the clouds before the storm. Maybe it needs more sky, less beach to get that across.

Last round, Ken suggested I take his nose  off of her knees, but the separation definitely changes the mood imo. Maybe that and the dark troubled sky …definitely a friendlier vibe in the bottom one…and better weather. Not really in love with this pose. I tell you there is so much paint on these two…I really should just transfer from watercolor to gouache.

Alan Spring 2026-1

 Still have more skaters to do. On 8 1/2 X 12 Yupo it’s more like what I was going for even with some logic errors. More to do sometime. 

  

Still working on my little exercises on 140# cold press. 

January sunset. 

Chair with pillows and blankets. 

March 21, 2026 — Elaine O.

So close! I just have a few tiny tweaks left—oh, and I still have to resolve that whole lower right corner. I think this needs a person waiting for the train. Next week for sure!

14" x 10"

Mark Your Calendar! Photography Exhibition

Our creativity doesn't stop with watercolor. You're invited to a photography exhibition featuring our very own Elsa.

 It's Friday, March 27, from 6-10pm only, so mark your calendar!

More hills

July

November

Hard to tell

March 14, 2026 — Elaine O.

I know it's a little difficult to see what's going on yet, but it's a train station in Paris. It's pretty minimal in color but I'm really drawn to the perspective lines of the tracks, platform and tiles. 

14" x 10"

Falling down a hill

Mostly working on the blue in the sky on this one, but I like the the way the hill stood up for itself.

 This guy is going to have to step out of the shadow of his big brother and I may just have a way to help him out.

Life’s a beach….

 

I

I started painting in all beach activity and stuff, and then realized there was no way I could finish that….so I took most of it out. I think I’m going to paint it again, with just them. 

Here they are again. I painted this once before and was not successful and again, in the top painting, I’m not too successful: it’s too dark and blotchy, so maybe the third time is the charm. At least it’s a better start. I don’t know why I’m drawn to this image,it’s not particularly good, but there’s something that’s interesting to me. And there’s kind that weird light you get at the beach when it’s cloudy. 

O’Keefe

 Did not really get her but really love the structure of her face. 

Alan Winter 10-2026

Having watched the Olympics, I fell in love with Short Track Racing. I thought it would be perfect for Yupo-that the movement could be captured easier. I was wrong. I’m going to try looser on other skaters. 5 X  12.

Back to sketches. 

Bowl of soup. Bowl should be round and factory finished not handmade. But…..the soup was good. 

Pair of sneakers. 

Winter flowers. 

Uncle Ken's Blue Period.

This is a painting I did maybe a year ago, one of those paintings where it suddenly announces, mid brush stroke, that it is done.  I especially like that midpoint on the tree where the trunk gets mixed up with the sky.  5x7

I wanted to do a larger version of it and here it is.  I like various parts of it but to me they don't work well together.  Except for the sky which I like a lot.  9x12

These are three horizontals I did to get the feel of various blues.  I've never given blue its due, a few swatches a little water and that would do for a sky.  What I particularly liked about the sky behind the tree was the way it granulated, so I decided to try something with a lot of sky.

 

So here it is so far the sky is ok, and I think I can work with that, well, hill.  The painting and the photo I took, do not have that pink, so I am thinking the reason for the off colors is not our photos, it is Blogspot. 9x12

March 7, 2026—Elaine O.

I'm done—and happy with it. I'm also hoping we're done with this weather for the season, but it sure is pretty and peaceful in retrospect, isn't it? 

10" x 14"

Class Photo—Spring I 2026

Here we are, looking fine and painting well.

And yes, this was actually considered "Spring I" in Truman-world.

A couple of trees….

These are small,sketchbook size. Just seeing how much paint I can pile on them….the bottom one has a lot of watercolor pencil too. I like to dip the pencil point in water and then draw with it. You get a lot of intense color that way. I like the contrast in the bottom one and the building color in the top one, but the tree shadows are not quite there….as always. Just looking at my two double portraits this week, trying to decide if they’re done.
 

Slicing an infected wound

 The story on the first one is I texted my sister and included a photo of it and my sister texted back that she was going to the hospital for an appointment and added, 'that looks like an infected wound."  I thought she meant she had an infected wound, and was going to send back my concern thinking maybe she had one, but then realized she was talking about my painting.  It does, doesn't it.Slici

The three horizontals are inspired by the top, middle, and lower slices of the painting.  But they are out of order and one or two are upside down, and it doesn't really matter because they have gone far from their inspiration.  

February 28, 2026—Elaine O.

I've gone nocturne. Now comes the moment of truth. While, I actually like the energy of those blue lines, it's time to let it dry thoroughly and remove the masking fluid...

10" x 14"

I still have some work to do, but I do like the tracery of the twigs. Interestingly enough, this photo looks bluer and cooler. Same camera, same location, both in natural light but at different times of day. The second one is closer to life, and I'll be interested to see how the final version photographs next week.