Buildings and trees…

 Just started working on this today in the art class time slot. It’s 11x15. I like where it’s going. And yes I’ve probably painted this scene a million times over the years. But I was listening to a podcast interview with Hazel Soan, a watercolorist who also paints the same subjects over and over. She said, “I’m not using watercolors to paint a subject. I’m using a subject to paint a watercolor.” 

This is 7 x10, from a photo I saw online. I was attracted to the sky and all the straight lines. I kind of like it but painting those huge swaths of field and grass was hard. I don’t really know how to texturize large areas and I’m not sure I want to, but keeping them all one color looked too abstract and boring….

One last look at this cityscape. I darkened the buildings and street with some dark blue- not sure if it’s pthalo or Prussian. It’s looking more interesting imo. I might do this again, maybe without the cars…

Giraffe: 2.0

 So, technically my first watercolor "painting." Also, my first redo. The first painting was just the face of the giraffe, and while it was decent, the composition kinda sucked. So, I repainted it with more of the neck and mane. I used a photo that I took a couple years ago at the Lincoln Park Zoo. I faked in the tree from a photo I found online, but I might still tweak this a bit.

Overall, I think it's pretty good for my first "composed" painting. It feels a little too much like an illustration for a children's book for my taste. Plus, I feel liked I overworked the paint a bit too much, and relied on white paint to "fix" my highlights. But, I did learn a lesson about transparent vs. opaque paint!

So far, this is my favorite.

 

Why is this is my favorite? Because it turned out the way I planned it. I painted just enough...no overworking the paint or adding too many layers. It seems the freshest and most "painterly."

ooooooh, shiny!

 

Yeah, looks like eggs to me.

 

Sunny, the sunflower extends her petals.

 Everything is going completely to plan.  Trust me.

Waiting for Inspiration…

 Here’s my last Louisville painting, 9x12. I painted the blinds with watercolor pens that were a Xmas gift. They act more like markers, as the paint doesn’t really spread too much with water…

Here’s a street scene I painted in class yesterday, 11x15. Not really my thing, but a very popular watercolor subject. I like painting the big shapes, and trying to figure out how to fudge the small details. But looking at it now, I can see I need to go darker, not enough contrast.

These are two small still lifes, 5x7 and 6x8. The top one I painted directly, the bottom one I painstakingly drew first. Both are kind of boring, which begs the question, how do you make a still life interesting? How do you make anything interesting?

As always, I am awaiting

a rebirth of wonder…

Elaine O. — April 1, 2023

It's been a productive week. I finished my portrait! The tweaks were relatively quick, but I labored over the background for days. In the end, I like it—the colors, the organic/inorganic contrast, and especially the composition.

Girl with Pet Robot 18" x 6"

And I'm nearly finished with this row of black garbage bags moving out the door to a waiting dumpster. I like the sense of movement this format provides, even though I didn't fit all the garbage bags.

March of the Garbage Bags 18" x 6"

This is the last sheet of the 6x18" pad—just as I'm getting the hang of it, too! I find myself really drawn to this format. Besides being good for landscapes and tall things, it's fun to travel through the frame like a scroll—filling the frame with a person or a story, cropping any unnecessary bits. I suspect this won't be the last painting of this size for me.

Alan in Mississippi 4

 Well, after a bout of food poisoning from one of our past favorite restaurants, we had a hard time sitting down to paint. Food poisoning is hard on older folks. 

But I did do some work before being stricken down. 

I completed a class assignment with this simple beach scene that was done as a study in values. I would never paint this on my own but I learned from it. I like the dog but I would not place that pole directly over the umbrella.

A lovely spot on the bayou where we get good oysters. These are just a couple of quick pen and ink sketches in my sketchbook with a watercolor wash. I felt like I was too controlled in the first one so I tried to be looser with the second and be bolder with the ink. I was but I was using an ink that ran when hit with water (which I didn’t find out until I hit it with water) but I sort of liked the results even though it turned out darker than I wanted. 

Here is a thumbnail value drawing for the next assignment. It’s recognizable by many Chicagoans as being from Graceland Cemetery. 

Here’s a Yupo study of Greeta in Vicksburg. I just started this and am trying to do it without drawing. 

Good morning 🌞