First wash on new and unfamiliar paper. Second wash and accents next. The Fortress of Sighișoara ( Schäßburg) in Transylvania, Romania

"Hot-pressed" failure saved by Ink

August 29, 2026 — Elaine O.

We're back in the hot sunny days of the early 70's. On my last version, I spent a lot of time layering glazes to adjust temperature. I wondered what would happen if I tried again, but with only "hot" colors. I'm trying to get a sense of the lazy heat of the day—so, the atmosphere more than the subject. Here's my start (already using many layers of arylide yellow, pyrrol orange and pthalo turquoise).

12" sq.

Board of Trade

Somehow it’s at the same time overworked and unfinished.  It did get me to experiment a little with Jeanne Dobie’s color palette for neutrals.  Hope I have the discipline to keep working on that because she does whole paintings with neutrals and they do glow.  

More of these guys

 An itch I can't stop scratching because it feels sooooo  good.

12 - Deadly Hemlock

13 - Light in August

14 - Fire in the Hold

15 Green Mansion

16 The Devil steps on a Lego

17 - Hard Candy

18 - In a Distant Land

19 - In the Garden

20 - The Dead Sea

Back to Evanston

Playing with colors

Alan. Summer 2026-6

 Ok. I’m finished with this painting. I’m not crazy about it but  I don’t hate it like I used to. I used everything in my bag- watercolor, gouache, crayons, watercolor pencils, pastels and anything else I had. Now, there are many things that I like about it-the lamp, the tree, the windows, the foreground buildings, and many other things. But, they don’t work together and there appears to be nothing I can do to make them. 

I saw this big onion on the counter of the orchard we go to in Michigan and thought it would be perfect for Yupo. It’s all watercolor on 14 X 11 heavy yupo. Somebody else bought it-the onion not my painting.

 

Experiments in paint….

 This one I was experimenting with the red edging on the coleus leaves, trying to suggest the pattern without drawing a million little lines. My attempts were not too successful. The colors are pretty close though….

Here’s the finished tomato bonanza. Again I was trying to indicate the smooth marbling pattern of the counter. But this is pretty much a fail. But I do like the tomatoes and the sugar shaker. (I come from a family that puts sugar on their tomato slices. I’ve never met anyone else who does that!)

This is half successful. I like the way the first two bottles are painted; the last two look a little too studied….

Appealing

 Once you donate to The Chgo Food Depository, they inundate you with appeals. This child was on the latest flyer.  He/she is in my hot press sketchbook.