nothing much to see here

This is last week's tree, looked kind of tame and empty.

So I roughened it up a bit.  This was the first session of that and I meant to do more, but when I looked at it the next day I decided it looked pretty good the way it is.  May come back and do a little more on that lower landscape.

 I've been back and forth on this much of the week.  Right now it looks disturbingly like a gum drop, but I have a plan.  Sorta.

Alan Fall 25-3

 OK. I think this one is finished and I’ll continue to show the phases. 

Between step two and three I made some changes that I didn’t like and there were a couple of logic errors (like the tree trunk being behind the building but the leaves in front) that bothered me.  The nice thing about Yupo is the ease of removing something you don’t like. But if you try to fix a wash, just start over. 

Echinacea

 A chance to use my new tube of Pyrrol Orange. Ken may have had influence here making the centers and not the petals the focus. 

September 27, 2025 — Elaine O.

Yes, pears have been on sale lately. Besides being tasty, they have such interesting shapes and colors. I mixed varieties and slightly backlit them. Honestly, I don't think they need much by way of background. They command the stage all by themselves.

approx. 9.5" x 13"

Ss: " Survivor,Towel, Flora"

Please watch " Lumpia Fusion" Art Exhibit @ Catacombs of Epiphany Art Center 201 S.Ashland , corner Adams, Chicago from Sep 19 to Nov 14, 2025 of 24 Filipino American Artists. I submitted 3 18"x24" Watercolor paintings (1) " Survivor,her Towel and Get Well Flowers";(2)"A Quiet Date";(3) "Parade Golden Anniversary".The Welcome reception was on September 19, 2025, 6pm to 9pm. Happy Painting to all!

Alan Fall 25-2

 Spent more time than it looks. Got the compositional parts in but it’s taking a long time to dry between sittings for the parts that I don’t want to blend. 

First pass:

Second pass:

I know what I want now. Now’s the fun part. 

End of summer colors….

 

Some weeks, I can do five paintings in between classes but not this week, only class work from last week and this week. A lot of paint on both of these, but I like depth in colors and the mixing of colors. That tree could use a little more work to make it look less flat, more 3d….

flora

Added just a touch of burnt orange and I think it perked it up.

The branches are too regular.  I will complicate the situation which will make it a little better, but mainly I am interested in my new favorite paint colors, indigo and gamboge.  

 

September 20, 2025 — Elaine O.

 Pears were on sale this week, so I started to paint their portraits before I ate them.

11" x 14"

If you're wondering why I got so little accomplished this week, it's because...well, life! Here's a small part of my week. And if I were in the habit of naming sketchbooks, this one would have to be called "The Construction Chronicles." Here's hoping construction season ends soon so I can use colors other than grays and browns!

11.5" x 8"

Ss Noodle & Grass 920

 I added more wash to Noodle's body & defined his head more & added the grass to pop him out! I felt I got his essence & will send to Niece Lea soon. Happy Painting everyone! Have a great summertime!

Ss Art Friends 091925

 You are cordially invited Lumpia Fusion Art Exhibit 0919 to 111425 @ Epiphany Arts 201 S. Ashland with 24 Artists. SS with Fellow Artists Maggie & Heather of Gritta & Alan. Ss Watercolor: A Quiet Date & Parade Gold Anniversary 

Listening to voices

I had a plan, well not really of course, but as I progressed things got too damn heavy.  I liked the water well enough but the rocks were beginning to look like moldy potatoes. 

I blotted out most of the paint on the rock potatoes and listened for the paint to tell me something, but I could not hear a thing.

So I started this new one.  Hard to say where this is going but it is talking to me and that is all I ask.

 

Alan fall 25-1

Well……I can sit and paint again. So here’s a little rural sketching. 

Here’s 2 5 X 7 pen and ink sketches from around the cottage that I added watercolor washes to. 

This is the shed behind the cottage along with the clothes line  

And this is the meadow behind the cottage with my neighbors garden and new outbuilding. 

Some friends saw my paintings of my granddaughters dogs and offered to pay me to paint theirs. But I didn’t feel right taking their money and Pat said I needed more practice painting dogs so I did these 9 X 12 coldpress ones. 

Time to return to Yupo. This is the beginning of a sunset at the end of my alley. We’ll see what happens. 

 

September 13, 2025 — Elaine O.

I realized I hadn't done people in a while; so, being between paintings, I opened my sketchbook and did a quick direct watercolor sketch of the newest baby in the family.

11.5" x 8"

And I finished and waxed my Sunday morning waffle memento. I'm done with the painting, not the wafflemaker. I can definitely see more waffle experiments ahead—and maybe some of them will be worthy of a painting.

6" x 6"

Ss: Noodle was a Dream 91325

Today, I painted the pet of my niece Learose, his name is Noodle!My first time to do a full body figure of a dog with his eyes asking for perfection while he sit looking up on the grass during a church picnic last Sep 7. Since this is a first time trial with an obvious waiting audience, our niece, I decided to paint the dog like an object( I do not know the breed!); so I painted the negative space surrounding his body with ultra blu and yellow to simulate the grass. I painted the dark fur with lamp black ( from my tray of no tube colors!) and green. The creamy color came from yellow ochre and raw umber. The white fur is the white of the paper. The pink dog collar is light carmine. This project was from 10 am to 1145 Saturday morning @ Truman!I am hesitant to retouch, I might overflow my energy. Learose wanted to buy it! Ah ah! Love is free! 

9"x12"

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?