Elaine O. — July 17, 2021

Here's the finished painting. These water lilies are in a koi pond, so the koi make an appearance, but the blossom itself does not.

Water Lilies VII        9" x 12"

This time, I roughly documented the process. I began in a rather slapdash way, but liked the result, as you recall. Here's the beginning...

 ...from there, I slowly began to add the water and fine tune details. It doesn't photograph too well, but it had a shimmery, pastel feel at this stage.

I kept going to get the water the shade of the actual subject. It's pretty shallow at this point, so you can see the fish clearly and the dark water brings out the warm colors of the lily pads and fish.

And from here, I tweaked the details to get to the final. I may go back and revisit some of the earlier stages. While they aren't exactly what I saw, I rather like the feel. Oh, and as for the experimental paint...this time it was Olive Green by Holbein. Although it is a lovely color, I did adjust it. Would I buy it again once this tube runs out? Probably not, but only because it's easy enough to mix and I don't use this color enough to justify having it as a convenience color.

elaine t / July 17

 I'm finally back! It's going to take a little time to get my brush skills back to snuff.

It's the tail end of Shark Week, so here is my tribute.

Fish in the water

 I'm going to tweak the water

Misty Gorge, Ten Year Old Sketch

 I resurrected a 10 year old sketch of Misty Gorge during the Yangtze River Cruise with my Accounting sorority for my July 17 painting! The sketch was done with a fine point black  pentel pen! It included the colors I saw during the river cruise: indigo, light burnt sienna, sap green, olive green & yellow ochre & the printed words became part of the scenery. I painted rays of the sun using artist tape, creating 3 rays of sun beam. When I removed the artist tape prematurely, the middle sun beam had a slight paper tear & the imperfection became a cloud break! Things happened! I enjoyed this piece since I invented the colors needed for the parts with no color reminders! Be inspired & paint happy  memories! Pandemic is still around!

Sara’s Quantity over Quality

 I figure if I just keep painting, eventually I’ll paint something I like…Mostly I’m working from little sketches I do outside in the morning while drinking my coffee. But a lot of the paintings I’ve done outside working from real life as well as sketches. I won’t say I’m getting better but I am using more paint…and different brushstrokes —which I seem to think is cheating. I have no idea why I think that…

Greeta wakes up for a sunrise & funds a musician on Facebook

 I didn’t fund him. I found him ……Wendy Fischer Hartman’s photo on Facebook. He has that black piece behind him which helps so much to highlight him. Lots of stuff….the chair, the drums, the cymbal, the car , the buildings.  I took Ken’s advice and painted him first.  This is in an annex to the people book…a Strathmore tablet which is a little larger  

The photo of the sunrise didn’t do it justice  and the painting less so  I put it in the tree book.

Elaine O. — July 10, 2021

Here's another in my Water Lilies series. I like the flat expanses of color and the intricate structure of the opening flower, in contrast to the soft, flowery way they look when opened. Upon review, I may touch up the flower's center  to increase the contrast, but other than that, I'm finished with this one.

Water Lilies VI        9" x 12"

Since I haven't been doing a lot of painting this week, I decided to begin another painting in a loose, direct fashion to get back in the swing. There are a few pencil guidelines to start me off, but mostly, this is a large, floppy brush with three colors (so far)—yellow, red and yellow-green. The "experimental" color I'm planning to add is Olive Green by Holbein (and probably a touch of ultramarine blue). This one is slightly different because these are Illinois lilies, not Wisconsin ones. Also, there are a couple of koi beneath the lily pads but no blossoms.

Water Lilies VII    9" x 12"

Alan July 4

 Been working on my maple series. 

Spring

Summer

Autumn

Winter

I’m surprised at the different feelings in each.

Back to drinking. I call this “Cosmos at the Cottage.”

A couple of quick sketches from Michigan. 

Minimal drawing. 

An impression of lilies across the lake.

Procession of Artifacts, Pandemic Sep 2021

 Fr. Bob, announced last July 4th, that the 3 merged churches in my neighborhood, have a unique arrangement with the Archdiocese. St. Ita is the management church, St Thomas is in charge of outreach ministry, & St.Gregory ( my original worship site) is the cultural center in charge of catechism & gregorian chant schools & art instruction, exhibition & artistic support!The cultural center will apply for a 501c3 & will be a foundation with a separate executive director! This good news amidst the pandemic challenges inspired me to rework my September 2021 painting of the after merger Procession of Artifacts from St. Greg to St. Ita. I did the ff: (1) Created a pathway of green among the shelter trees from the source of light (2) Enhanced the 3 Icons & made them glow (3) Refreshed the figures of 10 parishioners plus our retired pastor,Fr. Paul (4) Solidified the structure of the church tower of St. Greg. At 10 a.m. July 10, I was done!  

Another fish

 

All it needs now is a background