Thursday, February 28, 2013

Daffodils


I can't wait for Spring to arrive; that's when my daffodils will bloom.  



Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Tulips

I never get tired of painting flowers and dropping paint.  Wet-on-wet and mingling of several colors.




Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Primroses


 These days I'm trying to use my paint brush to draw and add color.  Basically the mingling of two colors and allowing them to bleed together.




Monday, February 25, 2013

I Love Roses

I've always have loved roses.  I have many bushes in my backyard and front yard.  This is just a sampling of some of those roses.



Sunday, February 24, 2013

Pitcher full of roses

I just love playing with Paper 53 on my mini Ipad.  I think the Paper 53 is one of  the easiest drawing app that I've used.  I did buy the different brushes that Paper 53 offered.





Saturday, February 23, 2013

Palette knife tulips


I've been doing a lot of experimenting lately, trying to get out of my comfort zone.  Sometimes I like the results and sometimes I don't.  With this small watercolor I used acrylic ink with a palette knife to do the line work.  Then I went back in with a wet brush and moved the color around.  I then went into Photoshop and poured in the green background.



Friday, February 22, 2013

IF -- Whisper






Great crested fly catcher

For the longest time I stayed away from drawing birds, but after watching birds play outside my bedroom window, I decided I needed to overcome that fear.   I painted this guy on mix media paper, using gouache by M. Graham, Winsor Newton, Caran d'ache, and Holbein.  The M.Grahams, W/N, and the Caran d'ache seem to re-wet with no problem;but the Holbein...it's kind of hit or miss.  I'm planning on buy a set of 
Schmincke Horadam gouache this weekend.  I guess it's time to spend the money on good quality gouache and Schmincke seems to get great reviews.  I also have been playing around with Photoshop using the gradient feature for the background.










Thursday, February 21, 2013

Balzer Designs Ava template

It started with this template from Balzer Designs and created the painting below.  I liked the template because it gave me basic portion sizing and from there I could create my own face.




Wednesday, February 20, 2013

Mendocino...a day trip

I always loved going to Mendocino for the day.  Mendocino is a quaint  seaside town up north on High way 1 in Northern, California.  The town is filled with quaint side streets to explore.




Tuesday, February 19, 2013

From a river up north

When I lived in Northern California, I had to pass over bridges to get to my house on the coast.  This is a typical scene I would see on the way home.


Monday, February 18, 2013

Paper by Fifty Three App for IPad

I had purchased Paper 53 when it first was introduced.  I was using a stylus to draw and paint my pictures, unfortunately, I wasn't getting the results I wanted...you know the kind of strokes you get with a paint brush. It wasn't until I came across a Sensu  portable artist brush and stylus.  It looks like a paint brush and it allows me to create with ease.  The stylus is a bit pricey around $40, but is well worth every penny.
Sensu Brush & Stylus for Touchscreen Devices [Wireless Phone Accessory]


Sunday, February 17, 2013

Carolina Chickadee

I've always though Chickadee's were such cute little birds.  I didn't realize that there were many varieties.  I think I might work on a series for note cards.  I sketched him out then used my Daniel Smith watercolors on mix media paper.  When I scanned it in Photoshop  I thought I would drop in background color.  I'm just amazed at all the things one can do with Photoshop.


Saturday, February 16, 2013

Crayola paint brush pens

I've been playing around with portable ways to carry a limited palette of watercolors.  I bought this cheap crayola no drip paint brush pens to see if they might be a quick way to apply color with limited colors on the go.

Crayola No Drip Paint Brush Pen Set


So here is my drawing just using the Crayola paintbrush pens.    I applied the color and then used my water brush to blend in the color.  I think it's a fun way to doodle when I don't have all my watercolor supplies with me.  You should try it out.  

Friday, February 15, 2013

IF -- Wool

I was suppose to go to an Alpaca ranch last weekend, but it was raining and rather cold.  So I decided to paint a baby alpaca from an old photo that I had taken up northern several years ago when I went to an Alpaca show.




Thursday, February 14, 2013

flower of the courtyard


In the hotels outdoor patio, the wall was lined with planter boxes of blooming flowers.


Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Colors of the sky at dusk

This was how the sky looked one summer evening as the sun was setting.  Toned paper using gouache.



Tuesday, February 12, 2013

It started with a hand craved stamp

When I was in Fabriano, Italy the road ways were lined with these tall trees.  I hand craved a image of the trees and then applied the impression to toned paper that I had already dropped color on.  Once the ink was dry on the trees, I went back in with sap green gouache to finish off the painting.



Monday, February 11, 2013

The Italian skys


One of the many impressions of a beautiful warm Italian summer day.  Toned paper using gouache.



Sunday, February 10, 2013

Italian wind surfer

Impression of  wind surfer in Italy.  Toned paper using gouache.




Saturday, February 09, 2013

Day at the beach

This is from a wonderful day at the beach in Italy.  Toned paper using gouache.




Friday, February 08, 2013

IF -- Storm


Trying to weather the storm here in California.


Parrots....

All I can see and paint lately is Birds.  Trying to master the art of bird drawing and painting.





Thursday, February 07, 2013

Red trees




I've seen lots of old master painters paint impressionistic paintings of trees down some lonely European lane. This is my take on a lane I saw in Italy last summer.   Size 16 x 20.  Golden acrylics.


Wednesday, February 06, 2013

Vase full of flowers



For the longest time I've put off painting large in acrylics.  So I took the plunge and painted large.  
Size 16 x 20; golden acrylic paints.


Tuesday, February 05, 2013

Birds on my walk

When I going walking in the morning I'm sometimes surprised with beautiful and cute little birds.  This is the guy I saw this morning.




Monday, February 04, 2013

Pretty as a picture

I'm really pleased with this bird painting.  I think I'm finally getting the hang of drawing them.  I always seem to get the body of  the bird to round or long and the feet way too big.


Sunday, February 03, 2013

Puffin


I've been going through my various journals looking for paintings that needed to be completed and I found this guy.  I just needed to add a few more touches and he was done.  When I look at him, he makes me smile because he's so cute.


Saturday, February 02, 2013

Flower and butterflies

I came across these two butterflies fluttering around the bud of this pinkish orange flower.



Friday, February 01, 2013

IF -- Wheel

Thomas Jefferson created a Wheel Cipher that was used to encode and decode messages during the American Revolution.


Birds are curious



I wonder what he's thinking???