The Great Monarch Butterfly Chase by R.W.N. Prior

Back in 1993 my husband on a dare wrote a children's book titled "The Great Monarch Butterfly Chase." He wrote the story,did rather basic illustrations, made a dummy book, and submitted his manuscript to 3 publishers...all done in 30 days. Within two months the manuscript was accepted for publication by Bradbury Press, An Affiliate of Macmillan, Inc. Eight months later the book was published. I believe there were two full printings making my husband a nice sum of money.

Whenever I mention the book, people want to know where they can purchase a copy. Unfortunately the publisher stop printing the book. Recently while unpacking I came across a few copies of his book. With my husband's permission, I scanned his book and now you can read his story of the monarch butterfly's journey from state to state all the way down to Mexico.

A nude

On WetCanvas there was a challenge to paint Sophie in any medium...here is my interpretation.

9 x 12 cold press
Daniel Smith watercolors

Divide and Conquer my studio

Divide and conquer my studio...that's my new mantra. I don't know how many times I have organized my studio, each time discovering art material that I have. One could say I'm never out of supplies. During my organization I finally found my 100 plus watercolor tubes of paint. Some being Winsor-Newton, Daniel Smith,Daley Rowney, and Hobein. It was Xmas early.

A couple of weeks ago I had ordered this empty artist palette with 18 slots for watercolor paint. So I decided to pick 18 colors that I use over and over again. Most are Winsor Newton and about 5 are Daniel Smith. I'm just trying to use up these tubes of the Winsor Newton, since I love all of Daniel Smith watercolors. When I run out of a color I'll replace with Daniel Smith.

Top row:

Transparent Yellow,Cobalt Yellow,Naples Yellow, New Gamboge,Alizarin Crimson, and Indigo

Middle Row:

FUB,Cobalt Blue,Cerulean Blue,Cobalt Turquoise Lt,Sap Green, Yellow Orche.

Bottom Row:

Raw Sienna,Perm Brown,Burnt Sienna,Burnt Umber,Raw Umber, Ivory Black

Red old Truck

This painting is one that I almost ripped up and started over again. Instead I gave myself a break for a few days to see if I could salvage it.
Sometime around 11 p.m. last night, I decided to work with what I had painted and just went for it. I just kept on layering it and mixing colors on the painting as I went along. If I was to paint this truck again I'd do a few things differently. Probably I would add more to the background, reposition the truck on the canvas, and probably use better reference photo's.

Arches 9 x 12 watercolor cold press block
Daniel Smith watercolors

Gocco

A few months ago when I was in the SF bay area visiting my sister we went to Paper Source and they were having a demo day. One of the products they were showing was a Gocco. Up until that day I didn't realize this printer would be one of those objects I would desire. Gocco is a rather cool way to print up your own designs...check out this website and learn more about the product http://www.gocco.com.

Since my husband tends to tell me I'm hard to shop for...which is true...I decided I wanted one of these gems for Xmas. So I'm now waiting for my present, which I'll wrap and put under the tree...won't my husband be surprised at the great gift he gave me!

Yesterday

Yesterday was my birthday...I won't go into how old I've become because I stopped counting!

To celebrate my husband took me to Santa Barbara. Had a wonderful time, even though it was windy and a little cold. Got to explore all the shops and I was surprised that I didn't come home with bags of goodies, but I did get something special to add to my rather large collection....David Yurman earrings. Also discovered on a side street a rather large art store. They were having a sale, so I got an additional 20% off on my purchases.

Summertime Fairy

I've been reading this book titled :How to Draw and Paint Fairies by Linda Ravenscroft. The book is a good read with lots of demonstrations using various mediums. I've been playing around with an idea to do a series of Dog Fairies, so I thought I try my hand at doing one of her tutorials. I modified my painting a little bit, but I'm pleased with the way this turned out.

Black Woody Completed

I finally finished painting this black woody station wagon.

Arches cold press block 9 x 12
Daniel Smith Watercolors

Black station wagon woody WIP

I have always thought these old fashion station wagons were cool. Reminds me of surfers, Dobby Gillis, and life of the 50's /60's.

This watercolor is my first attempt at painting cars. I'm working on fine tuning the details.

Arches Cold Press Block

9 x 12

Daniel Smith watercolors

My own book

I couple of months ago I happened to come across this cool way to bind your own book using your art. There was a really good video showing step-by-step on how to bind a book. So yesterday I thought I'd give it a try. I used one of my floral watercolors and printed it out on card stock, size about 5 x 7 inches. I used about 30 sheets of blank card stock for the pages.

So here is what my book looks like:

http://photojojo.com/content/diy/make-your-own-photo-notebook-journal/

Watercolor journal illustrations

I really got inspired by the Watercolor Journal DVD that I watched the other day.

So here are a few of my illustrations, which I've done on 8.5 x 5.5 white card stock. I've applied a really light wash so the card stock would not buckle. I plan to just do one illustration per card. When I have about 100, I will bind them together to create my own watercolor journal.

I plan to just allow myself to explore and try new things without any rules. So probably a lot of whimsical art will be created.

Star Gazer watercolor

My latest in my floral series...

A Star Gazer

Arches watercolor block

Cold Press

9 x 12 inches

Daniel Smith Watercolors

Check out my Slide Show!

Beginning Watercolor Journaling DVD

I just got this wonderful DVD on "Beginning Watercolor Journaling by Christinea Lopp and Gay Kraeger" in the mail yesterday and spent the afternoon watching it. This DVD is a treasure trove of practical information, but also a new way to journal. So go check out their website and order a DVD too! You'll be glad you did.


http://www.watercolorjournaling.com

Red Poppies

My latest watercolor of Red Poppies.

Arches 9 x 12 cold press watercolor block

Daniel Smith watercolors

With this painting I did something different with the background. Usually I'd mix on my palette sap green and FUB to get a dark value of green. This time I applied the sap green first and then over that added my FUB. This was so much easier and I liked the way it looks once it dried.

Loki...a white boxer

My girlfriend Rosemary, who lives in Chicago is adopting a rescue boxer named Loki. She emailed me the picture and I thought I'd surprise her with a watercolor painting of Loki for Xmas. I've never seen a white boxer before, but she looks like a sweetheart. Rosemary loves roses, so I added a collar of roses around Loki's neck. I plan to print out note cards to go along with the framed painting.

Carson 9 x 12 cold press watercolor block

Daniel Smith watercolors

Three daffodils Watercolor

Here is my latest watercolor

Arches 12 x 16 watercolor block cold press
Daniel Smith watercolors

Had difficulty in picking up the detail of the white of the daffodil when I took a picture of this watercolor...just could be the lighting I used when I took the photo.

Pink Dehlia WIP

Here is my latest WIP watercolor of a Pink Dehlia.

Arches 140lb cold press watercolor block

12 x 16 inches

Daniel Smith watercolor paints

I just need to fine tune some of the areas and then I think I'll be done.

Chinese brush paintings from class

Yesterday was my once a month Chinese Brush Painting Class with Nan Rae. We worked on leaves and mums. With each lesson I learn something different allowing the pieces to form in my mind. Nan always makes doing these exercises so easy, but it's not! Learning how to load the paint onto the brush,having just the right amount of water in the brush, and the applying the right pressure...all these factors determine the outcome of each piece. I'm hoping with time and practice my hand will shake less and I'll be able to produce some nice pieces. Until then....practice,practice, and more practice.

Slippery Lady Orchid Watercolor

My lastest watercolor...a Slippery Lady Yellow Orchid.

Arches 140lb waterclock block 12 x 16 in

Daniel Smith watercolors

Blue Flower Poppy

I love painting flowers. This is a macro painting of a blue flower poppy

Arches 140 lb paper
12 x 16
Daniel Smith watercolors

Echinacea flower

I was up until 2 in the morning painting this flower.

16 x 20 watercolor

140 arches cold press watercolor block

Tiger in Watercolor WIP finished

I believe this guy is done.

Tiger face in watercolor wip #2

Here's an update on my watercolor. I pulled out the instructions on the Fredrix watercolor canvas and learned how to add darker values without lifting the paint. More paint, less water on the brush.

Trick or Treat...

Happy Halloween from the Just Crazy About Dogs!

Tiger watercolor on canvas board wip#1

I'm doing an experiment using this Tiger face. I did him in soft pastels and I wasn't too happy with the pastel dust.

This guy was done with watercolor on Fredrix canvas board...9 x12. This is my first time using the canvas board. I liked the way the watercolor looked, but also if I made a mistake, I could easily lift the paint without damaging the canvas. I still need to figure out how to apply more washes without lifting the color...that seems to be the only down side to this canvas board.

Tiger wip #4

Here is another installment of my Tiger. After
laying in and defining all the areas, I wasn't too happy with the way the color came out. The black was very
muted. So I went into photoshop, using the layer feature, I punched up the black area by dropping in black paint.

I'm going to sit on this drawing for a day or two and decide if I'll leave "as-is" or try something else.

Tiger Wip update

Here's another update on the Tiger. I'm now at the stage that I have to fine tune the details. Since I'm not happy with some of color around the tigers mane, I plan to incorporate some colored pencil to see if I can make his mane pop. I plan to also use colored pencil to add the detail to his eyes because I can get a sharper point using my colored pencils.

Tiger WIP #2 update

I worked a little more on the Tiger. He seems to be coming together. The new easel is working out too. One thing I have learned about working with soft pastels...I need to work from the top down,otherwise the pastel dust falls on the surrounding blocked in color.

Tiger WIP done in soft pastels

About 5 years ago I tried working in soft pastels, but the dust was a killer for me. After spending several hundred dollars on soft pastels, I inhaled pastel dust once too much, so I put them away figuring I'd donate them to some one.

Recently when I was looking through my art supplies I came across my different sets of soft pastels and pastel pencils. I thought I'd give working with soft pastels one more try, this time investing in a desk easel so the pastel dust could just fall to the bottom of the drawing instead of me blowing it away.

I love my new desk easel and I think I'm finally going to be able work in soft pastels without inhaling the pastel dust. I found this easel at Swains in Glendale and it was on sale for $44.00...what a deal. When not using the easel, the top folds down and is held in place with buckles that snap in place. There is also a nice size drawer to hold supplies.

So here is another WIP of a Tiger done on 8.5 x 11.5 Fabraino pastel paper using Faber-Castell pastel pencils. So far I've just started to block in the main colors. Total time working about 1 hour.

Plums Chinese Brush Paintings

Yesterday was my once a month Chinese Brush Painting class with Nan Ray. We worked on painting Plum trees, in ink and then colored with watercolor. Nan also demo'd pumpkins for a Thanksgiving card and Pine cones for Christmas cards. I haven't had a chance to try doing the pumpkins or pine cones.

Roma Tomatoes Oil Pastels Complete

I think I'm done! I really enjoyed playing with my oil
pastels. I've layed in as much color as the paper would allow.
It was nice to be able to see quick results and not have to
wait between colors, as in painting with watercolors.

Roma Tomatoe Oil Pastel WIP

It's amazing how the creative juices are tied into how we physical feel each day.
Since most of this month I've been ill, I really haven't felt like doing much of
anything. After reading my recent copy of Pastel Magazine, I got back my
inspiration to create. Looking through my hoard of art supplies
I came across pastel pencil sets, soft pastels,and oil pastels
that I haven't used in 3 years.

So this piece will be a WIP using oil pastels on Fabriano pastello paper 8.5 by 11.5.

I'm working right to left trying to block in the major colors. This took me about 2 hours. I forgot how quickly I can work using oil pastels.

Sunflower abstract

It's been a rough couple of weeks of being under the weather. I finally think I'm starting to feel better. So I'm slowly easing myself back into painting.

This is my first attempt at painting an abstract. I did wet-on-wet just laying in various colors, sap green, quin gold,hansa yellow,violet, and also used fluid acrylic white paint. I did negative painting developing the shapes and then fine tuning them.

I'm not sure if I like painting this way, but I did like using the Golden fluid acrylic white paint. It added texture to some of my sunflowers.

I've been away...

As usual life has taken another twist. Since my last posting in September I've been rather ill and my husband was taken again to the emergency room. My husband is better now, and I'm still under the weather. During all of this we had to go to Canada for my husband's mother's memorial. It was good seeing all the Canadian relatives; 3 days went by to quickly and I came home rather tired. I just haven't had the energy to paint,but I have been doing EDM sketches which I'll scan and post when I feel better. So in the meantime I've been resting a lot and catching up on all my art books that I've bought over the last few months.

I took this test and it was interesting to see what flower I am.

I am a Daffodil What Flower Are You?

Scales...

I wanted to try out my new Copic .03 black marker with my DS watercolors. I wasn't sure if the marker would bleed, and it didn't! Yeah!!!

I'm finding that my confidence has grown a lot with painting daily. I think like anything, practice really makes the difference. I've enjoyed experimenting and for me, that is the key of not getting bored with my art.