IF -- Obsession

One can never have enough hats!

Autumn trees

About 10 years ago I took a week long watercolor workshop with Susan Scheewe in Oregon.  It wasn't until recently I finally got to make use of the foliage brush that I bought at that workshop.  I can't get over how simple it was to use and I loved the way my trees look.

Ocean breeze

I forgot how relaxing painting landscape pictures--makes me want to go to the beach.

river water

Working on landscape/seascape paintings

IF -- Perennial

Nothing like daisy's and candy!!!

I'm going to England...

For my husbands 60th birthday in October, I'm taking him to England to celebrate.  He's been doing genealogical research on his father's side of the family on Ancestry.com.  While doing this research he discovered that he has first cousins that live in Chester, England.  So we will be spending time in Chester and the surround area taking pictures, and I'll be doing some plein air painting of the Chester country side.  In preparation for the trip, I've been brushing up on painting landscapes.  I want to feel comfortable painting in public, but also want to be prepared.  So I'm playing with an assortment of watercolor brushes, watercolor paper, and watercolor palettes. 

IF - - Gesture

Gesturing with a wave, the duo Maddie and Fluffy are kicking up their heels and dancing!

Pretty Kitty

My friend came over today to show me her pretty kitty.  So I thought I'd surprise her with a little portrait of the angel.

Blue bells

This is my latest watercolor painting that I did tonight.   It's been a long time since I've used colorless art masking fluid to save the whites; this allowed me to paint the background detail with ease.  Once I was done with the background, I simply removed the masking fluid and then painted detail to my trees.  I also used my Derwent Inktense watercolor pencils to add even more detail.

In my quest to paint daily, I've cut down my watercolor paper to 8 x 10.   This is a nice size to work on and it allows me to finish a painting quickly.

IF -- Stay

Maddie has wide eyes as she is following Bunny's command to Stay!

IF -- Remedy

Nothing like a good bowl of chicken soup as a remedy for a cold!

Roosters

I've been painting, really I have; just not posting.  I have all these great art technique books from painters that I admire and some of these books come with DVDs.   Since I have my Mac Book Pro, there is no excuse for me not to watch them and even paint along.  So that's what I've been doing.  Needless-to-say, each book offers a different technique and I'm trying to learn them, so I've been all over the place painting wise.

I really like a lot of the artist from the UK...Jean Haine is the current artist I'm studying.

 http://watercolourswithlife.blogspot.com

I found Jean quite by accident.  I ordered her book and when I saw she also had a DVD, I ordered that too.  I would love to take a class from her, so the DVD is the next best thing.  What I find interesting is that she only uses 3 brushes and a small palette knife.  It's a good thing that I recently gathered all my watercolor tubes and put them together in a box.  So I have all the colors she uses in the book, but on her DVD she added Transparent Orange by Schmincke.   I can't wait to try that transparent orange, especially since it's the most expensive tube of watercolor that I've ever paid.

So yesterday I was busy dropping in color and allowing the watercolor paint to dance on the watercolor paper...all done with a # 10 watercolor brush.

IF -- Midsummer Night

Something about midsummer nights made me think of a quarter moon and stars.

IF -- Launch

Chloe couldn't decide when to launch her boat!

IF -- Swept

Mr. Turtle was swept away in the ocean trying to get up to the surface.

IF -- Asleep

This use to be a typical sight of my two Cavalier King Charles Spaniels, Bella and Maggie, trying to fall asleep together.

IF-- Soaked

"If only we had an umbrella, we wouldn't get soaked"

Watercolor flowers simplified with Lisa Engelbrecht

This weekend I took a class with Lisa Engelbrecht @ ASW in  Westminster,CA.

How to paint watercolor flowers simplified.  Her technique was wet-on-wet, dropping in paint and moving the paint around with water to create shape and drama.

IF -- Safari

He's saying "I see you".

IF -- Safari

This is an illustration that I had completed sometime ago and when I was going through all my paintings I found him...just perfect for today's Illustration Friday.

Blue bird

Today was one of those days that I really love.  It was sunny,no wind, and 80 degrees.  It's those types of days that I love taking my painting supplies outside and paint on my patio.  So how appropriate that I would paint a blue bird who happened to be in one of the trees in my yard.  It was so peaceful hearing the bird talk with other birds in the near by tree.

more poppies

I think I've become obsessed with painting poppies.  Each one comes out different.  I'm either satisfied with the poppies itself, but not the background, or the stem and leaves don't come out the way I see them.  So I'll be painting poppies until I get them right.  I normally don't have this much problem when I paint, but I'm painting these free hand, wet-on-wet.  I'm still not certain if I like painting wet-on-wet.  In one way it's rather freeing to paint this way,but  frustrating because I'm not getting the results I want.

Afternoon delight...wet-on-wet

 Yesterday the weather was so nice that I spent the afternoon painting in my backyard patio.

I'm trying to paint more wet-on-wet and really love the the fact that I can build up color fast.

With each painting I applied paint to form my image without having to use a pencil to sketch in the subject.

Chinese Brush

 It's been a few months since I went to my Chinese Brush class.  I've also haven't practiced my Chinese brush technique in months either.  So the Magnolia was a good refresher.   Nan my Chinese Brush teacher demo on green and brown Chinese paper.  With tinted paper you can use white watercolor.

"Happy Easter"

                 May your day be filled with chocolates and Easter bunnies!

IF -- Bicycle

Katie trying out her new Trikke.

I think I'm in love....

with my Rubicoil binding machine.  I just got it yesterday and it is so easy to use and bind books.  Once I got it out of the box, I immediately used it to create a small sample booklet of all my watercolor paints, colored pencils, and oil pastels.  What so cool about this binding machine is that it punches up to 12" at a time.  I just love it, love it, love it!!!!!!

I also have a Bind-it-all machine and that's what I've been using, up until today.  The only problem with the bind-it-all is that you can only punch 6 wholes at a time and it's really hard on my arms. 

The best part is that I got my Rubicoil on sale....you know a girl can't miss a sale!!!!!

Make it Graphic by Linda Blinn

 In my quest to learn something new, I've been buying and downloading DVDs from Interweave.  My latest DVD is "Make It Graphic" by Linda Blinn.

Linda shows you how to use stencils and silhouettes.  She tells you about paints, spray paints, ink pads, pre cut stencils, and finally how to make and cut your own stencils.

So with the information, decided to try to make my own stencil.  In the DVD she uses a plastic sheet made for creating your own stencils.  But before I start cutting my own stencil out of plastic, I thought I'd try doing a simple contour drawing of a tulip on heavy white card stock.  I repeated the pattern across the page.  I used my x-acto knife to cut around the tulip.  With my new stencil, I taped the stencil onto watercolor paper.  Then I used Adirondack acrylic paint dabbers to apply the paint.  I used green for the stem and leaves, and orange and yellow for the flower.  When I was finished I removed the stencil to reveal my new design.  It was an easy process and I'm surprised that I hadn't done this before.

Daisy's and Pansies with Dr. Ph Martin

These paintings were quick 10 minute paintings using Dr. Ph Martin watercolors and a round brush and finishing with a black sharpie fine tip.

Tulips with Dr. PH Martin

This was a quick painting using Dr. PH. Martin watercolor paints.  I just love the richness of the straight color.

Poppies and more

I don't think I'm tired of painting poppies.  Each painting seems to take it's own life.  I'm playing around with different size of watercolor paper, different brand of watercolor paint,different sizes of watercolor brushes, and finally drawing my image with a watercolor brush, instead of my usual H pencil.

What I've learned:  Watercolor cold press paper 140lb, 5 1/2 by 7 inch paper is the perfect size; I still love my Daniel Smith watercolors, but I also like using Dr. PH Martin watercolors.  As for the brush size, a # 8 round seems to be my favorite at the moment.   I've also have used 1/2 inch angle brush and a #6 flat brush.  I've also have been using those watercolor brushes that hold water,but I find I use way too much water; they are good for quick, small paintings, but for a little larger painting, I need a brush that can hold a lot of water and cover a large area.  I'm also trying to use larger brushes...from a 12 to a 36.

Interweave videos

This past week I bought a couple of DVDs from Interweave.    From art journaling to art by Jane LaFazio.  I really love her blog, so when I saw that she had recently made this video, I know I had to buy it.  I did a few of the exercises...and this is what I came up with.  Each painting is a postcard size  4.5 by 6.  They were fun and easy to do.

butterflies

I was on YouTube the other day and came across a demo by Susan Schewee painting an easy butterfly. About 12 years ago I had taken a week long watercolor workshop with Susan up in Portland, Oregon.  She made painting look so easy.  It was a wonderful week of painting and meeting new people.  I came away with the attitude that I could paint and a new set of tools.  So it was a pleasant surprise to find her YouTube videos.

So I thought I'd give it a try.  It took several attempts but I finally was satisfied with this blue and orange butterfly.

bowl full of Easter eggs

I know I haven't posted in a while, but I've been busy painting.  I hate to scan things because it's so time consuming.  So after looking at my rather large pile of watercolor paintings, I decided it was time to scan and it get it over with. 

I was trying to decide what kind of Easter card I was going to make.  Either using rubber stamps or a small watercolor.  I wanted to send a small original watercolor on each of my Easter cards.  The idea of having to paint this image for 16 cards seemed a little overwhelming.  So back to the drawing board.