Poppies and more poppies

For the last couple of days I've been painting poppies.  I can't tell you the number of poppies I've painted, but it must be at least 25,if not more.  I'm taking an online watercolor class with Michelle Brown.   Michelle packs a whole lot of valuable information, showing materials to use and how she uses them.  One video was on back grounds, another on supplies, another on using the supplies, and finally painting poppies.

This is the first time that I've actually had all my painting supplies in front of my computer and painted along with the videos.  I could get use to painting this way.

IF -- warning

Dark clouds warning for rain and thunder storms.

Poppies

I'm taking another online watercolor class with michelle brown.  Trying to paint loose using

wet-on-wet technique.  I have a feeling I'll probably paint a lot of poppies before I get a painting I like.

Early Tulips

Tulips are one of my favorite flowers, along with, peony, and roses.   I did this painting using wet-on-wet technique.  I used my paint brush to draw the bud and stems.  Then I went back in with watercolor pencils to give more definition.

wet on wet leaves

I'm taking another online  class with Michelle Brown...Loosing up March...learning to paint wet-on-wet very loose.  This is my first attempt at painting these leaves.  Instead of drawing an outline of the leaves I used my paint brush loaded with color to define the leaf shapes.   Then I dropped in color, after color, until I got a desired color I could live with.  I was using my water brush and a small travel palette on non-watercolor paper.  There was some buckling.  When the painting was dry, I turned it over and on a low setting applied a warm iron to flatten out the paper.  I think in order for me to paint wet-on-wet I need to use a regular watercolor brush and my regular size watercolor palette.

working with lines

This week in Alisa's class were working on line drawings, minus color.  I rarely work in black and white and this a good exercise in trying to capture the subject.

Sophie my muse

Sophie is my love of my life and muse.  She is my last Cavalier King Charles Spaniel I have.  Each day she brings me love, joy, and devotion.
Sophie is by my side all day and night.  She keeps me company when I paint.

Poppies

This is a piece I did in my watercolor journal as homework for Alisa's Sketchbook delight class.  Working small and wet-on-wet is getting easier, but I still have a lot to learn.

Chicken and the eggs

I've been thinking about Easter and possible Easter card I might create.  I'm just playing with objects and sizes.  I used watercolor pencils, watercolor paint, and a sharpie.

vase of flowers

I tend to paint, then scan, and upload to my computer before I post to my blog.  Sometimes I post daily, but as of late I'm posting different paintings all on the same day, even though they might of been created a week ago.

This is my latest creation of flowers in a vase.

Sea Shells

a collection of sea shells using, watercolor,pan pastels,sharpie pen.

A rose

Watercolor sketch from my Valentine day flowers for my sketchbook delight class.

Waves from Venutra coast

Over the weekend we drove over to the coast which is about 2 hours from my house.  I probably picked the worst day to drive there since Southern California was being hit with a heavy storm.   The water was many shades blues,greens, and teals.  I did this as an assignment for Sketchbook Delight class.  5 x 5 inch journal.

Sketchbook Delight online class with Alisa Burke

I signed up for a 5 week online class with Alisa Burke.  The whole concept of the class is to keep a sketchbook and enjoy the process.  I'm working in a handmade watercolor journal that is 5 x 5inches, which is pretty small for me.

Border Collie

I wish I would of gotten a better head shot of this collie.  I thought he was so pretty,but patient.

Afgan hound

I'm just loving working in harmony colors.  Everything seems to pop with color.

IF -- Layers

When I thought of layers, I thought of my puppy Maddie who has layers of hair.

Small accordian style album

Since I had some left over paper, I made a small accordion style album.  The album has space for 12 pictures and ties with a blue ribbon.  Now I must decide who's pictures will be put in the album...maybe Maddie

sketchbook cover

 

Did I tell you that I went a little crazy last week at the Paper-Source store????  Well I did.  They always have the most gorgeous paper.  The selection is large and colorful.  Every time I go to Paper-Source I try to buy at least 6 to 10 pieces of paper that I can use later to hand bind books,make portfolio's, or wrap presents.  I also bought a blank journal block - square 8 1/4 x 8 1/4 kit, which comes with a

front and back cover boards.

Handmade Rose portfolio

 I love the fact that I can make my own portfolio's to carry my art work, instead of buying a generic one.  I was in Paper-Source last week and saw this rose cover paper and knew it was meant to be on my next portfolio.  For the inside I used sage w/gold leaf tissue paper.  I finished the portfolio with pink ribbons and green binding tape.

Valentine Flowers

My husband is always so thoughtful and gives me my favorite Lady Di Roses for special occasions.  When he came home from work on Valentines Day he brought me these beauties.   I think I'll take more pictures and do a watercolor of them.  They smell heavenly.

Pit bull

Here is my latest watercolor of a Pit Bull.  Mike is such a happy dog and was so easy to capture his happy smile.

Frenchies anyone?????

I am having such a wonderful time painting again.  It feels so freeing to be able to paint in colors that are pleasing to me, instead of what an actual photo of a French bull dog looks like.  I've read about color harmonies,but until I took my last workshop, it really didn't sink in. 

Maddie my Shih Tzu puppy

A couple of weeks ago I took a watercolor workshop at the Red Brick Gallery in Ventura, California with one of the owners Phyllis Gubin where I did a animal portrait of my puppy Maddie.  Phyllis take on animal portraits is colorful and whimsical.   I tend to paint rather tight and realistic, so this class was good for me to play with color and paint wet-on-wet.  As you can see I came home with a beautiful painting of my puppy Maddie which captures her sweet little personality.   The class inspired me so much that I came home and have been painting more whimsical dogs. 

Coffee table flower watercolor journal

I finished my first coffee table book of flowers in my handmade watercolor journal. The WC journal has 2 pages that measure 9 x 24. So when the book is open, the first flower you see is the orange poppies on the top left hand corner. I did a photo merge in photo shop to give an overview of all my flowers together.  
 
I think I found the perfect size for me to do these types of watercolors.  I only have to commit to 12 pages that measure 9" x 8" and I can cover the journal with any paper that I like!

Zuzu on to rainbow bridge

Today our Zuzu passed away.  She had 17.5 good years with us.  She traveled the world and was a constant companion for my husband whenever he'd go on photography jaunts.  My "Just Crazy About Dogs" mascot is slowing shrinking.  Of the original 5, only Sophie and Jolie are left.

I give you my heart!

My first Valentine poem:  I give you my heart!

I was going to just paint individual Valentine cards, but then I got the idea to merge two of my heart images into one card.  With a little help from photo shop, I was able to change the background color to purple, add the poem on top of the heart images.

Back to the dogs...

This is the mother of my Cavalier King Charles Spaniel "Bella".  I thought she was pretty, but my Bella will always be prettiest of them all.  I haven't painted a Cavalier in a while...so this was just a warm up. 

On Sunday I'm taking a watercolor workshop in Ventura,California...theme of the workshop... painting dogs,but with a twist.  I'm taking photo's of my new puppy Maddie, so she'll be the dog of the day.

Birds in the air

This is the front of a greeting card that I made today.  I used a combination of a branch die cut and a punch.

Hand made watercolor journal with unique fold out pages

I finally made a watercolor journal that is light weight, compact, pages large enough to complete a drawing ,painting, collage and can easily be carried in your purse.  I was inspired by journals that are hand made with accordion pages stitched together.  Each journal I made is 9" x 8".  Inside I have thread  bound sheets of  140lb watercolor pages with unique fold out pages, when open measures  9 x 24, that are folded into 8" sheets.  So I have 12  9" x 8" pages that I can create on.  I like this size because it's big enough for me and  I don't feel the pressure to fill more than 12 pages.  I will be offering these journal in my etsy shop today.

Gerber flowers

For the past two weeks I've been working on a 12 page spread of various flowers in my watercolor journal that I made.  Gerber's come in many colors, and I happen to love them in purple.

IF-- Surrender

There are many things in life that we have to surrender to.  For me, surrendering to God on a daily basis makes my life so much better and richer.

Magnolias

I got a little creative with this watercolor.  Used photo shop to color in the flower.  The original I needed to re-work the white on the flowers.

Yellow Iris

Yellow Iris painting done in my 12 page watercolor journal.  I really like working in this small journal.  I can see endless possibilities for more subjects.

Orange Poppies

About a week ago I made another 12 page watercolor journal with one sheet of  22 x 30 watercolor paper.  I thought doing a journal with only 12 pages was doable and it would give me an opportunity to try different techniques and subjects.

So this first journal is filled with flowers of various types.

Chinese New Year

For the past 2 years I've been taking Chinese brush classes with a wonderful teacher Nan Rae. If anything I've learned about painting this style is to paint spontaneously which has been rather freeing.  Since Chinese New Year is coming up and it is the year of the rabbit,  I plan to make this Chinese brush painting into a Chinese New Year card for a family friend. 

1st Calligraphy project

 Today I worked on my first Calligraphy assignment from the new Calligraphy book I'm reading.  I practiced using different nibs.  I like using the calligraphy markers the best.