I finally did it...

I finally opened up a Society 6 store front to sell my art:

 http://society6.com/justcrazyaboutdogs

So good and check it out and tell me what you think

Day at the beach

 

Two weeks ago we had unbelievable nice weather...it was about 73 degrees in Santa Barbara; I packed my supplies, packed the dogs and off we went to Santa Barbara to do some  Plein Air painting.

 

While I was painting my husband was filming me for a short video.  Plein Air painting isn't something I'm very comfortable doing. Usually you can find me in my studio painting, with all my supplies around me. So this is my take on what I saw that day at the beach.  I used Daniel Smith watercolors and 140lb watercolor paper.

 

 

Daily painting of flowers

I'm really enjoying working on my daily gouache paintings.

 

 

Peonies

I love going through old photographs of things I love.  Since Peonies only are in bloom for a short time, I try to buy as many as I can and them take pictures to capture their beauty.  Gouache painting in sketchbook.

 

 

 

 

Fall colors

I finally have gotten around to scanning watercolors that I did last fall.  Daniel Smith watercolors on handmade watercolor paper.

 

 

 

A meadow of green hills

Meadow of green hills on handmade watercolor paper.  Daniel Smith watercolors.

 

 

 

 

Talking giraffes

I love giraffes, especially these two taking a break to chat.

 

Holbein Gouache in sketchbook. 

 

 

Birthday Roses

 

Roses that my husband bought me for my birthday last month.

Holbein gouache in sketchbook.

 

Daily paintings

 

Since I started doing daily sketches, I was afraid I'd run out of things to paint.  So far so good. 

 

 

Dreaming of Roses

I started the new year dreaming of my roses.  I can't wait for them to come in bloom again.  In-the-meantime, I paint them.  Painting a day in gouache in my sketchbook.

 

New Projects for the New Year

Hello!  and "Happy New Year"!

 

I've been wanting to write this post since the beginning of the year, but I wanted to take care of  some health challenges that I was hit with back in November. 

 

 Back in November I had my annual Mammogram and got a call from my doctor telling me I needed to go in for a biopsy because an initial test suggest an area of tissue on both breasts wasn't normal.  So I had to see an oncologist first and then have the biopsy done.  Needless-to-say, this all happened a week before Thanksgiving.  So scheduling an appointment took some time.  It wasn't until a few days after Xmas I got my test results.  Thank God everything came back negative.  But from all the stress of waiting I got sick.  I'm finally starting to feel better.  

 

Over the holidays I started to explore Holbein watercolors and Holbein Gouache.  I've used Holbein watercolors in the past, mostly just Opera.  After taking a long look at some of the colors I decided to buy a few tubes that I thought would be great colors for flowers.  I was happy with the results and decided to buy a few more tubes of watercolor, along with gouache in the same colors.   It was during this buying spree I noticed that Holbein sells a Palm box watercolor set, but with a price tag of $500.00, I decided I didn't want to spend that kind of money.  It was by chance I was looking for something on E-bay that I came across the same set brand new for only $175.00.  While you know I had to have it.  It came all the way from Japan.  I spent an enjoyable afternoon playing with my new watercolor set.

 

 

 

 

The small watercolor above the Holbein watercolors is something
I created by cleaning my brush on the watercolor paper each time I changed color.  I think due to the lighting, the watercolors appear dull, but that was probably due to the lighting at the time of taking the photo.   I'm so use to using a smaller watercolor set, so it will be interesting to see how many colors I actually use.  If I find I'm not using all the colors I might take those out and put in some Holbein gouache.

New Projects

In my studio I do have a large set of Holbein gouache.  On January 1, I started to do a page a day only painting in gouache.  I happened to discover  http://www.augustwren.blogspot.com/   Jennifer Orkin Lewis just a few days ago who was doing exactly that.  One 30 minute painting a day in gouache.   So that's what I plan to do for a whole year.

Besides doing the painting a day, I will continue to explore different ways to use watercolors.


I also plan to re-open my Etsy shop selling prints of my watercolors  and also join Society6 to sell my artwork as art prints and more.  I like the fact that they produce and ship the products.

This year I'm also taking a watercolor workshop with Jean Haines http://www.watercolourswithlife.blogspot.com/ in April @ Daniel Smith in Seattle, Washington.  I probably will take other workshops and do some online classes.


So I'm hoping this year will be good and productive.




 

Handmade mini watercolor tin

Several weeks ago Jessica Mack of  Brown Paper Bunny
http://blog.brownpaperbunny.com/2014/11/how-to-make-your-own-mini-watercolor-tin.html

made a short video on making a mini watercolor tin using an empty candy mint tin.  Her instructions were clear and easy to follow.  So I thought I'd make one for my Sennelier watercolors that I started to collect.

I like the idea of  recycling an empty mint tin that is small enough to fit in my pocket for a quick watercolor painting.  I used an empty Brighton mint tin, Fimo bake-able modeling clay, and 8 tubes of Sennelier watercolors.

On the inside lid top, I used a  white Sharpie Pen-marker that is oil base, which allows me to mix my paints and easy to wipe clean when done.  Now I just need 6 more colors to complete my mini set.

Sketching Now with Liz Steel lesson 5 Measured setup

In week 5 of Sketching Now, Liz explored measured setups.  Learning how to look at objects, measure the distance, and draw them as accurately as possible.  One setup was an indoor prompt and the other was an outdoor prompt of a doorway.

 

I'm really learning a lot and a different way of approaching a drawing. 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 

Sketching Now with Liz Steel Lesson 4 Constructing volumes

Sketching Now Lesson 4 we looked at constructing volumes.  Trying to develop eye and hand coordination.  Needless-to-say, my hand did not want to co-operate.  I think I must of drawn this stack of books at least 20 or more times.  Perspective drawing has never been my strong drawing skill; I tend to struggle with getting the angle correct.  It wasn't until I just looked at the volumes of the books that I finally was able to get a drawing I could live with.

 

 

 

 

 

Sketching Now week 3 with Liz Steel

 Week 3 of Sketching Now Foundation Course looking at abstract shapes.

This week we looked at abstract shapes--mapping the light and dark of abstract shapes.

Liz really knows how to break down the process of drawing with step-by-step instructions.  I've learned so much just viewing Liz's instructions and excellent demo videos.  She makes the process of drawing so easy. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Sketching Now week 2

This week's assignment for Sketching now Feeling the edges was to do point to point drawings of items from the kitchen, and a outside partial view of a building.

Indoor prompt

 

Indoor prompt with color added

 

 

 

Outdoor prompt partial view of building







 

Sketching Now with Liz Steel

 I'm taking a 12 week online class with www.Lizsteel.com

This is just a sampling of my homework for the week.  I really like her approach to sketching and how she breaks things down.  This week was about getting to know the tools in our sketch kit.

 

Maddie portrait

My Shih Tzu Maddie spends a lot of her day following me through out the house when I am home.  This was a quick sketch of her looking at me while I was busy capturing her face with Faber-Castell watercolor pencils.

 

 

 

 

Many shades of fall

I just love it when fall comes.  The hills start to turn colors and the weather starts to get cooler. 

 

I used handmade watercolor paper which really soaked up the watercolor paint.

 

 

 

Jean Haines Workshop in Seattle, WA

I'm excited about the workshop that I'll be going to in April 2015.  I discovered Jean Haines blog a couple years ago.  Then she came out with two books.  I've bought both and also her DVD.  I like her style of painting, but really feel like I need to see her work in person.  So when she announced that she would be in Seattle next year, I immediately signed up. The best part is that the workshop is being held at Daniel Smith store.  So I not only get to paint, but I get to browse and buy to my hearts content.

http://watercolourswithlife.blogspot.com/