Before everything wilted and fell off, I decided to do a second painting of the Peruvian lilies by themselves!
The Peruvian Lilies demanded a solo portrait!
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Category Archives: Painting
A Bevy of Spring Tulips in Two Media ~~ Digital (iPad) and Watercolor.
We’ve got a fabulous clump of red native tulips nestled under a crepe myrtle tree in our front yard. It’s one of the first shows every Spring and it’s hard to beat. I did a digital portrait of them several years ago on the iPad using the Art Rage app and painted them again in watercolor a few days ago. Thought you’d enjoy comparing them!
A Quick Gouache for an Exhibit Cancelled by Covid!
With my painting buddies, the Seven Palettes, I was to mount an exhibition a year ago at Oasis Gallery, Westfield Montgomery Mall, Bethesda, MD. Covid killed that so we got to work and ‘hung’ a digital exhibit online. Here’s one of the gouache paintings I had done for that show. It’s a bit too literal, but I figured some mother or grandmother might like it!
Informal Watercolor Sketch of Granddaughter
My 3-year old granddaughter and I were painting together during a recent sleepover. She was very engrossed in her art, studiously dragging her wet brush through EVERY block of color before applying the resulting ‘mud’ to her paper. Rather than fret about the growing mess on the palette I decided to paint a quick sketch of her as I looked down on her efforts. Did another quickie the following day from a different angle; different clothes made her look older. . . .
Goin’ for It! Watercolor on paper. 8″ x 10″ 
My sweet studious little model . . .
Fun with Compositions
Our most recent Ed Praybe session called for considering types of compositions ~~ various ways to position the components of the painting so as to produce an intended effect on the viewer. We each selected two objects and then experimented moving them around to see how many different ‘stable’ or ‘dynamic’ compositions we could produce. We then painted one of them, using our primary triad of yellow, red and blue.
For homework, we had to paint three objects into a stable composition and then reposition them and paint a dynamic composition. Still using the primary triad color scheme.
Watercolor experiments with the primary colors
Recently our class with Ed Praybe focused on painting a wide range of hues using only 3 colors – a ‘primary triad’ of red, yellow and blue. As you may remember, I’ve used such severely limited palettes many times, but only in oil paints so far. It was fun to try it with watercolors.
We did a test painting, blending the three colors before applying them to the paper. Our homework was to paint three versions of a still life setup: one monochrome to analyze the value (light and dark) structure of the scene; a second in which we mixed the colors before applying them to the paper; and a third in which we applied single color washes; let them dry completely, and then painted additional single color washes on top. This last technique creates new colors as the several layers combine optically.
Test case, pre-mixng yellow, red & blue before painting. 7″ x 5″. 
The set-up for the series of paintings. Note how the water in the glass distorts the shape of the apple behind. Neat. 
1st version, a value study using only ultramarine blue. 5″ x7″. 
2d version, pre-mixing the primary colors before applying. 5″ x 7″. 
3rd version, applying successive washes of single colors to produce different colors. 5″ x 7″.
Pink ballerina and blue attendants
Here’s a quick watercolor done on some super soft and absorbent handmade paper I had laying around. It’s based on a photo of some darling little girls dancing at their school’s holiday production. It only took a couple of minutes and it was a ton of fun!
Paintings 24 & 25. Mock ‘Frescoes’ of Gouache Painted into Damp Plaster
I’m currently taking a class on mixed media and was intrigued when teacher Susan Hostetler mentioned “mock frescoes”, made by painting gouache into still-damp spackle or joint compound slathered onto cardboard or other heavy substrate. Â I decided to try it. Â My first attempt was a simplistic sugar bowl sitting on our kitchen table. Â My quick contour was misshapen, so I touched it up with some water-soluble pencils, moistening the marks to blend them into the gouache.
I then plopped down a seashell (interesting shape though dull colors) and tried again. Â I was happier with that one, though disappointed when a little flake popped out sometime later. Â Maybe a fixative would deter this type of defect — will have to research it. . . .
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- Seashell. Gouache on Damp Joint Compound on Cardboard. 7.25″ x 6″.
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- Sugar Bowl. Gouache on Damp Joint Compound on Cardboard. 7.25″ x 9″.
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- Post painting mess! Didn’t manage to get the shell into the picture.
Mississippi Workshop – Part II. Water & Wildlife.
It would be impossible to retrace our workshop footsteps and recount all of our painting triumphs and pratfalls, so I’ll just say: Â WATER and WILDLIFE! Â We spent every day painting by beautiful waters ~~ the old Ocean Springs harbor, the gentle marshes of the Gulf Islands National Seashore, the sparkling Ocean Springs beaches and the marshy streams meandering down to the shore. Â Here are a few shots of the waters we enjoyed.
And as for the wildlife, there was a feast for the eyes ~~ from bombardier pelicans, sunning alligators, eel-gulping herons, osprey, crab and who knows what else. Â And I guess we have to count as ‘wildlife’ the daring youngsters, male and female, who paddle boarded within feet of the alligator after he decided to take a dip in the harbor.
Painting #13 – Another Veggie Watercolor-Gouache for a Collector
After painting that cauliflower a few days ago, I started regretting that my collector had selected my dinky mushrooms as part of her four-veggie series for the kitchen. I decided to do a more ‘fulsome’ substitute for her consideration — celery! Here it is. She’s happily taking it instead of the ‘shrooms!
Celery. Watercolor and gouache on paper. 11″ x 14″
Celery Painting and Subject.