Rainbow Bisque

I've taken the technique from a previous painting and re-applied it in a new way. This time, I really wanted to try adding little flourishes and details to each of the ridges. I realized as this painting came to completion, that it is important to have enough water within your surface and your paint to pull toward the bottom of the painting. It seems that I got the best results when I pulled the color along the top, defining trees and hills as I went, then pulling the pigment to the edges and bottom of the painting. There are some problems with back washes and blossoms all over the page. There are some areas that look a little over-worked (I think that's the result of cutting the paper too large for the brush sizes I tend to use). But, I would say I am really pleased with this landscape. It was really nice to go back and try something again.

A small doodle became the basis for this piece. I created a nice, swirling wash of lemon yellow, emerald, and pthalo blue. The pattern was created over the top with gold paint pen. This marks my first time using fancy 300 lb. cold press paper (which I love and need more of).

I added two new colors to my palette - Hooker's Green and Burnt Umber. I figured a nature-inspired subject would be a suitable trial. I have to say, I'm a big fan of both colors. This time, I tried layering small patches of color together. I wanted to create an uneven blend of various greens and browns to create the shape of the animal. Cerulean blue made it into the mix because...well why not?

Recent Photoshop-related issues have kept me from posting. I am very close to solving the problem, and will have plenty of new stuff to show you! Thanks for your patience!

I have gotten into the habit of collecting things with the intention of painting or drawing them later. It is because of this practice, that I was unable to walk by the mangoes in the grocery store without bringing one home. What I created is sort of sloppy, flawed, enlightening, bold, and interesting all at once. I was really disappointed when I first looked at this finished piece. The brush strokes look over-worked. The color is muddy in some areas. The overall shape seems flat rather than round. There is an abundance of blossoms and back-washes in the upper part - the result of some badly-timed brush strokes. That was when I realized something important: I really had no idea what I was doing when I sat down to paint. It was easy enough to mix the colors - a little cadmium yellow, alizarin crimson, emerald green, and payne's grey. The application of those colors to the page, however, was unexpectedly difficult. I used a lot of water and tried to blend the colors together ...

I recently checked out an awesome book from the local library - it's called, " Drawing and Painting Imaginary Animals ". The way the author outlines her creative process and provides a bunch of exercises for seeing and creating these spontaneous creatures makes this book an easy recommendation. It doesn't hurt that watercolor is used in a lot of these exercises. I really enjoyed the end result of the exercise - but my favorite part is where the book suggested layering unlikely color combinations on top of one another. Glazing color has really added a richness to my color palette that I am excited to explore in future paintings.

This is sort of an unexpected result. It's sort of fun to look at, but I felt so frustrated while I was painting it that I just wanted to give up. Everything on the page is sort of happenstance and chaos that I can't really take much credit for. I originally wanted to make a landscape with iridescent bubbles in the foreground. I wanted to retrain the white of the paper for as long as possible: building up a mountain range in the background while keeping a few spots masked out. That plan fell through rather quickly, and left me with three awkward shapes. I blamed myself for not really painting enough. I lamented the time I wasted with procrastination. I compared my previous work to my recent work. I did pretty much everything I could to prevent myself from moving forward. It was time to step away for a while and come back with fresh eyes.

Did these last week, but never got around to posting them. I'm still getting used to covering large areas with paint. I think that the recent heat has affected drying times in the office. Techniques I've used in the past, don't seem to be working as well. I definitely want to come back to this exercise a few more times and take a shot at the contour shadow.