Open Window
From the book, Watercolour Workshop by John Lidzey, this exercise was to paint a sunlit, open window from the outside looking in. It was to be done as a tonal study, which I did do and can be seen on my flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/brendas_watercolors/
I decided to paint this subject again adding Cadmium Red to the Yellow Ochre and French Ultramarine Blue that was used in the tonal study. The brown of the window frame is a mixture of all three pigments. The reference photo is from Karol at http://www.flickr.com/photos/74227781@N00/18466845/ who is a fantastic photographer and so graciously gave me permission to use this for my study. For a real treat, check out her work!
I painted this in my new Lama Li sketchbook. I found the cotton rag paper to be very absorbant, which will take some getting used to. I DO like the texture of this paper and look forward to working with it more.

I've been tagged!

Mary, over at http://emmapod.blogspot.com/ and Lin at http://viewfromtheoak.blogspot.com/ have tagged me to list 7 things about myself that others may not know.
1) When I was in my early twenties, my grandmother taught me how to tat - I still enjoy this little hobby/thread craft and have even entertained the idea of teaching a class - then I look at my already full schedule and don't see how I can possibly add another activity!
2) I enjoy driving, even in heavy LA traffic. I especially like to drive in the rain, just so long as it's not a Texas style "raining cats and dogs" type downpour!
3) I love to read and usually am reading at least three books at one time. I go through periods where I feel like I'm going to run out of time before I can learn as much as I want. During those periods, I speed read and usually read at least one book a day - crazy huh?
4) I love to cook and bake. I collect recipes and cookbooks and am always sharing. I don't believe in keeping a good recipe secret. I'm almost always game to try new things -- DH and I just got home from visiting DD and SIL in Las Vegas, went to a fabulous Thai restaurant that served tempura dipped fried bananas with coconut ice cream - ABSOLUTELY TO DIE FOR!!
5) I was horribly addicted to cigarettes for 30 years - kicked that habit 7 years ago and know without a doubt that I will NEVER touch another one of those nasty things again!!
6) I would pick a camping vacation over a 5 star resort anytime, anyplace. I love being up close and personal in nature and enoying this wonderful world the Lord God has created for us.
7) I sincerely enjoy encouraging others. I don't get jealous of other's abilities and gifts, I love being challenged to improve my own skills and am thoroughly thrilled when I see growth in others as well.
I am going to tag Carol http://artbydabs.blogspot.com/ Irene http://justcrazyaboutdogs.blogspot.com/ Nelda http://nelsartmarks.blogspot.com/ Marilyn http://hrt2hrt4mike.blogspot.com/
I KNOW it's only 4 tags - but everyone else on my list has been tagged and double tagged!

Now, if you've read all these 7 things, that means you probably check in on my blog once in a while, so . . . I would like to add a little note. I've not been on my blog or the computer much of late because my dad passed away suddenly and unexpectedly on April 27th. He, my mom, and my youngest sister were vacationing in OK visiting family and friends. I had to fly from CA to OK, get my mom and youngest sister on a plane and then my other sister and I drove my mom's car home. It's been a very sad shock for us all. We have the comfort of knowing he is in heaven, but are still so saddened he's no longer here with us. Also, I've been eyeball deep in some home remodeling and naturally, not all has been going as planned! We've had a few setbacks, that basically just mean more time (and more frustration). I do hope to get back to my art, and especially the John Lidzey book ASAP!!

Lidzey Exercise 1

I'm working in John Lidzey's book, "Watercolour Workshop" and this is the first exercise. This was a "tonal" study and the first still life was done with French Ultramarine and Yellow Ochre. Great fun mixing and I was amazed at the variety of color and tone those two pigments gave me. The instruction for the second was to do the same still life, but with color. I decided to stick with the FrUm and YO and just added Cadmium Red. Isn't it amazing what just one more pigment can do? The coffee pot is straight FrUM, the apple is CR with just a teeny bit of YO and the shading has just a bit of FrUM. The background is pretty apparent, it is YO with a bit of CR. I used mask (spatter method) for the white spots on the pot. The first was done on Raffine, my first experience with that sketchbook and I really liked it - thanks Lin!! The second was done on Cotman watercolor - not my fav watercolor paper, but is the one I grabbed and it was the right size for scanning two books side-by-side.

The Lidzey book is going to be great fun! It has exercises AND projects. Rather that having a finished work to try to copy, as in the John Pike book I just finished working through, this book tells what type of subject and I'll pick my own reference. These subjects can be plein air or photo reference.

Pike's Exercise #13 - Troubador's Rest Stop

This is the final exercise in "John Pike Paints Watercolors." I like this one and it was fun to work on! I like the simple subjects and the rustic feel of this still life and love the punch of color the bottle gives. Done on Arches Rough (my first experience with the rough) and I really can't tell much difference between it and the regular block. A very limited palette was used.
I'm in the midst of some home remodeling and didn't think I'd get time to work on art at all for a couple of weeks. The contractors seem to be doing just fine without me and so I jumped at the opportunity to paint today. Actually, I think they prefer it when I am out of the way - LOL.

Pike #12 - Colombia, Fisherman's Cove

Done on Arches block (10 x 7). Ever since my first watercolor class, I've loved painting trees. There's just something about the variety of trunks and branches that makes trees appealing to me. I don't particularly like the straight branch that runs off on the right side, but that's how John Pike's exercise was and I'm trying to stick with his exercises as they are shown in the book. The sky is Fr UM and Alizarin Crimson, the tree is a combination of Fr UM and Burnt Sienna and Fr UM and Burnt Umber. The leaves are Fr UM and Cad Yellow Pale and also a teeny bit of Fr UM. The sea is Fr UM and Pthalo Green. Mixing is so fascinating and interesting to me, especially when the ratios are changed just a bit.

Pike Exercise 11, Mykonos Church

Mykonos Church is in Greece. This one was more fun than I thought it was going to be. I was dreading trying to get an animal in this that looked remotely like a donkey, but it wasn't as difficult as I thought it'd be. Very limited palette was used again, I guess John Pike liked those limited pigments and mixing and mixing and more mixing! I did use mask to protect the upper areas of the building from the sky and was able to try out a "rubber cement pick-up" that I recently purchased from Dick Blick's. What a neat tool!! No more tender fingers from rubbing that stuff off.

Pike Exercise 10

John Pike called this "Venice, Mother and Chicks." This is one exercise that I almost gave up on several times. I'd wait a while, look at it and then add a few strokes here and there. It's not my favorite, however I did learn from it. The sketch is much looser than I usually do, which made it difficult for me. The steps and techniques for painting the building were new to me and I did enjoy them. I think I'm getting better at portraying water and the reflections and I'm not as fearful of loose sketches of figures. Several pigment mixes were used, primarily Pike's favorite French UM and Burnt Sienna and French UM and Burnt Umber - both in varying ratios to get the different values. I'm really getting comfortable with mixes! Also, I'm sticking with using flat brushes and am getting more confident with those.

Pike Exercise #9

This is called Dubrovnik, Old City and is of a coastal village in Yugoslavia. This was a bit time consuming, especially the architectural sketching. I DID cheat a little bit by drawing it on a grid, of course, I'm not sure that would technically be considered cheating. The past several Pike exercises have been rather gray and I didn't post #8 here or on my flickr as it was such a disaster. I tried it twice and decided I basically just didn't really like the scene. I love to learn and I love challenges, but when my art becomes too much like "work," I'd just as soon pass it up - ha ha. I have decided that I absolutely LOVE Arches blocks!! I do NOT like the hot press, though. I just got some Arches rough that I am anxious to try.

Pike 5

This exercise is called Irish Clouds and was the fastest Pike exercise I've done thus far. I didn't time it, but I think it took about 30 minutes. It is done with only two pigments, French UM and Burnt Sienna. I'm beginning to think these were John Pike's favorite pigments as all of the exercises I've done so far have used them. It was done on Arches cold press block, which I'm becoming VERY fond of! This was done without any sketching whatsoever - which was a first for me! Also, I'm using flat brushes and while I'm not as comfortable with them as I am with my beloved rounds, I feel I'm getting more confident with them.

Pike Exercise 4

Abandoned boat done on Arches Hot Press. This is the first time I've ever used hot press and I'm not sure if I like it or not. It's smooth like the bristol that I love, but the paint didn't go on as smoothly - not sure why. All in all, I'm not very happy with this for several reasons. First, I don't really like the scene that much and second, I don't particularly like the colors. I didn't get a good "roundness" to the hull of the boat and the broken parts were difficult for me to portray. From a positive standpoint, I like the distant shoreline and I like the looseness - something that is VERY difficult for me.

Pike Exercise 3

As I continue on through John Pike's book, this exercise was the most time consuming and difficult thus far. It is a night scene of Burano, a small island near Venice. Although it's not the type of scene I'm fond of, I did find the different elements to be interesting and challenging. John Pike explained that the moonlight is reflected and bouncing - the moon would actually be behind the viewer; and to complicate the light in the scene more, there is the light from the shop window and an unknown light source coming through the archway on the right. The sidewalk and cobbled street are supposed to be wet. Whew - I don't know if I got all these elements right, but it was definitely a learning experience.

Pike 2

This is my second exercise from John Pike's book. It's supposed to be a snow scene (in case you can't tell - ha). John Pike's grays were actually darker than mine and yet his looked like snow. Maybe I need to have more variation in the gray and also more drift patterns. I like my foreground trees and was pretty happy with the people. I've always avoided putting figures in landscapes and found it not quite as daunting as I expected.

Pike 1

I've started working through "John Pike Paints Watercolors" and this is the first exercise. There's lots wrong with this. . . but there are a few things right - ha. I really like how the tree trunks turned out, particularly the one in the foreground. I recently purchased an Arches block and this was the first painting I've done on it. I really like how the paint flows on this paper, particularly wet-in-wet -- the tree trunk I like was done with a very watery wash of gray made from French UM and Burnt Sienna, then while it was still wet, cad yellow was dropped in on the sunlit sides and an itty bitty bit of cad red was dropped in along the center, then a heavier concentration of the gray dropped onto the shaded side. After it was dry, an even heavier concentration of the gray was dry brushed and then a very small amount of dark green was dry brushed. I have a tendency to grab my #6 round and really need to start grabbing a larger brush! I'm looking forward to the next lesson in this book!

Coastal Village

This was the workshop project on Art Academy Live last week. The scan on the bottom was my attempt during the workshop. The teacher, Sterling Edwards, has a much looser style and also his pigments weren't as saturated as mine. This was supposed to be impressionistic! My second attempt (the scan in the middle) was sketched with my new Pentel Brush Pen (NOT the Pentel Pocket Brush Pen) and the ink is brown and I found out REALLY fast that it is NOT waterproof! Wasn't happy with that one either, although it was fun to try the new drawing toy out. So I tried a third time and while it's not as "free and easy" as Sterling's, it is an improvement over the other two. I think I'm done with trying this scene. All three of these were quite a struggle for me, and while I like to see a bit of impressionistic work, I don't seem to be able to get the looseness required to pull it off. Ah, must be one of those "practice" things.

Sunlit Canyon

Yesterday, I took an online watercolor workshop through Art Academy Live. Basically, it's an interactive live streaming video class. A supplies list is provided to enable the student to prepare for the class. On the date and time of the class, the student logs in and is directed to the classroom. There is the artist/teacher/demonstrator and also a moderator. If students have questions during the workshop, they type the question on their keyboard, the moderator reads the question and the instructor answers the question. Very slick! The classes are from 75 to 90 minutes long and the time flew like it was only 20 mintues! I had my palette loaded, paper ready, brushes laid out and was still hustling to get my painting done. It didn't turn out very good, so I redid it today and the redo is the one I've posted. This was an excellent exercise for me on painting without sketching, using flat brushes (I'm REALLY partial to rounds!) and mixing colors on the paper rather than on my palette. I think I have a better grip on saving whites, having the lightest and darkest areas next to each other for the center of interest and creating the look of sunlight on rocks and vegetation. If anyone is interested in checking out these workshops, go to http://www.artacademylive.com/

Cat on Post

This was done on bristol with Derwent Graphitint used for the post and the fence and Albrecht Durer watercolor pencils for the rest. This was difficult and I'm not very happy with it. I decided to quit fussing with it and just post it! LOL! I think there are 4 layers on the cat's body, just couldn't get it to come out like I wanted. Onward I go with working through Kate's book.

Horse

This was done on bristol paper using the Albrecht Durer watercolor pencils. I found the reference photo on WetCanvas. I'm in the chapter on painting animals in Kate's book, "Watercolor Pencil Magic." I chose a photo that was just a head shot rather than the full body of the animal because I'm not very confident that I could get the whole body drawn with correct proportions. I've never really been around horses during my life, but I've always thought they were such majestic animals. The few I have been around were very old and gentle. I think this horse has a very gentle look about him!

Watercolor Pencil Rose

I just got a set of the Albrecht Durer watercolor pencils and a Richeson atomizer, so this is the first thing I've done using them both. The AD pencils are fabulously creamy, even on this Cotman paper - I'm rather anxious to try them out on bristol! The atomizer took a bit a manipulating, but I finally realized the tubes slide and they must be in just the right position for it to work. At first I tried to use the atomizer in one of my palette wells, THAT was awkward and messy!! After a bit of thought, I came up with a wonderfully simple solution. I used one of those little plastic water vials that cut flowers come in sometimes. I put the pigment in the vial, put the atomizer pipe in the vial and held it together with one hand while holding up the watercolor pad with my other hand. It gave me much better control and not nearly the mess. Another thing I tried on this, I painted the flower first, then I traced the flower onto a piece of tracing paper, cut out the paper and used small bits of double-sided scotch tape to fasten the tracing paper onto the watercolor paper. Then I sprayed with the atomizer and removed the tracing paper -- I guess this could be considered reverse stenciling. If anyone is interested in checking out an atomizer, here it is: http://www.dickblick.com/zz034/00/

Waterscapes done with Watercolor Pencils

The rocks in the waterfall picture were done with Derwent Graphitint, the remaining objects (including the water) were done with Derwent Inktense watercolor pencils. The ocean scene was done with the Inktense only. I REALLY liked the graphitint for the rocks, I used 3 different pigments and colored them dry and added water with a brush. I think the graphitint really added a texture quality. I had some difficulty with the ocean scene - which is from a photo taken by Joe Philipson on the island of Oahu. You can see Joe's photo here: http://flickr.com/photos/jphilipson/307053727/in/set-72157594265577907/

First of all, I really messed up on the sky and on the rocks along the shoreline. I had recently read over at WetCanvas that Magic Eraser (the cleaning sponges made by Mr. Clean) worked well to lift watercolor. Watercolor pencils are actually more permanent than tube watercolors and I wasn't sure if the Magic Eraser would work or not, but decided to give it a try. It DID work, although I had to rub a little bit and did get some slight paper damage. I think a lighter touch would work fine with tube paint and will definitely keep a piece of this sponge in my paint kit!! I cut a small piece off of the Magic Eraser, dampened it with water and then rubbed the area I wanted to remove. I still had trouble with the rain clouds in the sky, even though I did the wet-in-wet technique by wetting the paper and then running a wet brush over the tip of the pencil and then dropping the pigment in. I think this particular seascape would be better if done with tube paint and may try that. I'm ready to continue on in Kate's book, Watercolor Pencil Magic!

Sandstone Rocks

These were both done with the same watercolor pencils but on different paper. What a difference! The one on the top is Bristol paper and the one on the bottom is Cotman watercolor paper. Both were sketched with Graphitint pencils; the darker lines are Inktense pencil. A wash was applied with DS watercolor (Sedona Genuine) using horizontal strokes to portray the sedimentary layers.