Teri's Rose

Teri's Rose
Originally uploaded by BYarborough

Reference photo is from www.flickr.com/photos/teridc/3195909898/ Painted on Lama Li paper using DS paints. I used a white Crayola crayon for the resist. This was really a fun project.

January Virtual Sketch Date
Originally uploaded by BYarborough

Done on Lama Li with American Journey watercolor paints and a little bit of white acrylic paint. The reference photo along with the "rules" for the challenge can be seen here
Virtual Sketch Date.
This was much more challenging than it looked! It was difficult to get the white pith covering the clementine and also on the inside of the peel.

Pt Lobos on Yupo

Pt Lobos on Yupo
Originally uploaded by BYarborough

This has been a weeklong project. . . a little bit here, a little bit there, remove a little here, remove a little there ha ha. I'm not satisfied with it, but ready to move on to something else, so here it is. Still struggling with what I want to be "my" style with Yupo. This is 9 x 12 and I used AJ paints. I just rec'd an order of 7 more tubes of AJ, so I should be pretty set with my AJ palette . . . for now. LOL!

I reviewed my Art Goal list for 2008 and find that I'm pretty much repeating it for 2009. I've added some specificity to it with the hopes that I'll achieve more this year!

Here's my art list for 2009:
1 - Plein Air work - at least once per month
2 - Do art daily - can be sketch in a journal or painting
3 - Work and study art books and DVDs
4 - Take workshops and/or classes - either online or "live"
5 - Finish my food blog so I can have the cookbook printed at the end of the year - must do at least one post per week.

One idea I got from Ann in the EDM online group was to mark off the art goals on a calendar. She prints her calendar from this site. I decided to use this printed calendar, which prints onto one page, and will color code my art goals onto each day using the following key:
Yellow = Plein Air work
Red = Journal work
Blue = Painting
Green = Food blog

I can also list the books/DVDs/classes/workshops on the back of the calendar or footnote them on the front.

Christmas Corsage

Christmas Corsage
Originally uploaded by BYarborough

I'm one of the wedding coordinators for our church and we've had three weddings this December. This is my interpretation of a corsage from one of those weddings. Decorations of pine boughs, pine cones and green and mocha colored ribbons were stunning. I brushed some gesso onto a sheet in my Lama Li sketchbook in a zigzag pattern before sketching and painting. The gessoed areas took the paint much differently than the bare paper. A fun technique I learned from KreativeKay at WetCanvas www.kaysmithbrushworks.us/

Nov VSD on Dumpr

Nov VSD on Dumpr
Originally uploaded by BYarborough

There's a fun little "toy" through flickr called dumpr.net
I couldn't resist and just had to see what the VSD image did when it got "dumpred" -- I thought it turned out interesting and I rather like it!

Nov VSD on Yupo

Nov VSD on Yupo
Originally uploaded by BYarborough

The November Virtual Sketch Date reference photo is just beautiful, but I found it quite a challenge for painting on my beloved Yupo. I got the composition all wrong, the horizon line is dab smack in the middle and I didn't even realize it until I was finished-UGH! Using the Kevin Davidson style of laying in the background wash on an easel and letting it run (really, it's like a pour) means than you can't redo the backgroundg once it's down and dry. So while I could've washed away the horizon, I wouldn't have been able to fix the sky. So . . . it's DONE. This is more in keeping with Kevin's style and I'm convinced that this is not the style for me. As much as I love Yupo, I'm finding working on it to be more work than fun and am thinking of taking a little break from it.

Ornament on Tyvek

Ornament on Tyvek
Originally uploaded by BYarborough

I've got a few ref photos that I'm painting for my Christmas cards this year. This is the first one, done on tyvek with DS paints. I painted the background and then rubbed it in with a tissue so the wonderful texture of tyvek could shine through. After I paint all the Christmas scenes, I'll print them out onto cardstock and am thinking of touching them up with iridescent paint.

Pumpkin LineUp On Yupo

Pumpkin LineUp On Yupo
Originally uploaded by BYarborough

9 x 12 Translucent Yupo using AJ paints. I've used the translucent Yupo just once before and didn't care for it. I thought I'd give it another try. . . I still don't care for it, LOL! This is a bit more like Kevin Davidson's style. I still want to work some more pieces using his style before I start incorporating other styles into it to make it my "own." I taped the Yupo sheet to a foamboard and placed it on an easel. I then laid down a wash with yellow and green and let it dry completely. I worked the rest of the painting on top of the underlayer. Kevin wipes off the areas for his subjects, but with the light value of wash, I just painted the entire painting on top of the underlayer and it seemed to work fine.

Autumn Woods on Yupo
Originally uploaded by BYarborough

I REALLY tried to do this Yupo using Kevin Davidson's technique. . . just couldn't "get it!" I attended Kevin's workshop at the Pasadena Art Expo and absolutely LOVE his work on Yupo, and will continue to experiment with his methods. Kevin works on an easel and he doesn't layer like George James or Taylor Ikin do. Kevin lays in the background as a wash - which really runs right down the slick surface of the Yupo. After that dries, he washes off the areas where the subjects/objects are to be painted and paints them in. One area at a time is painted and allowed to dry before the next area is painted. After three attempts, I finally gave in and incorporated a little bit of George James (the sponge roller technique) and am somewhat happy with this. I did keep the "drippy" background and did clear off the area where the lighter yellow and gold trees are, but found that I couldn't get the leaves to look right without a roll from the sponge. The stream on this doesn't read right, but I'm finished with working on it. One of the really cool attributes of Yupo is it can be washed off -- which I did NUMEROUS times and in various areas - LOL!

Pumpkins and Tree Trunk on Yupo

Pumpkins and Tree Trunk on Yupo
Originally uploaded by BYarborough

It's that time of year again! I love Autumn -- the season of harvest. I love the color changes and the cooler (but not cold) temps. I haven't posted in a long time. . . just not been able to paint anything post worthy. It's been a long slump, but I feel like I'm coming out of it. There's several things about this little scene I'd do differently, but at least I felt some creative juices flowing while I worked on it. And I do so LOVE Yupo and all the little surprises that just "happen

Wordle
Originally uploaded by BYarborough

This was fun! I popped in on some blogs I haven't visited in a while and read on Felicity's blog about "wordle." You type in the url of your blog and Wordle takes the most used words from the recent posts (I don't know what their actual definition of "recent" is) and then they put the words together. You can't save the finished product, but you can print it, scan it and then post it as I've done here. If you look back on my recent posts, you'll see how they've come up with my custom wordle!
I've been in the midst of an artistic slump. I've been painting, but nothing is working, nothing is postworthy!! I've gone back to the basics. . . thumbnails sketches, preliminary sketch/wash, and still I'm failing. I've tried looking at art blogs, looking through some of my art books, using different mediums and still. . . nada! I absolutely adore Yupo and am so frustrated that I don't seem to be able to paint on it anymore. I did this wordle and somehow it's inspired me to keep on keeping on, I've got to just hope that this slump will not only end, but that I'll grow in my skill through this process.

Joshua Tree on Yupo

Joshua Tree on Yupo
Originally uploaded by BYarborough

American Journey Paints on 9 x 12 Yupo. Love my new AJ paints, very creamy. I have a limited palette, so did a whole lot of mixing for this. The scan didn't turn out too well, the sky is Arctic Blue (which is Cerulean). I'm really not fond of Joshua Trees, but a friend of mine wants me to paint one for her and I'm practicing!!

Fruit WS Pastels

Fruit WS Pastels
Originally uploaded by BYarborough

Change of pace! This is just a little exercise I did for the Watermedia Forum on WetCanvas. It's in my Raffine Sketchbook and done with Stabilo Carbothello watersoluble pastel pencils. I wanted to see how these pencils would work if I blended and burnished with a tortillon before I applied water. Worked great! The basket is wonky (as it was in the ref photo) and the red apple looks like it's ready to topple out (NOT as in the ref photo) ha ha. A fun change, but I've gotta get back to my Yupo - LOL!!

Beach Hammock 2 - on Yupo

Beach Hammock 2 - on Yupo
Originally uploaded by BYarborough

If you look closely, you can see the leaves from the acrylic painting on the backside of this sheet of translucent Yupo. This wasn't as different and interesting as I thought it'd be. Possibly a different scene with maybe just distant background painted on the backside with acrylics and no watercolor on top of it on the frontside. I'll try again. Also, the translucent Yupo is 104 lb and yet it is flimsier than the 74 lb regular Yupo--doesn't make sense to me.

Beach Hammock 1

Beach Hammock 1
Originally uploaded by BYarborough

This is the first step for my first Translucent Yupo piece. I painted these trees on one side of the Yupo with fluid acrylics. Then I let it dry and turned the sheet over and proceeded with the watercolor.

Beach on Yupo

Beach on Yupo
Originally uploaded by BYarborough

DS paints on 9 x 12 Yupo. I found this ref photo on WetCanvas and thought it was a simple scene to try the lighter approach on. I ended up using George James' paint roller technique , but did stick with Kevin Davidson's lighter layers technique. I still can't quite get the smooth coverage Davidson gets! I'm not ready to give up, will try, try again! I'm pretty sure he must use a thicker water/paint mix -- maybe the consistency of cream. I'll try that on the next go around.

Blooming Desert on Yupo
Originally uploaded by BYarborough

DS Paints on Yupo 9 x 12. I saw some of Kevin Davidson's work on Friday at the Laguna Beach Art-A-Fair and absolutely LOVED what he is doing on this support! I started this piece out trying to emulate his lovely handling of watercolor on Yupo and failed. I reverted back to mixing a little bit of George James' and Taylor Ikin's techniques. I'm not giving up -- but absolutely couldn't get his clean strokes and oh-so-light layering on this piece. I think I need to use a very simple composition --which believe it or not, I thought I was doing with this desert scene. . . but it grew and grew and grew. LOL! The photo ref just had some sage and distant junipers. . . I decided it was going to BLOOM.

Desert on Yupo

Desert on Yupo
Originally uploaded by BYarborough

DS paints on Yupo and this time I tried something new! I used YES! paste and tissue paper on the Yupo to get a "collage" type texture for the foremost bush and also the one in the back left. I let this dry and then proceeded with applying the layers of paint. I used the George James technique of smoothing with a sponge roller not just on the first layer, but also on subsequent layers and especially for the ground. I thought it really gave me a good "dirt and sand" look. I used Taylor Ikin's technique for the sky and also for the large bush on the right and back. I tried something new with the prickly pear cactus and just did regular brush stroke painting, very carefully so as not to disturb the underlayers, and then I speckled it with a stippling method. This works only if you make ONE stroke. In the George James DVD, he tells that it is not the water or the paint that causes the underlayers to lift, it is friction on top of the new wet layer which can be caused in several ways, one of which is the brush. All in all, this was a fun project and I just keep striving for more Yupo knowledge!!

Waterwheel on Yupo

Waterwheel on Yupo
Originally uploaded by BYarborough

DS paints. Photo ref from WetCanvas. I continue to experiment with painting on Yupo. I tried one of George James techniques on this one, I'm still trying to figure out how I want to meld some of Taylor Ikin's and George James' techniques into my own style. The technique from James that I used is spraying with a mist of water, laying a tissue over the area and then rolling over the tissue with a small sponge house painting roller. This removes the pigment and creates a white splatter effect. It's all just part of the journey!