Easter Aubrey - WIP

After Easter, I received a photo of Aubrey at an Easter Egg Hunt that just said "paint me, Grandma!" So, I decided to do just that. I am trying a different technique with this one. We saw a demo at a recent AAG meeting where the artist used clear Contact paper for masking larger areas. I painted the modeling shadows grisaille first, then the slightest tint to her hair and skin. When that was dry I placed the Contact paper over all of her figure and then used a sharp utility knife (yikes!) to cut around Aubrey's entire figure. When I lifted the excess paper off, I found that I had not cut any of the w/c paper...hooray! I used a brayer to burnish the edges of the paper to make sure nothing seeped underneath and then did my usual wet-in-wet foliage underpainting and just sloshed away, splattering Aubrey's little figure with green paint, praying the entire time that the Contact paper would hold. When I removed the Contact paper, I found that some of the green had seeped onto her left arm. So, I put a piece of Contact paper over that arm, cut out her arm shape, then used my Mr. Clean Magic Eraser and scrubbed the offending paint off. It worked!

What do I think of this method of masking now? One disadvantage is you are still left with those pesky hard edges that will have to be softened in places, just like masking fluid. An advantage is you can splash freely without using a gallon of masking fluid beforehand. I will try this Contact paper technique more and see what I think.

I did use masking fluid in the greens to preserve the geranium shapes, which will be a bright pink/red color. Lots of negative painting later in that foliage, I dislike that part of the process, but will endure since I think this photo has such merit.

More to follow as I have time....

Madhu's Misty Morning

This is a painting I just finished from a photo supplied with permission to paint from a fellow Watercolor Workshop member, Madhu. This photo seemed so calming to me that I thought I would paint it and try for that misty background look I like.

Thanks Madhu!

Image size 25 x 17, watercolor on Arches 140-lb paper

New Blog!

I have decided to create a new blog to showcase my artisan jewelry, my newest passion. I am not forsaking my passion for watercolor, but felt that it would be more appropriate to separate these passions with their own blogs. What is one more blog for me to oversee?

I will add the link to this new blog to my links list or you can see it at: http://lovebeadsandwire.blogspot.com/. It is in its infancy at this stage, so watch for changes and additions as they happen.

I hope to see you over at Artisan Jewelry by Susan Roper!

Kinda/Sorta Poppy

I was in the mood this morning to paint something "Springy" so I chose this poppy. I love poppies and their large petals.

Here on the desert it is nearing our first 100-degree day (could happen this afternoon!) so it will soon be too late for delicate flowers to bloom so I guess I will have to settle for painting them.

My next flower painting will be a tulip....

ArtChix Sale

This photo was taken by our monitor during the Saturday morning ArtChix sale session. I was making wire wrap pendants at this time. It was so enjoyable to see people's reactions to my jewelry and art. I think being able to participate in art sales is so enjoyable for this reason, the rewards for hard work in creating what I feel I need to create.

As an interesting note, only 40% of my sales during the weekend were for paintings, 60% were from jewelry! So, while I will not forsake painting...EVER, it is good to know I can be successful in another creative venue.

Thanks for sending my photo, Ursula!

Newest Jewelry

As reported earlier, I took an all-day workshop on Artisan Jewelry yesterday. It was a great day, lots of fun and I got lots of tips and techniques. Here is one of the necklaces and earrings sets I made. It is made on memory wire. The centerpiece of the pendant is made from my husband's grandmother's concho belt, which was made of old silver. I am taking the belt apart and reusing the links individually in some of this jewelry. Since it was in the family, I won't be selling any of this, but instead enjoying wearing it myself! I also made some pendants in the class as well as a "stretch ring". More to follow.

I will have my jewelry on display at the ArtChix sale this weekend, as well as many of my paintings. This will be my last sale of the season to participate in so if you are in the area, do stop by and have a peek at what I have been creating.

Cactus in Spring

These are some of the cactus blooming in our backyard currently. It still amazes me that a dangerously prickly plant like this can produce such beautifully delicate flowers such as these. I love how the buds start out that great peachy color and then turn to the yellow when open.


The one pot is filled with the yellow flowers right now and it is situated near the cactus with the purple pads. Mother Nature must understand the color chart by showing these complementary colors together! I am waiting for the purple cactus to start opening the buds, I can't remember quite what they look like when open. Photos to follow when that happens!

One of the things I enjoy about blogging and reading the blogs of others is I see what inspires each person and it tells us a little something about them. I am not sure what these photos say about me, but I do know they inspire me!

Easter Tulips

This is one of the tulips in the pot of tulips that my son and his family brought me on Easter. We had a great dinner with them and enjoyed our time together. I loved the purple shade of these tulips, very Easter-y!

Discovery Through Blogs

I am constantly amazed at the discovery aspects of having a blog and how many people search through the 'Net for common interests. I had a comment from Lois about my wire wrap jewelry, which led me to her blog, which led me to others she has links to on her artisan jewelry blog. This Blogdom is a wonderful world, filled with countless communities of shared interests. This is a good thing!

Artisan Jewelry...Still

Hopefully, this will be a better image to show off what I am doing. The bracelet on the left is the copper one I mentioned earlier. The multi-colored bead necklace on the right had one of the charms flipped up from the pendant when I snapped the photo and I didn't notice it. So, envision that one with the two center charms so they are all hanging down.I love making these.

The pendant in the center has a stone we "mined" in Franklin, NC two years ago and tumbled and polished ourselves. I love how the wire mimics the shape of the stone, and no....that was not by accident!

Artisan Jewelry... again

Lest anyone think I have been sitting around twiddling my thumbs (unless twiddling means wrapping wire!) I will show some of the pieces I have made this week for the ArtChix sale next weekend. I want to bring your attention to the copper bracelet near the center. I, personally, coiled all those links from hardware store copper wire, 20-gauge! I made it so sell but like it a lot so maybe it won't make it to the sale table. It is hard to tell the wire wrap detail on these so next time I will take a few close-ups of that.

Vicki's Bowl - Final

I went ahead and finished this. Sometimes things come together better than others and I am grateful that this morning's efforts turned out well and with no stupid moments during the construction. This is a perfect example of what I am trying more and more to do....paint the shapes (or in this case lift the shapes!) instead of the objects.

Vicki's Bowl WIP 4

Now I have given the bowl more shape by defining the highlights within and around it. I will next strengthen the shadows where needed. I planned on working on this all day, but I am having so much fun and it is going so fast that I guess I will just finish it this morning. I love it when things go as planned and I don't have to stop and kick myself for doing something stupid. Alright, I know there is still time left to do something stupid, but I feel so good about painting today that I won't anticipate that.

Vicki's Bowl WIP 2 and 3

Okay, don't be scared, this isn't as bad as it looks, it is all part of my plan. When this dried I went on to WIP 3, below. Hopefully, you can begin to see what I am up to...or not!



Now, I am strengthening the darkest shadows and painting negatively to show the shape of the bowl. Cool, huh? We'll see if I still feel that way after the next stage....lifting!

Vicki's Bowl - WIP 1

I have promised myself that I will commit to painting this bowl and now is the time. I decided that if I submit the WIPs to my blog as I work, I will have to keep working on it since I don't want to be embarrassed by letting this sit, undone.

The reference photo was provided by my good online friend, Vicki Green, who had this bowl on her blog, only it was filled with candy. I asked her if she would do a few quick still-life set-ups with the bowl on light and dark surfaces, and without the candy. She, being the good friend she is, accommodated my request. I was fascinated with the glints of light on the dark surface of this photo so decided this is the one.

I will be experimenting with a technique that I have decided in my own feeble mind will work, so stay tuned to see if my "spearmint" is successful or not. You just never know.....bravely she begins to paint.

Great new blog

I keep finding great new blogs and today's discovery is no less than great. The reason I like this blog so much is because I love the work of Jana Dahmen, who I have "known" through the online group Watercolor Workshop. I have always found her work to have such gaiety and color, as illustrated by this painting I borrowed from her blog.

If you want to see what else she has done, the url is http://watercolorbyjana.blogspot.com/

Caricature by Madeline

At the ArtChix sale this weekend one of our members, Madeline Ledzinski, dropped by to practice her caricature skills. If you want to see her recent body of work, please go to the ArtChix blog http://scgartchix.blogspot.com/ - she did a great job and it was fun to "sit" for a portrait. She did comment, though, that I should quit talking long enough for her to get my facial features "correctly". Please note that she drew the artisan jewelry I was "modeling" for the show.

ArtChix Sale - Artisan Jewelry

This is a close-up photo of my artisan jewelry display. I received many encouraging comments about my designs and had two sales from this display, so will continue on since I enjoy doing it.

ArtChix Sale/Show

The ArtChix are holding a show/sale this weekend, with my corner of the world consisting of the space at the back of Studio I. For this sale, I am launching my new line of artisan jewelry, pictured here. I received many positive and encouraging comments on this jewelry so will continue to design and construct more. Stop in for a visit if you are in the area!

This photo was taken by Jim Greenwald, the Sun City Grand Art Club's Historian. Thanks Jim!

At the Sun City Grand Spring Art Faire last Saturday I did a demonstration of watercolor on clayboard. This is one of the photos taken during the demo. Please note the necklace and earrings I am "modeling". They are part of my inventory of artisan jewelry I have been working on for this coming weekend's ArtChix art sale, at which I will have a display of all the jewelry I have been working on. Nothing like a little self-promotion!

Gina's Teapots

In the interest of maintaining some artistic integrity on this blog, I don't think it is fair to my readers to only submit to the blog paintings of which I can be proud. We all paint stinkers occasionally and this happens to be one of mine. I got lost in the cloth patterns, I blopped some dark paint where it needed to be the lightest, I gave up on the background, etc., etc., etc. I like the arrangement and colors of this still life set-up provided by Gina of the Watercolor Workshop and will eventually try a re-do with what I have learned doing this one. We were all to paint from her photo of this and it was a great photo! I'm not making excuses, just saying ya can't win 'em all. The other project for March is to paint anything shiny, so I will try a crystal bowl next. I'll never "get it" unless I keep on trying. I love the process, it is just the end result I sometimes have doubts about.

New Art Blog!

As Secretary of the Vanguard Artists, I have committed to setting up and maintaining the Vanguard Artists Blog. I have been working on this endeavor over the past few weeks, assisted by my Co-Blog-Mistress, Ann (the President). I feel it is getting closer to being ready for Prime Time viewing now, so if you would like to see what we are about and getting up to, please go to: http://vanguardartists.blogspot.com/

We are a group of artists in the West Valley and disprove the fact that good art begins and ends at Central Avenue and is to be found only in the East Valley (Scottsdale) area. There are many lifelong artists in this group and their rich and varied art experience shows in their magnificent work.

There are slideshows of some of the individual artists' work, and this sidebar feature is being developed more as we speak. Do stop by and have a look, we'd love to hear from you!

Pelican

After letting this fellow sit in my studio for a few weeks while I made artisan jewelry, I finally got him done. I haven't painted many birds but he was in such a fine pose that I had to paint him.

Being an artist who is drawn to warmer colors I couldn't quite settle on the cool blue tones this painting was taking on so I glazed some of the warmer sunset hues over and it looked more like I thought the Brown Pelican should look.

Thanks again goes to Diana for allowing me to paint this guy from her photo.

Gila Bend Trip - PS

I will also add this photo of what I believe is a Thunderbird. This was taken at a BLM sponsored park which has preserved this rocky pile that holds hundreds of good petroglyphs. I have added many of them to my ever-growing collection of petroglyph photos.

Gila Bend Trip

Last week we took a short motorhome trip to nearby Gila Bend for a Get-A-Way trip. This sunrise below was seen the first morning we were there. It was just a fabulous photo session and the colors were glorious.












This heron was perched atop the rock of the canyon and I had to use my longest lens and a multiplier to get this photo.













This is Gillespie Dam, which harnesses the Gila River for irrigation of crops. There was quite a bit of water there this time so it becomes a bird sanctuary at times. We saw herons, egrets, ducks, and many other birds there. I hope you can see the five egrets that were standing atop the dam.

Arlene's Hawaii

This painting was done from a photo by one of my mentoree's, Arlene, who just returned from Hawaii armed with new photos from their time share. We did these large paintings today and concentrated on composition and painting palm fronds. It was great fun and the best palm fronds I have done...hooray! Go rake brushes and fan brushes!

I will await critiques on this one and let it marinate on my painting easel for a few days before deciding if it is done or requires any fine tuning.

Latest SWAP painting!

I still belong to an online group of artists known as Sharing With Artist Partners (or SWAP). Quarterly, we have a swap during which we receive an original painting from a secret (except known to the Moderator) partner and someone in the group receives one from me. This is the painting I received this week from Teresa, an artist from Madrid, Spain. Isn't this just luscious? I love the way she handled the rind, such juicy colors and just the right mottling of the rind colors.

I have a Wall of Fame in my studio on which hang all of my SWAP paintings, they are all around 5x7 - 8x10 in size and this will go right up there when I get it matted and framed. It is always such fun wondering from whom I will get my next painting! I love them all.

Brown Pelican - WIP 5

As with the last stage, not much different is being done other than more definition of textures and I began the drybrushing for further detail on the wing.

This is where it was left, to be picked up soon, I hope. I will strengthen the color of his beak, model his legs/feet more realistically and texture the wooden post on which he is standing.

My next decision, after that, will be to decide just what to do about a background. In the photo, there is nothing but blue sky behind him; so I may do that, may leave it white, may do blue sky with some clouds, who knows? Decisions, decisions.....

Brown Pelican - WIP 4

At this point, it is more a matter of just strengthening what I had done in WIP 3, further defining the values of his body and working in more feather texture on the wings and back. I also added some darker areas of where his neck feathers are separating as he bends his head.

Brown Pelican - WIP 3

I started defining the wonderful beak on this bird, I just loved his posture. Diane said he actually just stood still, posing like this for her for the longest time. Cool photograph!

I brushed in the beginnings of some of the wing feathers and started putting in more modeling shadows at this point. I strengthened the yellow area of the head while lifting some color to show the bulge above his jaw. I keep saying "his", I truly do not know if it is a he or she, but it is posing proudly like a he so we will assume that is so.

I am trying to make haste slowly so I will not lose many of those lightest areas but adding the necessary darks to show modeling of his anatomy.

Brown Pelican - WIP 2

As usual, when beginning a watercolor painting, I start with a wet-in-wet underpainting to act as a roadmap of sorts for the more detailed painting later. I added bits of warm yellow to the pelican's body where the light will hit it.

Brown Pelican - WIP 1

This will be a painting of a Brown Pelican from a photo by Diana Webb. She gave her permission to me to paint this and suggested that she would like to watch this photo "come to life" as a painting on my blog. So, I will begin with the drawing and submit work in progress photos individually in all the stages.

The first five photos were all done during the open painting session of the watercolor group that meets weekly at the Sun City Grand Art Club. This is an atmosphere rich in creativity and shared interest in watercolor. Great group to paint with!

Newest Creative Media

Well, I can't say I was looking for something else to occupy my spare time since I don't seem to have a lot of that recently, but the opportunity presented itself for me to take some classes in wire-wrap and wire-sculpting to create jewelry. Since I have collected beads, polished gemstones we have "mined", and have lots of just pretty things to work with I just couldn't resist taking the classes.

Friday was the first class and I created the turquoise pendant, which I added to a string of turquoise beads after I got home. The copper wrap necklace was done by enhancing what was already strung to add some pizazz to this natural stone necklace I beaded about a month ago. I started wrapping a sodalite pendant this morning and am working on beading it now. I'll post that photo when I get it finished. I have to say this is so enjoyable to do, and I hope to improve enough to make them really look great. If my arthritic hands will hold out long enough, I hope to continue on with this.

Gila Ruins in Sepia

This is the second painting project for the Watercolor Workshop group for the month of February, they both have had the sepia theme - a favorite of mine! I wanted to paint something looser and free after the tightness required by the satins and lace painting and this fit the bill.

These cliff dwelling ruins were near Silver City, NM and required a long, hot climb to reach them. However, once there, I was able to climb into portions of the ruins, including on a very long ladder to reach some of the upper portions. This is a protected site by the National Parks Service and one of the few cliff dwelling sites we have seen that allows this option to experience the ruins from the inside of the dwellings. This was done about five years ago, before increasing physical limitations started so I doubt I will do anything quite this arduous again, but I certainly have the photos and memories to prove I once could do it!

Now, onto something with a bit more color.....

Satin and Lace in Sepia

This is one of the February projects for the Watercolor Workshop; to paint, in sepia, from the same photograph. When I first saw this photo I thought "oh no, not me" but I studied it and, since I love painting in sepia, I decided to give it a try. What made it do-able was the fact that is is just a collection of value shifts and shadow shapes, so it really wasn't as complicated as first thought. I do like the old look to this and hope that someone who is a seamstress will be attracted to it for purchase. I used to sew constantly, but once I started painting that got pushed aside and, finally, put to rest permanently! I am still drawn to piles of laces and satin ribbons, though!

The other February project is to paint anything in sepia, so I have drawn a cliff dwelling we visited outside of Silver City, NM a few years ago. It is good to be painting again more regularly.

Brenda Quartzsite Adventure

We took the motorhome out for a few days to nearby Brenda, AZ. We have stayed there before when we wanted to explore Quartzsite but had never traveled on any of the desert trails. This was our trip to do that. We were very glad to be in a 4-wheel-drive vehicle since parts of this Ramsey Mine Road went through washes which had quite a few large rocks to crawl over. This is a photo of the mine entrance, my longest lens was used to get this photo without endangering myself or trespassing as the signs warn against.

We saw a desert scene emerging from the winter drabness with Teddy Bear Chollas very healthy looking and the Ocotillas were leafing out with new growth. When the cholla was backlit they looked so soft and fuzzy, like they were neon....but we have learned that you don't get anywhere near them since they have earned their nicknames of "jumping" cholla. I can still remember how painful it was to brush against one and having one of the balls of thorns in my foot.

The panoramic shot was stitched together from 10 photos, I loved seeing those distant mountains behind all the foreground desert. As always, you can click on the photo to make it larger and see more detail.

When in Quartzsite we visited a few of the rock/gem shops and vendors. I found way too many things I loved and bought stones and findings for making some necklaces and earrings. It was a fun day!

Great Weekend

No photos of this weekend's ArtChix sale. And it was one of those memorable ones for me as I sold more than usual, which in this doubtful and sad economy is an accomplishment, indeed! I sold my large petroglyph painting I did last summer to a return customer whom I dearly love. She is such a wonderful lady, so full of spirit. While sitting at my art tables, I was able to paint yesterday's painting of my son and Aubrey and then today I did a small painting for my SWAP partner, but I won't share that until he/she sees it....it's a big secret! I got lots accomplished this weekend, had a great time, visited with so many people, the weather was great and painted two paintings...it doesn't get much better than that!

Tomorrow is my best-blogger-buddy's birthday so do stop by and wish Rhonda ( http://rhcarpenter.blogspot.com/ ) a happy day, her blog is very worthwhile to follow! Happy birthday, Rhonda....and many more!

Have a good week everyone.

Aubrey and Daddy

While at my ArtChix sale table today I worked on this painting of my son and granddaughter, Patrick and Aubrey. I loved the moment portrayed in the photo and hope that showed up in this painting. I changed the composition just a bit to make it more "artistic" and compositionally correct. I like the figures best of all, but that makes sense since these are two of my favorite people!

Art Sale This Weekend

I am preparing for another ArtChix art sale this weekend. If you are in the area of Sun City Grand, do stop by the Art Club Studio and have a look at what we are displaying and working on. A number of us will be doing demonstrations of our process as we visit with those who stop by.

Valentine's Day is coming, maybe you will find something for your Sweetie!

Have a good weekend...

Pink Dogwood

This is a quick project painting I did for the Watercolor Workshop's January project - to paint anything that is pink. Very simply done, but nice to do after that detailed Indian painting I just finished. The reference photo was courtesy of Doris Glovier.

Petroglyph Photo Jaunt

This fellow was waaaaay up the side of the hill, spotted first by my eagle-eye son. It was the last photo I shot as we left, a reminder that we were returning to the land of the present, with a living creature saying goodbye.

I don't recall ever being to a petroglyph site that did not include quite a few glyphs depicting deer, this one was no different. It amazes me that the different tribes in far apart areas all used the same symbolism to depict deer, they are instantly recognizeable in all cases. There are also always depictions of snakes...I guess they all ate venison and dealt with snakes!
This one shows what I believe is a tree, probably a Paloverde, since those were in abundance in this area.

We joined our son and his fiance yesterday on a photo jaunt to an urban petroglyph site near Phoenix (Deer Valley Rock Art Center). To protect the vulnerable petroglyphs, there was a path winding through the most visible ones, but they were high up and we had to shoot photos into the sun, never a good thing! Most of the other petroglyph sites we have visited have allowed much closer access to the glyphs, but since this was an urban site I suppose extra care had to be taken to protect them. Here are a few of the ones I worked with for the blog. This one is the worst for sun flare, but I wanted to share it since I believe it contains the Thunderbird symbol. I was using my 49-150 mm lens with a x 1.7 multiplier, polarizing filter, lens hood and fingers crossed that I could capture these.

Pow-Wow Indian - Final (I hope)

Here is what I am hoping will be the final version of my Pow-Wow Indian. I have submitted it to the Watercolor Workshop and, barring major suggested changes, this will be it. While it took longer to do this one, I have grown somewhat attached to it. I do like it, even though I don't consider myself a portrait artist. I think his face painted itself because I loved his features when I first saw the reference photo. Again, thanks to Diana Webb for her excellent photo and especially her permission for me to paint from it.

Pow-Wow Indian WIP 7

I worked on this at the Thursday watercolor group session and then only once during the busy weekend. I roughed in the feathers and darkened the hair a bit more. Next, I need to refine the details on the feathers and darken his hair more, although I don't want to go all the way to black since there was quite a bit of sun on it. I am thinking this will be the last WIP, I will next post the final after it has been critiqued by the various groups and individuals I rely on for critiques. So, for now it is what it is, we will see what it finishes to be.

Pow-Wow Indian WIP 6

I have been working on and off on a few of the headband details, more modeling shading for the neck area and some more of his face paint. Next, I will take this to my Thursday afternoon watercolor group and work on the details of the beaded breastplate and start on those big feathers directly behind him. I still like him, what do you think?

Pow-Wow Indian WIP 5

I have worked in two sessions to paint the top hat and start the feathers in the hat band. Now, I want to work on the beaded hat band next. This is fairly detailed work and with my limited time this week I probably will not have much to update very soon. This is still an enjoyable painting to work on, though. I am eager to see some of the colorful bead stripes go on this hat band. I like how adding that hat adds dimension to the figure.