Sunday, September 21, 2014

SMALL STUDIES AGAIN


In the Jean Haines book, she uses cling wrap + salt in the door to add texture (what she calls her Venetian textures technique).   I didn't do that.  I just painted it, then lifted out and/or scraped the lines in while the paint was still wet.  I don't like using salt, and just didn't want to go back upstairs to get the Saran Wrap for this.  I added some flowers to the left side.  

I think the window looks farther away than the door because it's too pale.  

None of these little studies/exercises (eighth sheet size) are turning out anything like her's in the book! ha ha  Oh, well, that's what practice is for - and for me, it's about loosening up, not copying her work.






One of the things I agree with from the book, and which is a very good tip, is to put your subject down and then bring out your tubes of paint to see what colors you want to use on the subject.  Put the colors next to the subject to see how well they match.  I did that with these little salad tomatoes and probably used colors I would not have normally chosen (I would have used a warm yellow and then gone from there with reds, darkening as I went.)





Of course, this is if you want to paint the subject realistically with the colors you see when you look at it (and you don't always have to do that!).

I cheated on the tube colors and painted them just a deep quinacridone gold and two reds, a warm and a cool, and the reds were not exactly the colors I matched in the photo, but I mixed them a bit with an orange and gold.

I did not draw anything prior to painting.










13 comments:

Midori Yoshino said...

Without using pencils! Very natural, isn't it? Great!!!

Autumn Leaves said...

Rhonda, more and more I am learning from you so I do love when you post instructional info like this. That top piece is gorgeous and the tomato colors are perfection.

I do not like using salt either. I've tried it before and my salt dried and stuck to the paper. I had a dickens of a time getting it off!

Sadami said...

Ooohhh!!! Rhonda, I love your second painting and your post so much! Cheers, Sadami

debwardart said...

Your tomato pix is great - frame it and hang it in the kitchen!

Anonymous said...

I agree with not using salt. I worked in fabrics for years, painting my own designs with fabric paint. I used salt on several pieces and incorporated them in a lap size quilt. After several years of use the fabric with salt added shredded but the fabric without salt is just fine. The fabric was 100% cotton and good watercolor paper is too, so I thought it wasn't a good idea to add salt to my wc paint.

PaintedSouvenirs said...

This is very interesting. I have never thought proceeding like that, but I think it is a very useful tip.

RH Carpenter said...

Thank you so much for stopping by and for taking the time to comment, Midori! I just looked up your blog = beautiful work!! I hope you won't mind if I add you to my blogroll?

Sherry, I'm glad you're learning a little bit with my reading and experimenting = we all teach each other.

Thanks so much, Sadami and Deb :)

Anonymous, thanks for that info about salt on silk - I have always been afraid it would do the same to watercolor paper in the long run (same as bleach, which I've seen some artists use).

Glad you liked the tip, PS, and I hope to use it more often = beats making washes and adding a bit of this, a bit of that, etc. Of course, you can still add to the tube that's closest in color - can't just use pure tube colors if you LOVE color! ha ha And I know botanical artists are sticklers for glazing many colors to get the right color of the flower, fruit, etc.

Debbie Nolan said...

Rhonda love those cherry tomatoes...wonderful tips about putting your paint beside your subjects and coming up with new and different colors. Looks like you are really enjoying the book and finding some great ways to do some things differently. Hope you are enjoying the day.

RH Carpenter said...

Thanks so much, Debbie. I did like that tip in the Haines book - even if you stray from the colors later, it gives you a good starting point and reds are hard to get right so it helped with the colors for me.

laura said...

Gorgeous! Love your tomatoes--so bright and strong ... and adding the paint tubes was brilliant!

RH Carpenter said...

Thanks so much, Laura. Good to hear from you and see that you are back with a brush in your hand :)

http://carolking.wordpress.com said...

Love what you did!

RH Carpenter said...

Thanks, Carol :)