We are getting quite an ice and sleet and freezing rain storm in our area. No snow yet but it’s coming. Whew! Sounds like it’s in a swatch throughout the US right now.
Could be a lot better and maybe I should lightly draw the birdies before trying to paint them. Would really like to get looser with my bird paintings but not there yet.
Had our first real snow (1.5 inches or so) and now I know it’s really winter - not that it matters as I cannot walk anyway (I mean, not much and certainly not for a mile or so walk) but the leg is healing. It just hurts at the ankle and swells up so having to ice it and do my PT exercises often to build up the strength in that leg/ankle. Not there yet. I wonder how long this will take to “recover” from the broken bone?
Think I will buy more of this paper - another block - because I am liking the way it lifts and you can move the color around (plus it really emphasizes the granulating colors).
Have you ever tried it?
I am having problems commenting on some blogs - especially Debbie’s blog. I am reading and watching your posts but, for some reason, I try to post and it gives me an error message. I imagine, like most things with Blogger, it will “fix” itself one day - but I wanted you to know if you haven’t seen me posting it’s not because I’m not trying!!
Painted this one on the Stonehenge Aqua hotpress paper and I like it better because I could shape the hairs better by lifting off color. Still just using Lunar Black except for the eyes and nose - and the background.
Didn’t use the whole sheet (it’s in a block) so painted a little something else on the “scrap” piece - but you’ll have to wait for that one to be shown!
On our drive to Physical Therapy Monday morning, I saw over a dozen in a driveway along the way - so many Cardinals and not sure what they were doing there.
No rhyme or reason why I’m painting these - just printed out a bunch of bird photos I had and am going through them.
Posted this on FB and it sold :). I did fix the shape of the egg, signed it, getting it ready to mail out as soon as the check is in my hand. Haven’t sold anything in ages and it feels pretty good.
10 x 14 inches on Lanaquarelle 140# cold press watercolor paper.
Love the bright, colorful flash of a redwing blackbird’s wings just before they take off.
Our dentist got a new dog. His name is Otis. He is an old soul, totally chill and so people friendly that everyone who meets him loves him - he’s great for hugs and attention when you need a therapy dog at the dentist! The dentist posted a photo of him (he posts one every so often so we Otis fans get our fix) and I liked it so much I thought I’d try to paint this mostly black dog with the pretty golden brown eyes. This is on a block of Arches 140# coldpress using only 2 colors - Lunar Black and a bit of Cerulean Blue.
Painting a few holiday cards for next year, but in between cards, I’m painting a few birds. Trying to stay loose and light. Next one will be on hot press (I don’t use it often).
Sweetie and I got boosters this afternoon. Hope we do well with them as I have a recheck with the ortho tomorrow morning (hope to be able to leave the boot behind although walked with both shoes on today and it was painful and my right foot is swollen so much…hope I don’t have to have a bigger size shoe as then I’d need 2 pairs all the time to fit both feet right!!).
Well, made a mess of the cardinal but it was the first thing I’ve done other than small cards in weeks. I became less heavy-handed with the second one - the little chickadee.
Have another to share and another in the drawing stages. Just fourth sheet paintings for now.
Still in the boot and have had one physical therapy session (with exercises to do at home on my own until I can get a second session later this month). I should be out of the boot and walking (without a limp, I hope) before Christmas.
Walking in the boot to the back deck and finding lots of reds all around, so took a few photos.
Used the gold dust dry pigment (Schminke) on his star but it’s so heavy it tilts his head :)
The folks who take care of the Extension Center garden are always planting new things - I imagine it’s a full time job for several workers and it always gives us something interesting to see. I admire anyone who can keep a garden going in all seasons.
A tree in the cemetery with some interesting seed pods. Our neighbor has one in their back yard and the tree flamed out pretty yellow-orange leaves this year.
Seems like autumn colors are coming on later and later in the year.
Not fun.
Four weeks of
Not fun
in this blue cast.
And then,
if it’s healing well,
four more weeks of
not fun
in a walking boot.
Won’t be posting any artwork for a while. I fell this week and now am in a big ole cast which is making it hard to get around on the main floor (my little art room is on the lower level with 2 sets of stairs so it’s off limits for a while). I am not handling the pain, the stress, or anything else about this, very well. But once I start feeling better I can post some photos from walks.
Slipped during a walk down a little hill before getting to a walkway and heard the ankle pop. It’s a broken fibula (the thin leg bone on the outside of your leg that connects from the knee to the ankle) at the ankle. Out of commission for 8 weeks, minimum.
Finished with the poke berries painting.
Started another of some pumpkins and a little crow watching from afar.
Blogger is acting strange and I think it has to do with the 2-factor verification Google now has started on your accounts - each time you sign in to Google for anything (Blogger, Mail, etc.), they send you a text on your phone. I removed that because I don’t want a text sent every single time I sign in to Google - so now things are funky. Plus, when they had the 2-factor verification on, they send a number to verify your account which you had to type in…and it had 2 numbers too many and wouldn’t accept the code numbers!! D’uh. I guess they’ll get it worked out after everyone complains.
Today there is an online course from John Muir Laws, teaching how to draw owls. Should be fun. You can find it through Audubon or through John’s site. It starts at 11:30 Pacific Time and is through Zoom.
I drew these larger and really spent time on the first dark and wine-colored berries. They look more shiny than the first attempt at painting them.
I watched Billy Showell (well-known botanical artist) on video showing how to paint a single cherry - OMG! she took forever lifting and lifting and lifting and lifting and…nope, not the style for me! ha ha. She had a lovely, shiny cherry when she was done but I skipped through a lot of the middle part of the technique. Did learn to use lifting preparation (WinsorNewton makes it) prior to painting anything = makes it easier to lift back to white if you don’t use any staining pigment.
Tried to spend some time making these more rounded than I got in the first go-round. And cropped off some edges that were unnecessary.
I’m having to really think about the shades in the berries and how to make them look shiny.
Another nice walk in the Extension Center gardens to see what was blooming.
The bumblebees like the long flowering bits of this plant (did not see a name tag to tell me what this was called). Do you think certain pollinators like certain plants for their color? What does a purple flower taste like, compared to a pink one?
Lots of plants with berries in various colors - red, orange, even blue berries for the birds and still some hardy flowers for the bumblebees, butterflies and (a few) honeybees.
This one was painted directly, with no drawing. I did have to use gouache for the white stuff holding the seeds.
