SOME STARTS

 

Got a few new art supplies.  Couldn’t get the Hahnemuhle Harmony in a block this time - it’s a pad that you tear out (and is loose on all sides but one).  Guess it will be the same but I do like painting on a block.  

Started a few things - not really in the mood to finish or start anything - perhaps it’s the heat coming back.  Last week it was over 100 degrees (heat index) several days and going back up this week (not that high but close).  It doesn’t matter if I stay inside in air conditioning, I still feel the effects of the heat - I get lethargic and I’ve felt on the edge of passing out for several days - blood pressure is okay and don’t feel ill in any other way but have to be careful moving around (even driving).  Who knows what’s causing it?

This little mockingbird fledgling was begun on a block of Hahnemuhle 140# cold press (Harmony style).  But have just left it for days.  

And picked up another block of something (Arches?) and playing with putting down color on a piece of paper I had spritzed with water to get drops on the paper all over.  Not sure where this will go.

Does the weather affect your work - or do you go into the studio every day no matter what? Or do you paint outside?  

A VERY DIFFERENT IRIS

 

This one is on Hahnemuehl 140# cold press from a block I had.  I liked the way it lifted (but I also tested the colors before using them to make sure they would lift easily - only 2 violets, 1 green and 1 yellow).

IRIS

 Not as soft as I’d like but the paper (Lana 140# cold press from a block) didn’t lift well at all - maybe I used staining colors that made lifting more difficult.

ANNIVERSARY CARDS FOR SWEETIE

 

A painting of a baby mockingbird (from a photo by Sweetie) for our Anniversary - 27 years!

This one began as a watercolor on a card but I ruined it - so took out the acrylics and painted over it.  Sweetie liked it and wondered why I don’t paint in acrylics more often.  The answer is because I love watercolors and the look of watercolors + I always end up with acrylic paint on myself (clothes, up my arms, under fingernails, etc.) when I paint with acrylics so I don’t like the mess (and don’t like to paint wearing latex gloves).  But I’m glad he liked this one.  When you rarely use a medium, you don’t get really good at it so acrylics are more for printmaking and playing around at times.  

FINISHED BANANA PAINTING

 

Added the lower left side - done.

FINISHED CACTUS PAINTING

 

Finished that one little bud/flower.

YES, WE HAVE NO BANANAS?

 There is something interesting about bananas growing and the large pods that hang down while the recognizable bananas are small and in bunches here and there.  A photo reference taken in a Florida garden last year.  Almost finished.  

I find myself painting more slowly than normal - and it is making me a better painter because I am taking the time to see better.  But the true color of this large pod stumped me so I just added cool and warms here and there to mimic the colors.  No one would know unless I told them.  

Need to finish this one - and finish the cactus (which just has one small part to finish).  

SLOWLY MOVING TOWARDS COMPLETION

 

Not sure why we often get into painter’s slumps - and find no inspiration anywhere, in spite of many things blooming and growing and greening up around us.  But it happens.  I imagine it has a lot to do with the world’s problems and so much hate and anger seeping in to our souls.  

I am almost finished with this one and am liking it so far - one more red flower to paint and it will be done.

Hope you are all doing well and can find places of respite and calm in your days to soothe your souls.  I’m finding it hard right now but this will pass.  A good soaking rain will help (and we are getting that).  

SOMETHING ELSE

 

Started a painting (half sheet Arches 140# cold press) of a cactus from a photo Sweetie took on a trip to a Florida garden a few year’s ago.  

Painting slowly in between doing other things.  

A DIFFERENT VERSION OF THE COLEUS

 

BIG RED AND GREENISH BROWN COLEUS

 Plant (coleus?) from photo taken at the Krohn Conservatory (there were at least 6-7 types of coleus there).  Interesting shapes but I did the bg AFTER I painted the plant - not a good plan!

This has some predrawing on it and is on Stonehenge Aqua hot press paper.  

After an art friend (Susan Roper) asked what my thinking was on this (she doesn’t know I often just throw paint on paper without thinking?!!), I went back and added some value changes to make this one more interesing, I think.  Thanks, Susan!!  (I did try to add your blog to my sidebar again but blogger is being finicky and will not allow me to remove or add anything right now - maybe later when it’s over it’s snit.  

Anyway, here is the revised version of this one.  Darkened and shaped the leaves more in every one, lifting some of the lighter colors.

LITTLE HERON

 Finished.  Did add some watercolor pencil marks on top of the watercolor to give it more feathers.

I’m thinking this little lady may be a tri-colored heron.  Need to look that up to be sure but it’s grey and a grey-red and that bright blue bill = 3 colors, right?

Looked it up and the only one with the blue bill with dark tip is the Little Blue Heron (which starts its life as completely white).  

LITTLE GREEN HERON?

 

Started the background before I touched the heron.  I may need to push back some of the stuff in the bg after the bird is painted - we’ll see.  Everything you change means changing something else!

ADDED SOME GREENERY

All I did was add a hint of greenery at the bottom - and look at the change in the color.  My camera must not really capture the true color at times.  This is pretty accurate so the previous one was a bit off.  I think it’s the blue-green color in the bg that changes the pinks.  Oh, well.  Close enough and this is it.  

On to the next wading bird.

ROSEATE SPOONBILL

 

Darkened some bits and got in some shadow shapes.  And painted the background.  May add some greenery here and there.  We’ll see.  

NOT AN AMARYLLIS

 

Started a half sheet (Arches 140# cold press) painting of a colorful roseate spoonbill from our Florida trip.  It’s a big bird and they were all strutting and building nests for the babies to come at the St. Augustine Alligator Farm.  Of course, most people say, “Look, a flamingo” because they think any bird this pink must be a flamingo.  But these beauties are an acquired taste (I mean, the face is not exactly pretty! ha ha).  

Next step to come.  I want to keep the bright but get the idea of the sun-touched vs shadowed feathers.  We’ll see if I can accomplish it.

I haven’t painted this large in a while as I’ve been kind of stuck in the fourth sheet size paintings.  Time to go bigger!

DEFINITELY THE LAST ONE - FOR NOW

 

This was just too pale and wishy-washy so…fiddled with it, wiped it down, put paint on, wiped it down again, added different colors = a sure sign that the artist doesn’t have a clue what she is doing or what she wants!!  

So definitely the last one of the amaryllis for a while.

On to pretty birds…

LAST ONE?

 I may do another but this may be the last amaryllis painting for a while.

I did each painting on different paper - hot press, cold press, rough, Arches, Stonehenge Aqua, Hahnemuehl.  It was interesting to see the different versions and how the paper worked with the watercolor.

AMARYLLIS IN A POT

 

Part of the look of this that captured my imagination was the shadow shapes behind the potted plant.  Sometimes it’s just an extra design element that makes you want to paint it.  

ANOTHER AMARYLLIS - BLOOMING OUT

 

The amaryllis was slow to bloom but when it began it really burst out with blooms.  The one Sweetie purchased for me (for January birthday) had 3 bulbs in a pot and when it had 5 blooms on each bulb!!  Crazy beautiful!  Had to try to paint some of them.  

This is on Hahnemuehl watercolor paper 140# cold press and I love the way the paper helps the watercolor do its thing.  

AMARYLLIS - FIRST PAINTING

 

When we returned from our week away in Florida, I decided it was time to paint some of the amaryllis photos I took as it was blooming.  This is the first one, where it was just starting to bloom.  

This is on Hahnemuehl (?) watercolor paper and I like the way it helps the watercolor work.  

After a few of these, I’ll get to the birds or other photos from our Florida trip.  

A FEW MORE PHOTOS

Washington Oaks park is a lovely, calm refuge when you want to escape and relax as you walk the trails, view the flowers and see the Spanish moss hanging down from the live oaks which says “You are now in the south.”

 

At Ponce de Leon’s Fountain of Youth park, you could watch the Spanish soldiers protecting the fort by firing the cannon.  Blacksmiths worked and gave educational talks, men fired flintlock guns, and you could drink from the fountain itself - just a sip was enough for me so I should be good for another 50 years or so!

There was a wonderful calm walk onto the boardwalk into the sawgrass and water inlets.  You could climb up into the lookout, see several educational displays around the grounds, and watch the male peacocks trying to impress the female peacocks (there are 20 on the grounds and they wander all around, not afraid or aggressive but boy are they LOUD!!

This poor guy was really trying to impress but I didn’t see any of the ladies interested as he shook his beautiful tail feathers all around.

If you wanted a more quiet place, you could drive out of the Fountain of Youth grounds down a lovely live oak and spanish moss draped avenue to Nombre de Dios where you could walk around the pond, sit and meditate a while in any quiet area - or visit the small chapel to Our Lady of La Leche.  I loved the vine covered stone building and you could go inside and sit a while, with the statue of the Virgin Mary breast-feeding the baby Jesus at the front of the chapel.  

I think that’s all for today - I may show more photos or just end here.  There was so much we did and saw in just a week and that really means in 5.5 days because of travel time.  St. Augustine, the United State’s oldest city, is well worth a visit and you could really spend 2 weeks there so see everything and drive up and down the A1A beachside road to see the wonderful beach homes (some McMansions but many still small cottages and older homes that have been there for a while).  

Since I’m not a foodie, I can’t say much about the many many restaurants close by but I can say the last time we ate at the Conch House Restaurant, it was fantastic food and a great site right on the water.

RETURNED FROM A BUSY WEEK AWAY - ST. AUGUSTINE, FLORIDA

Just some photos of the trip - a week of go go go - condo unit was one of three only in the building (nice) and the beach was right at the end of our deck.  Beautiful.  Windy and cool some days with whitecaps and sufers and few people around (not a spring break area so we didn’t have a lot of people - walking on the beach was almost like it was just for us).

The sand is a golden brown color, lighter in areas with sparkles of gold through and the wind and tides carve the beach into great sculptural shapes.

Also went to the St. Augustine Alligator Farm which is for photograping the birds that nest in the trees all around the place (while they are protected by the alligators from other preditors, the alligators sometimes do get a fallen egg or chick).  

Saw roseate spoonbills, white egrets, little blue herons and about 3 other kinds of egrets and herons and the ugly large wood storks, all building nests and squawking over territority.  Some already had eggs and it was a treat to get to see mother getting up off the nest to stretch her legs a bit and see the eggs - all were robin’s egg blue in the heron and egret nests.

Visited the St. Augustine Lighthouse and Museum and walked the 219 stairs up to the top where the wind was so strong I was glad there was a strong metal railing around it!

I’ll share more photos next post.  And have plenty of photos as reference and inspiration for future paintings.

And Happy Easter!

LADY CARDINAL/RED BIRD

 Mama Cardinal 

BLUE

 

Just a bluejay on a branch in a wet, blue sky.

QUIZZICAL SPARROW

 Looking like he (or she) is asking a question - probaby, “Where is the bird seed?” 

SPARROW AGAIN

 Same little sparrow in a pine tree branch.  They hide in there by the dozens, waiting for their time at the feeders on the deck - a nice, save haven for them all to sit and wait out the bigger birds.  

WHAT KIND OF SPARROW?

 Don’t know these birds - they all look alike as they come to feeders - sparrows of some kind.  

I thought it needed some color around him (or her) so did that.  Not sure it’s better.

Isn’t it interesting how the color of the main subject (which wasn’t changed at all) changes in the way it looks when you put color around it?

With a background, I think the warm colors show up more and the darks look more muted.  

Still wasn’t happy with the bg so darkened it even more.  

Better.  Darkened the bird color, too.  

BABY BIRD

 Baby bird in a nest with a younger brother or sister still to come.