ANOTHER ONE IN THE WORKS

Sung to the tune of Queen's Another One Bites the Dust! ha ha









Started on all the greens first.


And then...the dusky reds.

This lovely plant was growing next to a pond at the Botanical Garden in Bradenton, FL and we enjoyed our walk around the place.  They are growing plants that have almost become nonexistent in the US - reintroducing them.  Of course, the banana is grown all around the tropical areas of the US.  I love the large flower/pod and little green starts of what will become bananas.

AIR PLANT IN A SHELL 2

This one is done wet-in-wet without any predrawing.  I made the top really bigger than I wanted so less room to put in the actual air plant tendrils.  


Also on a fourth sheet (11 x 15 inches).


Brought out some more detail and still trying to keep the softness.  I like both versions (the wet into dry and the wet into wet) but prefer soft edges of wet into wet.

Finished.  Still looks like a green jellyfish!  Oh, well...You can't always get what you want...

MORE SKY + LANDSCAPE STUDIES

More lessons from the Birgit O'Connor streaming video I purchased called Atmospheric Landscapes.  The only way to get better is more practice - as with everything.

These are all on small bits of 140# coldpress watercolor paper, the largest sheet being a fourth sheet (11 x 15 inches).

Autumn Sky and Field No. 1

Got a blossom/runback in this one in the sky = went in with clean water to make the clouds and it was already beginning to dry.


Autumn Sky and Field No. 2

This one is on a fourth sheet of Arches 300# coldpress (because that's what she used and I figured it may need some reworking which may be why she used the 300# instead of the 140#).  

Storm Sky Up

This is what the sky looked like after the storms and tornados ripped through the area last Wednesday morning.  I was awakened at 7 am by the sirens and announcements going off at the local university that said we were under a tornado watch.  I planned to go to the Greater Cincinnati Watercolor Society meeting to see Deb Ward's program, but didn't make it - what a crazy day and many lost homes, roofs, trees, etc.  Semis turned over on the interstates and flooding where the rain poured in.  So March really came in like a lion!

This one is finished because the foreground field looked too dull.  Splattered a bit of red and green on it to give it a bit more.


Just got an email saying Birgit O'Connor is going to repeat the free webinar on March 9 - go to her site, check online courses and see it, sign up and enjoy!  It's not like the video streaming course I paid for but it's got a lot of good info and techniques to share - keep learning!

OCTOPUS WITH TOY 2

More done on this one.  Just a bit more shaping the octopus' legs and he'll be done.  What a fun painting to do!


Let Go o'My Lego!


On fourth sheet (11 x 15 inches)
Fabriano Artistico 140# cold press 
watercolor paper

FROM BIRGIT O'CONNOR

Playing with clouds and lots of wet-in-wet techniques of merging the colors.
Small eighth sheet slices of 140# coldpress watercolor paper (6.5 x 15 inches)

Here are just a few I did (from the course, Atmospheric Landscapes).  I paid for the course months ago and just got around to doing some of the lessons).  You, if you signed up for the free webinar, got some of this FREE in her free webinar yesterday about using photos for painting references.  She talked a lot about how she goes about eliminating and changing so-so photos.  

These are some early studies I did while following the streaming video I purchased, working to learn how the paints flow and merge wet-in-wet (the paper is really saturated and she goes right in immediately after putting in the clean water and tilts the paper to get movement).

Not too happy with this one, but I think it just needs some splattered colors in the foreground to look like flowers - maybe some red poppies?  


If you didn't get a chance to see the free webinar, you can still see it in the next 2 days for free by following this link.  It's well worth an hour's time to watch and learn a little bit.  Of course, practice practice practice is what it's all about.

Now...back to that octopus and Lego toy...

(Finally figured out how to add that Blog Medal/Award so put it on the sidebar.)  I was asked to post a link to the site and I thought I already did that in the previous post about it (see a few posts down), but I'll do it again here.  If you want to visit the blog listed, don't click on the bold type at the top but go to the title of the blog in lighter type to the right and click on that - it will take you right to the blog in question.  I found a few interesting ones and old favorites, too :)

WET INTO WET: OCTOPUS WITH TOY

Started this one by prewetting inside the lines (did a bit of drawing on the watercolor paper before starting).  Then adding more color to the octopus using Daniel Smith Shadow Violet (a perfect color for an octopus!).  He has a toy = a yellow Lego piece.

So I am calling this one

Let Go 'o My Lego!


Will finish it up (the Lego is bright yellow in the photo reference) and show it again when it's done.


In the meantime, Birgit O'Connor is having a free webinar TODAY sharing her atmospheric landscapes painting and techniques.  If you're interested, just go here to get the link and sign up (check on Online Classes and it should come up as a drop-down menu choice).

AIR PLANT IN A SHELL

Saw this at an art fair and liked the shape of it so much, I took a photo.  I painted it first wet into dry.  It turned out more green than the actual shell and tends to look more like a green jellyfish, but I still like it okay.


Fourth sheet (11 x 15 inches)


I've begun another wet-in-wet without pre-drawing and will share it next.  

HERON FLIGHT FINISHED

Darkened the legs and the lower neck, shaped the bill a bit more.


Time to move on to the next project/play.

HERON FLIGHT NEXT

Almost done but the legs are a bit too yellow and need toned down = more ruddy brown color needed there.  Maybe a bit more on the beak...but other than that, I think I've done all I can do on the feathers without making them too realistic and fussy.


What do you think?


Heron Flight

on half sheet (15 x 22 inches) 
Arches 140# cold press watercolor paper

SOME QUOTES

“There is no beauty without some strangeness.” ~ Edgar Allan Poe

“Never confuse your mistakes with your value as a human being.” ~ Saint Francis de Sales

“You can do anything, but not everything.” ~ David Allen

“To be nobody but yourself in a world that’s doing its best to make you somebody else, is to fight the hardest battle you are ever going to fight. Never stop fighting.” ~ e.e. cummings

Now go create something!

BEST WATERCOLOR BLOGS ON THE PLANET?

I just received an email from the founder of Feedspot stating I am in the Top 60 Watercolor Blogs listed on their latest RSS feed blog.

How did they choose the top 60 from all the watercolor blogs in the world?

According to them,

The Best Watercolor blogs from thousands of top Watercolor blogs in our index using search and social metrics. Data will be refreshed once a week.

These blogs are ranked based on following criteria

• Google reputation and Google search ranking
• Influence and popularity on Facebook, twitter and other social media sites
• Quality and consistency of posts.
• Feedspot’s editorial team and expert review

What do you think?  Are you one of the Top 60, too?  Oh, and Carol King, they have a photo of the singer and songwriter, Carol King, on your blog so someone didn't do their due diligence there - maybe you have never posted a photo of yourself on your blog and they thought - well, any old Carol King will do?  I do see some well-known and respected watercolor bloggers on the list like Urban Sketchers, Citizen Sketcher, Jean Haines, Carol Carter, Brenda Swinson, Birgit O'Connor, Jacqueline Gnott, Terry Banderas.  

Personally, I think it's fine to do this as a way to draw attention to many watercolor blogs, but maybe take it with a grain of magical Himalayan salt and get on with your life :)  That's what I'm going to do now :)

Thank you, Feedspot, for taking the time to compile the list and put my blog on it. 

OFF ON A TANGENT?

I don't know.  Sometimes I am in the middle of something - or just started something and I'm not really INTO it yet so...

I go off on a tangent, getting out the TerraSkin paper and the acrylic inks and playing with color and shape.  I never know where I'm going but it does seem to relieve a little tension.


Got my latest Acrylic Artist magazine today and really enjoyed the article on Joan Fullerton.  I don't paint intuitively - when I do it I just say I'm throwing paint around and hoping for something decent to come out of it! ha ha  But she says, "Making art often triggers insecurity.  Yet those willing to embrace doubt and fear as a part of the process can learn how to play through their uncertainties and appreciate whatever shows up on the canvas."  I think that's about right.  I like her artwork.

Now time to get back to the Great Blue Heron painting...

HERON FLIGHT BEGUN

Started on the new painting, Heron Flight.  Began with a sketch on tracing paper and then transferred that to a half sheet of Arches 140# cold press watercolor paper.

Starting lightly and will build up the color as I go.  

Thanks for the challenge, Gary :)

LAST RUN OF PRINTS

Here's a photo of the last run of prints I did using acrylic paints and on Fluid watercolor paper.  Some will be revised later with more additions.

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY TO YOU ALL

Some acrylic prints for Valentines...

This one has 2 hearts collaged on top of the original print.  

And this one has 1 heart collaged on top of the original print.

And these are cut-out heart shapes from bits of small acrylic ink pours = nice to add into a Valentine card for a Love or a Friend.

NEXT

Brought out the other crow painting only just begun...

Using the same 3 colors as in the background (top), I added paint to the crows and wing.  Not finished yet - some tweaking to do.


Then on to some paintings from reference photos taken when we were in Anna Maria (herons, royal terns, flowers and plants, etc.)


Primary Feathers
15 x 17.25 inches

PRINTS

Using my Gelli printing plate, I played with some crow shapes and acrylic colors.  Also making some Valentine prints but I'll share those later.  

Starting to get into the Valentine's mode...

The heart is just laid on the print, not glued on yet.  I may leave it off.  

These are crow shapes but for some reason they make me think of the pelicans landing on Anna Maria Island = goofy and unwieldy but they make it work!

AND SO IT GOES

Continuing to make changes...

Until it became this.




Done.

BACK TO THE STRUGGLE OF A PAINTING THAT ISN'T QUITE RIGHT

I finally settled back in to being home and returned to my art room where two paintings, only just begun, were sitting.  

Not sure about either one, but here goes...

What bothered me about this one was the composition = too static even though it's all birds flying/landing.  So took Lisa's advice and placed 2 more in there by lifting off the paint...I don't think they will stay as they don't do much more for the painting.  So...began with just one color (Black Tourmaline Genuine by Daniel Smith).  It lifts easily so I put the original photos next to the crows to help me see where I need to lift lights and shape them more.  

Then I decided to crop it and will cover up the lifted out crow at the bottom right as much as I can.  Obviously, this isn't going to be anything to win any prizes, but I'll continue to use it as a learning experience...again, planning is important, especially in watercolor where you can't just cover over and change things easily after you have that paint down.




Hope you had a Happy Groundhog Day.  They were running the Bill Murray movie all day long that day so, of course, we watched it (but only once!).

GETTING TIRED OF THEM YET?

A few more photos of our two weeks on Anna Maria...