Saturday, December 15, 2007 - Snowed In

Weather today: huge, fluffy snowflakes falling at a rapid rate covered the ground to about 1 1/2 inches. Then a bit of sleet turning to rain and warmer temperatures - rain rain rain until evening when temperatures fall again and rain turns again to sleet and then to snow snow snow! Look out for tomorrow!!
So basically, I'm staying inside and painting or reading or burrowing under the covers.

Georgie is finished - actually, he's overdone :( sorry about that. Hotpress only takes so much and then it's muddy and ugly which this is...I could do it over but...well, maybe I'll try again on rough or coldpress...or maybe I'll just chalk this one up to impatience and not knowing when to quit and move on to
The 4th painting - colors are:
1) Quinacridone Rose
2) Permanent Red Deep and
3) Verditer Blue -
these won't make a good dark, so I'll use Lunar Black mixed with the red and blue to get a mix of darks. From Jerry's photos, I've chosen this pic of a ship in a Welsh harbour. And Jerry suggested this one be done on yupo = good idea!

Myrna Wacknov posted the Friday slide show of works done - my Highland Laddie is there but it's a earlier version so it's not as well done. The one I posted in here in yesterday's blog is the better version.

Today's News:

Korean cats that glow - for better health we're told. Too much ice and snow - causing trees to bow.

Ten more days to go - before Santa starts his show. And news across the globe - of another Presidential veto.

Friday, December 14, 2007 - Froggie 3-color Done - Highland Laddie Revised

I darkened some of the Highland steer painting - the horns look more rounded, the nose has more depth and I added some shading in places more - thanks Susan S. and Donna E. for those critiques that said it needed those touches.

And here's George (our red-eyed tree frog) so far. I thought I would finish today but just got to the point where I added the leaf, removed the misket, and now I need to add some shadows and soften the whites and maybe tomorrow. Today I am feeling like reading a good book and think I will start Michael Ondaatje's newest, Divisadero. MO wrote The English Patient, and everything I've read of his has been like a slow savoring of a really creamy caramel.

Thursday, December 13, 2007 - 3-Color Challenge, Next Painting

I started my third 3-color challenge painting for Myrna Wacknov's December challenge (I'm hoping to do one a week).

As a reminder, the 3 colors this time are:Hansa Yellow Deep + Pyrrol Orange + Phthalo Blue (Red Shade)

All are Daniel Smith colors.

I was going to use a mix of Lunar Black + the blue and orange for my blacks in this one but I think I can get dark enough with just the blue + orange this time.

This is the photo (taken by Jerry) of our pet, a little red-eyed tree frog we "adopted" from one of Jerry's past photography students who is now in medical school in Seattle.

And this is the beginning glaze of yellow I used. This is on a 1/8 sheet (7 1/2" x 11") of Arches 140# hotpress paper. I put some oxgall in my water tub to help the colors stay wetter and slide over the hotpress paper. You'll see the effects of that more when I start adding the blues to get the greens (with the colors I'm using, I won't get those bright greens but that's the luck of the draw).

Wednesday, December 12, 2007 - Class Party + Cheng Khee Chee Saturated Technique

Last Tuesday, the watercolor class tried Cheng Khee Chee's saturated watercolor technique. I think all of us agreed that we didn't succeed! I even left my painting there at Sandy's, which I never do, because I didn't want to look at it and wasn't going to post it. I thought I might like it more the following week but it was just as hideous yesterday when I saw it again.

So we tried again yesterday, amidst our holiday party and gifts we had for Sandy and gifts to us from Sandy (a tube of Daniel Smith paint, a small paintbrush, and a Go Fish art game :) and gifts from Kathy (a pretty blue mug and cookies + Hershey kisses in a reindeer bag). I used a print of Chee's and tried to do a similar iris. I'm fairly pleased but I think it is going to take more practice for this technique! And my iris looks nothing like his - so that's a good thing!

This technique lifts color from very creamy colors laid down on very saturated paper. We used 140# Fabriano Artistico and put down Cobalt Blue and Cerulean Blue first as a base - and we were more able to lift back to whites than last week when we used Arches #300 and didn't use the blues as a base color. Chee does all his koi paintings this way and they are wonderful. You don't get hard edges unless you keep lifting and lifting and I stopped and since everyone said it was finished, I didn't lift anymore on it. I think it needs some hard edges, though...

Tuesday, December 11, 2007 - I've Been Tagged

Myrna Wacknov (http://myrnawacknov.blogspot.com) has tagged me - which means I need to share 5 things about me plus tag 5 other artists/blogs/websites. First, you've got to see Myrna's work - her portraits blow me away! She is inventive, creative, and, I suspect, just a little bit crazy in a very good way :) Someday I hope we'll meet in "real" life :)

So...

1. My husband and I just joined a health club and intend to get fit sometime next year :)

2. We just learned we are going to be grandparents again - this time a boy to add to the two granddaughters.

3. I am a practicing Buddhist leaning towards Zen.

4. I was named Rhonda by my father who loved the actress, Rhonda Fleming.

5. I am tremendously lucky to be married to a wonderful man who is smarter and kinder than I - which gives me the best possible challenges to better myself all the time :)

Now go check out these wonderfully creative artists:

http://janefranart.blogspot.com/

http://wcbysusanroper.blogspot.com/

http://artbydabs.blogspot.com/

http://suzannemcdermott.blogspot.com/

http://annbucknerpaintings.blogspot.com/

Monday, December 10, 2007 - My Highland Laddie Finished + the Next 3 Colors!

Here he is - finished. Again, used only 1) Raw Sienna 2) Burgandy Red Ochre and 3) Sedona Genuine (colors that are very close in value and hue - with Paynes Gray for the black.

And the next 3 color challenge will be done with:

Hansa Yellow Deep, Pyrrol Orange + Phthalo Blue (Red Shade). I'll probably use Lunar Black mixed with the orange and blue for the black. I haven't decided what to paint with these colors yet.

Sunday, December 9, 2007 - My Sister's Birthday!

Happy Birthday, Millie!

Today is my sister's birthday - happy happy birthday to you to you! But I'm still not giving you any more hints about what your presents are!! But here are some dancing bears (she's crazy about bears) for you - a painting by William Holbrook Beard.

And here are the sketches done Saturday in our last open figure session at Manifest until the new year. Jerry said the one in greens looks like he's wearing flippers - maybe I can make him a merman? That one was done with yellow pastel pencil and then blue pastel pencil over that for shading. The second one was back to graphite and I think is better proportioned.

Saturday, December 8, 2007 - Cards + Steer WIP

Here are some of the cards I've made so far (see yesterday's post for info).

And here is the progress on the steer so far using just 3 colors + Paynes Gray for black + the white of the paper for white. A bit of darkening areas and he'll be ready to go.

Friday, December 7, 2007 - Baking Cookies and...

Baking cookies for a holiday party my husband has with the TriState Photography group. And also had to run some errands (shopping list in hand for gifts) and get a haircut and color today (I was overdue, I think, considering how my hair looked). And, unfortunately, I got a migraine today - those are popping up more frequently than usual and I'm blaming the weather for now.



And in between those things, I painted on my little Highland steer and made some holiday cards. I've decided to take all the cards we've received over the last few years (yes, I've saved them - don't know why - just did) and cut and paste and rearrange and make new cards for family and close friends. It's slow going - think I should have begun this a month ago. We'll see how it goes and how many I get done by the Christmas gatherings. I'll show some tomorrow as well as the steer in progress. And Myrna should have a slideshow of the entries so far for the challenge sometime today or tomorrow on her blog at http://myrnawacknov.blogspot.com/


FYI - The Cincinnati Art Club is having their annual holiday sale tomorrow and Sunday. It starts at noon both days and I've heard that some items are as low as $5 - yep, $5!! So go on over to 1021 Parkside Place in Mt. Adams and check it out if you're looking for something different for someone on your list. I intend to drop by after figure drawing since I'll be coming that way to get home.

Thursday, December 6, 2007 - Heron Finished + The Next 3-Paint Challenge

I finished the final touches on the White Heron and pulled my paints for the next 3-paints-only challenge.

This time, the paints I drew are a bit more difficult because they are so similar, with Raw Sienna, Sedona Genuine and Burgandy Red Ochre and using Payne's Gray for the black. So...what to paint using these colors??


I picked another photo Jerry took - this one of a lovely little Highland steer in Scotland - lots of tans, browns and reds so it should work.

Wednesday, December 5, 2007 - GCWS Cancelled

Since the Greater Cincinnati Watercolor Society meeting was cancelled due to our first snow of the 2007-08 season, I can stay in, warm and cozy, and finish my heron painting (just a bit here and there and it will be done and I've been told - or is that warned?! - not to touch the whites! I need to have it done by Friday when Myrna Wacknov will post the week's paintings for the 3-paints-only challenge.

BTW - Did any of you watch the Victoria's Secret show last night? And are you, like me, now feeling terribly old and pudgy and, generally, yuck?? And isn't 13-15 too young to be prancing around in pantie that show most of your butt cheeks? How is this not kiddie porn? Oh, well, I won't let it get to me for long but today it is making this 50-year-old, 5'4" and 137-pound woman feel not so good about herself.

Monday, December 3, 2007 - White Heron 3 Color Challenge

Stage 2 - keeping the misket on, I did the background in Phthalo Blue, Natural Sleeping Beauty Turquoise and Lunar Earth. Then removed the misket and I think I need to darken some of the background here and there and maybe the feet and beak a bit more.

What do you think?

Sunday, December 2, 2007 - December Challenge from Myrna

Myna Wacknov (see my sidebar for her blog and webpage) has come up with a great challenge for December: Using only 3 colors + black and white, paint something, anything, anystyle. But you choose the colors by picking the colors blindly out of a jar/hat/whatever - so you don't choose the colors, you let the colors choose you! Cool, huh??? So I just happen to have all my colors listed on a spreadsheet (I know, I'm very organized! ha-ha) so I printed that out and then cut the names apart and drew the names of 3 colors after I'd mixed them up.

Should I admit that my list included 68 tubes of paint?!?? I admit, when I first started painting - about 5-6 year's ago (can't remember now), I used to buy all the great Daniel Smith colors whenever he would come out with new ones - so I have Zoisite Genuine and Lunar Red Rock and Hematite and Undersea Green!! Yep, it took me about 3 year's to get wise and write down the Pigment # for each color and decide I don't need another PR 101 just because it's called something new. Plus I now stick to more pure colors - made from a single pigment or just 2, no more. So I now just buy my old standbys unless something really fantastic comes along that I can't mix myself.

So - my first 3 color choices are:

1. Phthalo Blue (Green Shade)

2. Natural Sleeping Beauty Turquoise

3. Lunar Earth

For my black, I'm using a mix of Lunar Black + Moonglow and I'll use the white of the paper for white since this is watercolor.

All colors are Daniel Smith brand.

I've already begun my painting using these colors. It was just too much fun to think about what it will look like and I had a photo Jerry took of a white heron with gold feet I've been wanting to try. I may do several of these with the same or similiar subjects just for the fun of it and to use some unusual combinations. I'm liking how it's turning out so far. I misketed the fluffy bits on the bird and some highlights on the beak and legs and will do the background next using the darker mixes of colors.

Saturday, December 1, 2007 - Photos from Aquarium of the Smokies

Some photos from our short trip to Gatlinburg, Tennessee and the Ripley's Aquarium of the Smokies:


The Aquarium of the Smokies is a fantastic collection of sea critters with some of my favorites like seahorses, puffer fish, leafy seadragons, cuttlefish and jellyfish.


I could have spent hours just in the 2 galleries that held all these little ones and, it being off-season, it was not crowded at all.




I couldn't get a decent photo of the leafy seadragons so I'll post Jerry's when he gets them downloaded.






















Now I'm off to figure drawing session (only 2 more to go and we're done until the New Year). I've got the Robert Beverly Hale textbook on Anatomy for the Artist, though, that should keep me busy for a while - and then some!

Friday, November 30 - Sketches

Well, I was going to copy the sketches from my Drawing magazine but I got as far as 1 sketch. This is in my Exacompta sketchbook using a hard lead mechanical pencil.

Then I decided I could sketch the fireplace in the room for my Myrna Wacknov 5-hour drawing challenge...and got as far as 1 hour! Also in my sketchbook using a mechanical pencil. The angle of the bottom "screen" is off and I intended to fix it without erasing any lines but didn't get around to it.

A mini-vacation, apparently, is not the time to get serious drawing and work done.

Photos to share later today or tomorrow but right now have some errands to run.

Thursday, November 29, 2007 - Back Home

Got back home this afternoon.
Tired.
I have things to post (sketches and photos) but you'll have to wait for tomorrow!

Sunday, November 25, 2007 - Gatlinburg, TN

Taking another short driving trip down to Gatlinburg, Tennessee. We won't be gone long and I'm only taking my sketchbook and some pencils and pens this time.


See you later, alligator!

Saturday, November 24, 2007 - Open Figure Session and Balluminaria at Eden Park

Went to Open Figure Session this morning 10 - 12. Here is the only sketch I did (graphite HB pencil) other than the few warm-up gesture drawings I did in vine charcoal.

Sandy M. says all the heads on my figures are too big so I have to watch that but unsure how - if I start with the head, which I always do, then I measure the head against other body parts and lengths, how can I make the head too big? Hmmmm...it's a conundrum. Maybe I'm not measuring correctly and need to measure more and draw less :)

So I measured more often today, especially since he was turned and I had to check his middle and chest a few times.





Jerry and some photogs from the
TriState Photo group are carpooling
and meeting at Eden Park this evening
to see and photograph the annual Balluminaria. If you're interested in
going and seeing Mirror Lake and the
hot air balloons, here is the info:

Balluminaria!
Date and Time: Nov. 24th, 4 - 6 PM
Location: Eden Park, Mirror Lake
Description: Balluminaria! (Rain Date Nov. 25)
Join us to light up the Cincinnati sky. Holiday Music, Santa Claus with Candy Canes for Kids, Mounted Police, Free Balloon Animals and Hats, Hot Chocolate & Roasted Almonds and more!

And here is one of Jerry's photos from last year:


The balloons are tethered to the ground all around Mirror Lake and light up all at once or alternating on and off with its neighbors, creating some great reflections. It doesn't get any prettier than when they start lighting them up at sunset - which should be around 5:15 or so...bundle up and go out and enjoy!

Friday, November 23, 2007 - One Year Old on November 12th

Well, I missed a milestone - my blog turned 1 year old on November 12th and I missed it! However, in belated celebration, I'd like to say thank you:


Thank you to all those who pop in regularly and tell me when they see me that they are enjoying stopping by.


Thank you to those who post something when they pop in and take a look.


Thank you to those who have linked my blog to theirs and allowed me to do the same with their blogs and websites.

No painting today - I think I have the after-Thanksgiving slump and just wanted to sit on the sofa and watch movies today. So here are a couple of sketches I did yesterday evening while Jerry was watching a football game. I pulled these up on the computer monitor from http://www.posemaniacs.com/blog and once you get past the face that the figures have no skin, it works out because you can see the muscles clearly. And you can rotate them around to show different sides of the same position. The 2 sitting poses were from posemaniacs and done with brown and black Speedball Elegant Writer pens in my Exacompta sketchbook.

Thursday, November 22, 2007 - Happy Thanksgiving in the US

Happy Thanksgiving to all those in the US or all those Americans who are living elsewhere and wishing for turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, green beans, cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie, et cetera!!! I remember living in Wales during one Thanksgiving and telling my Welsh friend about pumpkin pie. She thought it was disgusting to even think about!! My husband, who is American, also thinks pumpkin pie is disgusting - something about the texture.

And, of course, our Canadian friends and neighbors have celebrated Thanksgiving as a true harvest celebration in October.No photos of turkeys for you - but here are 2 photos I took yesterday morning when the sun was out and the temperature was already 60F! And today - rainy and windy and cold - oh well! All compounded things are impermanent :)