Category: painting

Posted in painting

Watercolor Wednesday: Playtime

Posted on by Laura Kate

There was quite a crowd at today’s Open Studio. Cheryl Bryan decided that this session would be focused on playing with our paint. She brought examples of daffodils rendered in a stylized fashion using watercolor and pen.

Watercolor painted and photographed by Cheryl Bryan

I have been struggling with painting lately, so it was very therapeutic for me to let go and try stuff. Here is my 3 by 5 1/2 single daffodil based on the reference image.

After making the drawing with pencil, the panel was taped off and splashed with water Three colors were selected, dropped on the wet paper and encouraged to run. I used Winsor yellow, transparent orange and Prussian blue.

The paint was allowed to dry, then additional paint worked in, mostly around the edges and into the background. After drying thoroughly, the tape was removed and lines worked over the painting. I used a dark blue Micron pen. It was fun to let the elements of the image slip outside the border.

Next, I pulled out one of Bill’s photographs. He loves shooting images of the daffodils in our front yard. This variety is called geranium. They have tiny clusters of three or so flowers topping each plant.

copyright Bill Riley

Using the same technique, I worked these cuties in a cool palette of carbazole violet, quinacridone magenta and Prussian blue.

I intensified the color in the short trumpets with some watercolor pencil in gold and dark magenta.

Despite the crowded room, I ended the session feeling relaxed and confident. Now I am ready to return to a slightly bigger painting that I have started, which features a butterfly and some spring weeds. Stay tuned.

To see some of Cheryl’s gorgeous watercolor paintings, you can visit her website:

https://cibstad07.wixsite.com/mysite-1/about

Posted in painting

Watercolor Wednesday: Blissful

Posted on by Laura Kate

I asked my yoga instructor for a photograph of her two little dogs, with the intention of giving her a painting for Christmas. Well, Christmas came and went, and I didn’t get around to the work until January.

Here is an adorable photo of Marianne and Sissy (breed is Havanese)

I know these dogs well. They are present at yoga session and form a 2-dog greeting party with the arrival of each student. My challenge will be to render their personalities as vividly as possible.

No good portrait will happen without a good sketch. In this one, I taped two pieces of paper together so that I could make the sketch on 1:1 ratio with the painting. This allows me to transfer key contour lines and any gestural lines to the watercolor paper by tracing. 

Next, I did a quick color study and selected pigments. Marianne will be painted with a mix of Prussian blue and transparent orange. Sissy will be painted with a blend of Payne’s gray and transparent orange.

White areas masked out and underpainting complete:

Second wash complete

Third wash finished and most details painted in. Time to remove the masking fluid and the little bits of masking tape.

Final touches to finish it.

I’m pretty satisfied with this one. There were challenges, to be sure. But I achieved the bit of sparkle and personality I was seeking. You can probably guess that Marianne is the extrovert and Sissy not so much. I think of them as yang and yin. 

Blissful Dogs finishes out at 12 by 15. It is the largest watercolor painting I have finished to date and will easily fill a 16 x 20 frame after matting.

Done on cold-press Fabrico Artistico paper with a palette of Winsor yellow, yellow ochre, transparent orange, burnt sienna, quinacridone red, Prussian blue and Payne’s gray. Only tiny amounts of white gouache were needed.

Posted in knitting, painting

1st Cast-on for 2024

Posted on by Laura Kate

Need I mention that this will be another stashbuster? While that’s true, this hat is a also a sort-of swatch for a much more ambitious knit project.

I’m knitting it up from scraps of yarn using a pattern offered by Wool & Pine. The technique is called 1 x 1 colorwork. It is just what it sounds like: Using 2 different strands of yarn per row, knit 1 stitch in color 1, then 1 stitch in color 2. Continue alternating colors to the end of the round. Then it’s up to the knitter on how often to change out colors throughout the project.

Here I am switching out colors once per row. After practicing on the hat, I hope I will be ready to knit the pull-over.

https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/sea-glass-sweater-2

copyright Wood & Pine

Seaglass is the ultimate stash-busting pattern. It came to my attention from fellow blogger The Crafty Yarnster who is working on her own seaglass sweater.

  https://wordpress.com/read/feeds/152202665/posts/5052736941

In other news, five recipients of Christmas handknits expressed satisfaction with their new accessories. The balaclava/mitten combination can be seen here:

After trying it on, the child’s mother ecstatically called out for her own balaclava. It’s that warm! The adult version will be cast-on no. 2 for 2024.

Moving on to watercolors, I have promised my yoga teacher that I would do a watercolor portrait of her two little Havanese dogs. This is the photo she sent.

Irresistibly cute, don’t you think? This will be my first painting of a dog. I think it will be truly fun to do.

So, with these three projects, I believe that my plate for January 2024 is full. Hopefully I can squeeze in some work on December 2023 UFOs. 

Posted in knitting, painting

Friday Finishes (Yes, two!)

Posted on by Laura Kate

It’s been a pleasant and productive week for me. You see in the image that I have finished the second sock of the Mary Delany pattern.

This is the first time I have stranded two yarns across the heel. For the past few years I have been seeking construction techniques that reinforce the areas of the sock foot which always get holes. Logic tells me that two strands are stronger than one.

I used one blended yarn and one all-wool yarn. Fiber content includes acrylic, alpaca and sheep’s wool. Time will be the measure of success in this test of tensile strength!

The pattern is by Kate Davies, and I will again insert the link to it. I must confess to substituting another Fair Isle pattern for the pattern’s. Your results will vary.

https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/mary-delany

My second finish of the week is the Winter Birds watercolor painting based on Bill’s photographs. My composition is compiled from three of his photographs.

The two chickadees are cozied up to a pinecone, with the pine’s branches and needles as background. Working out the best layout was a wonderful challenge. My goal for the painting was to suggest bird camaraderie during the depths of winter.

WINTER CHICKS

This painting is about done. I still need to clean up some edges, tone some of the masked areas and add a highlight or two. All fun stuff. And it’s finished in time to slip it into a frame and hang it on the wall before Winter officially begins.

After laying in masking fluid, I used hansa yellow deep, transparent orange, pyrrol scarlet, burnt sienna, Winsor green blue shade, Cerulean blue and ultramarine blue. My new favorite black mix is ultramarine blue and transparent orange.