Returning home, yesterday, this is my quick warm-up painting. I wanted to try out a new pad of watercolor paper and my new imitation Kolinsky brush.
I did have a reference photo. It was taken by Bill, not this trip, but in a previous one. We were driving west on Interstate 80, east of Des Moines. Just after the sun went behind the clouds, we pulled off the road and stopped in front of a furrowed field.
Thanks for viewing.
An oak tree reaching for the crescent moon.
“She offered me a hummingbird” again
Finally finished this last 6 x 6 for our local art association fundraiser. This one was important for me to get right because it faithfully reproduces the layout, colors and feel of the actual event.
When the visitor offered me the bird, it was in her hand extended forward to me. The bird was in this posture – wings stretched back into a V and head slightly raised.
I used two reference photos. The hummingbird came from Unsplash, it was taken by B Hong. I rotated his image until it had the posture I remembered in the live bird.
The hand model was me again. I chose a bright sunny day and held a button in my palm to try to recreate the shadows.
It was enough for me to get the idea. When I needed help, I took the painting to Open Studio today for advice on attaining better shadows. Cheryl Bryan was there. She advised me that I should not try to match the photograph. Softening the shadows and allowing a little space between the palm and the bird made for a better painting. Then I kept darkening and tweaking everything until a good range of values was present. I finished the details with white gouache and a few colors of Micron pens.
For those interested, my pigments are raw sienna, transparent orange, Winsor green blue shade, Winsor green yellow shade, carbazole violet, Paynes gray and white gouache.
This past week I cast on a project that has been in my queue most of the summer. It is a pullover sweater for Mandy, using some Malabrigo Rios yarn as the main color.
I was thunderstruck to see that my palette is a near match for the colors I see outside right now. The gold color is 035 Frank Ochre and I purchased it online from Jimmie Beans. The two contrasting colors are from Knitpicks: Hawthorne dk in Foster Powell Multi and Swish dk in Moss.
My daughter chose the pattern from three or four options I gave her out of my Ravelry favorites. She liked Autumn Bloom by Olga Putano.
It is knit top down starting with a very beautiful and somewhat complex yoke.
In this photo I have worked to the point where the main color is joined. When that happens, the knitter is faced with working three yarns at the same time for about four rounds – slow and tricky work involving a lot of catching the long floats of unused strands under the working yarn.
Here is my progress with the yoke chart completed.
In the bright sunlight, the colors almost glow. That gold will definitely brighten up a dark winter day when sunshine is rare.
The project is almost to the point where a fitting is required. I have some doubts and fears about sizing and whether my stranded knitting will block out smoothly. Since I won’t have access to the recipient for another four weeks or so, I would be wise to cool my needles and put the project aside until the next time we are together.
My local art association is having a fundraiser. I agreed to make some artwork on six-by-six canvases that will be sold for $66 each at the event.
Because of the small size of the canvas, I decided that I would paint only small creatures. This choice allows me to make them life size. Last month I completed a butterfly and a nest full of sparrows. This weekend I am painting a hummingbird. I was inspired to paint one in a hand when a woman at our farmer’s market presented me with a hummingbird she had found on the ground. The bird was alive, but stunned. She wondered what to do with it. I suggested she find a place in the shade of a tree where the bird could recover safely.
The image of that tiny, but alive bird in her hand lingered in my memory. Today I finished a six by six painting that depicts the event.
The hand model was me.
I used a photo on Unsplash taken by Osvaldo Pompa for the hummingbird reference.
For my final submission to the fundraiser, I cut down a painting that I completed in 2020 and attached it to the six-by-six canvas.
This cute beetle was crawling around on the brick planter in front of my house. I snapped some photos and did the painting. While I loved rendering the bug, the real challenge for me was painting brick, mortar and shadows. I’m pleased that after four years I still like this painting. It’s on cheap watercolor paper with student-grade paints. A few lines with an ultra-fine sharpie did well for the legs and antennae.
I’ll turn these in next week. Hopefully someone will be willing to buy them for $66.
Daily Fiber 