Last month at Open Studio, expert watercolorist Cheryl Bryan presented this example to our group. The lesson was about painting in shadows.
I wanted to do this lesson, but felt that painting five cherries was not enough subject matter to keep my interest. So I chose this reference photograph, to supplement Cheryl’s example.
Initial sketch:
Lots of masking fluid added:
First washes, background and beginning to paint the subject.
To get this subject to work, each cherry must be painted individually, with multiple colors of paint worked in.
Most of the painting is finished, masking fluid removed.
Finished:
The cherries look luscious, but my favorite thing is the bowl. What a dreamy color!
As the snowflakes drift gently down – and blow slightly sideways – across the backyard, I thought I would take some time to review projects I completed in the past year. No, dear reader, I won’t drag out all of them. Instead, let’s focus on the best loved, by you, in each category.
KNITTING
I wanted to start with knitting, because it seems I spent a lot of time doing just that. I even ventured into teaching knitting, just a little bit, for my local arts association.
It seems there was a three-way tie for the best knitting project of 2021. So I have to go with the most charming one. And who better to model it than little LL?
Runners up were Gentle Curves Shawl and Woodsmen’s Socks
DRAWING
I was pleased with the progress I made in this medium. It helped me to take classes from Ross Meyer. His lessons on getting high values using graphite were most informative. I also began to develop a more personalized style with casual portraits using ink and watercolor washes. The winner in this category is my sketch of H as a toddler sitting with Cat.
Also strong contenders: Happy Father’s Day and Hummingbird at Fuchsia.
PAINTING
My personal goal for this year was to improve my watercolor paintings. At the beginning the year, I painted a little bit everyday on paper the size of postcards – a very doable goal, which lasted only one month. I put my money where my mouth was and paid for in-person lessons. This helped me a lot.
Surprising to me, the most successful watercolors were some of these small experimental ones. A post called “Back to My Routine” got the most attention for this 6 x 9 painting of a stormy sky.
In the early months of the year, I spent time making quilts. I gained skills by following along with a group that was sewing Stay-at-Home Round Robin quilts. Not only did I learn a lot but I was really happy with my finished object.
EXPANDING UNIVERSE LAP QUILT
Two other quilted objects of note were this art quilt……….
CATBIRD SINGS
and a twin sized quilt made for LL featuring dogs and cats.
ANIMAL FRIENDS
And that’s a wrap for 2021. What does the new year hold for me and my art? I haven’t come to any conclusions yet. But whatever I choose, I’ll make it worthy of my time and effort.
I continue to work through Shari Blaukopf’s tutorials.
This week’s sketches focus on painting shadows of three dimensional objects. Shari chose three rather pedestrian objects. And yet they offer all the elements an aspiring watercolorist would need for practicing shadow painting.
Fire Hydrant
Waste receptacles, also known as bins or trash cans.
Car parked in bright sunlight.
I find that if I take sufficient time to make a good pencil sketch, the process of applying paint goes pretty easily.
If you are interested in Shari’s tutorials, you can find them here:
Yesterday and today I took a break from sewing to paint with watercolor. I have been following a tutorial by Montreal artist Shari Blaukopf called Sketching Landscapes in Pen, Ink and Watercolor. My goal for this painting was to practice skies. I chose a reference photo that had a very nice sunset and featured clean, simple shapes. This would allow me to make a finished painting but focus on the sky. The photograph also featured a reflected sky (another good subject for practice.) After making a pencil sketch, I jumped right in on the sky and reflection. Next came a few pen marks to guide the rest of the work.
After drying over night I added the other washes – mountains, meadow and trees. Once these had dried, I used my brush to give texture to the trees and shadows to the pond.
So far I’m liking this. But I felt that the painting did not really show the warm glow of morning light that I saw in the photograph. To correct this, I made a wash of burnt sienna and quinacridone red and stroked it fairly evenly over the grass.
Ahh that’s better. I used a dry brush technique to give a little texture to the grass and let the painting dry. For the last step, I followed Shari’s instructions and added pen marks to the trees, grass and pond edge.
This painting gave me a great deal of pleasure. I avoided most of the miss-steps with the watercolor paint and achieved the look I was after. I guess it’s worth signing.
I will put in the link to Shari’s class, but it’s on Bluprint.com Unless you are already a subscriber, you may not be able to open it.
Daily Fiber 