I am following simultaneously The Artist’s Way, by Julia Cameron and Watercolor is for Everyone, by Kateri Ewing. Here are the exercises and practice paintings I completed since Sunday.
https://jcrhumming.wordpress.com/
I hope you check out the referenced artists, especially if you feel the need for a boost to your creativity.
Good morning,
This is my mixed media interpretation of Bill’s photograph of baby sparrows in a crowded nest. I have encased my watercolor painting in a free-form weaving.
He found these hapless birds in a fake flower wreath near the door of a busy downtown business.
I did the watercolor painting on a six by six stretched canvas. After it dried, I pounded in the tacks and strung a warp of Perl cotton embroidery thread. The weaving was worked with yarn and floss in compatible colors. To finish, I poked holes through the canvas and gathered up the threads to create peepholes for the birds.
I’m not sure if I intended some kind of statement about the crowded world, or the clash of humanity and nature. Or maybe it was just a little experiment.
Last Wednesday, I participated in a watercolor tutorial offered by fellow art association member Cheryl Bryan. We were to paint a koi swimming near the surface of a pond. While she had a nice reference image, I preferred to use this one from Unsplash by Jason Leung.
https://unsplash.com/photos/macro-photography-of-koi-fish-7rR_WSk4HM0
Subjects in water are very appealing to me, especially creatures such as fish.
Here is my sketch of Jason’s photograph after I had added masking fluid to reserve the whites of the paper.
I am using Arches 140# cold press paper. The masking fluid is Incredible White Mask liquid frisket. I recently learned to apply this messy stuff by using a small paint brush that is first dipped into a solution of water and liquid soap. To apply little dots, I used the tip of a wooden knitting needle (!) Both worked great.
Here is my painting at the end of the 2 hours tutoring session.
I had the background mostly complete and the first wash on the fish. The next day I painted more color on the fish, added shadows and a glaze of highly diluted Phthalo blue. After the paper dried completely, I removed the mask and added highlights.
I’m pretty happy with the result. The fins, tail and ripples came out well. You can tell that the head and mouth are poking through the water’s surface.
I’m less happy with the shadows and my color mixes. Perhaps I should have chosen different pigments.
Anyway, I have dipped my toes back into painting after a long hiatus. The dry spell is over, for now. (puns intended.)
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.
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.
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
I gave myself a gift by purchasing another Blaukopf tutorial through Teachable. This one appealed to me because it featured ink and watercolor.
https://learn.shariblaukopf.com/p/sketching-a-french-village-scene
For the first lesson, Shari walked us through the mixes we would be using throughout the course. My swatches came out nicely, despite the fact that I had no Hooker green paint and substituted Winsor green.
Our first painting was of a balcony scene in a Normandy village featuring lots of stone and pots of plants perched on a wall.
Shari suggested that we avoid pencil lines and draw straightaway with the ink pen. I am using Pigma Micron with archival ink.
Not too bad. The basic shapes and textures look as expected.
First wash.
I was so focused on finishing that I didn’t take any other images of intermediate steps.
Here is my final ink and watercolor painting of the balcony scene.
While I didn’t have fun throughout the entire experience, I got re-introduced to my watercolor paint and had enough fun for a Wednesday.
Daily Fiber 