Jean's Dad

This was also done for the WDE on WetCanvas from one of Jean's photos. This is 5 x 7.

Central Park Entrance ATC

This is another ATC sized painting I did for the WDE from one of Jean's photos. You would think that living in the NYC area I would get to paint Central Park on occasion, but I rarely get to do that.

Flowering Succulent ATC

This is ATC sized and was done for the WDE on WetCanvas. "Justjean" was hosting and provided the image.

Mary in Blue

The SBAA has a model pose on Tuesday mornings, so I ran over this week to paint. This is 5 x 7.

Pouring Workshop - Painting 4 - Tuscan Street & Photos

My final painting that I worked on was a small section of a photo I had taken in Tuscany. I think it was just simple enough for a pour. I'm posting the value study and the painting itself. I'm also including a few photos of gallery night after the workshops ended. You can see a bit of the wonderful work by the other students hanging on the walls. The first photo is of Jean Grastorf and my sister, Michelle (red blazer), the second is Michelle by her abstract wash out painting and her tee plant pour (both are in the top row), and a photo of me by my tropical painting and the Tuscan street. I can't wait to get my hands wet again and try this technique again.

Pouring Workshop Painting 3- Tropical Colors

For those of you who have never seen someone pour, I'm including a photo of myself in action. Each of the paintings take a long time to complete because there is so much waiting time between each pour. Jean taught us another fun painting technique to try while we were waiting. We used something called wash out tape which we stretched across the watercolor paper overlapping the strips. Then we used a quilter's rotary cutter to cut a design through just the tape. The cut pieces were removed leaving some exposed wc paper. Using a brush we painted across the tape and across these sections. Jean also did a lesson on texturing, so I used some of those methods in the painted areas of my tropical painting.

Pouring Workshop - Painting 2 - Provence Building

A lot of planning went into the poured representational paintings we did. First we did a sketch, and then a value study. This was the map to our pour so we would know which areas needed to be masked out first, second, etc. It makes it possible to see the lights, mid-tones, and darks. Of course transferring the image to the watercolor sheet took a while. I do hate graphite paper! lol Once the image was visible (I always had to go over my lines from the graphite paper) and the first masking dried we could pour. At times it seems that you have more paint on your hands instead of the paper. I used a reference photo I took in Provence for this painting. This one is a half sheet size.

Please check the post below for the abstract I did in Jean's class.

Pouring Workshop - Abstract

This past week my sister and I took a pouring workshop with Jean Grastorf in SC at the Springmaid Watermedia Workshops. To do our pours we used a very limited palette of 3 staining colors-a yellow, a red, and a blue. This abstract was the first piece I started pouring on. We traced our hands, and assorted objects and stencils that were in the room. Using masking fluid we masked out whatever areas we wanted to leave white, and then poured the solutions of the 3 colors over our wet paper, allowing it to mingle before pouring it off. Once that layer was dry we did the same with the next area, masking out the next lightest areas and pouring a stronger value of the same colors. This particular painting has about 5 layers of pours on it. When all the pours are dry the masking is removed from the painting.

New Work Soon

I have been away at a pouring workshop with Jean Grastorf in Myrtle Beach, so I haven't been able to post or even get on the computer while away. Hopefully when I get back home tomorrow I will be able to catch up and post photos of what I've been doing and get to check everyone else's blogs. See you soon.

Journal Fun - Provence

I've been having fun taking the Strathmore Visual Journal Workshops. This is what I did for the second workshop. I extended the pages from a two page spread to four by attaching two extra pages. I sketched the apartment where we stayed in in Provence. I used watercolor and collage to paint the front pages, and outlined most of it with ink. These pages open to a 4 page inside. For the inside pages I used copies of some of my artwork related to Provence, which I then painted over with inktense pencils, and some painted pieces (the grapes, winebottle, and sunflowers) done directly over the journal writing on the page. Now I'm dreaming about how to do Monet's Garden and Venice.

Nancy Ruth

Our plein air group is still not meeting yet, so I went to the SBAA Sketch group yesterday. They have been meeting each week and have a model to work from. It was fun to do this, and I should have been joining them all winter. This is Nancy Ruth and the painting is 5 x 7.

Ducks at the Lake

My wanderings took me back to Artist Lake on Saturday. This is 3 x 5.

Clowning Around

This was also done for the WDE from one of Catherine's references. It is ATC sized (2.5 x 3.5). I think he's a bit scarey!

Tropical Color

This is ATC sized (2.5 x 3.5) done for the WDE on WetCanvas from a reference by "crispur." My thanks to Catherine for her photo.

Along the River

This was painted along the Carmen River in Brookhaven. There is a nature trail there which I have never taken. The building reminded me of a Maine cottage. This is 3 x 5.

Justin

I decided I needed to do at least one portrait for the week. This is my nephew's little boy from a photo I took at a family reunion a few years ago. Justin is more impish that I was able to make him look. This is about 5 x 5.

Along the Bay

I snuck out for a little plein air painting from the car yesterday. It was too windy down by the water to sit outside, so I sat in my "studio." This was done down by Corey Beach in Blue Point, from the parking lot across from the marina. It is 3 x 5.