Category Archives: Painting

Paintings 24 & 25. Mock ‘Frescoes’ of Gouache Painted into Damp Plaster

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I’m currently taking a class on mixed media and was intrigued when teacher Susan Hostetler mentioned “mock frescoes”, made by painting gouache into still-damp spackle or joint compound slathered onto cardboard or other heavy substrate.  I decided to try it.  My first attempt was a simplistic sugar bowl sitting on our kitchen table.  My quick contour was misshapen, so I touched it up with some water-soluble pencils, moistening the marks to blend them into the gouache.

I then plopped down a seashell (interesting shape though dull colors) and tried again.  I was happier with that one, though disappointed when a little flake popped out sometime later.  Maybe a fixative would deter this type of defect — will have to research it. . . .

 

Mississippi Workshop – Part II. Water & Wildlife.

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It would be impossible to retrace our workshop footsteps and recount all of our painting triumphs and pratfalls, so I’ll just say:  WATER and WILDLIFE!   We spent every day painting by beautiful waters ~~ the old Ocean Springs harbor, the gentle marshes of the Gulf Islands National Seashore, the sparkling Ocean Springs beaches and the marshy streams meandering down to the shore.  Here are a few shots of the waters we enjoyed.

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And as for the wildlife, there was a feast for the eyes ~~ from bombardier pelicans, sunning alligators, eel-gulping herons, osprey, crab and who knows what else.  And I guess we have to count as ‘wildlife’ the daring youngsters, male and female, who paddle boarded within feet of the alligator after he decided to take a dip in the harbor.

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Painting #13 – Another Veggie Watercolor-Gouache for a Collector

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After painting that cauliflower a few days ago, I started regretting that my collector had selected my dinky mushrooms as part of her four-veggie series for the kitchen.  I decided to do a more ‘fulsome’ substitute for her consideration — celery!  Here it is.  She’s happily taking it instead of the ‘shrooms!

Celery. Watercolor and gouache on paper. 11″ x 14″

Celery Painting and Subject.

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Painting #10 – Cauliflower in Watercolor and Gouache

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One of my collectors has bought three of the veggie watercolors I painted last year as a consequence of a workshop with Wendy Artin. And she wants a fourth so she can group them in her kitchen. What to do? A pretty cauliflower was in our fridge so this is how I spent my evening in front of the TV. . . .

I made a few mistakes since I was painting it direct — without a pencil sketch, as Wendy had taught. So I resorted to a bit of gouache so I wouldn’t have to start over!!

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Irrational Exuberance ~~ Painted Mushrooms? Or Toadstools?

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OK.  So, the leeks turned out well, aaaannnndddd ~~~~ I got sassy & decided to paint some portobello mushrooms the next day.

Bad idea!  There’s not much ‘there’ there.  Dull colors & shapes, arranged (by me) in an overly simplistic composition.  Certain artists could make a good painting out of such drab components (Morandi?), but my first effort at ‘shrooms falls short.

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Painting Leeks at Home in the Aftermath of Artin Workshop!

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I was so pumped up after Wendy Artin’s workshop that, after a day of R&R, I pulled out my paints and a couple of elderly leeks from the fridge and painted another watercolor in the manner we had been practicing during the workshop.  Here it is.

Leeks at Home. Watercolor on Paper.

I was tickled that it turned out nicely.  Maybe I’ll have to do more!

 

Eeeeek! Bad Cropping, Facebook!! Gasp. Here’s Something Better to Look At!

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Sorry sorry sorry, y’all!  My last blog entry contained paintings of two full length nudes, neither of which was ‘out of bounds’ (IMHO).  So, I was aghast when I checked to see if Facebook had re-posted it and found that the images had been sliced and diced in an unexpected manner (to say the least).  I hope you clicked over to my blog to get a better sense of the overall paintings!

In any event, here’s a ‘palette cleanser’!  It’s one of the radishes I painted during the Saturday afternoon session of my Wendy Artin workshop, followed by one of Wendy’s gorgeous still life watercolors — also of radishes.

Radish 1. Watercolor on Paper.

Wendy’s radishes — again, quite a difference:

Radishes, 2001, watercolor on cotton Khadi paper, 11″ x 12″

Excellent Watercolor Workshop – Thanks, Wendy Artin!

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This past weekend I spent two grueling days knee-deep in watercolor.  Wendy Artin, a fabulous artist and lovely person, was our instructor, at Glen Kessler’s Compass Atelier.  Talk about ‘alla prima’ painting!  She dives right in – no rough sketch, no gesture drawing, no nothing — just her eye, her paint & her brush to guide her relentlessly down the sheet of paper.  Her tonal nudes, in which she paints ONLY the ‘shadow shapes’ yet leaves you believing the whole body, are exquisite.  Her colorful fruits & veggies are more fully rendered, but are also beautiful & light.

Here’s one of her nudes:

And one of mine — a half hour pose during the workshop (quite a difference, yes??:

I was VERY happy to be able to switch to vegetables in the afternoons!