Here’s a new watercolor based on a photo I took while driving along Massachusetts Avenue in DC a couple of years ago. It captures part of our capital’s essence. Painting it was an imperative.
I used a limited palette of 2 reds, 2 blues, and 2 yellows, plus black.
We’ve got a fabulous clump of red native tulips nestled under a crepe myrtle tree in our front yard. It’s one of the first shows every Spring and it’s hard to beat. I did a digital portrait of them several years ago on the iPad using the Art Rage app and painted them again in watercolor a few days ago. Thought you’d enjoy comparing them!
Came across an old photo I took years ago of Multnomah Falls outside of Portland. Since I’ve been practicing my watercolor skills lately, I decided to give it a go.
Bernie Dellario tasked our zoom-based art group with painting a fairly complicated scene using only a palette knife. The idea was to force ourselves to simplify. I selected a photo that I’d taken at a Nats night game, courtesy of friends Doug and Toni. I loved the vibrant colors, the dramatic lighting, the sharp green grass, the movement of the crowd and vendors. . . .
Here’s the painting and references. A note for composition buffs: For a bit of extra drama and clarity, I combined positions of orange hands from the two photos. I also omitted the wonderful yellow foul marker because it would been too much for a small square painting. . . . Maybe I’ll do a larger version some time so I can add that color into the mix.
While on a trek to visit a tobacco farm in Cuba some years ago, I spied this diminutive lady trudging down the dusty road, clutching a load of huge tubers. I snapped a quick photo of her as she moved away and finally got around to painting her as homework for my watercolor class with Ed Praybe. Sweet memory.
Here’s a quick watercolor done on some super soft and absorbent handmade paper I had laying around. It’s based on a photo of some darling little girls dancing at their school’s holiday production. It only took a couple of minutes and it was a ton of fun!
I took some photos of lily pads while boating on Lake Ariel about ten years ago with my husband and friends Roz & Jim Morgan. I particularly prize one of those images and have been wanting to paint it ever since. Here’s the rendition I did a few weeks ago. I had fun with this one.
In the most recent session with Bernie Dellario, my ‘7 Palettes’ buddies, sister Ceci and a few other folks, we made speedy, simplified interpretations of several Old Master paintings. With a limited palette of the 3 primary colors and about 20-30 minutes each, I painted these images :
A figurative, after the nude Venus of Urbino, painted by Titian (1538); a floral, after a magnificent bouquet by van Veerendael (1662); and a quick gouache study of Madonna and Child, after a beautiful one by Bellini (1510).
Ooof! I did one of these challenges not long ago, but here goes! Day 1 of my mission to share something from my art, my studio, or my life for ten consecutive days, no explanation needed, and nominate someone to do the same. I nominate Penny Smith to share some of her beautiful artwork and carry on the call. The idea is to promote positivity and bring art into each other’s lives.
Here’s what’s on my easel at the moment — inching toward a dual portrait of my deceased brother-in-law Albert ‘Terp’ Ward, and his widow, Donna Garnett.
Here is the series of monochrome studies, all 6″ x 8″, done during the workshop with Bernie Dellario. Such a concentrated repetition of that exercise was useful in helping us spot values quickly.
