Watercolor- Abstract 2

This is another one from a year or so ago.  I did this as a present for my sister.  So much fun discovering the image as I made it!  Used some masking fluid on top of the lime green wash for the whites, and some salt for the textured blue area.

Watercolor- Abstract Landscape

Over the last few years I've done a number of abstract watercolor pieces.  For a while it was all I was doing.  This is one of them.

There's a great pleasure in starting a piece without any real fear of failure.  Some of them come out more interesting than others, but in the end none of them are 'representational', so there's no fear of failing to "make it look like the real thing."  This was really liberating for me, and kept me painting during times when my skills didn't really allow me to successfully paint with the fluidity and expressiveness I wanted- I was only good at painting tight stuff in many glazes.

Painting abstracts also allowed me to really explore what the pigment and watercolor could do.  I was less interested in "painting a picture of a thing" and far more excited in seeing how pigments bled in the water, how granulation occurred, how glazes changed the colors of an area, how different materials interacted with the pigment on the paper, etc.  Essentially, I painted to get the chance to make marks, not to re-represent something. 

Part of my recent push with watercolors has been to somehow marry the loose and expressive, exploratory, fear-free process of painting abstracts with the more representational process of painting a story that others can relate more directly to.  I like sharing and exploring the world in front of me too, but I don't want to loose that joy and freedom that came from just "playing with paint and water"!

Watercolors- Plein Air paintings from early April

I got the chance to go out and do some plein air painting, and had a beautiful time out in the meadow.

This is more the successful of the two, IMO.  Loose and colorful, I wanted the mustard and clouds to dominate the distant hills and trees.

This one, with the silhouette of the steeple, was going ok....

Then I painted in the tower (my intent from the beginning) and ruined it.  Too dark of a value.  Duh!  I was clearly painting what I thought I should paint, and not what I saw.  The structure is, of course, much lighter and greyer.  Hopefully, next time I'll get it right.

Watercolors- Dandelions

I saw this image of dandelions painted by Konstantin Sterkov on his blog Art of Watercolor (a great read, that I browsed for months, going farther and farther back in time-- he interviews lots of great watercolor artists and shares samples of a lot of different artists.... great reading!).

He did a very good job of keeping the edges wet when we wanted them wet (on the right) and dry where he wanted them dry (upper left).  He also had a nice variety of values, as the stems of the dandelions read clearly in his image. 

These are my attempts at exploring just how he did what he did.  I actually prefer the first of my two attempts (the one on the right), but like many of my paintings, I wish I had the time/ inclination to try it again, as I think I could do better, having doe it twice already!  Only after the fact did I recognize how much yellow/green he put into the lower half-- which serves as a nice contrast to the darker blues up top.

I've been trying to figure out just how he did what he did.  First I thought he was doing a wet into wet technique for some of the softer dandelions on the bottom, but how I wonder if he just diluted his mix, and painted those areas wet on dry.  The white of his dandelions have a darker value than the "pure white" of mine, which use the paper.

Watercolors- Landscapes from Class, pt. 2- mid-March versus early April

Here's the second landscape I worked on.  I'm not quite sure why it's so orange, but that's the way the original is.  Don't know who the painter is.

Here's my first attempt, from a few weeks ago-

Here's my second attempt, from early April-

I can't quite seem to get myself to go "full orange" the way this original artist is.  I included a Cad Red Light on my palette the second time, and I even used it when mixing and painting, but I keep on muting the colors.  The sketch seems more accurate and the value of the mountain better in the new sketch, but if I do it again, I'll push the yellows and oranges in the foreground more.

Watercolors- My plein air set up, and my first plein air painting!

I've started painting some of my watercolor work plein air. Being Steve Berry, of course that meant I had to do a lot of research first. I found a number of easels I wanted, but I didn't have 200$ to spend. So, I decided to make one. Here's my easel set up, looking out over the bay in Benicia. I plan on eventually doing a post about my easel and how I made it all for about 50$.

I had a good time painting. I tried it out at home on my deck once, just doodling, and I've painted on it in my watercolor class and at home, but this was my first plein air painting. A nice, gently breezy day. Had one onlooker show up and compliment and converse with me. Spent about an hour and change out there. Had a good time!  Lots and lots to learn and play with.

Here's the final pic-

Watercolors- Clay Bird for class, early March

These birds just gave me fits, as I was trying to learn how to get soft edges with a wet into wet technique.  The teacher was able to lay down color then get another brush with just water and "soften" the edges.  This killed me.  In the end, I found it better to "pre-paint" the area where I wanted the smooth edge with water, then I would paint up to it with the color.  Voila- the smooth edge occurred.

I must have aborted a painting with that stupid parrot 3 or 4 times.  Ugh.  But in the end it came out pretty good.

This owl was easier, but in the end I was less pleased with it.  The value range wasn't broad enough.  The owl should clearly be paler, the way the parrot is in the first, so the shadows read as something darker.