Watercolor of Yellow Rose

I am feeling a little better and decided to try something different with the watercolor of the yellow rose...which is scarey as I was liking the rose very much. I decided to try a moon since I write poetry about Mr Moon so often. I think this is maybe showing up a little more blue than it really is but I left it as I am wondering if another glaze of blue is what I need! The title for this I think is going to be, Once In a Blue Moon...and I hope that I do not ruin it. ha! Some of you know my history of painting while sick. ha!

I am also working on a few outdoor projects and so painting has been taking a back seat. I hope this month to get a few things done and others started as I would like to have some good pieces ready for the spring shows. Now if I can stick to my guns and do it will be another story! ha!
I ended up with a little hard edge on the side of the moon and am unsure about it as of yet. I do not want to mess up what I have but will let it sit and think about how I will soften that area.

L'Art De L'Aquarelle

I am in the new L'Art De L'Aquarelle art magazine from France. It is No 8 and will also become available in the English version at a later date. So obviously I cannot read it to know what it says but I have 6 pages and am in good company in this edition as Mary Whyte, Dean Mitchell and Cheng Khee Chee among others are in this one! I tried to take some straight pictures but could not get it right so gave up. I hope to find the images online and then I will post that for you to see. I have known about this since Oct but it kept being pushed back until now. I had to take pictures in my studio etc and so hired that done but none were used! ha! I am very happy to be in this lovely high gloss magazine! Watch for it at Borders etc, as you might see it there!

Rotweiler Watercolor Portrait Done!

I have been working on a portrait of my son's Rotweiler Taylor who passed away last year. I have been surprised how fast this went. Not sure I am totally satisfied as she did not have much shape.ha! She was almost 150 pounds I believe...solid and like a swollen wood tick with skinny legs. ha! It was hard to give her some shape! But I think it will do for now as I want to move on and can pick away at details later. She was a wonderful dog and I called her my grand-daughter as she was so lovely...gently and loved kittens and small animals. But she also could sink herself in the lake and pick a rock up and bring it to the surface! ha!!! So here she is...I think my son will be surprised when he comes home in a week or so.

At Attention-Sparrow Watercolor

I am really close to done and decided to post it now. I still could refine a few edges but will be sending it off for a scan and that takes awhile so wanted to post it. I am hoping I pulled it off as I was making up this background but it was so much fun I could not stop! I did not want anything with crisp edges but needed it to still  read foliage. I am sure I could have done it better with a real photo but sometimes I like to just play and this is one of those. Hopefully the sparrow still stands out enough. I liked the attention sign, although it was for dogs...I made it into something perhaps about birds or nesting...who knows...but thought the arrow helped tell a story.
I will be teaching a workshop here in Bemidji the 10th -12th so have to begin preparing for that but I do have a drawing nearly complete so hopefully I will be able to post something on that before too long! Any questions...just ask!

Finishing Up Watercolor of Blue Heron

Since I have no energy I was looking around the studio straightening out a little and found the Blue Heron I did for the Oil Spill to be put on tshirts. I did not need to complete the body as I did the lines in box form around the heron to make it more graphic and then sort of set it aside. I decided to finish it so it can be a new image on cards this summer. It did not even take an hour to complete but it feels great to get something done that I can use during tourist season! So it might not be much guys but it is at least a sign I am moving forward, albeit rather slowly! I have another Dr.'s appt on Tuesday for some tests so we will see what I learn then.

Watercolor Demo of Sparrow

Well, I decided to stick this up as maybe I will figure things out faster and then it will be done before you know it! ha! So before that happens I thought you would like to see what I am trying to decide. I again started at the bottom on the left side to bring in more make believe plants because I know that will work find there. What I am trying to do is close the gap on the area that I find could make or break the piece. Now if I were good at photoshop I would just try this out there but I do not know how to do that...so this is what I do...by looking at this area with everything around it I am coming to the conclusion that to bring in a blue sky might not be the best idea. I am thinking of just continuing into light greens...so that I do not bring in a new element to deal with...as I want the focus to remain on the bird and the house...so I think there has to remain a sameness to the background...no surprises back there to distract. A blue sky could draw the eye up and away so I will go slowly into this so that I can still change my mind but thought you might want to see what I am thinking. Remember, I do print these big and trust that no one is copying my work...it is copyrighted so be aware of that. By being larger you can more easily see what I am actually doing. So here is "Manzanita Resident" at this point.

Winter White Peony

This white peony might not be done so I still have not signed it but thought while there was a lighter sky I would get the shot for you. We have so many gray days it is hard to get a good picture so took my opportunity!
I struggled with the background as it was an old piece of Strathmore and it reacted differently, making my wash in the background get very granulated. I was not sure I liked that and then while I was sick I started to diddle with it which is never the thing to do. I should have left it alone but so it goes. I never learn my lesson to not paint when I am sick! ha! Many of you have seen the mistakes I have made over the years while sick!
Hopefully all that is left is to clean up a few edges but will take my time tomorrow looking it over to make sure.
I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas full of laughter and blessings!

Hello!!!

My computer had to go in for a little Dr appt..and finally got it back. Just before it went down I had taken a picture of my new piece I am working on but could not get at it. So here is my new peony painting a week ago. I have since done some work but now there has been constant gray days and snow storms so no new pics yet. I will try to get that as soon as things improve!
I am trying to find my shapes here and also I decided to make it more blue in the shadows. So these white peonies are with a blue cast which I hope will be pretty. I mixed that with Quin. Rose and Phthalo Turquoise..and a dab of New Gamboge as well. Just remember your triad can make a nice gray no matter which ones you use as long as they are not color mixes. In this case, the turquoise already has yellow in it so I did not need much.
This is a very busy week for me with Christmas coming! I have an art show on Friday and Saturday but before I can do that I have a book signing on Thurs and Wed I will be singing with the choir at the nursing homes in town and practicing for the Christmas concert...so my days are full! If I do not paint I will at least try to get the next picture to update you.

Also check out www.zazzle.com/artforloonrescue  as a few more images have been added including several from the famous wildlife artist Terry Isaac! You might find something there for a Christmas present!

Four Pears

Ok gang...still experimenting here and this time I have really gone a stretch...there is still so much to do but before I go any further you can see the direction I am trying to go. The blue is not showing up right here...but this is more about the idea than the color at this point anyway. I can see where doing all of these paintings up to a point is allowing me to experiment without feeling like I am losing too much...so it has been a worthwhile test. I think today I am done as I am wore out...I am going outside my comfort zone with mostly my imagination on this...small references to use but thinking I want to just investigate possible backgrounds...if I like this...you can bet this summer I will be taking pictures!!! So here is Four Pears on Movil Lake.  I am sorry I am keeping this so small but images are being lifted again so it is what I have to do from now on.

Moving Closer!

Ok...I could write a book about why this is taking so long. I have been sick since Pasadena...but am improving daily now. Also I was asked to do 3 paintings for a book from Quarto Press in London which I began and was ready for the first photo shoots when my son rolled his truck and totalled it and things just had to be cancelled. He is ok...but it was a crazy few days there and the deadlines were right then...impossible for me to do. So that took time as I had 4 paintings going of the step by steps...now they are useless! ARGH!

I finally dared to just do something with the background. Yes, I considered the wash outside the window but this is such a complex piece I feared too much was going to distract from the point of interest...so this is what I have decided on...just the appearance of a shadow across the wall behind and sun coming in...Hopefully this will be enough to support the subject and not detract. I would keep painting on this but on Tuesday our local PBS station is coming to do some filming and so thought I might leave some of this now to do when they get here...but I will need to get it done quickly then and photographed as I already missed AWS submissions because of the book painting...that really got me off track along with being sick. Thanks for your patience!

Dahlias Updated

Well I might be slow but just like a turtle I keep moving along! Summer has arrived and with it brings many interruptions when you live at the lake...and then the heat comes and it is all hard as we do not have air conditioning...only need it a few weeks out of the year so just do not get it...but boy there are days!!!!
So this is where I am at on the dahlias. I still have alot of edges to work on and light against dark areas to stress...there is still a few things in the flowers that have not even been painted yet but all of this will begin to take shape now...I am hoping that it will become a garden flag and rug but we will see...they have to like it first!

Fading Peony Demo

My peony has these neat teddy bear seed pods on it after the petals fall and every year I cut some just to admire. They are quite large and so pretty! My plant is getting ready to bloom again and so I will be able to make adjustments to the painting if I see it is needed. Hopefully I can paint on this and make some headway as I want to finish up the dahlia that is ssoooo old! I think I have forgotten what colors I was using! I want that one done too because I am nearly done with the next drawing and really am anxious to get busy with it!!!
I am so glad to be back on track!!! Of course, if we get some warm weather I will have to do some gardening too. It has been unusually cold here and so everything is sort of frozen in time...a little sunshine will get things hopping I am sure!

Dahlia in Progress

I am sorry this is slightly crooked but it still is ok for this step by step. I finally returned from my daughters and got to paint a little today and thought I would post where I am. I am hoping to paint the sky a turquoise blue and so I am placing some of this color into the flower petals now. White flowers sure aren't white are they? That is what makes them a challenge and so much fun I guess. I have decided to leave the birds until the end because I am thinking that will allow me to think about them for awhile. I will paint them as if they are in sun...one is but the other I will decide in the very end where to throw a shadow over him so I sort of need to see the final painting before I do that.
Thank you for your patience...I still am not 100% at all but alot better than I was! Thank you everyone for your kind emails and words!

Dahlia Progession

While I have been sick I have not painted much at all but even a little slowly gets you to your goal. This is the lower left hand corner of a full sheet. I am working on the values of the leaves and adding some cool blues to reflect the sky color. Once I have all the shapes and the painting is pretty much done I will select what to move back into shadow. I like to keep my options open!
I hope to fly to Oregon on Tuesday and if I do I will be gone for a week so there will be no painting...so there will not be an update for several weeks now...thanks for being patient!

Drawing

I thought since I am sick I would write a little bit here about the drawing stage for my work. That is really the most important part for me. If my drawing is accurate and full of the details I feel I have finished half the painting because I am now familiar with what I am about to do and I have a really good map to get me there! I am a very studious person...I like to know that when I am done it will look like a white dahlia and not some strange daisy! That is just me. I loved biology and got a minor in that in college because I love to know how things work and look in detail. Knowing that about myself helps me understand why I paint the way I do! I have worked in abstract and in loose manners in the past but never was happy until I began to work in greater detail. So I needed to draw that detail so it was not lost in the actual painting process.
The part below took me over a day to draw and then I decided to paint it to a mid value because I did not want the lines to smear. Yesterday I drew in another dahlia...a partial one and will paint that today hopefully if I feel well enough. Then I hope to draw and paint aother one over the weekend which leaves one left! Yipee! I will try to get some pictures as I go but we have snowstorms here and expect it to be gray for a few days. Plus I have a new computer and cannot find the program to upload my images! I am working on that as well. I would love to get a small video camera and try to do some short segments for You Tube and that might help explain some of what I do! I am working on that as well! Trouble is I am no spring chicken and have to learn alot of stuff to do this! HHA! So hang in there with me.

The Final Paintings

The final photos are back of the last two painting so thought I would post them. They both have been purchased and owned by the same people. They purchased the peony painting while yet a drawing when they viewed the drawing of their commissioned Norway painting. It is nice to have it complete. Now I am taking some time off to garden and enjoy what is left of summer. I am also reconsidering teaching or posting step by steps...I have alot of think on. Thanks for looking.