Messy March Paintings Drop

March 27 2016 4"x4" on Aquabord
Available on Daily Paint Works

Hello again! This is a bit of a sloppy post, but I would like to get it out of the way so that I can move forward with more posts once again. This is a conglomerate post of several others that I began, but didn't post. A little due to time, but honestly - mostly due to matters of the mind.

So- is this all I painted in March and April so far?? Honestly, no, but not too much more.  I've created one other "decent" painting, but it was for a gift I don't want to spoil accidentally. I've also done a couple more paintings outside, a couple of abstracts that really did not work, and some planning for a larger project.

March 20 & 21, 2016 8"x10" on Claybord

A piece donated for an art auction - my largest gouache piece so far.

March 10, 2016 4"x4" on Claybord

Palette:Prussian Blue, Peacock Blue, Permanent Green Deep, Chinese Orange +W

Available on Daily Paint Works

March 9, 2016 4"x4" on Claybord

Palette:Prussian Blue, Peacock Blue, Permanent Green Deep, Chinese Orange +W

Available on Daily Paint Works

After a series of still lifes, I was itching to do some abstract work while still practicing looking from life. I took a favorite blue shirt with colors like the aurora borealis, twisted it, and painted a section paying closer attention to the colors than to representing it perfectly. A fun project that needed repeated.

March 6, 2016 ~4" x 5.5" in Watercolor Sketchbook

Palette:Prussian Blue, Chinese Orange, Yellow Ochre

A few weekend, my husband and I took our first driving trip to go hiking. It was my first trip to Missouri's mountain, Tom Sauk Mountain! I thought I'd stop to paint a couple of times, but I ended up only painting once. This might be my first little plein air study! It was a beautiful view on a beautiful day.

March 5, 2016 4.25"x5.5" on Watercolor Paper

Palette:Raw Umber, Burnt Sienna, B+W

March 4, 2016  4.5" x 5.5" on Watercolor Paper

Palette: Flame Red, Juane Brilliant, Ultramarine Deep, W

March 1-3, 2016 6"x8" on Claybord

Palette: Peacock Blue, Flame Red, Permanent Yellow, Yellow Ochre, B+W

Three in a Row

February 9, 2016 4"x4" on Aquabord

Palette: Ultramarine Blue, (touch of Peacock Blue), Lemon Yellow, Permanent Yellow, B+W

Available on Daily Paint Works

Lately, I have found myself losing interest in the solitary subject. Though it makes for good practice, I feel like I'm getting a hang of using gouache (except for on claybord, which is always a challenge) and will improve more by moving my focus to quick composition. Then, there is the fact that I've painted my way through most of the objects in my house that I can physically move to my studio. Do you buy produce just for still lives? For instance, I've considered buying red apples, even though I don't enjoy them as much, for a different punch of color.

This painting was one of the more enjoyable pieces to make. The laying out and twisting back and forth of the apples, the drawing, the color choices.... It all came together without too much fuss. This black vase was one of the few things I've bought specifically to paint, and I picked it up at a favorite antique/thrift store. I love the modern shape, and was originally dead-set on painting it with a solitary lemon. While I might return to that composition, I thought three little apples all in a row would work better on the square panel. 

Vessels for Favorite Beverages

February 6, 2016 5.5"x8.5" on Watercolor paper

Palette:Ultramarine Blue, Carmine, B+W

February 7, 2016 5"x7" on Aquabord

Palette:Prussian Blue, Chinese Orange, Raw Umber,, B+W

Available on Daily Paint Works

February 8, 2016 4"x4" on Claybord

Palette: Permanent Yellow, Peacock Blue, Chinese Orange B+W

Available on Daily Paint Works

Gouache Sketches: Puzzles and Apples

February 4, 2016 4"x4" on Aquabord

Palette: Permanent Yellow, Lemon Yellow, Ultramarine Deep, Burnt Sienna + W

Available on Daily Paint Works

This mid-week has been a series of quick gouache sketches. I find that if I want to try to capture something quickly, I gravitate towards apples. There is something to their slightly-lumpy-but-still-smooth form that makes me feel more comfortable using looser brush strokes. 

February 1, 2016 ~4"x4" on Watercolor paper

Palette:B+W

February 2, 2016 5.5"x8.5" on Watercolor paper

Palette: Prussian Blue, Raw Umber, B+W

Interlocking puzzles were a subject I spent a long time with during my sophomore year of college. It was nice to revisit one of the puzzles for an evening. I still remembered the trick to parting them!

First Experiences with Ampersand's Aquabord

January 24, 2016 4"x4" on Aquabord

Palette: Yellow Ochre, Carmine, Peacock Blue, B+W (with a touch of Flame Red in the copper)

Last week I had the wonderful experience of opening a package brimming with Ampersand boards to use. In addition to new Claybords, I also bought a couple of packs of Ampersand’s Aquabord to try out. I waited just a day so that I could have my first experiences with the Aquabord on the weekend, and the above was my first painting on the new surface.

They suggest you flush the surface with water first to release any air that might bubble to the surface while you paint (and I noticed no bubbling once I began painting). After I did that, I waited for the board to be just between damp and dry to do a light sketch of my still life and lay down the first wash of color with my gouache.

Immediately, you can tell the difference between the two surfaces. In comparison with Claybord, the Aquabord surface felt like it was helping me to even out the distribution of water. As I developed the intensity of color on different areas, the surface remained easily workable. On Claybord, I have found the paint needs to be just the right level of wet to blend properly, but that was much less noticeable with this surface.

I could see the way that the pigment and paint seeps into the board becoming an occasional problem. The copper plate in the back of this still life is a rocked mezzotint plate, and the light differed subtly across it based on the directions of the mezzotint rocker’s trail. While trying to capture the subtleties of this light, I found that my brushstrokes kept being absorbed into a beautiful, flat area. If you zoom into the top picture, you can see the brushstrokes more evident at the bottom.

Overall, I was extremely pleased with my first experience painting on Aquabord. This still life is of several important objects to me in relation to my education as a printmaker favoring intaglio processes. It includes the rocked mezzotint I keep for the next opportunity I have to use an etching press, a jar of copper shavings from plates I filed the edges of in my last semester, and a few samples of etching ink I picked up at printmaking conferences.

January 25, 2016 4"x4" on Aquabord

Palette: Carmine, Peacock Blue, Yellow Ochre, + W

Available on Daily Paint Works

My second painting on Aquabord was incredibly tricky in the beginning in every way but the surface, which was consistently lovely. First, it took me an embarrassing amount of time to settle on, an admittedly easy, composition. Usually I average around 2-3 thumbnail drawings before settling on a composition. This one had 7. Some with multiple onions, a knife, with/without a cutting board, etc. Then, once I realized it would be better to just paint the onion than to keep fussing, I had a difficult time being happy with the colors! I’ll chalk it up to a learning experience.

January 26, 2016 5.5"x8.5" on Watercolor Paper

Palette: Lemon Yellow, Ultramarine Deep, Burnt Sienna

Yesterday morning, I returned to watercolor paper for a quick hour-study of apples.