Sandy Maudlin

GOOD COMPANY!

2012-01-02T17:28:00.004-05:00

Ste'phanie Portal contaced me about three months ago regarding a magazine article she was writing for a special issue, called Pratique des Arts. She asked for some info on YUPO as well as a picture or two - if I was interested. WOW!

After typing up many of the things that are exciting to me regarding my journey with this wonderfully slick and brilliantly colorful surface, I sent it all to her, and this is what she published. She featured three of my paintings, Amazing Grates (pictured above George James,) Liquid Gold (Venice,) and Can You Hear Me Now? The eight page article includes six 'yupo' artists, including George James, the absolute King of YUPO.

Since everything is in French, I'm waiting on Bonnie to translate it for me. (I did much better with Spanish than French in school.) Marianne got three magazines for me from her daughter-in-law in Paris, and I wanted to show it off. I'm popping proud to be in such good company in this special watercolor issue - Ted Nuttall, Amanda Spencer, Charles Reid, George James! Oh, and my name is even on the front cover! What an unexpected thrill! (I promise to quit bragging soon.) Fellow artists Kaaren Oreck and Carrie Waller also have beautiful paintings featured in this issue.

There's even mention of my upcoming French workshop in August in Frayssinet, France, featuring my methods of batik and the French landscape. (More info very soon about that.) Thanks so much, Ste'phanie, for kindly including me. And Happy New Year, everyone.

Do you hear what I hear?

2011-12-23T23:54:00.001-05:00

May your Christmas be full of love, joy, and peace.

SHOW STOPPERS

2011-11-21T16:23:00.007-05:00

What a reception we had on Saturday evening! As soon as we had everything ready to go, I took some more pictures of the work hung in the gallery from our Open Studio Sessions. The doors opened at 5, and I took a few more pictures of people enjoying the show. By 5:15, the place was packed!!! I put the camera away and enjoyed a wonderful evening of being with friends, meeting new acquaintances, and appreciating some great art, as well as delicious refreshments.

People really enjoyed the show, stopping to look at each of the paintings carefully. Here are some of the comments our guests made to me ---

"I go to a lot of art shows, look them over, and leave. THIS ONE, however, is superb, and I've been spending time viewing each piece carefully."

"What excellent art that is so diverse. I like how it shows the artist behind the work, and not the teacher:-)))"

"I'm coming back this week again to look over the show when it's not so crowded. The work here is so professional."

"You must be so proud of this show!"

"The work in this show is amazing."

"The paintings are excellent, not a bad one here."

"This doesn't look like a 'normal' student show, where you can usually always see the influence of the instructor's painting style."

"I go to many many art show each year, and this is the best show I've been to in a really long time!"

And my favorite comment, " This show makes me think that these artists have been set free to express themselves however they want. And the work is extremely well executed - just stunning."

The comments made me proud of what everyone has been able to create. Several guests were also art teachers who were really admiring the strengths of each painting.

I was happy. The purpose of this show is to feature the works that artists have created in Open Studio. Knowing that others appreciate your art is very rewarding.

My honey was also very busy shuttling people to and from the show to the overflow parking a few blocks away. How I appreciate all he does to support me on this awesome art journey.

Many people were amazed, intrigued, and astounded by the various ways paintings were created. It was a classy show all the way around, thanks to all the artists in OPEN STUDIO. The refreshments were provided by the artists also, and we went through a lot of wine, coffee, and apple cider, too.

Hours for the rest of the show are Tuesday from 9-2, closed Wednesday and Thursday for the Thanksgiving holiday, then open on Friday from 9-2 and on Saturday and Sunday from 12-4.

The facility where we have the show is newly refurbished and has been a wonderful venue for our art. "Thank you" to the Women's Art Club of Cincinnati for letting us display our work.

There are four different Open Studio sessions each week. Tuesday's Tribe meets for four and a half hours each Tuesday morning, and Wednesday's group calls themselves "It Takes a Village to Paint a Picture." I call them Wednesday's Village. Thursday Mornings also meet from 10 - 2:30 and Thursday Night's Alright meets from 6-9. Some groups presently have a waiting list to get in since open studio is limited to fifteen artists per session. You are welcome to contact me for more information about Open Studio.

Thanks for so much stopping by my blog to enjoy the show.

YOU ARE INVITED !!!!!

2011-11-13T16:51:00.004-05:00

Our Open Studio Show opened yesterday at the Women's Art and Cultural Center in Cincinnati, Ohio. Their huge building has been incredibly refurbished - - - it used to be a dairy barn! Our hanging crew of fifteen had the whole show hung in about two hours, with over 80 beautiful paintings displayed, including acrylics, collage, ink, and watercolor. Many of the pieces can be seen here, but to really appreciate the show, you'll need to see it in person - reception info below.

Many of us got our exercise for the day, reaching and stretching as we changed pictures from one wall to another. Ginger helps Diane straighten one of Eileen's acrylics as Marianne reaches up to straighten a watercolor.

A variety of techniques and subject matter enhances the carpeted gallery walls.

'Open Studio' happens in my studio four times per week. One session meets in the evening, and the other three are longer daytime sessions, from mid morning into mid afternoon. I get to facilitate the sessions and assist in any way I can as the artists create unique, one-of-a-kind masterpieces. Often, I demo a process or technique to guide someone to work out how to accomplish what the artist wants to express.

This show features some of their recent work. With forty artists showing their work, many of their paintings had to be left in their home studios, paintings that also deserved to be hung on the walls. There's just not enough wall space for all the work they have done over the last 24 months.

Here we are --- me, contemplating whether or not something needs to be moved - Valerie, pleased with how really good it looks, and - Kathy, just about ready to call it a day! Diana is behind us checking out artwork from a different Open Studio than she attends.

The subject matter in this show includes abstracts, landscapes, still lifes, portraits, and florals. You'll find fine art created by professional artists as well as by artists who have just recently taken up painting. From traditional to unpredictable, this show has so much to offer.

Three more 'picture hangers' are discussing where to pound the next nail - Bernie, MaryJane, and Jean.

Our Artists' Reception is this Saturday, Nov. 19 from 5 to 7..... lots of paintings, people, and refreshments to enjoy with free admission, too. Regular show hours are Tues - Fri, 9-2 and Sat/Sun 12-4, (closed on Thanksgiving day.) The show is open through November 27, 2011.

The Women's Art Center is located in Mariemont on Cambridge Avenue. Be sure to Map Quest or Google the location and please join us if you're near Cincinnati, Ohio.

For more info about Open Studio Sessions, you can contact me at sandymaudlin@gmail.com.

More photos of this show will be posted on this blog after the reception. Hope to see you there and I wish you could all attend!

A big thank you goes to Kathy Sarlo for providing all of these photos.

GRATE DAY!

2011-10-17T16:54:00.004-04:00

Yesterday was the Watercolor Society of Indiana's annual juried show opening. (Click on my painting at the WSI website to see it enlarged.) The show will hang in the Indianapolis Museum of Art until early December, and my 'Amazing Grates' received the second place award! YES!!! Jerry Smith received First Place for a stunningly beautiful rural scene done in acrylics, also.

Gerald Brommer was the judge and stated that he judges work on four criteria --- technique, drawing ability, visual design, and the spirit or content of the work. Although I knew that he dislikes YUPO, I submitted my Grates on YUPO anyway.

Here's what he said about my painting - "The surface of this painting is wonderful. Gorgeous stuff happens in the painting. It is well designed, and the design works beautifully. The surface is to die for. The composition fits together so well that one could possibly get 16 little paintings from this big one."

The painting is 40x26", and it was amusing to watch as one guy tried to 'find' all 16 paintings in the piece. It's been said that a good painting should be able to be divided into four good smaller paintings, so a big smile landed on my face when I heard what Brommer said. I consider him to be one of the best workshop instructors ever, besides being such a wise judge:-) He's a very affirming, positive person.

All the grates and sewer lids in the painting are from Indianapolis. It was a grate 'happy dance' day!

"AMAZING GRATES" Fluid Acrylics on YUPO 40x26" COLLECTED

TREASURES

2011-09-11T20:19:00.004-04:00

Discovering unexpected treasures is one of life's best joys. This evening view of a courtyard is part of the former home of two people whom I treasure very much. When it was started, my plans were to give it to them as a 'thank you' for a wonderful visit there.

After applying several layers of paint interspersed with layers of masking tape, I began peeling off the tape layers to reveal the painting under it. Treasures again! The surprises of color and texture were astounding, and I got the feeling that parting with this painting might be more difficult than I ever imagined. Yet, this would make the perfect 'thank you' gift for treasured friends!

The second photo shows details near the door and the tape removal in progress. When all the tape was removed, the painting was corrected and tweaked with the fluid acrylics. On the YUPO surface, bits of the paint accidentally lift off when the tape is pulled up, creating new possibilities for more texture.

This weekend's workshop here at my studio was the unveiling of this finished painting. She loved it! (And the workshop went very well, too.) I'm waiting to hear how her husband likes the painting. Since it was his childhood home, I am pretty sure he'll love it, too.

Next month, this unique 'tape batik' process will be a big part of the weekend workshop here at my studio - see the sidebar for more info. After three days of my demos and instruction and lots of work and painting on your part, you will have created your own, original 'tape batik' watercolor from your reference materials --- or, like this painting, your own 'tape batik' fluid acrylic watercolor on YUPO.

'Tape Batik' is the name I've given to my technique, but no hot wax is involved at all. After initially figuring out how to do this process in the early 90's, I've been honing it ever since. Being able to finally create the 'batik look' on YUPO added to the possibilities my technique.

If you're near Dallas, Texas, you can sign up now for the five day workshop there in late October/early November, featuring my instructions for Tape Batik, too. (See side bar for Artists' Showplace.) There are several other of my 'Tape Batik' workshops lined up for 2012, also, in various locations in the U.S. and abroad. Hope you can join us at one of these workshops. Happy painting.

TREASURES Fluid Acrylics on YUPO 26x20" Collected

JUST A LITTLE CHANGE

2011-09-04T21:25:00.001-04:00

A slight change to this Irish woman's expression made this picture more appealing. The original, shown below the finished painting, seemed to have a sour expression on her face. By making a minor adjustment to her inner lip line and lip corners as well as to her eyes and brows, her expression is more gentle and evocative.

This TAPE BATIK painting won a first place at a show this weekend, too. Some may be bothered by the 'square' within the faces. Putting it there was important to me. This beautiful couple seemed to be totally melded. They were lovely to talk to and so gracious as they viewed the trip through the train window. The square represents their balanced life together as well as representing their apparent outlook on life, and is symbolic also of the train window.

Using my TAPE BATIK method to create skin, especially faces, is challenging. This process will be taught at a five day workshop in Dallas, Texas in late October. Hope to see some of you there.

"IRISH EYES" Watercolor TAPE BATIK on Hot Pressed Crescent Board

BATIK WITH FLUID ACRYLICS

2011-08-08T22:59:00.005-04:00

Once again I've removed a painting from its frame and changed things. The three photos here show the original painting at the bottom, the painting as it was when framed in the middle, and the top painting, which is now completed and reframed.

Notice the changes to the window and the posts beyond the door in the top painting. The window sill was adjusted to create more interest and variety there. The stone work was also quieted down by simplifying some areas as well as by bringing back whites to the brick work. All of this has helped create more movement in the completed painting. A cool wash on the bricks helped settle down those aggressive warm bricks, allowing more emphasis to be on the man.

The bottom painting had way too many bricks with no place for your eye to rest. The foreground was too light, also.

The Tape Batik process is one that I developed and love to share at my workshops. I really like the finished painting now and think it was well worth it to adjust it. Hope you like it, too.

YUPO AND FLUID ACRYLICS

2011-07-02T21:53:00.002-04:00

These pigeons were stunningly beautiful on this ancient fence just outside Notre Dame in Paris. The bright blue sky that Sunday made their feathers appear even bluer than they were. Their attitudes were fun to capture, too.

This photo of the painting was taken through the non glare plexi, so the colors are a bit off and the values not quite as dark as the painting in some areas.

"SITTING ON THE FENCE" Transparent Fluid Acrylics on YUPO 40 x 26"

STARTING ALL OVER AGAIN

2011-06-10T21:03:00.000-04:00

Starting over on this portrait of my nephew, Jon, I decided to quiet down the drips and focus more on his face. This newest painting of Jon is much easier to look at, in my opinion. See the first one at the bottom of the post.

His mom will be here next week to pick up the painting. I think she'll approve. The portrait I painted earlier this year of his brother, Peter, is shown here, too. Hopefully they will they compliment each other nicely when Chris gets them both hung in her home.

Jon's eyes are at least as blue as the painting shows, and he's a very gifted musician who frequently plays in London and surrounding areas.

Painted with Transparent Watercolor over Fluid Acrylic drips on Cold Pressed 140# Arches, all are 22x30."

JONATHAN

PETER

Older painting - on gesso-ed paper with strong focus on drippy technique

ROTATE MORE

2011-04-25T22:25:00.001-04:00

Here's the new Atelier acrylic abstract painting turned on its side. Just now I adjusted the color to be closer to the actual painting, too. Better?

Or upside down?

I like it better these two ways, with the horizontal format being my favorite. Thanks for your comments, too. Sure appreciate your taking the time to give your opinion.

EASTER

2011-04-23T22:30:00.005-04:00

This abstract was started a week ago and has evolved slowly. When the painting began, my purpose was to just play with the paint on YUPO, using the Atelier Acrylics which lift even after they have dried.

Today after taping it up across the studio, I was surprised to see the face. The word 'FORGIVENESS' was added vertically to the right side of the face then subdued. It's also printed backwards so it's nearly impossible to see. Using Caran d'Ache crayons I added some other scribbles and other meaningful words as well as lightening the eyelids and adding a highlight on the lower lip.

Easter is my very favorite day of the year because of its significance for me. Happy Easter!

"GOOD FRIDAY" Atelier Acrylics and CAran d'ache Crayons on YUPO 20x26"

MIDDLETOWN ART CENTER

2011-04-01T11:35:00.009-04:00

Soon after we first moved here 16 years ago (today!) the Middletown Fine Arts Center hung a solo show of my work. Their gallery is beautifully done, excellent lighting, lots of gracious space to show off art. Later, they sponsored yet another solo show for me, then another featuring works by people in one of the classes I taught.

The Middletown Fine Arts Center showcases nearly a dozen shows a year, and I've been blessed to not only teach a workshop there, but also win several prizes, including Best of Show, at some of their events. They hold workshops, classes and other art related opportunities throughout the year. It's a wonderfully nurturing place for artists of all ages. Next month, they are having their annual fund raiser.

This year will be different. Rather asking the people to donate a framed painting, they have asked us to paint an egg... a LARGE egg made of a special plaster/gesso mixture. After visiting a cave in the Dordogne Valley of France which had Cro Magnun's paintings on the cave walls, I was inspired to use that concept for the egg. 'Birthplace of art' - - - 'eggs are about birth ' - - - that was my thinking.

Hoping to capture the exquisite lines of the one bison that really impressed me in the cave, I began creating textures, first with more gesso and modeling paste, then with Fluid Acrylics. That bison on the cave wall was incredibly fabulous. Painted over 11,000 years ago, it had exquisite lines and shapes. No amateur painted it, but an early Michelangelo. It took my breath away because of its fluidity and sureness. My egg for Middletown didn't quite capture the mastery on the bison in that cave. Here's what I came up with -Eggtravantgantly Ancient! Fluid Acrylics on Gesso, Modeling Paste, and Plaster Surface, Sealed with Varnish. 6 x 10" Egg Donated To Be COLLECTED

PARIS

2011-03-27T21:05:00.003-04:00

Here's a photo from one of the last days we were in Paris. Notre Dame was awesome, my favorite place to be in Paris. Breathtaking and incredible. Stepping inside, I could feel His presence strongly. Now to paint these shadows...can't wait to get started. Thank you, Roger and Sandra, for a wonderful time. What memories!

NEPHEWS

2011-03-02T12:02:00.002-05:00

In a couple of days I will hand deliver this painting to his mother when we meet in Paris. I can't wait.

By using Nick Simmons' 'throw it on the wall' fluid acrylic technique, the background was nearly completed before I ever started the portrait. The actual portrait has been painted with transparent watercolor over the fluid acrylic drips.

Peter is such a free spirit, and my husband says that this really captures him. It's good to finally paint again and get one that makes me really smile.

Now I'm off to pack....... Au revoir!

NEW ATELIER ACRYLIC PAINTS!

2011-02-17T13:02:00.001-05:00

Finally, the brush made it to my hand and into some glorious new paint! It's been nearly two months since I painted anything at all - long, long time for me, but a 'bug' kept me under the weather and not caring if I painted. Then a box of new paints arrived at the studio with some gorgeous colors made in Australia by Chroma, Inc.

This painting is the first of what will be many acrylic paintings on YUPO using these Atelier Interactive Professional Artists' Acrylics. The acrylics behave like regular acrylic, but can be blended MUCH easier, even after they get dry! They can be re moistened with ease.

This painting is a result of forty five minutes of experimenting to see what would happen. The paint can be applied thickly like oil or very thinly like watercolor washes. The dozen colors that I have are mostly transparent, so glazing added a luscious look to those colors. I can't wait to share these new paints with my classes and see what beautiful paintings they create.

Though this isn't a 'real' painting, (no planning, etc. just impulse and delight,) it was so much fun to play and experiment. There are several unique mediums from the order that I must try next with the paints. Check out their website at http://www.chromaonline.com/.

"THINKING OF OREGON" Atelier Interactive Acrylics on YUPO 22 x 16"

ATTITUDE

2011-01-30T21:08:00.003-05:00

It's been a LONG month with absolutely no painting at all, but tomorrow looks promising for picking up my brushes finally. I can't remember ever having such a long stretch of no paint time...
This is one of the last paintings I did during the holidays as a demo for a class, to show how to paint looser with watercolor. He should have been posted over the holidays, but here he is now.

It's lots of fun to paint animals, especially ones with an attitude. You can just imagine what he's thinking.

After spending about ten minutes free handing the drawing, I painted quickly, using lots of juicy colors, allowing them to mix on the paper as much as possible. Accuracy wasn't my concern. Rather, I hoped to capture the sense of boredom and disdain shown by this beautiful Great Dane.

Although he looks black, no black was used. By mixing the darker colors from my palette, I was able to make some luscious blacks. His name is Jade.

"JADE" Transparent Watercolor on 140#CP Arches 12 x 17" COLLECTED

SAME SUBJECT

2011-01-17T12:40:00.004-05:00

The barn posted below was created using a flat, 1" brush from Daniel Smith Art Company in Seattle. It's from their platinum series and is around $15, my favorite brush ever. However, when my hope is to paint in a loosey-juicy fashion, the way this same barn was done in the previous post (see below,) I use a good squirrel mop brush. The Daniel Smith flat brush gives me plenty of control with watercolor, rather than the looser look. This brush has a razor edge so very tiny spaces can be painted as easily as a 1" swatch area can.

Another difference in the paintings is the kind of paint that was used, with this one being done with Golden and Da Vinci fluid acrylics, with one, or at the most, two, glazes or washes. An old bristle fan brush was used for the grasses and a credit card employed to indent the still damp, painted paper for the tree branches.

Miskit was applied to cover the snowy roofs, the tops of the silos and fence posts before beginning. The paper was misted overall, then diluted colors were allowed to flow as I tipped parts of the paper at a slant for the sky. The trees were tapped in while the paper was still damp to create a soft look, with the tips of the pines being put in later when the paper was dry.

Once the sky area was dry, the whole paper was misted again. Since the sky area was painted with fluid acrylics, rewetting that previous wash didn't disturb it a bit. The snow bank was blushed on to the top of the hill and allowed to move on its own while the paper was held at a slant. (I never ever tape down my paper so that it can be manipulated at whatever angles I want when it's wet.)

The details of the barn area and fence posts were added, again with fluid acrylics. The paint seems to dry just a breath darker than it looks when it's wet, quite the opposite of watercolor, which dries considerably lighter when used in washes this wet. I'd like to try this once again using a squirrel brush in the fluid acrylics in a loosey-juicy style, but first I'll have to buy a cheaper squirrel brush than the ones that I save just for watercolor. The painting actually has much more color in the barn than it looks here. It kind of glows IRL.

"EARLY EVENING" Fluid Acrylics on 140#CP Arches 14 x 11"

SNOW

2011-01-11T10:33:00.008-05:00

It's been a beautiful snow day, though I'm glad I'm not out driving on the roads right now. These days are best for making a huge pot of veggie soup and kicking back, which is what I've done.

Here's another barn painting created as a demo in December, using a large, floppy squirrel brush. The idea was to allow a loosey juicy, more carefree look with the watercolor. The paint on the hill was poured on spritzed paper, rather than painted, to help create that wonderful, fresh watercolor look. A rigger brush was used to put in the grasses poking above the snow, as well as the fence wire. Let it snow...

"WIND DRIFTS" Transparent Watercolor on 140# Rough Arches 20 x 15"

TEXTURES

2011-01-07T18:16:00.003-05:00

Almost every artist I know absolutely loves TEXTURE! This class demo was done to show various ways to create watercolor textures in a rural landscape. It was the first of three barn paintings so watch for more.
"DRY FORK ROAD" Transparent Watercolor on 140#CP Arches 22x16"

AND YET AGAIN

2010-12-13T09:36:00.003-05:00

This weekend I simply had to take this painting out of its frame and make some subtle but important changes. The top photo shows the changes.

Changes --- #1 Got rid of that mustard color on it and glazed it with some pale indigo -#2 Eliminated the '+' sign in the small grate on top of it - #3 Integrated the other gold small grate into the grates under it. It was the only full circle, and the edges of it had to be broken. It really helped to clean up that big white grate. #4 Softened the strong, thin, white diagonal at the top right of the painting and lifted some whites out of the fancy grate near it. #5 Added an illusion that the white paint stripe coming from the top left of the painting continued through to the orange grate centered at the bottom of the painting.

That mustardy color on that big grate really seemed to weight down the rest of the painting, but it took me a while to see that that was an issue. Originally, the fancy grate was to have been the focal point, but as I painted, it became evident that the big white grate would be the boss. The white 'T' shape next to the fancy grate became overly important until that mustard color on the big grate was eliminated.

So now it really is FINISHED! (Started over a year ago in my head, then composed in February, painted in most of March, and finished, the first time, in June.) I like that the wording on the grates - about Indianapolis sewer and utility companies - is not noticeable unless you're up close.

The painting's traveling to Indianapolis in a week or so where it will be hung. It will be very hard to part with it, but I will have visiting rights. Right now it's my favorite painting ever. Though it seemed really big when I started it, it only appears medium sized to me now. I must put in an order for a big roll of YUPO to paint on..... wider than 40" for sure.

"AMAZING GRATES" Fluid Acrylics on Heavy Weight YUPO 40 x 26" COLLECTED

WEEKEND WORKSHOP STOCKING STUFFER

2010-12-07T14:29:00.001-05:00

On Friday, February 25, we'll be starting a three day workshop here in my studio, featuring the process of 'tape batik,' as well as the hot wax batik process with watercolor. Cost is $225 for the tape batik class and $240 for the hot wax session. Each artist will develop and create original watercolor paintings, using this unique process. Any subject matter will work for 'tape batik,' as well as the hot wax process.

I started developing the tape batik process about 20 years ago, partially because I love the look of batik. No hot wax is involved, only some serious planning and lots of taping. We'll use plain old masking tape, though the specific brand is somewhat important. Each artist may choose whether to work with watercolor paints or fluid acrylics.

Below are several examples of my tape batiks,' some on Arches, some on YUPO. During the workshop, either surface can be used. The workshop will include 3 very full days of instruction along with a valuable critique session. It will be held here in my studio near Cincinnati, Ohio. Add this to your Christmas list for sure! Email me - sandymaudlin@gmail.com - for more info. I'll post some hot wax batik paintings soon, also.

COMBINING IMAGES

2010-11-21T19:29:00.003-05:00

Before Photoshop, the best way for me to combine parts of photos was with scissors and tape. This first photo had wonderful silhouettes of distant gondolas against sun kissed Venetian buildings. The second photo with the same lighting source pictures gondoliers up close, perfect for a center of interest in my painting. The skyline of both photos could have been more exciting, so one of the beautiful domed buildings from further down the Grand Canal was plopped into the background after it was flipped over to lend similar lighting. Some of the gondoliers were erased, and the balding head of the gondolier on the left was covered with one of the erased hats. The water line was adjusted to be at the horizontal phi, thereby dividing that length up to be the most pleasing division of space. The dome plus the pole of the gondolier on the left are on the vertical phi of the width of the paper. By the time I'd done all this on Photoshop, I was getting well acquainted with the subject matter, the shapes, the values, and the nuances of the edges of the different shapes. Plus, I was reliving the magic of that ride on that first evening in Venice.

Last week's post showed the results of this same image, cropped in vertically, and painted as a batik, using hot wax and watercolor on rice paper. This week, my goal was to paint this same subject again on a full sheet of Arches and to make 'atmosphere' the most important part of the painting. Leaving out as much detail as possible was my focus. The only details would be in the shapes that really caught my eye in the first place.

With a loose sketch drawn freehand directly on the paper, I started with very fluid paint loaded in a large squirrel mop brush - not my normal brush to use. Thinking only warm and cool for colors, I began the sky area and added plenty of water to let it flow on its own. The paper was positioned on an incline as well as turned sideways, then upside down, depending on what I wanted the paint to do. There were a couple of small areas that were kept dry so that they would remain untouched white - on the dome and on the hat of the gondolier on the left side.

My brush was moving continuously as the shapes of the buildings were placed in on the damp paper. I squinted a lot to help eliminate details, and my reference photos were not in sight. The only thing I had for reference was a thumbnail pencil sketch of the values that were important to include.

The edges of the buildings fuzzed a lot since I was painting on damp paper, but a soft, indistinct background was what I was after. Once the shapes were placed above the water line, the water line was darkened, and the distant shapes of the gondolas were added using the same big brush. I actually painted the tops of the distant gondolas first, making sure to leave those somewhat triangular white shapes between the water line and gondolas. The bottom of those gondolas were brushed in quickly with a sure stroke rather than a tentative, careful one.

The two bigger gondolas and their passengers were next, and the water areas were also painted along with them. Care was taken to avoid damp areas where sharp edges were desired. There was an 'oops' moment on the left side of the left gondola when the paint met some dampened paper. Wednesday's class was watching and insisted that I not blot the 'oops.' I want to thank them, since that's now one of my favorite parts of the painting. That soft, unexpected edge seems to add a lot to the atmosphere I was after.

Most of the water areas went really well, as long as my brush stroke was quick and sure. Later when the painting was dry, I sprayed off the strength of the reflections under the left gondola where I'd used a more timid stroke. I did change to a 00 rigger brush to make the line of the oar for the left gondolier. I used that brush to sign my name, too.

Before I could go back and put in more detail, the class insisted I stop, and this next photo shows the painting at that point. I lived with it for several hours but felt it needed just a bit more definition in some of the buildings. It seemed to me that there was too big of a gap between the detail in the foreground and the quietness of the background. The painting also had soft, pale values and stronger, darker values, but very few mid tones. The second photo below shows the finished painting. Stage One above - about 2 hours of non stop painting, after many hours of preparation..... I was really exhausted when this part was done. Painting loose and leaving out detail is contrary to how I normally paint. I was way out of my comfort zone, but I was loving the challenge, too.

Stage Two below- the finished painting with hints of detail in the buildings, a bit more dark on the dome, as well as the water and shoreline softened in a few places. This style of watercolor painting is what drew me to watercolor in the first place and sparked my passion for it. Though I've explored many different techniques, I'm always enthralled with the beauty that watercolor has when the paint is allowed to behave freely with the water. Nita Engle calls it 'letting your painting paint itself.' I was sure tired after those two hours of letting that happen!

"SUNSET SERENADE" Transparent Watercolor on 140#R Arches 30 x 22" COLLECTED

WAX BATIK WORKSHOP

2010-11-15T16:44:00.006-05:00

This weekend 11 artists took on the challenge of creating wax batiks with watercolor and sumi ink. We really put the hours in here at my studio, with each woman creating her own original batiks, planning the works from initial sketches to the final painting process. The majority of the workshoppers were able to get the layers of wax ironed off before they left on Sunday evening but still had adjustments to make before calling the paintings complete. Therefore, there are none of their paintings to show on this blog yet. Hopefully when they email me the finished work for critique, I can post some of them. Their work included a wide range of subject matter, and it was exciting to see the paintings develop.

We used several kinds of washi/rice papers, and my demo batik was done on Thai unryu paper, which I frequently use for wax batik and watercolor. However, this time the sheet shredded in some areas. Frustrating. Possibly the vat where the paper was handmade, in Thailand, didn't get enough pulp in it to make my sheet of paper an even thickness. I really don't know for sure why it shredded, but I was thankful that it didn't happen to anyone else in the workshop.

This is the finished painting, after it was glued down to w/c paper. Several tweaking adjustments were made after the paste dried. The way it looked (before paper repairs) is shown below - notice the holes in many areas. When wet, most rice papers tear fairly easily along an edge if they are picked up, but these areas happened as soon as I put the paint brush on the paper. It was like the paper dissolved in spots. The holes got worse with each successive layer of paint, so I condensed the last three layers of paint into one final wash. Patching the holes was tedious, and one area still looks obviously patched.

The photo of the finished batik was taken outdoors after painting corrections were made, and the one with holes was taken under natural light in the studio, hence the slight color variation. The water and sky in the 'holey' photo depicts the water and sky colors more accurately than the first photo of the finished piece.

In late January, there will be a 3 day workshop here, and we'll all be using masking tape instead of wax to create the batik look. (See sidebar on right.) Late February is the next wax batik workshop here, for three days also, instead of two. Both workshops do have openings, but class size is limited. If you're interested, email me at sandymaudlin@gmail.com, and I'll send you the details.

Seen here - some of the workshop artists working on various steps of wax batik on rice paper..... Thank you all for a good weekend - looking forward to seeing your finished batiks soon. It was great painting together.

"SERENADE" Watercolor and Sumi Ink on Thai unryu paper, adhered to Arches 140#CP 16x22" COLLECTED

MORE FUN

2010-11-06T23:20:00.003-04:00

Here's another textural painting that was freeing to create. It's also on acid free foam core which has been covered with various textural products and allowed to dry. Then the acrylic paint was added to bring out the textures of the surface and to help develop a good design. Transfer cut from an old magazine was also embellished onto the painting for added interest. Painting smaller, nonrepresentational work increases my love of being an artist.
"ONLINE" Acrylic on Acid Free Foam Core 4 x 4"

TEXTURES

2010-10-30T08:30:00.007-04:00

This painting was created with fluid acrylics, tube acrylics, some surface treatments, and lots of time discovering and maneuvering shapes within the created textures. Painting it somehow seemed like a vacation away from painting, and yet 'painting' has ALWAYS seemed like a vacation... sometimes without a map or reservations. It reminded me of the huge volcano that erupted this past spring, hence the name.

"EYJALLAJOKULL" Mixed Media on Acid Free Foam Core 4x4"

GRATE REVISIONS

2010-10-20T08:38:00.001-04:00

Several minor adjustments have been done to the top version of Amazing Grates. Using my squeegee and rubbing alcohol, I lifted off some random patterns to add lighter shapes which would help increase the movement in the painting. The lights help move the eye around better now. Minor spots of darks were touched in where more focus was needed, and a few blurs of orange were swished in too. Can you tell the difference between this and the older version under it?

This was painted with fluid acrylics on heavy weight YUPO, 40 x 26" It was a little unnerving to go back to it after thinking it was completed several months ago. I worked slowly making corrections, stepping back between nearly every stroke to see if I should proceed more or stop. Now I'm super pleased with it.

Sewer covers and manhole covers are things we pay little attention to, and yet you can find so many amazing patterns and textures in them. A future painting I hope to do will be of manhole covers from places I've traveled to. Since my sister-in-law was headed to Alaska this summer, I asked her to be on the lookout for any manhole cover that had 'ALASKA' on it so I could add it to my future 'grate travels' painting. She laughed when telling me that nearly the whole cruise ship was scouring the towns for an ALASKAN manhole cover. They found one for me, too. Thanks, Senie:-)

AMAZING GRATES Transparent Fluid Acrylics on Heavy Weight YUPO 40x26" COLLECTED

DEMO

2010-10-16T20:08:00.002-04:00

Helping artists see how to create what they are after is part of what I love about teaching. Brenda wanted to paint a very specific sunrise in watercolor - very challenging. Sunrises or sunsets with watercolor are fairly easy, but to capture what you really felt when you watched in awe as the sun disappeared or peeked above the horizon - that's hard. When I started the little demo, I told her it probably wouldn't work out to be a good sunset since it's just too easy to overwork them. Glad I was wrong.
The very edge of parts of the tops of the clouds was misketed first, then the paper was sprayed to dampen it everywhere. The excess water dripped down since my table is at a slant. Only three colors were used, in this order - permanent yellow deep, quinacridone coral, and cobalt violet deep. Cobalt doesn't move much on wet paper unless it's really pushed around, so it was pretty safe to paint it next to the yellow even on very wet paper. Though it looks like color was sprayed off, it wasn't. Because the violet stayed where it was brushed on, it was easy to make the sun rays accurately fan out from one point under the clouds. Adding it to the darker parts of the clouds helped give depth to them, too.

Clouds have some attributes that are different than objects on the ground. They are sharper edged farther away and softer edged closer. The bottom of clouds is nearly always warmer than the top due to the reflection of light off the earth below them. Unless the sun is behind your back when you take a photo of clouds, there is hardly any pure white at all in them. Often the darkest part of the cloud is right next to the whitest edge.

So what should I do to finish the painting? Suggest a shoreline..... add a soft but more distinct horizon..... put a boat in the water or a duck swimming..... stop and leave it like it is???

"SUNRISE" Transparent Watercolor on 140# Arches 8 x 8"

SPECIAL CREATURES

2010-10-10T17:46:00.002-04:00

Though I seldom choose to paint commissions, the time spent painting this beautiful dog was special. Lynne commissioned me to paint it for her daughter, and there was no way I could say 'no,' especially after seeing the great photo choices that she provided. Painting animals is always fun for me. Thanks, Lynne, for asking me to paint this and for the excellent photography to work from.

"TOAD" Transparent Watercolor on 140# Arches 22 x 17" COLLECTED

TAPE BATIK

2010-10-05T20:39:00.004-04:00

For some reason, this tape batik process is really hot right now. It's taken several years to perfect it after realizing that a whole painting could be painted using regular masking tape to block out shapes that are finished. It's almost like using miskit to protect shapes from future paint application, but tearing tape to fit a shape is trickier than painting miskit on with a brush. And more tedious. The tedious part is why I never liked teaching the process - too much whining. But for whatever reason, artists are really wanting to learn how to create this batik-like look. And there's no whining!!! YES! This older couple were on a train ride, and it was delightful to watch them interact. I think she knew what he was thinking before he even thought it and vice versa. They were beautiful.

Tape-batiking a face with the sharp edge that tape creates offers some special challenges with this process. The hat was my favorite part to paint and it turned out wonderfully, too. Some people have said that they like the square in the painting (I do,) and a few find it distracting. What do you think?

"IRISH EYES" Transparent Watercolor on Crescent Board 30 x 20"

DOUBLETREE

2010-09-29T16:24:00.005-04:00

The landscape outside my Doubletree Hotel last month in Dallas included a 'doubletree' that looked a little like this, twisting and reaching towards more light. This was painted using my 'tape batik' method on YUPO, with fluid acrylics. Lots of fun, especially when so many of the women at the workshop helped 'peel' the tape layers off to reveal the textures of the finished painting. This TAPE BATIK method is one I've developed since the mid 90's as a result of a Watercolor Society of Indiana workshop I attended with Al Brouillette. He used tape randomly to save shapes and create new ones. My thought was, "Why can't I paint a whole painting using tape to create the shapes?" It's been challenging and exciting to develop this process, and I love the fascinating batik-like textures that result.

Check out the new SPLASH book to see Monique Wolfe's results from one of the first workshops I taught regarding this technique. She's an excellent and accomplished South Carolina artist who quickly grasped exactly how to do this.

The painting of the 'doubletree' was done in Dallas for the experimental YUPO workshop there. A new painting is drawn on YUPO and ready to paint.....gotta go.

"DOUBLETREE" Transparent Fluid Acrylics on medium weight YUPO 26 x 20" COLLECTED

ART SHOWS

2010-09-23T08:32:00.009-04:00

Entering and attending art shows seem to remain low on my priority list, but a couple of weeks ago, a good friend insisted I enter a show. This painting along with 'Liguid Gold' is in that show at 'The Evergreen' on Galbraith Rd. in Cincinnati. It's an all-watermedia exhibit featuring many works by members of the Greater Cincinnati Watercolor Society. If you're in the area, please do stop by to see it - located across from Drake Hospital. The paintings are hung throughout the main buildings. The surface of this painting is on a wooden door covered with a mixture of joint compound and acrylic medium. Using my 'tape batik' method, several layers of multi colored glazes were applied over several layers of the saved 'taped' shapes. A lot of touch up was done when the tape was removed, so the taping process is not as evident as it usually is. The advantage of painting on a door is that no frame is needed at all. The painting was sealed with several coats of varnish and hung.

One of our local TV stations, WCPO Channel 9, ran a feature on the show in one of their newscasts this weekend, too, and LIGUID GOLD was shown on the newscast. Sweet!

Someday, maybe I'll understand why entering shows just isn't my cup of tea .....headed out to the garden right now. Must plant three viburnums before my Thursday morning class gets here. It will be a good class today! Have a great day.

"ORTA ARCHES" Transparent Fluid Acrylics 43 x 24"

JONATHAN

2010-09-16T16:40:00.004-04:00

Our nephew, Jon, lives in London and is an accomplished musician, song writer, and music mixer. His group, ADULTS, CHILDREN, AND ELDERLY (ACE) plays in several venues in England, and he is their awesome drummer. This painting, done on gessoed watercolor paper, celebrates his creative spirit. Jon is so gifted artistically as well as being truly brilliant. The gessoed paper surface was randomly stamped with an 'ART' stamp before it dried. Several colors of fluid acrylics were flung onto the upright paper and allowed to drop off before the watercolor portrait was painted. Thanks goes to Nick Simmons for his ACRYLIC FLINGING demo at our workshop here in the studio last month.

Many years ago, I squirted staining watercolors onto an upright sheet of 300# Arches which had some miskit 'combed' onto it, then explored what I could make out of the colorful splashes. Below is the result of that very special painting.

YUPO AND FLUID ACRYLIC WATERCOLORS

2010-08-20T07:38:00.004-04:00

The batik-look in this painting is the result of painting over bits and pieces of masking tape which have been torn or cut then pressed over the existing paint to preserve those areas. It's on the slick YUPO surface that's been accurately described as 'like painting on glass.' A new product that seems to be identical to it is now manufactured in France, called Lana Vanguard, and is available for sale now in Europe. This was painted with fluid acrylics on the YUPO. In a couple of hours, my plane leaves for Dallas, Texas, where I'll be teaching a five day workshop. Our focus will be to explore the exciting possibilities of painting experimentally on YUPO, and I know that we will have a lot of fun. Check back later for posts about what's happening at the Artists' Showplace workshop.

"CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW?" Fluid Acrylic on YUPO 40 x 26"

NICHOLAS SIMMONS

2010-08-16T08:46:00.004-04:00

Last weekend my studio was electric with energy and creativity. Nicholas Simmons (website link) challenged us to try many new processes to develop our paintings. Nick had already taught a workshop here almost three years ago which was awesome, and since I'd done all the things Nick taught then and learned so much, I didn't anticipate painting as much this time. WRONG!

Nick (blog link) led us through four intense days, packed with exciting possibilities, showing us how he uses FLUID ACRYLICS and TRANSPARENT WATERCOLOR. It was impossible to tell the difference between the two mediums unless you rewet the paint to see if it moved.

This painting is one of many that I worked on in Nick's workshop. Staying up late at night to do our homework was a requirement that we didn't know about ahead of time... but worth the effort.

And here is a 'newly painted' wall in my studio, painted by the 18 people who were here. The actual paintings that resulted from this artsy wall were astounding. Most remembered to sign their names somewhere on the wall, too. A taped up sheet of plastic with towels under it caught the paint as it flowed to the ground, but we still managed to add color to the studio's concrete floor. Think I may have to frame the wall.....

Nick's teaching skills are only surpassed by how well he paints. THANKS SO MUCH, Nick, for an awesome and incredibly great four days. Nick will be returning for another four day workshop here in 2012, beginning on Sept. 28 going through Oct. 1. A couple of people have already put a deposit down for their spot in the workshop! They'll be glad they did.

Nick's not making coffee in these cups, but getting ready to paint a new painting. He uses Da Vinci brand paints, both watercolors and fluid acrylics, and knows how to make them look so good on paper. The previous workshop with Nick was dynamite for sure. In my opinion, it was on top. This workshop was actually even better. Nick's a natural teacher, able to convey ideas and processes in a fluent way, while staying in touch with what the class and individual artists need. He's an amazing guy. Everyone went home with tons of notes and exciting possibilities to explore. It was a great workshop. Thanks goes to all who were here for helping make this workshop a wonderful success.

YUPO PAINTING

2010-07-26T13:57:00.000-04:00

Color 'dances' so vividly on YUPO. As it dries, it keeps its intensity, since the paint can't soak into the slick surface like it does on regular cotton watercolor paper.

This YUPO painting has been created with fluid acrylics. First, miskit was painted carefully on the whitest shapes, then the whole page was covered with randomly applied colors of very fluid paint, all the same value. The colors mixed on the paper rather than in the palette, since they were so juicy when applied.

When that paint dried, the next darkest value shapes were also miskited carefully, then once again the whole page was covered with more or less random colors, very juicy. This process continued, each layer of paint getting darker, until 7 layers of paint had been applied on the successively applied value shapes of miskit. The result was a total of 8 values in the painting, as well as a unifying blend of colors.

Removing the miskit is relatively easy on YUPO. Use your fingers to rub it off or lift it off with rolled masking tape. Avoid using a rubber cement/miskit remover.

Some corrections were made before I could call it finished. When regular watercolor on cotton paper is miskited, a small amount of paint comes up with the miskit. Fluid acrylics stay put and won't lift when the miskit's removed, resulting in a more glorious glow to the colors. And since this has been created on YUPO, the "POP" of the colors is vibrantly alive. Love that YUPO - and love using Fluid Acrylics on it, too.

"LIQUID GOLD" Fluid Acrylics on YUPO 25 x 31"

GIFTS

2010-07-18T12:23:00.001-04:00

Giving a painting as a gift is always risky unless you REALLY know the recipient's taste in art. Today this painting is headed to Indianapolis where our younger son lives. We think he'll be surprised with the painting, which is for his birthday today. Duke is on the right, and Daisy is the partially cross eyed Siamese mix on the left.

Getting the right photo to work from for pets is often challenging. Once I have a good photo and a good drawing, the painting is fairly simple to do. Paint the shapes with the right values and establish the proper edge for the shape. Miskit fur edges that are too hard to paint around, and don't paint any 'fur' hairs until the very end, painting them sparingly only where needed to suggest the softness of the fur. Color choices are not nearly as critical as getting the correct values of lights and darks. In fact, the purple, coral, orange, blues, and teal were fun to use for shadows.

My husband was surprised when I started this painting on Friday night. He asked when I'd get it done. Actual painting time was under three and a half hours, but the drawing and miskiting time took longer than that. If I count the time it took to get the right photos, too, the preparation time before putting paint in my brush is more than double the painting time. For me, the preparation, planning, and drawing are critical for a good painting, and I enjoy all the planning just as much as I love the painting time.

Painting size is approximately 17 x 22", making the cats life size. Happy birthday, MATT!

CROP AND BURN

2010-07-14T00:32:00.003-04:00

This painting is from several years ago. It recently returned home from the gallery and challenged me to rework it. Since it was done with both watercolor and gouache, the challenge sounded like a good possibility. First the garish cool yellows were calmed down. That helped a little but not enough to suit me. Next shapes were quieted somewhat to what you see here.

Finally, after a lot of deliberation, cropping became an option, because the painting had no holding power as it was. The overall pattern of lights and darks was just too weak to keep my attention.

Often when a painting is shrunk down to a one inch size, the pattern of the lights and darks of the painting becomes very easy to read, since all the detail is too small to see. If there is an effective pattern of light and dark shapes, the painting will hold together at any size, which helps to keep the viewer's attention longer. You can see the difference of the major light and dark shapes here of the original painting and the cropped version.

Below is the final cropped painting. Slicing off the busy shapes, even though I really liked them, helped the overall success of the painting. The new and narrower painting now 'lives' in southern Michigan. It found a happy owner on its first debut out the door. HURRAY!

NORTHERN EXPOSURE (previously called POLAR EXTREMES) Watercolor, Gouache, and Fluid Acrylics on 140# Fabriano 30 x 13" Collected

BATIK WORKSHOP DATE CHANGED

2010-07-02T10:28:00.000-04:00

The wax batik workshop, originally scheduled for September, has been changed to Nov. 13-14. You can see several of my wax batiks in the previous post. The process includes using watercolor, along with sumi ink and hot wax to create amazing paintings on rice papers. It's an intense process yet the results are so worth the effort. Get more info about the workshop by emailing me at sandymaudlin@gmail.com.

EXPLORING BATIK AND WATERCOLOR

2010-06-11T01:17:00.003-04:00

Date changed for BATIK WORKSHOP. If you love the look of batik and want to learn to create that fascinating effect using watercolors, check out this 2 day workshop. It will be held in my studio near Cincinnati on November 13 and 14. (Dates were changed from Septemeber.)

Posted below are several of my paintings done with this fascinating and ancient process. We'll be using hot paraffin, rice papers, regular watercolor paints, and sumi ink. Every artist will be painting their own original works of art, using special techniques to create their one-of-a-kind batiks.

Cost is $150 and includes two very full days of instruction as well as the use of melting pots, hot wax, and an assortment of tools. Contact me at sandymaudlin@gmail.com for more info. Do hope you can join us.

DOUBLE FUN

2010-06-08T22:11:00.001-04:00

Painting on canvas brings back college memories for sure. Back then - the 60's - acrylics had just been introduced and, as I remember, they were very, very plastickie. These two canvas were collaged with various bits of rice papers and football cards, then painted with Fluid Acrylics, my favorite medium right now.

Both have been hung side by side in their new home in Richmond, Indiana. The person they went to is a banker, so I managed to print my own 20's, 50's, and 100 dollar bills then transfer the ink from the prints onto the canvas - seen in reverse, backwards. Ditto for some golf ads, too. This was fun to create but a little scary because I wasn't positive they would like it. They did:-D

MEMORIES

2010-05-30T21:39:00.003-04:00

Sweet memories arrived today via an email from an old friend. She sent me a copy of a card I'd painted for her fairly soon after I'd started painting with watercolors. The front and back of the card are shown here. The broccoli theme was an inside joke which we had a lot of fun with.

The card must be over 20 years old, and I feel honored that she'd kept it all this time. The inside of the card completed the rhyme with "Hope this is the best birthday of all." The back of the card certainly didn't go with the theme, but the choice of flower and colors were important. Maybe it's time to paint more cards.

YUPO ALL THE TIME

2010-05-25T23:11:00.004-04:00

May 27th - New photo of painting posted --- The painting has been adjusted a bit since it was first posted two days ago. The hull of the gondola is a bit more accurate, and some areas have been lightened and warmed a little inside the work shop as well as inside the gondola. There's more warm/red on the face of the guy on the left, and the sweater of the man on the right has more variation in it now.

The demo was drawn and painted in under an hour - somewhat easy to do with so few values and shapes, especially using YUPO. Since the demo this past Saturday, I've probably invested about 2 more hours making adjustments. Time to STOP before it goes into overkill.

(Blog below was posted on May 25.)

Twenty artists explored painting on YUPO last Saturday in Bloomington, Indiana, and their explorations were dynamic, so creative, and very colorful. We used transparent watercolors as well as many tools and devices to apply the paint.

The time literally flew by, but unfortunately, there was little time for taking photos. I so regret not having the time to photograph the paintings that were near completion. The variety of subject matter and style was amazing.

This painting of two men discussing how to repair the gondola in their shop was one of the demos which I painted in early afternoon. After the demo, there was plenty of time for the workshoppers to develop their own original artwork, using the techniques they'd been practicing all morning. The critiques at the end of the day went way past the alloted workshop time, yet no one seemed to mind at all.The Bloomington Watercolor Society is a young organization - 5 years old - with over 80 members.... lots of talented artists with a strong desire to learn more about painting. I loved the diversity of people in the workshop - so enriching and inspiring. We all went home satisfied with a great day's work - actually it was all PLAY, not work, (except maybe for the concentrated efforts at making good design and composition in the paintings.)

It was great to see several artists returning from earlier workshops I'd taught. Teaching is so incredibly rewarding and invigorating, especially with a great group like the BWS. Thanks a bunch for asking me to give the YUPO workshop. Next time we'll have to explore using FLuid Acrylics like watercolor on the YUPO surface. Happy painting.

"TALKING BUSINESS" Transparent Watercolor on YUPO 26 x 20"

YUPO WORKSHOP near IU

2010-05-19T08:42:00.002-04:00

Friday, after everything imaginable is packed in the van, I'll head to Bloomington, Indiana to give a YUPO workshop. It will be like a homecoming for me since I graduated from Indiana University there. It's such a beautiful city with the campus only a couple of blocks from the workshop, and they made a reservation for me in a lovely bed and breakfast - quite a treat for me. This YUPO painting of a Cincinnati gorilla is from the archives, created about ten years ago. It shows how texture and vivid colors get to show off so well on the slick YUPO surface.

There are twenty artists taking the workshop, and I'm so looking forward to seeing all the beauty they create. We'll be using watercolor on the YUPO, and the possibilities are endless. Check back next week for our results.

CHALLENGED

2010-05-02T21:03:00.010-04:00

Working with YUPO and fluid acrylics last week at a workshop, I was challenged to stretch beyond my comfort zone. Our extraordinary workshop instructor, Sandi D'Allesandro, asked us to not only title our paintings BEFORE we started but also to determine the content of the message we wanted to convey.

Like most artists, nearly every painting I do begins with a new, self imposed challenge to help me push forward, but this direction was way out of my comfort zone. Whether it's good or bad, I seldom know or realize what I'm actually 'saying' until the painting is completed. That's one of the reasons I paint - to express myself. It's much easier for me to express myself with paint than get tangled up with words or with ideas that I can't verbalize. Though I so admire content-driven artists, it's not usually the direction I choose.
The future painting was to be called 'MARRIAGE' and its focus was the last 42 years spent with my honey. Apples and giraffes would certainly show up in the painting, but besides that, my only plan was to have fun and explore. The final painting, finished today, is the photo posted first. The next photo below shows the painting yesterday when it came really close to going in the trash. How ugly could I make it? The colors were nasty in places, and overall, there was no pattern of design to grab the eye. This next photo shows the piece as it was last Sunday at the end of the workshop, (when I thought it was completed.) After looking at it in the studio for several days, I realized that it had a long way to go before I'd want to look at it for any length of time. The last photo above shows just the beginning stages of the painting. Approaching work with this type of Chaos to Control offers such a wealth of learning experiences. When I began, I had a general idea of what would happen.... wrong!

The painting was a big struggle, but now I'm really enjoying it. And yes, it does speak to me a whole lot about marriage, in its design as well as in the effort it took to make everything work together in the painting. The bonus? My honey liked it, too! The new title is FORTY TWO 'n counting.... on heavy weight YUPO 26x20"

WORKSHOP EXCITEMENT Addition

2010-05-01T18:39:00.014-04:00

May 1st - just in - Kathie Rice's finished painting has been added here, completing all the works from our workshop in April. Hers is posted at the end of this post and has some rice papers added to enhance it further. Check it out.

April 26 - It's so exciting to show the results of paintings created by the artists who were at the Watercolor Society of Indiana workshop two weeks ago. After the explanation of the process and my demo, each artist worked to create her own masterpiece, using bits and pieces of masking tape to 'save' shapes and values as she went. All the work seen here is transparent watercolor on paper. Realize that some tweaking will be done to several of these, since most of the photos were taken immediately after the tape had been removed, before adjustments could be made. My apologies to these artists if the color is not quite true.

By NORMA DAVIS - What an unique view up onto the deck, enhanced by strong values changes of sunlight and shadow and the poetic use of color. The textures are fantastic! This painting is a half sheet of paper - lots of taping and painting involved. Today I got a card in the mail from Norma with this on the front of it! Thank you so much.
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By LINDA BACHOFNER - How I wish you could see this in real life. There is such a powerful emotion in this sensitive painting. The subtle color and value changes make the viewer almost be able to hear the water lapping against the sides of the gondolas. Also on a half sheet of paper, created with Linda's favorite palette of colors. You have to agree that this shows the often painted Venice in a special new way.
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By JAN BROADDUS - This is an extraordinary painting with an immensely effective pattern of dark and light value shapes. The broken lines created by the paint leaking around the taped shapes add to the jazzy feeling of this old New Orleans sight. This painting has such a 'WOW' factor to it due to Jan's choices of colors and care with composition. It is stunning and on a full sheet of paper, too!
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By LEE PAPAI - Although created with such a limited palette, this painting evokes a strong response from the viewer. The warmth in the focal area (actually warmer than shown here) really pulls the viewer into the painting, and the incredible textures created by the batik/tape effect add exciting interest when seen up close. It seems as if we are peeking through some trees at an intimate moment. Shhhhhh. Don't scare the fish away! Also on a half sheet of paper, but done using the green frog painters' tape, possibly causing more leaking/batiking effect.

By JUDY GLORE - This painting involved many, many layers of tape and paint, and Judy made just a few adjustments to it before calling it completed. What an outstanding design of curved reflective lines against the man made structures by the canal! Painting 'water' with this taping technique is challenging, but this one works so well, and it's on a FULL sheet of hot press Arches. Congratulations, Judy!
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By BARB STARK - This, too, arrived in the mail today for critique. The glow around the potted plant and buildings captures the light of Italy so well, and the illusion of a figure in the lower part of the painting adds interest, also. When the foreground wall is darkened, the painting will have even more depth. And what a beautiful use of warm and cool temperatures to move our eye through the picture. Also on a half sheet.
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By MARCIA RELLER -This has to be the most layers of tape and paint ever done with this process - 9 layers! - but well worth it for the dynamic effects Marcia achieved. She still plans to make several adjustments to the painting. The depth and intrigue of colors and textures behind the organic shapes of the flowers and leaves on this painting have resulted in an eye catching painting. And it's also a FULL sheet of paper. Can't wait to see the final results.
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LINDA MEYER-WRIGHT - This journey through a wooded wonderland may be complete at this point... a bit playful, yet mysterious, with an abstract quality that Linda does so well. The batik-look adds just the right amount of texture to this colorful painting. Some of us at the workshop wondered if that maybe Hansel and Gretel had been there??? Also a half sheet of paper.

By ARLENE WHEELER - Capturing emotion is one of the requirements for a good painting, and I laughed out loud when I saw this delightful creature. The structural straight lines certainly make a perfect contrast for the voluptuous, rounded shapes on the pig. It's great to have so much fun with art. Even the color choices here are playfully fun. This is nearly a half sheet. also.
By SUSAN PORTER - This is another one that I wish you could see in real life. The poppies seem strongly illuminated from behind, and the background textures look like a rich tapestry. Slightly abstracted, the painting certainly captures the sense of a garden full of bloom. On a half sheet of paper, too. Most of these took about three full days of work to complete.
KATHIE RICE's own koi pond was the inspiration for this painting. She's also collaged in some rice papers to add to the illusion of water on this large painting - a full sheet of Arches. The intensity of the colors certainly adds a summertime feeling to this vibrant, whimsical painting. Thanks for sending it, Kathie.

Feel free to leave a comment for these artists. The work they did in just four days was terrific!

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Here's another partially finished painting, an abstract, by JUDY GLORE. Many of the artists worked on a chaos-to-control type painting also, using the tape as a resist between layers of paint.

WSI is offering 3 more workshops this year at the same facility I taught at, near Castleton, on the north east side of Indianapolis. The Birgit O'Connor workshop has a waiting list, and Mary Ann Beckwith will be teaching there on July 13-16, with George James teaching a YUPO workshop starting September 21. Having previously taken workshops from both of them, I HIGHLY recommend Mary Ann Beckwith if you want to stretch your creativity and would very strongly recommend George James if you want to learn new approaches to design and composition while exploring some exciting, new surfaces to paint on. Happy painting.

DEMO FOR WORKSHOP

2010-04-19T13:11:00.004-04:00

Our "TAPING" batik workshop in Indianapolis last week resulted in some exciting and dynamic artwork. For four days, artists cut and tore small pieces of masking tape to create their own exquisite masterpieces. I was very impressed with the paintings they painted, and surprisingly, there was hardly ever any whining for such a tedious technique. We had a really great group of artists at the workshop.

This painting shows my workshop demo with all the tape removed and adjustments made. The dark batik-like textures were created when the paint leaked between pieces of torn or cut tape. The reference photo is also posted here.

Soon I'll post some of the workshoppers' masterpieces. EYE CANDY TIME:-) Off to another workshop later this week..... Life is so good!

"POPPING WITH COLOR" Transparent Watercolor on 140#HP Arches, 19 x 15" COLLECTED

CHARLOTTE'S KITCHEN

2010-03-30T21:37:00.000-04:00

Back to an oldie... painted many years ago and inspired by the intrigue of glass and reflections. Yesterday my camera was mistakenly left behind as I headed home from my week of grandchildren-sitting/spoiling, so there will be no new paintings on my blog this week. Or next week.

During the week of April 12th, look for updates of the workshop being held in Indianapolis, by the Watercolor Society of Indiana. By then my camera will be back, and the events of each day, including some of my demos, will be posted. We will be exploring the exquisite possibilities of creating paintings using masking tape and watercolor! There's still time to sign up - see the right hand side bar for details.

Check out the May 1st and 2nd YUPO with FLUID ACRYLICS Workshop to be held at my studio, also taught by me. Would love to see you there if you can join us! It will be full of color, texture, and great creative possibilities as we use the acrylics on YUPO.

Be back in two weeks. Until then, happy painting.

"CHARLOTTE'S KITCHEN" Transparent Watercolor on 140#CP Arches, 11 x 17" Collected

FIRST GRADES!

2010-03-26T14:47:00.001-04:00

Painting with First Graders should be a requirement for any adult wanting to learn to paint better. Yesterday I was the 'visiting artist' in three First Grade rooms where our triplet grandchildren go to school.

After giving a short demo of a cardinal on a Redbud branch, helpers passed out the supplies so that everyone could paint. What an amazing group of children! And very well behaved, too.

How fascinating it was to watch as each child carefully considered what to paint. They followed directions so well about making puddles of color, and many noticed, excitedly, the accidental color combinations that occurred in their palettes.

With only an hour to paint in each room, the time flew by. The first photo shows one of the galleries of art that they created.

This age group seems so spontaneous with the brush as well as being so trusting that the painting will be beautiful. It was a delight to be with each class.

They used palettes I'd ordered from Viking Woodcrafts in Minnesota, along with Da Vinci watercolor paints to paint on a fourth sheet of 90# Fabriano artistico paper. Every round and flat brush from my studio had been gathered up for this venture, along with water containers, small sponges, and a broken credit card (for making lines, branches, grasses, stems, etc.) They were well equipped to paint with professional supplies.

Some of the masterpieces will be displayed today in the cafeteria hallway so that the whole school can see them. Most wanted to take their paintings home with them right away, but I'm glad that others will get to appreciate their artwork, too.

Years ago, I was an elementary art teacher and have always loved seeing artwork created by children. Next month when our grandchildren visit our house, we will have an art show in the studio of their work created in the past year - wish you could all attend. Refreshments will undoubtedly include Easter candy.

Tonight we'll be painting here at their house with some of their friends. After last night's gorgeous sunset, they want to know how to paint beautiful sunsets. It will prove to be a very busy evening for me, I'm sure.

It's been an incredibly busy week, mostly spent taking care of four special children, doing lots of laundry, and fixing meals. The painting time was a bonus for sure!

On Monday, our Daughter-in-Law's Fourth Grade Class will be painting with me. Then I'm ready to head back home.

THIRD GRADE

2010-03-24T10:40:00.006-04:00

This week has been full of many activities, including time to create special art. Our older grandson's third grade class invited me to his school to share a watercolor lesson with them on Monday.

My demo for his class included a bed of pink and red tulips with a lost baseball tucked between the flowers. They watched attentively, and then it was time to create their own, one-of-a-kind masterpieces.

They loved knowing how to mix colors to make brown and black, and many were quite pleased with their finished paintings. I'd provided the paint palettes filled with primary and secondary colors, as well as the paper and brushes. It was obvious that their imaginations were going strong as they painted.

After painting, the students watched the huge SMART BOARD. (This was the first time I had seen a Smart Board.) Brant's teacher brought up my blog on her computer then the images were enlarged on the Smart Board for the whole class to see.

They enjoyed looking at my paintings on my blog and asked questions about making art. One question, "What is the hardest thing you've ever painted?" was difficult to answer. I explained that for me it was hardest to paint faces that look exactly like the person I am painting. Later I realized that the hardest painting to do was the one of all four of our grandchildren reading a book together. Click here to see that painting.

Yesterday, Brant brought home a huge stack of well composed THANK YOU letters from his class. Several third graders wrote that they would draw and paint a lot now, and many students suggested that I should keep on painting for all my life. I'm going to take that advice for sure. They were so appreciative, and when I get back home, the letters will be displayed in my studio for artists there to enjoy, too.

Thank you, Mrs. Council, for letting me teach about watercolor to your inspiring students. You have so many very good artists in your room!

Tomorrow three First Grade rooms will be learning more about watercolor. What a busy week!

FINISHED GRATE PAINTING

2010-03-18T16:55:00.007-04:00

This is my third GRATE painting. The first one, done nearly 10 years ago, was about 5 x 7 inches, the next 20 x 26 inches, with this one being 26 by 40 inches. It's been a while since I've had so much fun while painting a picture.

The whole process, from dodging traffic while taking photos of the man hole covers and grates - to the preparation and design - to the actual wonderful painting time, has been both challenging and exciting to do. Traffic actually stopped a couple of times on that cold rainy Sunday afternoon while I stood in the center turn lane taking photos of some really great grates. The cars could have gone around us, but the drivers were so polite and careful to wait for me. At another location, a man circled around to ask if we needed help. When we told him we were taking pictures for art, he moved on. Crazy artists! Thanks, Betsy, for driving, for stopping, for joining in on the fun.

Grates have fascinated me since childhood, when I was afraid to walk on them. I love the lines and edges, the lettering, the strength they have, and especially the patterns and textures that the paint and rust make. Some are really works of art in themselves. Now anywhere there's been a neat one underfoot, a photo is a must. In my studio you can find quite a photo collection of amazing grates.

One of my self imposed challenges for this painting was to create a design with circular shapes that allowed eye movement from shape to shape. Squares, equilateral triangles, and circles are predictable shapes that usually capture the viewer's eye, to the point of stopping eye movement in the painting completely. Using both value changes and color contrasts helped to create a flow throughout the painting.

The second challenge was to paint a more curvaceous painting. When painting, I always seem to prefer straight edges over curves, so doing the reverse could help me stretch a little. Somehow the challenges helped me stay directed.

I'm super pleased with the results. Sounds like a 'pat on the back,' but it's not. It just makes me very happy with how the painting turned out, and I really enjoy looking at it. It's almost as if it appeared on the paper magically, and I had little to do with it. (That's not true, of course, since there are more than 50 hours of work (play) in its actual creation.) Check the previous post on this blog for the work in progress of this grate painting. You'll see that several changes were made from that post to this finished piece.

Don't you LOVE textures? They are so incredibly inspiring and tantalizing. Artists HAVE to paint them, don't we? Since this is Fluid Acrylics on YUPO, creating amazing textures was just way too much fun. At first, my focus was on developing a good composition, then the textures were a blast to add after that was worked out.

It's been said that texture is the 'icing on the cake.' If the painting's a good one, people will want to get closer, then be surprised by the textures and details. If the painting has a weak composition, they may pass by it too quickly, and even the most wonderful textures in the world won't make them stop and look.

I really hated for this painting to be done. And the title is still undecided. GRATE JUNK - GRATE EXPECTATIONS - ROAD TRIP - UNDERFOOT - AMAZING GRATES - ETERNALLY GRATE FULL - TREAD ON ME - HITTING THE PAVEMENT...............

Here are photos of my other two grate paintings. The 'close up' grate is Watercolor on YUPO, and the Italian Grates are Fluid Acrylics on YUPO, completed about two years ago. Now for the next one!!!!!!!

GRATE ADVENTURE

2010-03-16T16:59:00.001-04:00

This post is the beginning of the last three weeks' adventure in painting and shows the progress of my painting process for this GRATE painting. So many times I've said that planning takes almost 75% of the time I spend on a picture. I thought that would be true this time, too, since it took over 12 hours to take the pix and develop the overall plan. But the painting time also took MUCH longer before this one was done.

After taking photos of my subject, I cut them up and montaged them onto a board to get an idea of the effectiveness of the future pattern of lights and darks. No matter how unique or fascinating a subject is, unless the light and dark values make an eye capturing pattern, it's unlikely the viewer will want to walk up to the painting. The first black and white photo of the above montage shows a weak pattern, so adjustments were made with pen and ink and a white marker - see the second black and white. Some shapes were moved slightly and some eliminated.

Next the drawing was transferred with a regular Derwent watercolor pencil onto a full sheet of heavy weight YUPO paper, and gray Pebeo miskit was painted into a few important white shapes. Then I liberally applied a colorful wash over the whole paper, as seen here, using FLUID ACRYLICS like regular watercolors. Color choices were determined by the future colors in the painting but applied in a very random manner. No attempt was made to 'color' in the lines. Creating accidental textures and wonderful color nuances seemed most important to me at this point.

Once the basic wash dried, I attempted to define specific shapes as seen in the progression of the next three photos. The last photo here indicates the painting less than half finished. There's more to come in the next post which will show the final GRATE painting.

This photo shows the fancier grate redone. In the photo above, it has a tired, overworked look, so all of the paint had to be removed, (YEAH for YUPO) then the drawing redrawn before the grate was repainted.

Thinking of a title has been fun because of the possibilities of interchanging GRATE and GREAT. Initially it was to be titled, "OVERLOOKED & UNDERFOOT." What are your suggestions?

CELEBRATE

2010-03-10T00:43:00.001-05:00

This week has brought a wonderful change of weather. CELEBRATE! Leaves of flowers are finally popping up, and hope is in the air for winter to be about over.

These harbingers of spring were painted several years ago as a class demo. The whole paper was wet before the paint was loosely and liberally applied, then the little catkin shapes of the pussy willow were lifted off before the paper began to dry. A touch of pale pink was tapped into a few of the damp fuzzy shapes, at that point. Carefully adding just a bit of popcorn salt to some of the tips of the light shapes added a different texture, too.

Once the paper was dry, the stems and calyxes were added. One edge of the stems was lifted to give a sense of dimension. Makes a nice card to send to friends. 'Happy Spring' to all blogger friends north of the equator. And HAPPY BIRTHDAY to you today, Suzanne!

"HOPE FOR SPRING" Transparent Watercolor on 140# Arches, 5 x 7"

REVISIONS

2010-03-07T20:58:00.008-05:00

Yesterday my copy of Between Two Kingdoms arrived. The author, Storyteller Joe Boyd, has blogged about how many revisions he made to his book and how it felt like he was sending his child off to college once it was finished. Probably many artists from many genre are this way about their creative work. I certainly am with specific paintings and really regret with having parted with a few of them.

This painting from last summer went through several revisions itself. It began as a watercolor batik on rice paper but is now a mixed media painting on rice paper, mounted on a wrapped canvas. It, along with a couple of other paintings, left home this week for an art show that opens this Friday in Oakley at The Red Tree Gallery, east of downtown Cincinnati.

Some may prefer the original look of the painting - see first draft posted below - but it's long gone - now covered with more watercolor, fluid acrylics, caran d'ache crayons, and some ink. The original dark border was so inhibiting, and the pattern of lights and darks in the original was too weak to capture the eye. The arch on the right appeared too dominant, and the beautiful stone wall by the steps seemed like a fussy soldier, nearly forbidding entrance up the steps.

Those were my thoughts when I began to play with the adjustments. It also seemed to need something personal in it, too, something alive other than plants. Now there's a fairly obscure woman looking out of one of the windows. Putting someone walking up the steps seemed like the obvious thing to do and too predictable, too. A cat might have been nice somewhere perched on a step???

Sacrifices of some of the good parts of a work of art are often necessary to make the whole piece pull together. That's what happened here. No longer is this so obviously a watercolor batik, but hopefully, the painting is stronger. While I totally loved the glow in the original,- shown here to the left with the dark border - the impact of the revised painting above tells the story so much better of the ancient buildings and passages in a charming village on Lake Como.

If you are interested in seeing the original with its initial revisions done this past July click HERE. Have a great week!

"COMO COUNTRY" Transparent Watercolor and Hot Wax on Kinwashi, with Sumi Ink, Fluid Acrylics, Caran d'Ache Crayons, mounted on Wrapped Canvas 18 x 24"

CALLING IT QUITS

2010-03-06T09:45:00.006-05:00

We win some and we loose some, but when working on YUPO, there are more options to try before we have to call it "Quits." This first photo shows the results of my demo this past Wednesday for the Greater Cincinnati Watercolor Society.

My focus was to explain the importance of patterns of darks and lights as well as demonstrate many of the possibilities of applying Fluid Acrylic paint to YUPO. We all had a good time, and a dozen or so stayed after the demo for a two hour mini workshop to experiment with using the Fluid Acrylics on the YUPO.

The next morning, with brush in hand, as well as a squeegee, I worked on the demo painting. At one point, it seemed like a good idea to switch the painting to a fall foliage atmosphere, as you can see here in the second photo. (The 'cool' strip on the right hand side was mostly warm but photographed cooler for some reason.)

Adding the distant tress caused the painting to look way overworked and much too haphazard and busy. They were added to help balance the busy-ness of the foreground grasses. Bad idea. And the colors look too much like the 'avocado' olive greens and 'harvest gold' oranges of the late 60's.

Alcohol to the rescue! No, not to drink, but to remove the mess on the YUPO paper. Again, the bluish cast is not accurate, but it's now very white from one side to the other where the paint was lifted.

Working on YUPO offers SO MANY options when working with the Fluid Acrylics. Mistakes can easily be corrected, lifted, covered, etc. The textures and edges that result when lifting the paint with alcohol lend a wonderful surprise to the surface too.

This is where the painting is now...but maybe it'll change again. The colors are still warm dominance, as planned, but the season seems more springlike. Possibly some of the grasses could have purple or white Japanese iris blooms atop them in hopes of adding more to the springtime atmosphere???

The journey to create is so much fun, so fulfilling and exciting, that even when the results aren't nearly as special as expected, it's still all totally worth it. Some paintings, maybe this one, need to be in the "CALLING IT QUITS" drawer, but they serve as experience for the next possible masterpiece.....hopefully:-)

"SPRINGTIME CHANGES THINGS" Fluid Acrylics and Caran d'Ache Crayons on Medium Weight YUPO 26 x 20"

SKETCHED AND READY TO PAINT

2010-03-02T23:00:00.001-05:00

Tomorrow morning brings me the special opportunity of painting a demo for the Greater Cincinnati Watercolor Society. I'll be presenting many of the possibilities of how to create watercolor-looking paintings using Fluid Acrylics on Yupo.

This 20x26" sketch on medium weight YUPO has nearly turned into a very large value study but shows my subject matter for the morning. The drawing and values have been done with a regular DERWENT watercolor pencil to help the artists see how the painting's pattern will be established with lights, mediums, and darks.

The pencil was a light gray blue color (though the color didn't photograph right,) and my intent was to show 4 to 5 values throughout the painting, using the w/c pencil. All I'll have to do is fill in the appropriate areas with colors of the right values with fluid acrylics. The watercolor pencil will almost completely dissolve when brushed over twice with paint, but if some remains, it could add textural interest to the painting. We'll see...

In the afternoon after critiques, everyone who stays will be experimenting with the fluid acrylics on YUPO using lots of fun tools. YUPO and fluid acrylics are presently my favorites for creating paintings.

There are two large 26x40" YUPO/Fluid Acrylic paintings in progress in my studio right now, which is unusual for me. Normally I must finish one painting before ever starting another. However, for some reason (unknown to me,) I have 9 different paintings, all works in progress, laying around in the studio. How did that happen? It actually seems like a lot of fun to have so many possibilities to choose from each day. And it's sure keeping me busy and, somehow, staying focused hasn't been a bit of a problem!

Sunday while I was painting, we enjoyed the treat of seeing some wonderful feathered visitors up close. Betsy, Marianne, and I saw not just one, but THREE pileated woodpeckers outside the studio on or perched near the suet feeders at the same time. Incredible for such a shy bird! They are marked so beautifully, and they are SO big. It looked like Mama. Papa, and Baby... though baby was nearly as big as Mama. Wish everyone could have seen them.

Watch for the finished painting soon, along with the other nine eventually, I hope.

ANOTHER TWENTY MINUTES

2010-02-28T23:53:00.002-05:00

Here's another '20 minute' challenge painting, showing the finished painting, along with the actual scene in front of me, as well as how my painting area was set up. The apple by my painting supplies is my timer. Before Setting the timer for 20 minutes, I make sure that everything is ready to go and that I am focused and intent on the subject at hand.

The paper was a 5x7" piece of Strathmore Aquarius II that had previously been 'textured' using another process. The existing textures seemed to lend themselves to a snowy scene, but there was no pure white left on the 5x7" paper. Therefore, some white watercolor paint was touched into some snowy areas to help push the contrasts of values a bit. Using it in several small places helped it look like it was meant to be and not just a correction.

My inspiration was the effect of warm golden brown leaves hanging on the oak tree, surrounded by the cold of a February winter day. After finishing it, my thoughts were that just the tree and a couple of birds would have made a much more interesting painting. It's such a challenge to leave out what's not important. Seems like whatever we see, we often feel the need to put in the painting. A wise person said --- don't let what you see dictate what you paint! Great advice.

SLICK

2010-02-24T17:54:00.003-05:00

In 'pre-YUPO' days, the unique surfaces available to paint on were either gessoed watercolor paper or watercolor paper coated with gloss medium. Aquacanvas, Aquaboard, and Clayboard for Watercolor hadn't arrived yet, and YUPO, then called Kimdura paper, was just beginning to emerge in the art world as a surface to explore.

This watercolor painting was created over layers of gloss medium. First, the polymer gloss medium was applied in two or three coats to create a slick, smooth finish, and each coat had to dry before the next one was applied.

The very week that I painted this picture was the same week someone handed me a small sheet of YUPO, back in 1997. It took two years for me to find my way on that slick YUPO surface, even more slick than the gloss medium surface. I nearly hated the crazy things that happened with the paint on YUPO then, but I refused to give up. Finally, a few breakthroughs encouraged me to keep painting on the YUPO. How I love it now! The possibilities are limitless of what can be created on this incredible surface.

Next Wednesday, I'll be giving a YUPO demo at the Greater Cincinnati Watercolor Society meeting in Mt. Adams. We'll also have a class afterwards so that artists can further explore how to handle this surface. This time the demo will be with Fluid Acrylics, applied like watercolor. Hope to see you there if you live in the area.

Here's the painting reversed, to make a point of how our eye normally prefers to enter a picture from the left. Here the waterfalls is, in our minds, falling down (into the lower left hand corner,) and it seems that it's hard to go up against the flow to enter the painting at the lower left. What do you think? Is there better eye movement throughout the painting with the falls in the lower left or the lower right?

"OREGON" Transparent Watercolor on 140# Hot Pressed Arches precoated with Gloss Medium, 30 x 22"

WISHES

2010-02-19T10:00:00.003-05:00

All of us here in the Ohio River Valley have a zillion photos now of our record snowfalls. One snowfall was beautiful, the second one was gorgeous, the third was enough but they kept falling, almost daily. This lovely hula snow honey greeted all the artists yesterday who made it to classes. It's wishful thinking that it could be warm enough to wear flip flops.

It's supposed to snow Saturday so I'm heading north, out of here. There's a Watercolor Society of Indiana meeting on Sunday in Indianapolis with artist Rena Bouwer painting to live music provided by guitarist Joe Peters. Before that, I get to do some serious 'Grandmothering.' I'm packing lots of paint and paper for them to use up when I'm at their house.

Yesterday Dawn let me know how wonderful the weather is in her neck of the woods --- in the mountains. SIXTY DEGREES!!! Makes me think about moving, but I do love it here.

Have a great weekend, and I promise - no more snow pictures. Thinking spring:-) By the way, the hula snow honey has a REAL belly BUTTON, but it didn't show up in the photo since it was white, too.

HAPPY DAY!

2010-02-18T09:19:00.001-05:00

Finally, a couple days without snowfall. We're happy, all of us, even our blanketed deer seen outside the studio walkway. She was waiting and wondering where all the artists are. They've returned to paint. YEAH!

Two nights ago after my honey cleaned everything off again, it snowed again....of course. We should be used to it by now but most of us are whining.

He really does enjoy that John Deere snowblower, but it was a bear to clear all the snow from our up hill drive and the parking area. What were we thinking when we sold our snow plow 20 years ago? Global warming, maybe.
It's so good to paint with friends again. Class yesterday was perfect even though several in the class couldn't make it.

Some like to paint alone but I'm definitely a paint-with-people-person most of the time, unless I'm getting a painting ready. When I'm planning, I need solitude and quiet. When I'm painting, I so enjoy the creative energy of other artists. We're all different. How about you?

TWENTY

2010-02-17T02:28:00.013-05:00

Here's the latest of my twenty minute paintings. The inspiration comes from all the snow we've had - a record for sure. This black glove has seen it's share of digging out snow, and painting it was pretty challenging, too.
While looking for paper to paint on, I came across some 'textured' papers I'd created several years ago at a workshop with Peggy Brown. Twenty minute paintings would be a perfect way to use these watercolor-painted textured papers. The first photo shows the finished painting, then each successive photo shows the work in progress going backwards. Also a reference photo taken after the painting was finished is at the end of this post.

This shows the painting with only 2 minutes left to paint. The edges must still be softened here and there (the darks are too harsh,) and some adjustments need to be made to the lighter areas. A few light hard edges must be softened, but keeping hard edges near the focal area is crucial.

I'm pleased with the fresh look of the glove at this point and must be be cautious now with each brush stroke. Overdoing it is so easy to do. Every stroke counts, especially with watercolor at this point. The pressure is on!

When 15 minutes showed on the timer, this was where the painting was. Almost all the main shapes are in, except for that big shadow shape yet to come and the rest of the wrist of the glove. Focusing on painting just the shapes in the correct value takes intense concentration. My inclination was to paint the fingers of the gloves instead of the shadow shapes on them. I wanted to paint the glove like I would pull it on my hand. THINK shadows and shapes.

To make the dark black of the glove, I dipped into the darkest colors in my palette, using controlled moisture, and let them mix pretty much on the paper. There's some Quinacridone Violet, Indanthrone, Ultramarine Turquoise, and Quin Burnt Orange, plus some Cobalt Blue and Cerulean. No black paint, though. The colors make the blacks seem livelier to me than black paint out of a tube.

This shows ten minutes worth of painting time. I remember wondering if I could get the painting done in another 10 minutes or not. Since I had no drawing to start with, I had to rely on painting connecting shapes. The proportions were close enough to be believable so far, at least. There's a lot to do before this will look like a glove, though. It was hard to stay focused on values and shapes, yet the folds in the glove made such neat shapes to paint - see photo below.

It sure seemed like a great idea to start with the darkest shapes, connecting those shapes as much as possible. With no pre-drawing, it was a challenge to make the correct angles and curves in the correct relationship to each other. I started with the buckle, a most fascinating shape and near what I hoped would be the focal area, at the lower left, and worked my way around the finger shapes. Using just one value at this point helped simplify the process a little. My eyes looked for the darkest darks, and that's what I focused on painting. This photo was taken exactly five minutes after the painting began.

Here is how the paper looked before the painting began. Subtle textures of muted colors would make a perfect background for the winter gloves. The paper is 80# Strathmore Aquarius II, a synthetic blend that doesn't stretch and is quite soft. Paint shapes, paint shadows, forget about the THINGS you see and paint those shapes and shadows. Then fix the edges of the shapes to be either hard, soft or lost edges. Use whatever colors you love and get the values correct. It'll work every time! Have fun:-)

< Reference used of my husband's two gloves. He's spent lots of time outside that last two days clearing snow. I really hope to have class in the morning, first class in two weeks' time, due to the weather! It's been beautiful, though.

Blogging this took about ten times longer than painting it. It's sure faster and easier to paint with a one inch flat Daniel Smith synthetic brush than use a computer and keyboard to tell about it.

DEMO

2010-02-15T09:42:00.005-05:00

Wednesday morning's class asked for a demo on pouring miskit and pouring paint to create a background for a painting. Steve Blackburn introduced this technique, winning major awards with his paintings. He also teaches workshops to help artists discover how to create this unique look.

First, a small blop of miskit was placed on the paper, and immediately the edges of that miskit blop were lightly spritzed with water to make the miskit trail out into those spritzes. The paper was turned and tilted to encourage a random miskit pattern. Eventually, the white paper had miskit trailings crawling over much of the surface. (See Steve's website for better instructions.)

When the miskit had dried, watercolor paint was poured over the paper and allowed to mingle with other colors which were added while still wet. For this one, warm colors were poured first over most of the paper first. Then when they were completely dry, cool colors were poured in chosen areas, with soft edges created with a sprayer. The whole paper was covered with paint, leaving no pure white areas anywhere. When all the paint was dry, the miskit was removed to reveal intricate patterns of whites which would play an important role in the painting.

The drawing was done next, as well as a small value study in black and white. Once the painting began, the idea was to preserve as much as the original poured areas as possible and to include some of the white patterns within the focal area. Negative shapes behind the subject must be painted in, as well as darker areas within the subject - like the shapes on the giraffes, the eyes, etc.

Check out another master at this process. Kathy Wirth has adapted this technique to her own style of painting and creates breathtaking and unique florals, pouring miskit and paint first before 'pulling' out the flowers almost magically from the poured surface.

It's a lot more difficult than it looks to create beautiful art this way. The challenge always seems to be to NOT PAINT what you are painting. That's sure confusing, but it's true. To let the beauty of those original pours be the highlight of the painting, they should remain untouched in the focal area as well as in other parts of the painting. This process is a great way to shift an artist's thinking from painting things like flowers or giraffes, into painting shapes of lights and darks.

These giraffes were finished last week during a snow storm, and today we're getting a lot more snow again. It'll be a great day to paint on YUPO and watch the birds.

"TWO FOR LUNCH" Transparent Watercolor on Hot Pressed Crescent Premium Watercolor Board, 20 x 30"

PHOTO OPS

2010-02-12T17:22:00.002-05:00

There are some great opportunities when we have a cold, snowy week, especially if the camera's handy and the bird feeder is full. Seeing a Pileated Woodpecker is a major event, and this week he flew under the upper deck to feed less than three feet from my studio door. Needless to say, I didn't get much painting done that day or the next.

In the second photo of him, there's a hungry starling quietly waiting his turn. Normally they are very obnoxious and aggressive birds, but the size of this woodpecker has him beat.

Soon a Flicker joined the troops feeding outside the door. She's been back a lot and is extremly cautious.

At first she fed at the seed feeder, but then decided the suet feeder would be a great dessert. She was willing to take on the Red Belly Woodpecker who visits us often. They flitted and danced around the suet feeder, then the flicker wanted it all to herself. She won.

The yellow under her wings was breathtaking, and the red on the Red Belly Woodpecker was more pronounced when he was in flight. Later the Red Belly returned to finish dessert. And I was happy with many, many pictures to download and work into future paintings. Oh, to capture the excitement of it all in a painting.......

MORE 20 MINUTE CHALLENGES

2010-02-10T13:10:00.004-05:00

All four of my classes have taken on the challenge of creating three small pictures a week, timing themselves to get each painting or drawing done within 20 minutes. When the timer 'dings', we have to put the brush down whether we're done or not.

This post shows my six from the past two weeks. Some turned out ok, some not, but the point is to spend time with that brush in my hand and observe, simplify, and create! We're not expecting masterpieces, but when the artists bring their 20 minute paintings to show in class, it's amazing how creative and diverse each painting is.

My six 5x7" paintings here are transparent watercolor which is freshest when it's not overworked. The 20 minute time limit certainly helps to control that desire to fuss and overwork the painting.

Painting the Christmas cactus, especially the clay pot, was fun to do. The colors were loosey juicy and allowed to flow, creating my favorite watercolor look. Quite a bit of negative painting was done around shapes, but without any drawing to follow. Challenging!

The trees were an exercise in negative painting, too, with no preliminary sketch. There's so little time to do these that I seldom draw anything for these 20 minute challenges since the drawing must be part of the time allowed for each picture.

These trees are outside the sliding doors of my studio and have been covered with lots of snow for several days. At least we didn't get as much as the east coast did, but in the past five days, we've gotten over 12" of gorgeous sparkling snow.

Squirrels scamper continually around the bird feeders outside the window, and this little fellow stood still for at least 20 seconds while I sketched him from a side view. Then he moved and never went back to that original position, so I had to adapt. The drawing time was basically wasted.

Their fluffy tails catch my eye and really make me want to paint them. I'll try another one soon with better results, I hope.

My honey was more cooperative than the squirrel and pretty much held his pose while he did some bookwork. He LOVES his new I-pod that our kids got him for Christmas... but says his nose is too big in this picture. He's listening to his Ipod with my super deluxe earphones that the kids got me for Christmas.

His glasses are painted too small, but I enjoyed this challenge. He has a gorgeous head of hair much like his Dad's. No prelim drawing here, but still a pretty decent likeness.

The next 20 minute painting shows a red sun visor that I sometimes wear outside to 'see' the values in a landscape. This was a BEAR to paint, maybe because the shapes were predictable and uninteresting or just weird. I grabbed some white gouache to put in some needed highlights and ended up going over the twenty minute mark. Bad. Doubly bad because it didn't help much to make it a better painting.

Kathy Cartwright has been doing these challenges herself for years and now has devoted a special blog for people who want to join her. Learn more about it HERE, but don't tell her I went over the 20 minutes on this visor.

The last TMC is of Ginger painting in Thursday night's class and didn't end up with quite the looseness that I'd hoped for. My focus quickly turned to getting a likeness in her face, instead of capturing the sense of an artist at work. It's tricky to keep the initial motivation for a painting at the forefront. My desire was to capture my impressions of the light and shadows. The hands, especially the one with the brush, do a better job of showing what I was after. No prelim drawing here either.

We've had no classes this week due to the snow, but it's great to kick back and take photos of all the wildlife outside the window. Watch for some photos soon of what's been showing up at the feeders here during the snow. It's been incredible.

WORKSHOP PAINTING

2010-02-04T17:09:00.003-05:00

All week long this demo from the workshop has been a challenge. A couple of days ago, my thoughts were to pitch it and start over with a better drawn sketch.

Now it's done, but the camera has it too red and orange. Yet, it is a very warm painting, just more subdued at the edges.

This will not be the last time I paint this scene. It changes enough, and changes me enough, that I MUST paint it again. Go here to see some of my previous paintings of this same street scene, done with various meduims including wax batik and collage. See if you have a favorite.

"INTIMACY" Fluid Acrylics on Heavy Weight YUPO with Caran D'Ache Crayons and Charcoal 19 x 26"

NON STOP ACTION

2010-02-01T16:50:00.002-05:00

This past weekend seemed like non-stop action during our YUPO workshop here at my studio. Every artist showed up early on Saturday morning ready to discover what they could create on that slick YUPO paper. We started with Fluid Acrylics, diluted just enough to look exactly like transparent watercolors. It was so much fun sharing the awesome possibilities and numerous techniques with the work shoppers, and then seeing their amazing results.

The studio was packed to the gills, even the 'head of the class' area was full. Still, everyone had plenty of space to explore how to handle the paint, whether it was really wet or very dry.

Sunday was another full day of painting, and we added Transparent Watercolors to the process, along with some short demos of ways to apply a few other mediums. The next YUPO workshop here will be May 1 & 2, and I'll be using only Fluid Acrylics during the demos. Because the fluid acrylics can be cumbersome to transport, especially by plane, I share my Fluid Acrylic colors as we work our way through the workshop.

The painting shown is a work in progress, done as a demo during this workshop, using fluid acrylics as well as Caran d'Ache crayons, watercolor pencil, and a bit of charcoal. It's about half finished at this point, and I can't wait to see how it turns out. I'm loving it so far.

If you're in northwestern Ohio, there will also be a three day YUPO workshop near Lima in early June, plus another five day workshop in Dallas, Texas, in late August. Each will include instruction about the advantages of using fluid acrylics on YUPO. If you're interested, check out the right hand side bar for more info about the upcoming workshops.

Happy painting!

20 MINUTES AT A TIME

2010-01-26T20:36:00.004-05:00

Pop on over to Kathy Cartwright's challenge blog to see that artists can actually paint a picture in just 20 minutes. We must set our timer for exactly 20 minutes, then begin on clean, untouched paper. It's ok to draw the pix as long as that's included in the 20 minutes allowance.

Several of my weekly classes have taken up Kathy's challenge. Comments from the artists - it is difficult to fit an extra 20 minutes into a day's activities.... but once the painting is started, it's a wonderful break from life.....finding something interesting to paint can be challenging, at least at first.

Twenty minutes of just being creative. There's no pressure that the finished (or not finished) painting or drawing will ever be hung on a wall. Accuracy is great but not required.

Some of the benefits include making time for doing something that you love to do as well as honing your observation skills. Things must be simplified into basic shapes to get a small painting down in just 20 minutes. Kathy says that this exercise will help you also see your own style and identify your own idiosyncrasies. Try it! I dare you.

These are my five paintings done over the past week, all 5x7", painted with a one inch flat brush, and most were completed in a little under 20 minutes. Some were sketched in first. The bell did ding before the paint bottles below were done, though, so they are not finished. Here's the link to Kathy's challenge blog - http://www.twentyminutechallenge.blogspot.com/

The ipod has a pure white, unpainted background that looks blue here. The hyacinth was painted because Rhonda Carpenter dared me to. And today's her birthday:-)

The fluid acrylic paints had just arrived and were the toughest to paint for some reason. My favorites to paint were the sunglasses and the electrical plugs, and I think that shows in those two paintings. Have fun painting.

WEEKENDS

2010-01-20T23:47:00.000-05:00

Any weekend that includes seeing the grand kids is a great weekend, and this will be one of those great weekends. We already have plans to camp out downstairs. Each of the 4 have their own tent all set up with a sleeping bag inside, but I have to sleep 'above ground' in a bed. WHEW!

This painting shows our youngest granddaughter resting on her mama's shoulder. It was painted several years ago in watercolor on 140#CP Fabriano Artistico and is one of my favorite portraits. My son loves it too.

Tomorrow is a full day of classes here in the studio, then I'm off to totally enjoy three 6 year olds and a 9 year old. It will be a full weekend, for sure. Happy painting, everyone!

ONLY 20 MINUTES

2010-01-18T22:32:00.004-05:00

Kathy Cartwright has an excellent art blog, and in it, she challenges readers to take her "20 minute challenge." Click here to see her blog and read more about this challenge.

Last week, two of my classes were challenged with Kathy's 20 minutes idea. Each class was instructed to paint several small paintings this week, taking only 20 minutes per painting.

We set a timer in class while they did the first one. So many were surprised at how much fun it was to 'whip up' a painting in 20 minutes. The guidelines include starting with a blank sheet of paper, stopping when the buzzer goes off, and painting something that is visible at the moment - no photos or memory painting. Most are using watercolor, but pen and ink or graphite are fine - any medium is ok to use.

Of the five I've done this week, two of them were from a view out the studio window and significantly show the dreary days we're having here in southern Indiana right now. All are small, about 5x7" and done with transparent watercolor on Arches, 140#CP. I started out with the brush in my hand and made no drawing before painting.

Tomorrow the class will bring back the week's work. I'm really looking forward to seeing their creations.

The cardinal and chickadee at my feeder were painted this afternoon, and the cardinal started out as a small tufted titmouse. It's a good thing that watercolor can be corrected to some extent. I did take the liberty to 'rearrange' the tree that the feeder hangs from, since our feeder really hangs down from the upper deck.

The tricolor beech looked very bleak and lonely in the cold, even with its few leaves still tenuously attached to the twigs. A couple of days ago, a buck rubbed his antlers on the thin bark of this beech, scraping a large gash in the bark, but the damage doesn't encircle the bark. The tree should survive.

These daffodils are blooming right now in the studio, along with an impossible-to-paint purple hyacinth. Painting any yellow flower has always been a challenge for me, but painting them in just 20 minutes
kept me from overworking them. Still, I found it impossible to capture that spring-like freshness that daffodils have.

The last two paintings were demos done in class. People have told me that I paint fast, and I must. Each painting was done before the timer went off.

Maybe I should slow down and draw the subject first next time. It would have helped the shape of the copper pot, especially the spout. Nevertheless, Kathy's challenge is a lot of fun to do and seems to stir up my wanting to paint even more!

REALLY DIFFERENT

2010-01-15T11:39:00.002-05:00

Over the holidays, one of my sister-in-laws took on the challenge of painting with watercolor, and she did very well. Hopefully, she now has her painting hanging in her office in Colorado.

This first painting shows the little demo I did to help her get started, and it's quite small, maybe 5x7." The second painting is also mine, painted more than a dozen years ago and is about 28x40." Both were painted without any visual references, but what a difference there is in the two.
The paintings were done years apart.
They are vastly different in size.
Each was painted for a totally different purpose.
The smaller one took less than 20 minutes to create.
The larger one took over 20 hours.
Different color choices are evident - lots of Indanthrone in the smaller one and too much French Ultramarine in the big one.
The looser style of painting contrasts sharply with the tight, controlled look.
The smaller painting, even though it's fairly simple, shows a brush which has had more experience.

It's not in me anymore to create a painting like the big sycamore and creek. But if I did paint it now, it would be simplified, quieter, less grassy stuff and fewer branches, with more emphasis on what was important to say, etc. If it were painted again, it would have a totally different outcome.

Here's the biggest difference. The sycamore painting was about accurate recording of all the THINGS shown in the painting, while the quick study painting was about paint application, value differences, and shape making. Recording things on paper just doesn't interest me as much anymore. Hope that makes sense.

We talked in classes this week about developing our own style of painting. Although there's a vast difference in time, size, colors, style, etc, of these two paintings, is it likely that the same artist painted both of them?

Compare painting styles to handwriting. Each of us has a distinct signature that we sign our name with. My stance is that each artist also has a distinct style within that naturally shows up in every painting. The longer we paint, the more obvious the style is. We don't have to develop it because it's already there, ready to show up when we learn how to paint.

That unique style can be camouflaged at times, like when a student artist is learning the style of a particular artist or trying new techniques. But even then, the way the brush hits the paper is different for everyone, and that unique 'painting' signature is evident.

One last comment - - - the big sycamore was painted as a graduation gift for our son, who requested a painting of a creek, snow and sycamore. He likes realism so that was the big focus when it was painted. At least that's my excuse, and I'm sticking to it! Have a great weekend.

BATIK LOOK-ALIKE PAINTINGS

2010-01-10T23:15:00.009-05:00

In the late 80's this Amish buggy was 'parked' outside a small grocery in Greentown, Indiana and looked like good painting material to me. However my desire was to paint it with more of a contemporary flair to contrast with the old fashioned look of the buggy.

Having tried one or two 'tape paintings' (that's what I called this process,) I decided that 'taping' the painting would be the way to express what I envisioned. Since this was one of my first 'tapings,' I had virtually no plan or even a drawing, just masking tape, paint and a photo to inspire me. The batik-like look that resulted from this painting hooked me for good. I knew then that all the work of tearing pieces of tape to fit each shape would be worth it. The resulting textures were so unique and exciting.

Later this buggy painting was entered in a local show and was awarded second place. The judge, Jerry Smith, WSI, asked me why I left off the horse's head. He may have wondered if it had meaningful significance. When I told him I ran out of room because I hadn't planned ahead, he grinned and shook his head.

This taped painting of a village in Italy was one of my favorite ones to do. Last week's post, also about taped paintings, has a similar painting. Once I had completed this one, I realized that zooming in on the people would make a great painting without all the buildings.

Because the watercolor paint seeps under the tape in an irregular way, wonderful and unpredictable textures result. Over the years of experimenting, I've discovered which brands of tape 'leak' the best - or worst. Still, it's always a surprise when all the painting part is completed and the masking tape has to be removed. Often adjustments must be made once the painting is revealed.

My previous blog last week included a taped painting of this same shuttered window and quilt. Check out the difference in colors changes and how that affects the mood of each painting.

It's impossible to 'copy' a taped picture because of the way the masking tape tears and the way the paint seeps under it. What a surprise it is to remove the many pieces of tape to find glorious color combinations, too.

This painting was an experiment done just for fun, with no plan. It's called "Throwing in the Towel," and is quite small, only about 8 x11" Only four layers of tape were used, as compared with my normal six or seven layers. There's also a little stamping added in the whitest areas.

The previous post also had a painting of this very same window with tulips under the window. The three taped paintings shown on this post each have their own 'flavor.'

Recently, someone posted an opinion about artists who repeat the same paintings. They believed that repeating a painting was "self plagiarism". Tell that to Monet with his haystacks!

If I love a photo I've taken, if I'm inspired by it time and again, I WILL paint it more than once... because it's still brewing inside of me ....don't know how else to explain it. Some things just never stop intriguing me, and I must paint them again and again, using different approaches each time.

The vast array of textures in Italy are perfect for this taping technique. These old buildings began as a taped painting on YUPO using FLUID ACRYLICS, applied with a watercolor approach to be transparent.

This was the first taped painting I'd tried on YUPO. Regular watercolor lifts off of YUPO, so it wouldn't work for the taping process.

Thank goodness for the flexibility of Fluid Acrylics. Only three layers were taped on this, then the rest of the work was done with a brush.

Both gouache and transparent watercolor were used for this taped painting, which was begun with absolutely no plan. Once the tape was removed, after seven layers of taping and painting, (see below)the painting needed a lot more definition. 'Finding' a direction for the painting was a challenge until Barb mentioned that she could imagine a woman with a fancy hat on, something like a Kentucky Derby hat.

The next photo shows how the painting looked after the tape was removed. The last photo shows the work in progress as I slowly 'found' her with her hat in all the tape design. Almost all my taped paintings begin with a specific plan, but this one didn't. It was lot of fun to discover what the painting could be.

There's a workshop scheduled in April this year in Indianapolis where I'll be teaching this unique process. You can check out the 'batik-look-alike' taping workshop on my side bar to find out all the details. Hope to see you there.

BATIK LOOK - ALMOST BATIK!

2010-01-03T20:13:00.008-05:00

These paintings on today's post have been created with watercolor in an unusual way and tend to have a batik-like look. The process is one I developed in the mid 90's using masking tape. The masking tape is torn or cut and then pressed onto areas that are not to be painted. Layers upon layers are added along the way throughout the painting process.

Once the painting's completed, it's actually totally covered with many bits of masking tape. Then the tape is carefully removed to reveal the painting underneath. I love the surprise element involved in this kind of process, and I never know for sure until the very end if the painting is working or not.
A straight edge razor blade was used to tear and shape many of the the tape pieces for this tape technique painting of an old window in historic New Hope, Pennsylvania.

This April, the Watercolor Society of Indiana is sponsoring a 4 day workshop in Indianapolis, Indiana, where I'll be teaching this unique watercolor process. Check out the side bar for more info or click HERE.

This archway/window painting combines both watercolor and gouache, an opaque watercolor, along with the taping technique. It's obvious that correct perspective wasn't a goal. Capturing the essence of the locale was far more important in this instance.

This is a detail of a tape painting that also has gouache on it. It began as an abstract and slowly evolved to be a little old lady watching her friend knit....or is that a paint brush? Only select areas of the taping process remain, since many were covered over as the painting developed. This shows only a detailed area of a much bigger painting and is my favorite part of the painting.

Double click on the any of the paintings to see the taping effects or batik look better.

This was a two day painting - two FULL intense days! And it was worth it because this painting took awards, the best being a Gold Medal at an Ohio Watercolor Society juried Show.
This scene, taken from a photo I took years ago at Sauder's Village in northern Ohio, is one I've painted several times, with adaptations each time. Anything with strong contrasts lends itself to being painted with the taping technique.

These Masai women show such power and strength, and the patterns in their beautiful handmade clothing made me want to use the taping technique to paint them. Creating their face details with tape certainly presented new challenges. This painting now 'lives' in Germany with my sister-in-law, Chris, and my nephew, Jonathan, took the original reference photo. Double click on the photo to see the taping effects better.

This scene in northern Italy also won a nice award at one of the annual Watercolor Society of Indiana's juried shows. The tape technique is a natural for creating textures to look like old stone work.

Here is another New Hope, Pennsylvania, window, and the flowers were added via artistic license. This is another scene that intrigues me so much that I've painted it several times in different ways.

As you can see, buildings easily lend themselves to this taping process, partially due to the straight sides of buildings and masking tape. This Italian village had many, many sets of ancient stone steps. The color isn't very accurate in this photo...too orangee and pale. Sorry about that.

This is one of my first taping paintings and is still one of my favorites. An architect bought it years ago, and since then, I've painted the same scene several different ways, but never with the same luminosity that this one had. This is one of just a few paintings that I wish I still owned.

The title of this painting almost caused it to be ignored by a judge who was tired of seeing so many watercolor flowers. "ORANGE BLOSSOM TIME" made him smile when he finally saw the painting, and he gave it Best of Show back in the 90's!

This van is the one I drove back and forth to my hometown in the late '90's to teach classes two days a week...putting over 12,000 miles on that van in one year alone! I did see LOTS of orange construction barrels, for sure.

John Deere tractors are usually bright green, unless they are rusted like this old boy. The taping in the sky area let some paint sneak under to look a little like cobwebs.

Every fall at our lake, people would pull their boats ashore. One drab day, I caught this scene and decided to make a tape painting of it. Although it's monochromatic, I still find it fascinating to explore.

New Hope, PA, again and another window, too. That town is packed with history as well as great painting material. I think I remember reading that George Washington even slept there!

Sturbridge Village in Massachusetts offers so much to see and paint. It's a wonderfully educational place to visit too. My sister and I were there on a very cold winter day when this shot was snapped. It's also one of the earlier taping pictures when I was first figuring out how to do what I wanted to do with the tape, so a lot of regular brushwork was done in this one.

This is one of my very first taping paintings, and it's won two Best of Shows! The photo also came from Sauder's Village in northwestern Ohio.

This painting had lots of curves in the tree and house, so miskit was used along with tape to preserve areas that didn't need to be painted again. Miskit is easier to curve than tape. This old Italian home is atop a hill with a great view of the Ohio River.

The reflections in this back door caught my eye, so I started taping with these results. A mundane subject can sometimes become a good painting.

This old homestead was deserted. With the tape technique, the painting
became more about the feeling of the house than of an accurate rendition of the place.

This is a partially taped painting. The sky and background were painted with pale washes before the taping began, then avoided as the painting progressed. Quite a bit of regular brushwork was done, with the taping being a secondary part of the painting.

This very, very early tape painting was an adventure that didn't work out as well as most of the others. There's a lack of unity in the painting due to the jumble of techniques used. Still, experimenting is a great way to learn - and if there's success, then that's a bonus! The orange reflections on the water were gorgeous, though.

Thanks so much for 'grazing' through this collection of Tape/BATIK LOOK Paintings. One of these days, I'll try to post a taping in progress to show you just strange it looks before the tape's removed. Be sure to checkout the WSI workshop on the sidebar if you're interested in learning hands on how to create watercolors or fluid acrylics with this technique.

CHRISTMAS 2009

2009-12-24T16:52:00.004-05:00

My Mother-in-Law, who turned 90 in September, is a fantastic and diverse woman who has lived through many, many changes throughout her lifetime. She tells about her childhood Christmases and the memories of her dad always waiting until Christmas eve to cut down an evergreen. None of the kids would see the decorated tree until Christmas morning, and she recalls that each holiday the tree was tied to the ceiling fan so that the cats wouldn't knock it over!

This year our Daughter-in-Law is making a very special dinner for Grandma GeeGee (my Mother-in-Law) the day after Christmas when we'll all gather to celebrate. My husband has the car packed with gifts to take, but the best part will be being with the whole family.

This painting was done as a commission almost two decades ago and certainly has the sentimental overtones for this time of year. May your holidays be blessed with peace, joy, and love. See you after the new year.....

READY TO WRAP

2009-12-22T21:41:00.008-05:00

Finally, my younger brother and sister-in-law's Christmas present is ready to wrap. What fun it's been to paint eleven bottles of wine in full color, actually twelve if you count the smidgen of one on the lower right. For that last whole bottle on the right, step by step detailed photos are posted below. What follows is an attempt to describe the process.

This first smaller photo shows the bottle with gray miskit preserving the whiter shapes/reflections on the bottle. The bottles seen to the right, with Kroger's prices below them, are my photo reference, with the middle bottle being the one to focus on for this drawing.

You can see a pale warm wash that was previously applied over the whole paper after the miskit was in place. Notice the pencil detail of the shapes, based on the light, medium, and dark value shapes of the surface of the bottle.

This photo shows the medium light to medium values painted in the appropriate shapes. Using lifting pigments like cobalts as well as earth pigments makes blending easier to do later. Cobalt Violet Deep along with Transparent Pyrrol Orange and Lunar Earth were the main colors for these light to medium value shapes.

The neck of the bottle shows the dark values just painted but not yet blended in. All the edges are crisp and sharp at this point and won't be softened or blended until the entire connected dark area is painted. Even if the paint dries, it'll be easy enough to blend colors that are this dark into those medium shapes that were previously painted.

This shows the pattern of darks from the neck of the bottle down to the label, still with mostly hard edges. Check the photo reference right next to the bottle to 'see' why shapes were painted as they are. Though the painting's not completely accurate, the shapes are close enough to work.

Colors used to create the darks include puddles of Quinacridone Burnt Orange, Transparent Pyrrol Orange, Quin Magenta, Indanthrone, and Ultramarine Turquoise, all from Daniel Smith in Seattle. The mixture is not just one puddle, but several that may be a bit bluer on one edge or more magenta on another edge. (Is bluer a word?)

I mix the colors together very little in the palette, preferring that most of the mixing happens as they meet on the paper surface. Also, my brush is not rinsed between colors to avoid lightening the puddles with water.

As soon as I took this photo, I could see in the small screen on my camera that the darks were way too light in many areas. At this point, most of the shapes have been blended, softened or left sharp, according to what's observed in the photo reference.

The miskit is still on the paper but will be removed soon to reveal whites and lights. This is when I often think the painting is lost. Nothing has any snap, and it looks pretty messy.

Although the wine bottle was brownish, I choose to use several colors to create that dark brown. Certainly one brown color could have been used and lightened and darkened as needed. But by using several colors mingled together, a bit more excitement is created in the painting than if the bottle had been only one brown.

More darks have been added now to help give the bottle a lot more dimension. Often it's the lack of strong darks that cause paintings with reflections to lack any luster. Observation of where those darks are located and just how dark they are compared to other shapes is critical, as is whether they have sharp, soft or lost edges.

It's been said that the most important tool that any artist can have is eyes to see. Being able to observe and notice shapes and values and edges makes painting glass and reflective surfaces a whole lot easier. It's almost like putting a puzzle together, piece by piece. Just making each specific shape have the correct value with the correct edges will get the job done for sure.

Finally the miskit's off. It's important to wait until you're sure that you won't have to paint in that area again, and of course, the paper must be completely dry before the miskit is removed. Miskit is about like using WhiteOut. It leaves a sharp, defined, non blended edge that must be dealt with.

For this painting, the miskit shapes were softened with a thirsty, but damp, flat brush, and color was lifted from those edges into part of the white shape. Care was taken to keep paint off of the center of the shapes. Adding even a little bit darker values to those whites would lessen the impact of the dimension of the bottle. A few spots needed to be even softer, so I used a stiff scrubber brush along with a drop of clean water to gently loosen or ''erase'' the paint where necessary. Blotting each spot with a white tissue took care of the excess water and loosened paint - see next photo.

Finished. After stepping away from the painting and seeing it reversed in my overhead mirror, I decided that the whites on this particular bottle were too white. A gentle swoosh of clean water over the whites took care of the starkness of those whites.

White is the first thing we see, especially on watercolor paper, so the whites need to be in important areas. These whites on this particular bottle were close to the edge of the paper and pulled the eye almost out of the picture. Until they were toned down with mostly clear water, they were strong enough to rob the focal area. The three thin, gentle curved lines were lifted with a thirsty flat brush, since I goofed and painted over them earlier.

Reflections are not hard to do - as long as you use your observation skills. This whole painting was painted with my favorite 1" flat brush, except for when I applied the miskit. Careful application of miskit is crucial so that the white shapes have fluid edges, not scratchy ones. I use a rigger 00 size and rinse it in Goof Off when I'm done. After the Goof Off dissolves the miskit, the brush is rinsed in Dawn Liquid Detergent then rinsed in hot water.

Now to get the gifts wrapped and ready to go........ The title of the painting is Kevin's Domain, and it's bigger than the last bottle painting - about 20 x 14", on 140# Arches cold pressed. I think he and Gail will love it!

REFLECTIONS ON BOTTLES

2009-12-18T12:19:00.005-05:00

Painting reflections is a lot like doing a jigsaw puzzle. The picture finally comes together when all the pieces are in the right places. Each shape must be the correct value with the appropriate edges around it, and VIOLA! Reflections emerge.

This wine bottle is nearly complete and the next one is started. An overall wash of mostly warm colors was painted on wet paper after all the white shapes were miskited. My miskit is gray - Pebeo Drawing Gum, my favorite miskit because -
* it flows on easily
* it's visible once it's on the paper so I can see where I've already applied it
* the jar has a concave lid to pour a small quantity of miskit into so that the bottle can be closed up quickly, preventing it from going bad too soon
The next photo shows another wine bottle only partially done. Two Sundays ago before I had surgery, I was sneaking around our grocery store trying to get good pictures of wine bottles. I should've asked permission, I suppose, but 'Thank You, Krogers,' anyway.

Now for an afternoon of painting... and watching the wildlife on the deck...

BACK HOME AGAIN IN INDIANA

2009-12-12T09:30:00.008-05:00

This 15 x 11" painting could have been painted much bigger and on YUPO. It was finished just before I had my left knee replaced two days ago. The next painting will be of wine bottles.

During my classes' Christmas parties, I usually paint demos for them as entertainment of sorts. Last week, Thursday night's class wanted to see how to paint glass, so this is what caught my eye to paint. The photo was taken a couple of summers ago at Lynne and Jamie's house on the lake and shows the wonderful shapes of their window reflections in several areas on the bottles.

Painting glass is really so very easy. It's all about the shapes and value changes on the surface of the glass container. Creating the right edge with the correct value on each shape on the glass will get you there every time. It's almost like paint by number. The hard part is to NOT paint the glass bottles, but to just paint the shapes on them, with the right edges, the right values. You never really paint the bottle, only the shapes on it. Hope that makes some kind of sense:-)

Update: Surgery went incredibly well, and we were back home 35 hours later. This morning while making my way over to the computer with coffee in hand, I dragged the walker with my other hand. I guess I need the walker in order to be safe... and I do keep using it, but I can amazingly walk without it already. The hard part is taking it slow and easy. This surgery/recovery is just incredible, and I'm so very thankful for God's blessing of not having any pain today and recovering this fast. Dr. Michael Swank is an awesome surgeon, who warned me repeatedly that this total knee replacement would not go as well as my the one in August 'cause my body wasn't really totally ready for another surgery. But it's going even better! Thank you so much, God, and thank you, Dr. Swank.

"KASEY'S CACHE" Transparent Watercolor on 140# Fabriano Artistico 15 x 11" COLLECTED