ADJUSTMENTS

Yesterday's painting has been adjusted slightly here and there, and I'm calling it finished now.
There's been another stem added (thanks for your helpful comments) by lifting the top edge of color off of it before adding Rich Green Gold and Transparent Pyrrol Orange to the bottom edge. The stem shows darker on top than it actually is since the top of the stem is lighter than the background. Also, the inside of the big flower over to the right was darkened some as well as softened where the seeds meet the petals.

The left hand flower has adjustments also so I don't have to crop it off. And the distracting petals on the top right of the big flower have been quieted way down, as have some of the whites on the edges of the pokey green things above that flower. How's that for technical terms of a flower?!? You'd never know I spent 20 some years working in a garden center, would you?

Now on to the next painting, which won't be a pour. But first, I have an art reception to go to tomorrow at Sharon Woods in Cincinnati, Ohio. It's from 1 to 4 - hope you can make it.

"SASSY SISTERS" Transparent Watercolor on 140#CP Arches 22 x 17" COLLECTED

POUR IT ON

Yesterday's morning class began the time consuming technique of pouring a painting, using miskit to preserve the correct shapes between each layer of pouring. This first photo shows the final painting which has been adjusted considerably after all the pouring was done and the miskit removed.

The second photo shows the painting part way through the pouring process, with about 3 layers of miskit and 3 pours of paint. For the first 3 pours, I used a cool primary triad of Quinacridone Magenta, Ultramarine Turquoise, and Hansa Yellow and poured them somewhat randomly onto the wet paper surface.

The third photo shows all the pouring completed with the miskit ready to remove. I'd added Transparent Pyrrol Orange and a little Cerulean Blue to the last 2 pours, and dropped some extra dark values of Quin Magenta and Ultramarine Turquoise into the center of the sunflowers while the area was wet. Both splattering paint and adding popcorn salt helped create subtle textures in a few areas, too.

This next photo shows the painting as it looked after all the miskit was removed. It was easy to see that some major corrections had to be made. The lower left flower was misformed badly (cropping may help,) and the lower right one needed less value changes from the darks to the lights (adding color to the whites would help there.)

The inside of the main flower needed to pop a whole lot more, and the warmth in the background was stifling and dull. I wished then that I had known to pour all cool colors for that last pour. Too late now - and I wasn't going to re-miskit the whole painting. Also, I felt the flowers needed a suggestion of a stem or two.

This photo shows some of the corrections. The center of the big flower still needs more pop, and the background simply must be cooled down, (which I did NOT want to do.) But it was robbing the sunflowers of impact because it was too warm. Cooling it down with Indanthrone, if painted on in a juicy - poured-like manner, would help give some relief and rest for the eye from all the heat.

Leaving some of the background showing as the stem for the lower right flower would help to anchor the flowers - see the top finished photo. Does it need another stem from the top flower to angle off to the left?

The reference photo above seemed better flipped sideways. Minor adjustments were made for better positioning, etc. before the drawing was completed. Though I seldom paint flowers anymore, this was a good challenge.

"SASSY SISTERS" Transparent Watercolor on 140#CP Arches 20 x 17" COLLECTED

YUPO PAINTINGS from OUR WORKSHOP

Some of the paintings from last month's YUPO workshop are here today! When theses artists brought their work in to share with the weekly classes, they gave me permission to take photos of them and share them with you on this blog.

The Canyon Walls are by Karen Pettit. The sky in the painting is more intense than shown here, a real Colorado BLUE sky, very striking with the oranges of the canyon. Karen's also painted a similar scene on Arches that you can see hanging at our art show in Sharon Woods Visitors Centre Gallery this week in Cincinnati, Ohio.

The next five paintings have been created by Jude Creager, though only two were done in the workshop. When she got home from the workshop, Jude says that she couldn't put her brush down. She LOVES YUPO! Painting 'til 3 am....??? She was. Several of her YUPO paintings are also in the art show this week.

Leslie Spillane's "View Out of the Window" effectively takes advantage of what paint does so well on YUPO with the way those curtains are painted. The foliage outside the window creates a fascinating pattern with the fence and flowers.

The final painting here, by Valerie Bernardino, of "Peppers" is a large painting full of the juicy effects that happen on the slick YUPO surface. This photo also is not quite as rich as the wonderfully vibrant painting.

Several at the workshop commented about how intense the colors remained even after they dried. Because the paint does not soak into YUPO like it does on our normal cotton watercolor papers, the colors seemed techno-charged!

Thank you, Leslie, Valerie, Karen, and Jude, for being willing to share these on my blog. My next workshop features children's portraits on regular watercolor paper - see side bar on the right for more info.

IMAGINE THAT

If you're within driving distance of Cincinnati, Ohio, make time this next week to stop at Sharon Woods Visitor Center in Sharon Woods Park on Lebanon Rd, just off I-275. The art show, IMAGINE THAT! in their gallery is exceptional and features recent works by the artists from my four classes. My husband and I were there yesterday, and Bob said that the quality of this particular show was very upbeat and professional, a must-see show!

In my opinion, the diversity of both technique and subject matter is only surpassed by the passion and energy in the paintings. The expertise of these artists, working mostly in watercolor, is incredible, as you will see.

Take a good look, too, at the panels of one of a kind Artist Trading Cards. On display are 45 small trading cards, each the size of a baseball card and individually hand painted by a different artist from class.

Paintings are for sale, unless marked NFS, (not for sale - meaning that the artist just can't part with it yet - and may never want to part with them either:-) Browsing the gallery, you'll discover exquisite watercolor batiks, dynamic YUPO paintings, dramatic abstracts, colorful landscapes, intriguing cityscapes, intimate still lifes, sensitive portraits, and delicate florals. Every painting is an original, conceived and created by that artist.

Show hours are 10 to 5 daily. Our MEET THE ARTISTS RECEPTION is Sunday, October 11 from 1 to 4, and we'll be closing the show at 4 pm that day. Looking forward to seeing you there.