Watercolor Mess

I went to Plymouth Massachusetts over the weekend with my family. Two days and one night. We took 151 pictures! My eleven year old son wanted to carry the camera. I think he took a photo of every inch of the Mayflower II. I also took a bunch of reference photos for future art pieces.

Normally on vacation I bring my sketchbook and at night when everyone has gone to sleep I do a bunch of sketches. This time I decided to try an abstract watercolor. I soon got nowhere fast. I didn't start with a plan or an idea. I was hoping one would come to me as I worked. No such luck. People may think abstract painting are easy, but I disagree. My hat is off to those who are good at abstract painting.

Here is my mess of an abstract.

Color Figure

I did the figure in color last night. I think it went well. I had the body done with an hour left in class. So my teachers said, go ahead and do the face. I jumped right in. I wasn't planning to do the face so I didn't sketch it well as you can tell. The head is a little too big for the body and the jaw line is also too big. At least the body came out well.

Quick Sketch

Here is a charcoal and fountain pen sketch I did early in the morning before anyone else was up. This is the view from my back porch.

inch by inch

inch by inch I am getting there. If I could change one thing I would have liked the green stems thinner. But because of the liquid mask I am left with stems this thick. Just a minor pick at this point. So far so good.

All Clear

I took the liquid mask off. Pretty easy too. Looks pretty cool like this. This photo didn't come out too good. When I am finished I will scan it in so it looks better.

Liquid Mask

I am using liquid mask for the first time. And I went with a bold approach. I didn't draw on the paper first, just straight into the mask.




After the mask dries I can slop down a background and not worry about the flowers. Here is the first slop.

Watercolor Class

We painted the figure last night. I remember doing this at least 20 years ago in a class and not being very good at it. I was excited to try it again. I wanted to do a wash in sepia. I didn't get to finish because time ran out, but I think it looks pretty good at this point. Next week I am going to try flesh tones.

Run Away

The fourth in a series of four. All done. Charcoal and pastel again.

The next series will be of flowers. A friend in Vermont took a bunch of pictures for me. I'll start in watercolor, but may stretch my artistic muscles into acrylic.

Chicken Birds #4

I know it doesn't look like much yet, but here is the beginning of the fourth and last of the chicken bird series.

Chicken Birds #3 -----Done

Here it is all done. I'm pretty happy with it. I ended up calling this one Why?

Rock Study

Just finished watercolor class number 2. Here is my study of rocks.

Chicken Birds #3 starts

I'm trying to push myself on this one. It is charcoal and pastel.

Egg and Eggplant

I took my first class last night. 6 of us total which is nice. I like my teacher, he has a similar approach to art as I do. A couple of times he said "your not making a police report, it doesn't have to be perfect. If it looks good, keep it".

First class we did wet on dry. My piece came out okay. I like the egg a lot. It looks better live than in the scan. I struggled with the eggplant to get those deep rich colors.

Chicken Birds #2 complete

I'm pretty happy with this one. I used white and black charcoal plus a red pastel. This is 17" x 22" on strathmore 500 series charcoal paper. I have a couple more chicken birds to do then on to the next project.

Still Working

I signed up for a class at the Silvermine Arts Center. It is drawing and watercolor combination. I can't wait. Look for images after class. A little more progress on the chicken birds. I see my previous picture was too dark. This one should be more like it.

Step 2

didn't have much time to work tonight. But I got a little more done.

Chicken Birds #2

When I finished Chicken Birds #1 I took a photo of it then I sprayed it with fixative. I spray it outside because of the fumes. After I sprayed the first coat I came in to post the picture on my blog. While typing I heard it raining. Oh no! My picture is out side. Only a few drops of damage, not too bad.

Here is the start of chicken birds #2.

Chicken Birds #1

All done. Came out pretty good. The red is pastel. I used strathmore 500 series charcoal paper. Total size is about 16" x 24".

Part 2

Time to stop again. With a fresh look tomorrow I will decide if I am happy with the progress. The white is a white charcoal stick.

The Chicken Birds have started

I finally got started on the chicken birds. I have put down the tones at this point. The background color is pastel dust I have collected at the bottom of my easel. At this point I like to step back and make sure I am happy with the composition and structure. So far I have spent 10 to 15 minutes on the piece. Phew...I need a break :-)