Finally

It's done. First we lost our power for a few days. Then my allergies kicked in. I take a medicine that knocks me out so I didn't get much work done at night. But I finally got it done. It is on 1/4 sheet of 140lbs Kilimanjaro paper. I used four colors of Winsor & Newton tube watercolors. Cadmium Lemon, Permanent Mauve, Viridian and Alizarin Crimson. The black is india ink.

Next up, some drawings of chicken birds I took at the Beardsley Zoo.

Candles Part 3

Third sitting done. The hard part about t he splats is getting them to land where I want them to. I have the board tilted so the paint runs down. So I stand over the board holding a paintbrush over the area where I want the paint to land. Then with a different brush I scoop up paint and add it to the brush I am holding and keep adding until the paint drips off. So far so good,no misses.

Candles Stage two

Here is the results of my second sitting. It's getting fun.

New candles

The previous candle watercolor left me feeling blah. So I am doing a new exciting one. This should be fun. I already had fun dripping some ink and watching it splat. Color next. Here is stage one.

Homeless

I have been sketching during lunch. I got these images from the wetcanvas site.

This one is conte crayon and charcoal.




This one is straight up charcoal.



And this one is black paint and charcoal. I wanted to use ink but I couldn't find any at work. I guess I brought it home.

"Fixed" Candles

I posted the Candles Five over at wetcanvas. They gave me some helpful hints so I fixed this piece. Enjoy the new and improved painting.

Candles Five

Finally finished. I think this took about 3 weeks, maybe more. It is hard to get back into a painting with such a big break in between. I certainly couldn't get back into this piece. But I finished it none the less. It's on a 1/4 sheet of Winsor & Newton 140lbs paper. I'm not that thrilled by it. I'm planning a little more exciting piece next.

Slow candle progress

I know it has been a while. I was getting together with the band this past friday so I was practicing guitar every night to get ready. After a week or so of hard work I still played a rotten guitar so now I am back devoting my time to art. I even finished off a sketch book over the weekend. The biggest problem was not having it out and available. Eve though it was only upstairs, it was enough for me not to go and get it. I left it out downstairs and ...wah-la...I started sketching. I'm in the middle of building a computer cabinet. When it is complete I'll have a permanent spot for my scanner so I will been scanning some pages from my sketch book.

Anyway. I started working on the candles again tonight. Here is the progress.

Candles

The still life thief is at it again. I wanted to do a few candle paintings so I went through the house gathering candles. My wife was right on to me. This morning she asked me if I knew where the candle in the kitchen was. But with out a pause she said, you're painting it aren't you?

Here is a photo of the set up and the first wash of colors.

Finished

Three weeks later and it's done. My wife saw me scanning it and immediately claimed it for the living room. This is 1/4 sheet Kilimanjaro paper with W&N tube paints.

Update

I know it has been a while since my last post. Work has been busy to a point of exhaustion for me. Most nights last week I just vegged out at night and have not been working on the Cow/Ram watercolor. I have worked a little bit so here is the work in progress.

Cow and Ram

I'm jumping right into my next still life. Once again the still life thief strikes. Off the tv cabinet I took the cow. And off a dresser in our office I took the ram. I keep calling it a sheep, but my daughter keeps correcting me. It's a ram!

Here they are...




and here is step one. I have to wait for the paint to completely dry for the next step.

All Done

Here it is in all it's glory. I came out pretty good I guess. I'm not that crazy about it, but they all can't be the greatest. I'm still loving watercolor and can't wait to start the next one.

RATS!!!

I was trying out this new blogger feature where it sets up a web photo album from your blog. In the album a deleted a couple of pictures and I see it deleted them here too. RATS!!!

Here is my still life so far.

Started

Finally started the watercolor last night. I have this with every painting I start and I think most artists too. Looking at a blank white paper and wondering where to start. I have gotten better about it and just kind of jump in. But watercolor is new to me so when I start painting the results dictate my direction. With oils, I could always scrape off the paint and start again. Watercolor I can't do that.

Set up

After some more feed back from the wetcanvas site, I have decided to leave the oranges alone and start a new watercolor. The still life thief was hard at work last night. My wife laughs when she sees things missing around the house. She knows right away what happened to them. Here is my new set up.

Done...for now

Finished the oranges last night. I was pretty happy with the results. I posted it over at wet canvass and had a couple of good suggestions on how to improve it. My the shadow on the back orange a little warmer and to soften the edges on the orange so it doesn't have such a cut out and paste look. I will probably give those ideas a try tonight. I'll post this version incase I ruin it tonight.

Lumpy Oranges

My wife bought a bag of oranges. Perfect fodder for a still life. So I grabbed three and started this. It is not what I had in mind before I started, but it is okay so far.

incomplete

I hate not finishing a piece that I have started, but I am doing so now. The charcoal/pastel piece was not coming out like I planned. I was working in a style that does not really work for me. So what did I expect?

I got the watercolor paper sample pack and was too excited to check out the paper. I did a color sample swatch sheet. I'm not that familiar with all my watercolors and how they mix so I thought I would give this a try. I'm done with that. Now on to a still life.

Fordham Start

Taking a break from watercolors, here is the beginning of a charcoal/pastel piece. It is on canson Mi-Teintes paper, 18" x 22". This is from a picture I took when I was visiting the Botanical Gardens which is across the street.