Evening Primrose, or - Paint the Dog Before the Fleas!

 Watercolor, 5 x 9

Now that the ATC's are all finished up, I'm back to goal-oriented painting. In other words, it's not so much about the subject, but painting regularly in order to build up a variety of techniques so that one day (hopefully!) I'll be able to paint without so much conversation in my head about how to accomplish this or that particular effect.

Course, it does help if you like your subject. I have Evening Primroses growing in lovely wild abandon around my house and I love 'em! I have a friend who considers them more of a nuisance than a thing of beauty (they're prolific), but being of the cottage garden persuasion myself, I take delight in finding masses of flowers springing up pretty much wherever they please. I'm not a neatly manicured yard/garden person- give me the cottage garden/woodland look.

Back to painting. The goals with this little painting:

1. No re-doing (remember that one from my previous posts? I'm still working on it!)
2. Keep the paint in light layers so as not to lose the white/light spaces. Easier to add paint than to take it away.
3. Think about what I'm doing so that when I put brush to paper I know the effect I'm going after. The Teresa of Old would sometimes put brush to paper and then apparently hope - usually in vain - that the paint somehow knew where it was supposed to go and how saturated/unsaturated it was supposed to appear. Guess what? It didn't. Turns out it needs a little more input from me.

But while I was focusing on these goals, I didn't pay enough attention to the drawing. And after I'm almost finished painting (that would be the time to notice glaring errors, wouldn't it?) I saw that I had forgotten a cardinal rule: Paint the dog before the fleas. In other words, get the basic structure of the drawing down - correctly! - before you start adding details.

While finishing up I noticed that: 1) the right side of the top left petal curves down to ... where? The curve of the petal should end/begin in the center of the flower from whence all petals spring instead of doing its own thing in a short curve off to the left; and, 2) the stigma and the stamens also don't grow from the center as they should. I was able to do some correcting with the stigma and stamens since the area around them is very light so I aligned them with the flower center as much as I could. The incorrect curve of the petal will have to stand as a lesson to take first things first (because I don't want to re-do - see goal #1) .... get the drawing right before getting the paints out!

But, mistakes aside, it was a delight to draw and paint and I thoroughly enjoyed my painting time :-)

ATC's.... last of the batch

Here's the last of the ATC's. Color is not quite true due to the late afternoon light when photos were taken. All these are 3.5 x 2.5.

I think there's a book called something along the lines of "Paint Small, Learn Big" and there's a lot to be said for that.

 

These mini paintings are wonderful for trying out techniques and subjects you might not be ready to tackle in a larger work. All in all, lots of fun!

Field of Lavender

Watercolor. 6 x 10

For an assignment over at The Painting Loft.

I'm learning that painting is more mental work than I ever dreamed.

I used to have this romantic notion that a "born artist" just sat down at the canvas, waved his/her magic brush, and hey presto!.... a masterpiece! I think I started revising that notion when I began to do some reading about famous artists and realized how many of them seriously studied art. If they needed to study.... well, hey... maybe there's hope after all!

It was another eye-opening revelation when I learned that there are several earlier versions of Mona Lisa under the finished one. What? Da Vinci changed his mind? Scrapped paintings? Started over? Dare I say it....made mistakes? What a relief! Permission to mess up, make mistakes, start over . . . granted!

Particularly with watercolor, I'm beginning to have some notion of how much planning goes into a painting before the brush and paints come out to play. I saw an article in the April issue of Watercolor Artist entitled "Lyrical Landscapes". I was mesmerized by the gorgeous paintings of Joyce Hicks. I loved the looseness, the juicy color, the sense of space and the seemingly effortless way in which the pictures appeared to have been painted. Then I read the accompanying article. Lots of planning. A quote from Ms. Hicks is highlighted, "Sometimes paintings look effortless, and that's because of all the effort that you go to before you actually pick up your brush to do your final piece."

There's that mental work again. Happily, it's very satisfying work. Whether the painting is a success or failure, if you painted something and learned something it was a good day!

Tara's Gerbera Daisy

Watercolor, 5 x 7

This is a painting I did sometime back but didn't get around to putting the finishing touches on it. I finally got in gear and finished it up! It's a gift to my son's fiancee, Tara - hence the title. She loves bright colors so I really went for some juicy reds and oranges on this one. Was rather fun to paint!

Still on activity restriction with the nerve/arm/neck thing (doc says nerves are slow to heal... sigh) but much better than I was. Does this mean I'm not as young as I used to be? Nah! Not me! :-)

ATC's

I've made enough progress that I'm able to do a little bit on the computer and spend a little time on art (YAY!). The physical therapy is really helping- I'm faithfully doing exercises to strengthen my neck and shoulder muscles so that I won't have a repeat of The Neck Incident.

Before The Neck Incident whacked out my normal activities, I had started work on some ATC's (Artist Trading Cards- 3.5" x 2.5") but had not posted them. So, here they are. I like some better than others, but find doing ATC's very valuable. Gives me a chance to experiment, cover a variety of subjects, and the volume (I'll make 20 cards for this trade) gives me much-needed practice.

It's SO good to be back in blogdom! I've started visiting blogs and am enjoying catching up with y'all ("y'all" . . a most useful Southernism ;-). Thanks again for the visits and encouraging words... you guys are great!

Teresa
xx

Update . . .

Hi Everyone,

Sure am missing blogdom! Not sure when I'll be able to get back to working on the computer. After seeing my regular doctor, then a chiropractor, and still continuing to worsen I ended up seeing a neurologist. Apparently I have some compression in a couple of discs in my neck that's pinching a nerve. I haven't had full feeling in my right arm/hand for a couple of weeks now and use of my right arm and hand is very limited at the moment. A week ago the neurologist injected cortisone directly into the nerve in my neck (that was fun) to get the swelling and inflammation down. I don't want to be a whiny baby, but let me tell you... the pain in my neck and shoulder caused by that inflamed nerve has at times just about took my breath away. The neurologist put me on more meds than I care to be on, and I'm to start physical therapy next week. I can tell I'm making a little progress day by day but it's not as fast as I hoped it would be. At the moment it's really painful to do any activity with my right hand so I'm feeling really disconnected from my normal activities by not being able to use my computer.

Thank you to everyone who's stopped by and left such sweet and thoughtful comments. I'm so sorry I can't respond to you right now, but I can't wait to come visit and catch up as soon as I'm able. Much love to all of you... I've missed enjoying all of the beautiful creative art you make and the interesting little anecdotes about your corner of the world. I'm doing my exercises faithfully... will be back as soon as I can!

Teresa
xx

Thank you...

... for your concern, visits and kind comments. You guys are great!

I'm making slow progress :-( Sure wish I could speed things up. Time's a wastin'! And there are pictures to be painted!

The Mystery of the Disappearing Feeling

Actually, it's no mystery. It's a pinched nerve and it's pretty much kept me off the computer for the last couple of weeks. Most of the pain has gone now, but still losing feeling in my hands when I'm using the keyboard and mouse. The Doc says - Rest! - as in, no cooking, no knitting, no computering. That's hard to do.

Enforced vacations are just no fun at all. But at least I have gotten a lot of reading done in my art books. Yay! New techniques to try out!

Back soon! :-)

Red Barn in Winter

. . . is finished, I think :-)

Going to let it sit a while and see if anything jumps out and hollers at me to be fixed!

What I learned from this painting:

1. Staining colors are really, really hard to remove when dry. Gee, I thought I already knew that.
2. I've been doing some experimenting with glazing, which I love the look of; but I'll have to admit there is that part of me that really likes direct painting, like alla prima in watercolor - strokes of deep, juicy color right off the bat.
3. I used a very limited palette with this, just 5 colors. I enjoyed mixing these colors and seeing how many other colors I could get.
4. I'm gradually getting to be a more thoughtful painter... instead of putting color down then changing my mind, scrubbing it out and redoing it I'm beginning to think ahead about what effect I'm after and plan it before putting the brush to paper. Keeps the painting fresher and is much less frustrating.

On to the next painting!

WIP: Red Barn in Winter

9 x 12 Watercolor

Well, I meant to take photos all along and post a series of WIP's but got so engrossed with my little red barn that I forgot and just steamrolled right along!

I'd guess I'm a little better than halfway finished. This is a snow scene (you know I love snow) so most of the bottom half of the pic will remain white. It's not the kind of scene where there's snow piled everywhere... just enough left on the ground to keep it covered. There's still masking fluid on the windows and the edges of the barn roof. I'm working from a black and white photo (although the original photo ref is in color.. but it's in the computer) so I'm choosing my own colors.

This is a fun picture to paint. And the M. Graham paints are - sigh - fabulous.

For Jeanne - Fun with M. Graham watercolors

I posted recently about switching over to M. Graham watercolors (which, bless the folks at M. Graham, don't dry rock hard when left in my palette like most other watercolor paints do) and then posted a color chart I'd made with my new working colors. Various comments were left on my blog about the paints and the chart (thank you so much.... visits and comments are most welcome and appreciated) including one comment left by my dear friend, Jeanne, whom I've dubbed "CA". She's in California..... hence the nickname.

What she said was - and I quote - "Hurray you posted. Now post something you painted. lol"

Hmmm. Kind of ups the ante, doesn't it? Jeanne is acquainted with my unfortunate tendency to get sidetracked with all kinds of worthy distractions and then my painting time gets short shrift. But now she'd thrown down the gauntlet! My honor was at stake! (well, not really... but painting time was).

Thus motivated to push aside the excuses, distractions, delays and all other spoilers of art time, I jumped in and started painting. And loved it. I experimented with pen, ink & watercolor (something I've always loved the look of and meant to try out "sometime") by doing a couple of windows and brickwork; did the vase of roses in an uncharacteristically loose style; had fun with the thatched house, lemon pie and the Dove chocolate (and if you're thinking I bet she ate the chocolate the minute she finished painting it... you'd be right.... the paint wasn't even dry before the chocolate had disappeared).

Thanks Jeanne for the nudge... I needed it!

New Year, New Paints, New Color Chart!

After constant activity (cleaning, cooking & company) from Thanksgiving to Christmas, I'm finally starting to get back into the swing of things. I'm not exactly in a highly productive mode... but they say attitude follows action so I'm going to act like I'm bursting with energy and creative enthusiasm and see what happens. I'll let you know if it works ;-)

I've had a nagging issue with watercolor. I like to keep paint on my palette, ready for use at any time. Perhaps that comes from starting out in oils and being able to pick up a dab of color at will without having to squeeze paint from a tube. With watercolor, if you keep paint in your palette it dries out and eventually ends up looking like a dried cracked river bed. Then it takes quite a bit of water and working to get it back into usable form. Which is really hard on soft watercolor brushes... and I just get tired of teasing that brick hard color into a soft consistency.

Enter M. Graham Watercolors... my heroes! M. Graham watercolors are formulated with honey (yes, the same kind you eat) and because honey is a humectant... well.... let me give it to you in their words.....

we created a watercolor with exceptional amounts of pigment in an old fashioned binding medium of pure gum arabic and natural blackberry honey. The result is watercolor of extraordinary strength that is easily diluted for smooth, controlled washes and deeper "darks". Alive with strength and intensity, watercolor made with honey absorbs moisture from the air, preventing hardening on the palette or in the tube. http://www.mgraham.com/html/watercolor.asp

Notice that last phrase? The part about "preventing hardening on the palette or in the tube"? Yes! That's what I've been after!

I chose M. Graham after doing quite a bit of internet research because they are reasonably priced (I usually order from Blick) and got great reviews for quality and color. A couple of other manufacturers also make a non-drying watercolor paint, but based on what I read, M.Graham is second to none in quality and is priced much more competitively.

So I ordered about a dozen colors, bought a new palette (an airtight Mijello - which I love) and had fun filling some of the 24 wells with color. I then made a new color chart using almost M. Graham paints exclusively (except a couple of colors that I forgot to order).

I've done some experimenting, and after letting the paint sit in the palette for almost two weeks when I went back to it, I dipped a moistened brush into the paint... and... heaven! ... the paint sprang to moist, luscious life with one touch!

Most satisfying :-)

A good way to start a new year. Now, I'm off to do some painting :-)

Catching up!

Hi Everyone,

Thank you for all of your kind and caring comments while I took an unexpected blog break. Your thoughtfulness is genuinely appreciated.

We're getting back on what for us is an even keel (though life has a way of straying off keel on a regular basis :-). Our Thanksgiving was busy... but good. We enjoyed our families and friends... and lots of good 'ole Southern cooking. I've started back walking on the treadmill and am on a half-hearted diet. What a crazy idea. Who diets in between Thanksgiving and Christmas?!

Hope your Thanksgiving was wonderful too.... now it's time to plan for Christmas!

P.S. Laure at Painted Thoughts blog gives a neat idea on how to use a piece of art as your blog header - and customize it without changing the original art. It works great... I used it on my new header! Thanks, Laure :-)

Just to let you know . . .

. . . I'll be back as soon as I find a few free minutes. Besides being busy preparing for several days of company during Thanksgiving we've also had a death in the family so things have been rather unsettled lately. Look forward to catching up with you and seeing what beautiful things you've been creating :-)

"Winter Pleasures"

Here's what I've been (slowly) working on in between TMC's and the never-done to-do list!

8 x 10, watercolor.

When it was getting close to completion I emailed a version of this to several friends asking for a honest critique, and they responded with wonderful, constructive advice. Several made great suggestions - and I think I incorporated most of them. Made me realize that we art bloggers have a great resource in addition to books, workshops, dvd's etc.... the wonderful resource of fellow art bloggers! Thanks so much for your invaluable input!

P.S. The choice of subject matter for this painting will come as no surprise to Gary Keimig since I regularly leave comments on his blog reminding him of how lucky he is to have all that lovely snow in Wyoming every year. Not sure he always agrees with that point of view :-) If you haven't met Gary, click on his name to visit his art blog... you'll be glad you did. He's an awesome landscape artist and lives in a gorgeous part of the country.

Ta-da... a TMC!

Been caught up in this and that, including a weekend out-of-town trip to visit my son and his lovely wife, a visit to the state fair (lots of photo ops there), and various other things that can so easily fill up a day. So easy for me to get sidetracked. Hope you're more disciplined than I am :-)

To get back in the swing of things I did a quick *TMC (Twenty Minute Challenge) yesterday of a grapevine and berries wreath I saw at the state fair. Just can't resist those cheerful red berries entwined among the curvy woody grapevines. Felt good to get a brush in my hands and mix that yummy red paint!

On other fronts, I'm making menu plans for Thanksgiving (see, I'm not always a procrastinator). This year, to avoid the exhausting 2-days-in-kitchen-cooking-and-baking-all-day-thing I'm going to make the pecan pies (4 of them) and the sweet potato pies (4 of those too) ahead of time and freeze them. Both kinds of pies freeze very well so that will take a little of the load off. We have family staying with us for several days over the holidays so it takes quite a bit of cooking. I enjoy taking requests for their favorite foods and making sure they're on the menu. Sweet potato pies, pecan pies, blueberry pies, chicken salad, pimento cheese spread along with ham, turkey and veggies are pretty much staples... we'll see what else they come up with this year.

All this food talk is making me hungry so I'm off to fix some lunch ;-)

Two More TMC's

Two more TMC's that I've uploaded to the Twenty Minute Challenge blog.

You know, I like these 20 minute challenges. No hassle, no stress... except for the last minute or two when I'm not finished and the clock continues mercilessly ticking away :-)

There's such a freedom in doing these. I keep in mind that it's the process that matters here, not the end product. This allows me to have fun and learn without feeling like the result has to be on a certain level. With TMC's success is the doing, not the end result.

TMC: Pecan in Hull

After a busy weekend (is there any other kind?), and an equally busy Monday spent running errands, it was really nice to settle down at my art table today, turn on the CD player, and with the sound of ocean waves rolling onto the shore in the background, dip my brush into paint. Something about art that deeply satisfies the soul.

For the first time, this year the pecan tree in our yard has produced a pretty good crop. Only the pecans are not edible. Not sure what the problem is, but they're pale, instead of light golden brown, with a moist, almost spongy texture inside that's yucky. Plus, they have no flavor. Since we can't eat them, I might as well paint them!

This is my latest TMC (Twenty Minute Challenge) and I can tell these little paintings are making a difference. Having only 20 minutes in which to draw and paint, I'm starting to look at a subject and pick out its defining characteristics... distilling the subject down to its essence. I can see this being a lot of help in future paintings. Here's a link for the TMC if you'd like to take a look at it.

A big "Thank You" to Teri Casper of Painted Daisies blog for the time and effort she puts into moderating the TMC!

Two More TMC's

Two more Twenty Minute Challenge paintings:

"Candle" (you can tell a lot of thought went into that title ;-) was done last week and "Firs in the Snow" was done this morning.

Candle was simply more practice on the "get in, get it done, get out" philosophy.

Firs in the Snow was a little more specific. In this little exercise I was after accomplishing two goals:

1. Creating a soft, misty background using the wet in wet technique
2. Experimenting with a softer, more subdued palette than I normally use.

I like the softer palette and plan to work on that some more. Doing these TMC's is the perfect opportunity to try out new things, get in some uncomplicated practice... and just have fun painting!

2nd TMC (Twenty Minute Challenge)

I'm learning more in this little 20 minute challenge than I ever dreamed I would!

I wanted a simple subject so I could focus on keeping the colors clean.... and not overworking (the bane of my artistic life). I think I'm at least heading in the right direction.

Have a good weekend!