#WorldWaterColorMonth Day 4-5

Still trying to catch up. Chicagoland was blessed with gorgeous weather, so we were out in the yard and clearing some of the damaged bushes. In and out of the house I played with the masking again today on two paintings. Tomorrow, I think I will catch up.

Day 4 Prompt: Family Fun

Since this was the Fourth of July, I had to do fireworks.

Palette colors: Lamp Black, Thalo Purple, Lemon Yellow, Thalo Red, Cerulean Blue

I enhanced this photo to bring up the color of the tinted masking. Masking needs to completely dry before painting. So, I was in and out all day, dabbing here and there.

Remember when we did wax resist pictures in grade school, basically crayons on paper and then a dark wash over the top. That's basically what I was going for. Next, I washed large areas with with 

my primary colors, lemon yellow, cerulean blue and Thalo red.  I let this dry and then painted bigger areas and more starburst streaks with the masking.

Next wash is larger and more complete. I expanded on the color areas...and introduced background colors of lamp black and Thalo purple. I used cerulean and purple to create a smoky atmosphere of the bottom. Removing the masking at this point, I had some really bare areas. I added more color with daubs of paint and faint colored streaks.

I spritzed the edges of the painting and daubed more intense color, tilted the board in and around.

I spritzed water on the centers of the bursts and let the dabs spread while laying flat.

I'm pleased with the overall results. It looks like a spontaneous painting, but I think I did 6-7 several different sittings to do this though only for a few minutes at a time. Patience is not my strong suit, so technique this was a challenge.

Day 5 Loose and Free

Well this ended up being neither.  My thought was Butterflies are Free. We've planted lots of Dill this year for the butterflies, since finding caterpillars on my old stems at the end of the season last year, and research said that butterflies love Dill stems.

Palette: Lemon Yellow, Cerulean Blue, Viridian Green, Thalo Yellow green, Cobalt blue, lamp black, some mixed browns on my palette. 

Since I had Days 4&5 on the board at the same time....I used the masking to do some stems and the heads of the dill.

My plan was a Blue Swallowtail on/near Dill stems. Preliminary washes/strokes with cerulean, lemon yellow, yellow green and cobalt. The yellow of the masking is apparent here also.

After a few more washes and some line work, I removed the masking and added detail on the Dill heads. The butterfly got a bit clumpy---my future recommendation on a butterfly would be to mask around a drawn shape instead of letting the colors wander too much. I was still trying to be spontaneous, though. LOOSE and FREE and this wasn't either. 

Photo from late afternoon light.

I peeled off the masking on the butterfly---and it lightened up a bit.

This photo taken in morning light, definitely a bit brighter. I should probably add more to the dill, but not sure what. This is out of balance...due to the blob of a butterfly.

I may try a similar composition on some large watercolor paper all in one sitting with no masking

 and see what happens.  My paper is actually  9x11 and I'm thinking to be 'loose and free'

this subject  needs to be bigger.

Hope you are enjoying this journey with me, I'm sure am.

Disclaimer: Any products I am using are not a recommendation, but only for reference for the reader's use. I am in no way affiliated with any of the companies or products, or have I received compensation or products. 

My painting projects will be posted on Pinterest, Flickr and Facebook with the hashtag

#WorldWatercolorMonth
Tuesdays at Our Home
Celebrate Your Story
Talk of the Town
Vintage Charm

I will try and respond to every comment and answer every question. 

Join me at these fine blog parties:

 Please do not use photos without linking back to this blog without my permission. 

Thank you for your cooperation, 
Sandi 

#WorldWatercolorMonth Day 3 Picnic Food

Day 3 Picnic Food

Goal: Metal Pie pan with a berry pie on a blue/white plaid tablecloth.

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Palette: Grumbacher Academy(GA) Thalo Red, WinsorNewton's Artists (WNA) Lemon Yellow,  WNA Cobalt Blue, GA Lamp Black, GA Burnt Sienna, GA VanDyke Brown,GA Thalo Yellow Green,GA Cadmium Yellow Deep, WNA Lemon Yellow Hue, GA Thalo Purple,WNA Cobalt Blue, Green and Blue

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Here's the Palette after the painting was done. I really didn't use much of the cerulean blue and none of the black.

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Composition was pretty simple..gray plate and scrunched checkered tablecloth on the ground(grass). Here all the colors are blocked in...nothing fancy here...used watered brush half loaded with color to give the varied blues. Had issues with the pie---apple pie just isn't that interesting. 

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SO, 

I kicked it up a notch by adding blueberries and darker sauce drips. My mom-in-law does signature cuts on the top of her pies of a simple wheat pattern, which always lets the steam/and fruit escape.

I tried to keep this simple, this really is a sketch---anymore and I will poke holes in the paper. And I hate the buckling, maybe I have to iron them???

Hope you had a great weekend. I'm going to try for three or four paintings tomorrow and get almost caught up. Gosh, tomorrow is DAY 7...yikes!

Disclaimer: Any products I am using are not a recommendation, but only for reference for the reader's use. I am in no way affiliated with any of the companies or products, or have I received compensation or products. 

My painting projects will be posted on Pinterest, Flickr and Facebook with the hashtag

#WorldWatercolorMonth

I will try and respond to every comment and answer every question. 

Join me at these fine blog parties:

Metamorphisis Monday

Tuesdays at Our Home

Celebrate Your Story

Talk of the Town

Vintage Charm

Grammy's Grid-I made it Monday

 Please do not use photos without linking back to this blog without my permission. 

Thank you for your cooperation, 
Sandi 

Metamorphisis Monday

#WorldWaterColorMonth Day 2

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Hi, the holiday in the middle of the week, sure throws the best laid plans to the side. Even without being able to to do the decorating, cooking, or congeniality thing to the max, having everyone here still ate into my Art therapy painting time. Today, I tried to catch up.

Day 2 Sunny Skies (each day there is a prompt if you choose to follow along).

I'm not a beginning artist, but I'm really a watercolor novice. So, I made a few rules for myself: not take it too seriously, use some restrictions for each project, follow the theme, use what I have on hand, and have fun.

I found a few more paints and tons of brushes in an expedition to the basement. I also wanted to try and use some masking medium. Applied, this is a rubbery yellowish medium that repels the paint and later can be peeled off, leaving the white un-painted paper exposed. I really have never used this for watercolor, before, so this will be an education.

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Palette: I planned a controlled color palette: Grumbacher Academy(GA) Lamp Black, GA Burnt Sienna, GA VanDyke Brown,GA Thalo Yellow Green,GA Cadmium Yellow Deep, WinsorNewtonArtists(WNA)Lemon Yellow Hue,GA Thalo Purple,

WNA Cobalt Blue, (Note I avoid using blacks but I put it in the tray anyway.)

Paper is just a drawing Sketchbook 11 x 14. It's smooth paper that stretches a lot, but I'm practicing, not going for finished paintings.

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I had a couple of days to ponder the prompts, so in our garden my favorite sunflowers are most gorgeous photographed early in the morning in what I call bright yellow sun. Light spills over the fence and the edges of the leaves and petals are always brilliant, and the shadows are dark and deep since the sun isn't so high.

I've kicked up the contrast and the hue  so you can see the applied pale yellow masking.  My thought was to hit the edges of the petals and where light might land on the flower centers. I lightly wooly-sponged some on what will be the dark brown seedy centers of the sunflowers and let this dry for 15-20 minutes.

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Then I sprayed areas and did a wash with a wide brush on the petal shapes adding quick brush strokes of (Cadmium YD and Lemon) on the wet paper. The centers I dabbed with Burnt Sienna. I rolled the paper around a bit to get the colors moving. We have a fan going right above and the paint dries pretty quick if I blot up any pools.

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Closeup of the beginning. Always fun to watch colors flow/spread and you can see the areas where the masking is blocking the paint. I had very loosely penciled some vague outlines of my composition.

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I planned one sunflower facing the viewer and one facing the sun. I'm working from memory and not a photo. Leaves are multi-colored with all of the colors of my palette in them, except black. I did add the purple to the browns for the darkest accents. I mixed an olive green from the browns and the Thalo Yellow Green (really like the intensity of this color). I try to use all my colors around the paper in different ways. 

After drying, I peeled off the masking. And, touched up the areas that were too white. 

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I used some light wash colors here and there to blend out some of the whites. When the painting dries, the colors always seem a bit washed out---I'm going to have to kick my colors up a notch, wet paints look darker and more intense or I'm using too much water?

Disclaimer: Any products I am using are not a recommendation, but only for reference for the reader's use. I am in no way affiliated with any of the companies or products, or have I received compensation or products. 

My painting projects will be posted on Pinterest, Flickr and Facebook with the hashtag

#WorldWatercolorMonth 

I will try and respond to every comment and answer every question. 

Join me at these fine blog parties:

Metamorphisis Monday

Tuesdays at our Home
Celebrate Your Story

I Made it Monday

 Please do not use photos without linking back to this blog without my permission. 

Thank you for your cooperation, 
Sandi 

World Watercolor Month Day 1:Primary Palette

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In my last post I wrote about #WatercolorMonth and my reasons for joining in. 

My rules are simple---ONE piece of paper ---NO-DO OVERS--intend to follow the prompt, but be open to SERENDIPITY, and HAVE FUN!

Day 1 prompt is Primary Palette, meaning red, yellow and blue. From my OLD stash I chose Grumbacher Academy Thalo Red, WinsorNewton's Artists Lemon Yellow, and WinsorNewton's Artists Cobalt Blue. These are the closest to pure color wheel colors I have. 

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I put a dab of each color in my palette cups. The yellow gushed out some sort of liquid that was thick and gooey. The tube had settled and all the pigment was in the bottom half. The other two tubes were fine and had never been opened. I had to use a pliers. 

PERSONAL GOAL: on this prompt is to let the paints mix on the paper--and keep a pure palette.

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My brushes are in feeble condition at best---OLD craft brushes I have used with the Grand for craft paint. The red handled ones are from a mixed set purchased for kid crafting. The flower handled brushes are OLD quality craft painting synthetic brushes. A foam brush is great for putting water on the paper.

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After taping my paper down on my board, I did some sweeping brush strokes with the foam brush full of water, followed by dabs and sweeps of the pure colors. Immediately the color starts to spread and puddle as the paper swells. 

Sky, sunlight and maybe some flowers?

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An overhead fan helped to keep my paint drying quick. Hoping to get some sort of 'green-ish' tones to occur, I layered strokes and dabbed on top of each other with blues and yellows. One brush produced the little 'ferret feet' when I dry brush and daubed paint on.  

I then spritzed areas with the water mister.

This is when SERENDIPITY kicks in.

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Since I'm using sketchbook paper, it stretched very quickly into hills and valleys. I tipped the board trying to control...HAHAHAHA... the flowing of the colors. 

Fun part about watercolor is NOT controlling it! 

Go with the flow.

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If you are compelled to control--wicking off excess water or color is easily done with q-tips or paper toweling for larger areas. Even another dry brush will remove paint from specific areas.

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I Love how the colors do their own thing----! 

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I walked away for a bit and this is what the blue bits did on their own, I then added red bits with the stubbly brush, aiming for flower centers.

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These are flower impressions...again water spritzing blends this out more.

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More daubing and shading with stronger colors on lower levels of the imaginary leaves and flowers. This is more coaxing than painting.  Finally I added some controlled brush strokes with the smallest brush, suddenly a container appeared and I went with that instead of a garden. 

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Working in suggestions of leaves, vines, petals, flower centers. 

I stepped back---before it started to muddy up. 

Even with a limited palette be careful not to overwork your colors when a painting is wet.

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GOAL: Here's my palette at the end, I succeeded in not mixing colors in the palette--the yellow/red to the right was basically an accident of sticking a brush in the wrong place. These paints will be useable again with water added. 

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"Primary Colors"  Sandra Magle  #WatercolorMonth Day 1

There are bits here I really love, and some parts are ugh, but the important thing is I spent an hour and a half, not thinking about the heat, my knee, or politics. 

Sigh.......!

What are you doing for your soul, today! 

Disclaimer: Any products I am using are not a recommendation, but only for reference for the reader's use. I am in no way affiliated with any of the companies or products, or have I received compensation or products. 

I'll post my painting projects in a post, on Pinterest, Flickr and Facebook with the hashtag

 #WorldWatercolorMonth 

I will try and respond to every comment and answer every question. 

Join me at these fine blog parties:

Tuesdays At Our Home

Creative Mondays

Make it Pretty Monday

Celebrate Your Story

Talk of the Town
Metamorphisis Monday

I Made it Monday

 Please do not use photos without linking back to this blog without my permission. 

Thank you for your cooperation, 
Sandi 

My Commitment:Watercolor Month

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Dear Reader, I have been trapped in our house for 8 weeks, with minimal outdoor time (small bits) because I'm nursing a serious knee injury. I'm unable to go up and downstairs to the basement, drive, or ramble anywhere on my own. I have been going crazy! Surgery for my knee-replacement won't be until October or November---SO---I've had to figure out--how to survive mentally and physically to enjoy this summer.

I decided to participate in THIS:
World Water Color Month July 2019 you can follow the links on this page for more information on this experience, sponsors, and charity for children's arts.

I ran across this World Wide promotion for the arts, with multiple sponsorships---All for kids and raising funds for art supplies. The Dreaming Zebra Foundation, is a charity providing support so that children and young adults are given an equal opportunity to explore and develop their creativity in the arts.

My challenge is to paint a different watercolor everyday, and try and remember techniques I once knew. I really need a challenge and kids need the ARTS! which has always been something dear to my heart.

During my art/career years, I volunteered in schools and demonstrated throwing pottery, even when my boys were grown. This meant hauling my 100# wheel up from the basement and into the truck and into the school--etc. But it was so worth it, as children are fascinated with the forming of the clay on a spinning wheel. I was also a volunteer Art Lady for local schools-bringing in historical paintings/sculptures of artists, talking about their history, and then leading a workshop in techniques used by those artists. All ages truly benefit from the arts, everywhere. I really loved doing this.

I haven't seriously painted for over 20 years. So, I dug in my old art supplies. In the late 80's early 90's I also worked for a craft store chain. I would purchase deep discounted art supplies--and have a selection of watercolors. All these paints are at least 25 years old, if not more.

I have lots of brushes downstairs, but unable to get down there---so, I'm charging ahead and using the few 'craft' brushes I had for the Grand to use in her 'craft' painting. This will really bare bones painting, I'm not interested in results---but more the journey.

 Supplies for watercolors: you will need a flat moveable work surface, cubbyhole palette, a spritzer bottle is a nice addition, tape, and I also add q-tips, absorbent paper and paper toweling. Two water glasses--one for cleaning and one for clear water. I hope to do some paintings outside on the porch, or even down on the deck.

Way back when, I must have been pretty selective because I have a great balance of colors, from multiple manufacturers. Mind you these were picked for their 'bargain cost' and not for specific quality in mind. Those 30 year old prices are a bit scary. Wonder how much they are now?

Reds can be the most expensive, if you are interested in ratings on watercolor brands/colors here is a good link for assessing what you might want to start with is

Quality ratings on watercolors. 

Look through the entire article as I think you can choose watercolors for all levels of artwork, including supplies for kids. 

My objective is to have some fun and maybe try and remember the techniques I once knew.

Yellows can be pretty expensive also, but a little goes a long way. Tertiary colors-(browns, golds-earth) colors are usually pretty reasonable. Craft stores have regular sales on sets as much as 40% off of list prices--great for a beginner. I'll make a color chart of the paints I have as I use them. This is always a good reference for when you are using old paints. 

At Christmas I had purchased this inexpensive Reeves Gouache set to use with my granddaughter at 1/2 price with a coupon. Gouache is a more opaque form of watercolors, and you can work on top of the colors. I really liked using these for detail work.

This is a very complete set---since six-year olds aren't really able to mix all the colors themselves. There is no waste, as dried up watercolors can be reconstituted with a little fresh water. 

I plan on using sketchbook paper for most of the paintings, because that is what I have, now. SOMEWHERE I have watercolor paper, probably downstairs, UGH! 

Watercolor month also gives artists different prompts for each day! I will follow this--as it will help me narrow down subject matter and focus. This doesn't mean I won't be spontaneous...hope you enjoy this journey with me.

This week's Prompts are:

Day 1 Primary Palette (red, yellow,blue)
Day 2 Sunny Sky
Day 3 Picnic Food
Day 4 Family Fun
Day 5 Loose and Free
Day 6 Window View

I'll post my painting projects in a post, on Pinterest, Flickr and Facebook with the hashtag

 #WorldWatercolorMonth 

I will try and respond to every comment and answer every question. 

Join me at these fine blog parties:

Tuesdays at Our Home

Creative Mondays

Make it Pretty Monday

Celebrate Your Story
Talk of the Town

 Please do not use photos without linking back to this blog without my permission. 

Thank you for your cooperation, 
Sandi