A Bird Shape?

I tried to paint a Hummingbird in watercolor for today’s post but it ended up in the trash! Oh, don’t worry, this happens sometimes. 😉

So I went back to the basics – painting patterns in watercolor and getting comfortable with my brushes and trying different color combinations:

And look! A bird shape showed up!

When I haven’t painted in watercolor for awhile, I have to slow down and just PAINT without thinking about outcome.

I added pen on top of my watercolor in black Micron pen with a little white and gold gel pens. I like how the ink gives it some pizzazz!

I now have a page of patterns I can color copy and use in my collages.

What do YOU do when your art takes a different turn than you envisioned?

Happy Friday!

Cheers! 🙂

Lupines, Lilies and Licorice

I recently purchased this large painting surface from Dick Blick called, “Ampersand Aquabord.”

If you aren’t familiar with this surface it is made for watercolors, acrylics and mixed media.  It has an absorbent surface and slightly textured that is archival and acid-free.

I purchased the 1-1/2 cradled panel so that I can hang it directly on my wall without paying for additional framing.  It is rather large but I’m wanting to let go and paint!

Onto my subject matter…

Flowers!!

These Lupines are growing in my yard.  I took several photos to learn more about their leaves and plant structure.  Aren’t their colors luscious?

My Lilies are not in bloom yet… accept ONE bloom!!  This flower seemed to be saying, “Ha! I want to be part of the picture!”

And last but certainly not least, one needs a little energy snack while they create… my favorite candy is this red licorice!  

I am creating this painting for my bedroom that recently got a “make-over” with new paint, carpet and furniture for my 35th wedding anniversary that I posted about here:  Hello May!

What is your favorite flower and snack?!  Please share!

Happy Creating! 🙂

May And June Square Projects

Perhaps you remember my watercolor circles I created in April:  My April Square Project…

After my black and white doodle, I was ready for some color!  So I decided to use my black and white doodle for April:  Finding Balance

And I moved on to May and June!

I recently did this playful watercolor from my imagination:

After cutting it up, I mixed it with my colorful circles:

And got not just one… but TWO month’s projects:

And of course I had to see how they looked next to each other:

So fun to play… wishing you a creative day!

Cheers! 🙂

Art As Meditation

I find creating art can be a form of meditation, especially watercolor.

I started this experiment drawing random circles and squares using Stabilo water-soluble pencils and Faber-Castel watercolor pencils.  I then drew a circular pattern with a number 2 pencil to add interest.  I’m using 140 lb cold press watercolor paper.

Next, I started filling in the outlined shapes with watercolor.

I find this is a good exercise to learn how to control my brush, experiment with color mixing and the ratio of water to paint.

Progress is slow yet steady…

Taking photos of my progress, helps me to create balance, rhythm and interest.  In the two photos above, I discovered after viewing the photo on the left, I needed to add brighter red and yellow in some areas to make them pop, as shown in the photo on the right.

This is still a work in progress, but I’m enjoying the journey of discovery…

Happy Art Making!  Cheers! 🙂

 

Letter “F” Is For…

Fabulous food, fun and flamingos!

I find Jenna’s blog at The Painted Apron so FUNtastic! 🙂

I completed this still life recently:

And it reminded me of the colors in Jenna’s Fearless Friday, Flaming Flamingo… it does have a fiesta feel don’t you think?

I want to try creating a still life painting with Jenna’s Tablescape, Spring at the Farm.  Perhaps a French hen would be a funky addition!  😉

I also enjoy Jenna’s recipes like this one, A Rainbow Salad… It looks fresh, flavorful and color-filled! 

I hope you will join me in following Jenna’s blog for more fabulous fun!

Cheers! 🙂

Small Treasures

If you were to draw, paint or photograph ten items that YOU treasure around your home, what would they be?

For the second assignment for Lynn Whipple’s online class, The Essence of Still Life, we were to draw ten items on our table:

I had fun selecting different items – some treasures and some I just like to draw, like the pear… to complete this still life on a 10 x 10 inch wood panel.

Please check out Arlene’s blog.   She is also taking Lynn’s class.  Arlene’s art style is fabulous!   I like what she chose to draw for her still life.

I’d love to hear about what items you treasure…

Cheers! 🙂

Scraping Paint…

No, I’m not refinishing any furniture or painting walls…

I’m scraping acrylic paint using an old credit card on Canson mixed media paper:

And adding Posca paint pens…

I learned this technique recently from Carla Sonheim.

And then I took it a step further:

Yep, I added bubble wrap and the above texture tool to create; Three Pomegranates:

One experiment led to another…

And I discovered that I could use bubble wrap like a stamp… dipping it into the paint and then adding it to the paper.  If I let the wet paint partially dry, and scraped fresh paint across, it gave a wonderful resist.

A close-up in the second photo below:

I layered several colors in each of these experiments with Golden’s Fluid Acrylic Paints.  I also experimented by adding some gold iridescent paint.

I liked the end result of scraping an old credit card across my paper.  It created an unsuspected surprise!

Yesterday, I experimented with a more abstract design:

All my papers are 11×14 inches in size.  They will make wonderful collage materials!

Who knows where tomorrow’s art experiment will take me?!

Thank YOU for joining me in my art studio today!

Cheers! 🙂

A Donkey-Pig

I was went to target practice yesterday… with a paint brush and acrylic paint!

It was an experiment in mixing and layering opaque acrylic paints.  I started with a base of yellow, red and blue.  I mixed variations with white, gray and black paint.

Below is a sample of each one on one page:

I’m not real excited about the colors and found the exercise a bit tedious.  Yet, it was good practice with learning to use a paint brush in small spaces.

I created this donkey-pig with overlapping circles:

I learned this technique in Carla Sonheim’s 365 – Creating Art Everyday online class.

I hope you are on target for a fabulous day!

Cheers! 🙂

What Did You Do?

What did you do this last weekend?

I got caught up on two online class videos on Saturday and started two pear paintings.  I used a limited palette in watercolors and found this to be a challenging exercise using only complementary colors…

My first one was using yellow and purple:

And my second color PEAR-ing was orange and blue:

I struggled getting the affect I wanted or maybe I was trying to hard to be PEAR-fect!

Does this ever happen to you?

After MANY layers, I decided to quit and eat my pear for a snack! Lol! 😉

I got caught up on some housework on Sunday and made a delicious Chicken Tortilla Soup in the crock pot.  Overall, I’d say I had a pretty great weekend.

How about you?

Cheers! 🙂

Relax!

It was “rewarding” to complete a page in my Alphabet Journal this week…

But then I “realized” that there was something missing! 😮

“R” you wondering WHAT that is?!

Well, while I was preparing for my weekend “retreat” at the lake, I discovered a “remarkable” feather…. so I got out my bird feather book:

And in my “research” I discovered the identity of the “Rare” bird from Wednesday:

I hope this gives you a smile today!  🙂

Relax and enjoy your weekend…

Cheers Friends!