November Square-A-Day – Landscapes

I created landscapes from my imagination for my November Square-A-Day project.

Using a variety of art supplies, I explored simplicity with Copic markers, color pencils, watercolor, Gelli-plate prints and Pan Pastels.

“The real voyage of discovery consists, not in seeking new landscapes, but having new eyes.” Marcel Proust

I thought this quote summed up this month’s project perfectly!

Cheers! 🙂

A Different Perspective

Sometimes art imitates life…

And I need to look at things from a different perspective:

I experimented gelli-printing on this blue-tone mixed media paper over the weekend:

I printed sections horizontally in different colors and patterns:

When I look at my paper one way, I see a landscape…

And when I turn my paper, I see a different perspective, a memory perhaps?

What do YOU see?

Happy Creating!

Cheers! 🙂

Landscape Vignettes

Perhaps you recall the online landscape art class I told you about from Anita Lehmann?  If not, you can learn more about it here:  Exploring Landscape

I enjoyed painting these 1.5 x 1.5 inch landscape vignettes in watercolor; the first 2 rows were from my imagination and the last 3 rows were free photo images of lake and wheat field images from unsplash.com

I discovered a limited color palette and subject matter made the exercise more cohesive and less busy in my last 3 rows:

New materials I used for this project were removable tape – 1/8 inch and 1/4 inch in diameter that I purchased locally at Michaels and Art Graf watercolor graphite that I purchased online from Dick Blick:

I encourage you to give this exercise a try…

I learned to see landscape shapes and elements of design instead of focusing on small details.  It also helped me to work quickly and get a feel of the landscape instead of focusing on minute details.

Cheers! 🙂

Rocking It…

OK, I agree, my title is a bit punny for one of the last five watercolors I did in July:

Next, I decided to expand my horizons (so to speak) and painted this landscape:

Not a subject I normally paint, so I was pleased with it… below is my reference photo I used from a photo I took of a nearby creek:

We recently had a full moon that inspired these summer stars:

I enjoyed playing with a dagger brush and different color combinations for them.

Time was short so I experimented to create this fantastic feather:

I used a straw to blow wet pools of watercolor paint and gold acrylic ink to give it some pizazz!  The collaged letter, “F” I created from one of my leftover watercolor circles from a previous project.

I ended my last painting for July with this door and quote:

I was ready to close the “door” on this project and start something new!

Thank you ALL for your encouragement on this month’s project, as always, I appreciate your kind comments and likes of support… it means so much to me!

Cheers! 🙂

Lake Doodlings…

What inspires YOU?

This last weekend I was at the lake…

The weather has been unusually warm which has made the snow melt too quickly.  The lake water is well above normal.

Beaches are now part of the lake…

Perhaps stories around a campfire some day?

The lake was so calm for these photos… beautiful reflections:

I love how the sky reflects on the water…

It gave me time to relax and reflect on my own life.

And create this lake doodle in my art journal…

I’d love to hear what helps YOU relax!

Cheers! 🙂

Abstract Landscape

I haven’t done one of these abstracts in awhile.  I find them very meditative to do.  I did this one on Sunday while watching the Oscars.

I started with several layers of watercolor on 140 lb hot press paper:

Next, I outline shapes I see when the paint changes color with a black Micron .01 pen:

It is very meditative to choose which shapes I want to include:

This time, I left some shapes without outlines:

I think it gives the eyes time to rest.  You can choose to see individual shapes or the big picture.

I want to try using an actual photo as a reference for my next one.

Cheers!  🙂

Abstract Landscapes In Watercolor

Do you remember the loose landscapes I recently did in acrylics?  Well, I decided to try them in watercolor.

However, I wanted to give myself some new criteria to challenge my brain!  🙂

I decided to first create imaginary abstract landscapes with torn magazines and then paint them in watercolor.  I thought it would also be good practice in mixing similar colors with paint.  And to add another challenge, I decided to try adding texture to my watercolors with some of these items:

Here are my results, can you find the bubble wrap in the one below?

I like the simplicity of this one:

I realized afterwards that I needed less water and more paint to get closer to my color values.  Sometimes it is hard to remember that watercolor dries lighter!

I used several different textures in the above piece.  An egg carton to dip into the greenish-blue paint which made a great stamp!  An old dish rag for the purple mountain shape and the textured paper to create the bumps in the light green shape.

I think I like my last one best:

I used toilet paper to blot the green mountain shape.  Table salt on the black.  And the end of my paint brush to create lines in the purple shape.

I really enjoyed this exercise I created for myself!  Starting with collage first helped me to create shapes, colors and patterns that I would not have done on my own.

Here is a photo of a landscape at the lake.  I encourage you to give it a try!

Wishing you a sunny Sunday!  🙂

Loose Landscapes

Letter “L” is for loose landscapes at the lake!

As a warm-up exercise for my online class, Y is for Yellow with Carla Sonheim; I did some quick sketches on leftover watercolor paper scraps with a gray and black Neocolor crayon:

I painted several pieces of  watercolor paper with house paint samples that I had leftover from Lynn Whipple’s Big Bold Flower Painting class.  Once dry, I used Dick Blick’s Economy “Blickrylic” acrylic paints to paint landscapes based loosely on my sketches:

It was lots of fun!  🙂  This assignment inspired me to paint landscapes in colors I would not normally use such as these colors:

As you can see, I have them ready to put in my old “ledger” that I showed you in my post yesterday.

Now, I want to try large and loose landscapes on canvas!

I encourage you try painting loosely and boldly today!  It may give you a new perspective on life!

Happy Painting!  🙂

Happy Accidents

Yesterday, I had an “Ah-Ha! moment when I was cleaning up after finger painting for Carla Sonheim’s new online class, which you can find here.

I had all this leftover paint on my plastic palette, that I didn’t want to waste:

So I took a sheet of paper and pressed it into the paint!

I got all these cool squiggles and layers of color!

So I pressed a larger sheet, 9 x 12 inches and got this abstract:

I added a few lines with my fingernail for trees, dabbed on a little paint with a sponge for leaves and stood back in amazement!

It looks like a lake with the trees reflecting into the water.  What do you think?!

Happy Experimenting!  :-)))