Painting 24, "Bird in Deep Night" is simple and primitive...just night colors and a sweet sleeping bird. I didn't use standard shadows...made the bird flat so he's not too real.
(Oil Pastel, 9x12 Arches Cold Pressed 140 lb Paper)
Painting 23, "Happy June Cherries" follows the same theme...color and feeling...simple and primitive. Again, no real shading...I wanted the bird flat with energy (can you tell I had just devoured TWO chocolate bars? Happy February Chocolate was coursing through my veins...).
(Oil Pastel, 9x12 Arches Cold Pressed 140 lb Paper)
Painting 22, "Golden-crowned Kinglet in Autumn" is a bright and watery watercolor, but I controlled the second wash in the background by limiting the palette to red and yellow with a heavy pigment load. This painting started as a realistic painting, but I was dead tired and the paintbrush had a life of it's own...going heavy handed after the first detailed pass and just pouring on color (I don't know why I chose red and yellow...thinking back, it might have been my brain's attempt to grab some energy to try to wake up!)(Watercolor, 12x16 Arches Cold Pressed 140 lb Paper)
...no detail...no color. I did this in minutes with two watercolor pencils and a water brush--no under sketch, using just a bit of negative space to define his belly with a cast shadow. I was at Matty's tennis clinic and was drawing in my sketchbook when this simple little Golden-crowned Kinglet popped to mind. I'm so glad I'm not afraid to paint and sketch in public anymore--thanks to the challenge!!
(Watercolor Pencil, 5x7 Arches Cold Pressed 140 lb Paper)
...what the heck is this mess? A super fun test painting! Rick gave me a bunch of Daniel Smith Iridescent and Duochrome watercolor paints, and I wanted to see if they really were iridescent. Guess what...they are!! You can't see it in the scan, but the painting fairly glows in the light with every color reflective. Our four little turquoise hummers seemed pretty happy coming to life on the page. I did heighten the reds in the flowers with a bit of regular watercolor, but the iridescent paint underneath still shines through.(Iridescent Watercolor, 9x12 Arches Cold Pressed 140 lb Paper)
5 comments:
I especially love the little Kinglet. Sweet simplicity.
I love them all!! The color and life and simplicity are very accessible. They make me smile! I, too, know that process of starting a realistic painting and at some point going more impulsive... it's fun! Sometimes I like the result so much better, too. Thanks for sharing.
Looks like you were really having fun! It is great to try out different mediums!
Sheryl
I love how you dare to experiment. My favorite is the plain kinglet.
Boy have you been busy! What fun to see the more abstract and bright paintings. But... I have a special liking to the very soft little bird. I really like his softness -- love to see it printed in a card!
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