Kristin #85, moose

Was working from photos of animals again. I have this huge pile of work I am supposed to be doing, but instead I was playing...oh well, that is good for you too.

10x7" gouache, white and black pen on colored paper

(c) klink 2012

Claire painting 9: Hibiscus

I just finished Laure's Imaginary Trip to the Beach class... and I enjoyed it so much that I wanted to do another Hibiscus tonight! Lots of fun.

I may decide to add some journaling or title to this page, but I was anxious to share it with the Challenge tonight.

Into the Woods #37

I had fun painting this one. My aim was lots of control over the constantly changing values. I intentionally layered much of the watercolor. I was surprised at how much control I had. Before I started I figured I'd better do it on good paper. I'm pretty sure this is 140# cold press Arches. (I have scraps of paper tucked here and there with no record of what is what. Since I'm experimenting with paper I'm trying to reform my ways and label my paper, but I can't just ignor my unidentified paper. )

Watercolor Still Life #10 - Dora Sislian Themelis

Here is #10 in my watercolor still life journey through produce!

Peppers ©2012 Dora Sislian Themelis
9x12 Watercolor, Arches cold press paper

Bighorn Petroglyph #036

I've long had a fondness for Indian petroglyphs, and painting them is fun. This is a loose interpretation, not an exact replica of any particular petroglyph.

Painted on 90# Arches -- "Grain Fin" -- I think cold press.

Bighorn #35

.... a bit stiff for my taste. I had a good start until I started adding paint to the bighorn. My reference photo didn't have good light. My end result doesn't have good light either. I painted this when life was really hectic and pushed through on finishing it.

Lorrie #81 - Fast Food 2 a.m.

Fast Food 2 a.m., watercolor 6 x 9 inches

Couldn't sleep one night and decided to get up and paint something (such is the power of the 100 paintings goal!). But what to paint? I whipped open Sunset magazine to paint the first thing that looked fun. This bowl full of ramen...

Still Life Watercolors #8-9-Dora Sislian Themelis

#8 Fruits and a Cuke ©2012 Dora Sislian Themelis
9x12 Watercolor, Arches cold press

#9 Eggs and Basil ©2012 Dora Sislian Themelis
9x12 Watercolor, Arches cold press

Two more watercolor paintings of sections from my vegetable photographs are up today!

CathyO, #13, Serenity

This was a quick sketch using Vermilion, New Gamboge and Davy's gray of a Buddha I have in an alcove.  This took less than an hour.

CathyO, The Sunbeam, #12

My big old love of a cat, Stockholm, found a sunbeam on a cold winter day.  He couldn't help but toast his tummy and I couldn't resist trying to paint him.  (My photo is a little off - the background is a glowing yellow all over but it kept fading in the photo.  Don't know why....)

Strawberries #8

                                                                                     After a few wrong turns finding my way back to Elva Paulson's home, after many years was a total delight.  We caught up on what we would like to do with our painting as we had done many years prior.  I have missed the camaraderie and my sounding board friend.  

So then the white paper stared at us.  Elva offered me a choice of strawberries or a yam.  I told her that considering that my cloud painting had turned out to look like Jabba the hut, we had better go strawberries.  We both finished our paintings! It was the most enjoyable day of painting I have had for a long time. Thanks, Elva.      Camille  #8

                                                                     

Strawberries # 34

I did something today I literally haven't done for years. My good friend Camille came and spent the afternoon painting with me. We used to once in awhile when Dale still worked. It was a wonderful afternoon.

I figured it would be fun to work on the same subject .... so I offered a yam or some strawberries. Big choice! lol!

I had a secret agenda. Camille handles color better than I do. It was fun tackling something really colorful with her. Painted on #90 Arches -- "Grain Fin". It came from a watercolor pad my mother picked up years ago. I think it is 'cold press.' Arches is always wonderful paper to work on.

Kristin #84, Wood Bison

Like Elva, I like to get to study animals in captivity (though I don't get to as much as her). Each spring I make a trip (hopefully more this year) to the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center. This is just a sketch from a photo I took last year, made in anticipation. Sketching from photos helps me sketch from life, as it is a good way to study the animals.

Wood Bison

sumi ink, gouache, and white pencil

8.5" x 11"

Wildebeest #33

I've been way too busy, but I'm finally seeing a little light at the end of the tunnel. I sat down and to just enjoy pushing some paint around. I just wanted to jump in and play. This Wildebeest comes from a photograph we took at Wildlife Safari where my husband and I volunteer.

I didn't do any preliminary sketching, just started painting. Painted on Arches cold press watercolor paper.

CathyO, Mocha, #10 and 11

I took this photo of a rainy afternoon Mocha break at my favorite cafe, then decided to paint one loosely, actually more of a sketch and then the other in an "old world" dark background style.

CathyO, Red geranium thank you's

I was out of thank you notes so did a few quick sketches of geraniums.  I started with a  light pencil sketch and some fast color, wet in wet.  Obviously, these are small (2.5 x 3ish).  It was a relaxing way to spend an hour and get a quick post, also.

Kristin 80-83: Painting Small

More playing and fun, all in the name of trying to get 20 paintings done in less than a month...I got some artist trading cards to experiment with different papers and to work on painting small (2.5 x 3.5")! The nice thing about working small is that you have to get right to the point, simplify, and for me I don't feel each painting is so precious. Here are 4 alpine plants, painted from photos I took last summer (these make appropriate subjects because they are miniature themselves).

 Alpine Buttercup; gouache, pencil and white pen on watercolor paper

  I don't know this one...because my photo didn't have the whole plant. But it's some sort of pea.

acrylic and pen on canvas paper.

Not totally sure again, maybe an alpine vetch; gouache and pen on pastel paper

 Moss Campion; gouache, acrylic and pen on "acrylic board"

#33 The horse

And another painting! Not had much practice of painting animals. The reference from this is a pencil sketch. I painted it in colour, a first for me. I really enjoyed the experience!

Kristin 79: A third try

I took a different approach with this one, just to have some fun and to experiment. I did a flat purple wash and then painted with sumi ink on top of it. I was amazed at this point how much I had achieved in so little time with basic materials. Anyway it was different and fun. I would use a more permanent ink next time, if I don't want it to bleed.

5 x 8.5" watercolor and sumi ink

96 18x24 oil on canvas Liz Cutler

I started to do a series of self portraits as part of my MFA project not realizing how challenging it was going to be.

Lorrie #80 - Yosemite Dusk

Yosemite Dusk, watercolor 22 x 30 inches

A large painting that was inspired by a photo but went very different directions once underway because it was just plain fun!!

Lorrie #79 - Tropical Blues

Tropical Blues, watercolor 18 x 24 inches

Modified from a photo in a magazine about Hawaii. This reminded me of a beach on Maui that my dad and I saw during a gorgeous drive there recently. Thanks for the trip, Dad!

Still Life Watercolors #5 ,#6, #7 - Dora Sislian Themelis

Two more watercolor paintings here, done in about an hour's time for each work. I've been using my photos of the vegetable share, cropping them and working from a quarter section. It's amazing how much of the subject you can get from one photo.

#4 A Red Onion ©2012 Dora Sislian Themelis
Watercolor, Arches cold press paper

#5 Three Peaches ©2012 Dora Sislian Themelis
9x12 Watercolor, Arches cold press paper

#7 Green Pepper ©2012 Dora Sislian Themelis
9x12 Watercolor, Arches cold press paper

3/13/12 Note: I forgot I painted another work and mixed up my count. The correct #4 work has been added here today.

# 30, 31, 32 Sketches from Bhutan!

Its been a year of travel! These are my sketches from our visit to Bhutan!

CathyO, #8, Tagine

My daughter gave me this tagine for Christmas and we haven't had time to cook together since!  She is coming tomorrow so I thought it would be fun to paint the ingredients and new tagine!

CathyO, #7 - Catedral Nuestra Senora de Guadelupe at sunset

The Cathedral of Our Lady of Guadalupe marks the boundary of  Plaza Las Delicias in Ponce, Puerto Rico.  Our hotel room overlooked the Plaza.  One evening, a stunning sunset  put one side of the church in complete shadow.  I thought it would be fun to try and paint.  I think that in my effort to make the shadow dark enough, I made it too dark.  Or maybe I should have suggested some of the architectural elements, even tho they were really not visible.  Any suggestions are welcome!

Kristin 77 & 78: struggling with sunsets

Last night the sky got all blue, with perfect pinky-purple alpenglow on the mountains. So I grabbed my paintbox and tried to catch it, knowing I was already late. Here are two attempts. The top on is my sketch while the sunset was happening, and the bottom one I painted later last night with the info from the observations I made in the top sketch and a photo, which gave me a better view of the geography of mountains, though didn't quite catch the colors. I know it's hard to catch the fleeting colors, but it is fun to try.

 5"x6" watercolor

 5"x8" watercolor

Lorrie #78 - Moonrise

Moonrise, watercolor 16 x 20 inches

I was practicing people as a subject recently when a lovely celestial display was going on (late Feb-early March) in the western sky just after the sun went down: Jupiter and Venus both were bright and near each other, with a sliver of a new moon hanging out close by. This phenomenon is depicted over the shoulder of this woman--though it turned out more subtly than I had intended. But, hence the title of this painting...

Lorrie #77 - Sea Lion on the Beach

Sea Lion on the Beach, watercolor 18 x 24 inches

I wish this had been plein aire... that close to a cute little sea lion (and one that would pose a long while). It's based on a couple of photographs from a magazine and a tour brochure. The painting is much larger than I usually would have thought to paint a critter, but it is one of seven I just put up in a cafe in Berkeley. (Each painting needed to be this size or larger to look good in the large cafe space.) You would laugh at the way I work on sheets this size -- I do not staple or tape my paper down to a flat surface as every watercolor technique book says "you must!" Instead I simply lay the paper on a larger sheet of foam core board, and rest that on my ironing board for a "table." I work standing up. That way I can move the paper and/or foam core support around during wet washes, using gravity as an ally in giving movement to the water and pigments. I usually end up propping the foam core support at an angle as a wash dries, to get the results I'm after and to avoid backruns of color (when not desired, that is). It's a whole-body exercise... usually messy, not always successful, but certainly exciting. The paper buckles like crazy as it dries, yes, but when it's fully dry I spray the back with water all over, let that set in a few minutes, then place the paper between two more sheets of foam core, lay all that on a flat surface (e.g., the bed), and pile weight on top. I've found that a few blankets are good for weight and can be spread out as large as needed to give even weight. After a few hours the paper is pretty flat again, and ready for another round of painting. That couple hours waiting time is a chance to make progress on another painting or ... well, to do anything else and get a breather from focusing on that particular work.
Was that too much info? Hope not!

CathyO, #6 - On pointe

A friend and I went to the ballet the other night.  We saw the Romantic "Giselle" staged as it was originally in Florence.  I was impressed with the rapid, clean movement of the dancer's feet and steadiness of their upper bodies.  

Here, I tried to paint a suggestion of what enchanted me that evening.

Fall Comes to Douglas County #32

When fall first comes to my area it is so pretty. Fog in the valleys, golden grasses and just a touch of reds and oranges. All too soon the grass turns grey; but after a good soaking it starts to grow. All winter we have lush, green hills. They will stay green until late June ... then golden and dry until the fall rains.

Painted on Westport 140# smooth ... a nice watercolor paper. It is only slightly smoother than copd press Arches.

Still Life Watercolor #4 - Dora Sislian Themelis

This latest watercolor still life painting #4 is Yellow Tomato. Continuing in this series of works from photos of my vegetable share items from last season, I hope to maintain my momentum and keep steadily working.

#4 Yellow Tomato ©2012 Dora Sislian Themelis
15x20 Watercolor on Canson paper

#96 11x11 oil on board self portrait

I have been back to self portraits and back to basic drawing and proportion books and still revert to the same old bad habits. GAK.

#29 The golden rickshaw

Sometimes you paint a picture and it makes your heart sing, as it is exactly how you wanted it to be. That's how I feel about my recent painting of the rickshaw. This rickshaw was parked near an old building, whci had just caught the rays of the sun! I loved the colours the rickshaw took on, bathed in the light of the afternoon sun, a golden glow....and I have managed to catch that....so YIPPPPeeee! I am thrilled with this! It didn't take too much time....Around a couple of hours from start to finish, and this time I just let my feelings take over, not try and be too accurate with the details.....and here it is....my golden rickshaw! The interesting thing also was that I just used a very limited palette, just 4 colours, gamboge yellow, burnt sienna, burnt umber and a tiny bit of crimson!

Sparrow in the Blackberries #31

A little Lincoln's Sparrow flits about on a blackberry vine.

I treated myself to a Moleskine watercolor book. This is my first painting in it. I like how it handled detail. I do see a little ghost of the image coming through to the back of the paper so, on paintings like this one with lots of white, I wouldn't want to paint on the backside of the same page if I want to keep the art really clean.