# 51 & 52 Using a pen

We are staying with friends in their amazing home in Manila. The garden is lush and green, with a variety of tropical plants. The plants seem so green here, and the flowers shine like jewels in the sun. Its possibly because the atmosphere is much cleaner here and not as polluted as Kolkata. These orange flowers are a kind of 'flame of the forest' but in bush form! I have been wanting to try using a pen to complement my painting so have tried it in these two pictures. I used the pen to primarily add a little more definition and shadows to my painting.
Can anyone tell me if there are rules one has to follow while using a pen with water colours? Are there special pens?

Chlorophyllum rhacodes #87

I think I'm correct about the name of this mushroom, but not positive. I told my friend Debbie Dreschler I just painted a Leucoagaricus rachodes .... and she let me know the experts (the people who like to confuse mere mortals like me) have renamed it. The mushroom is growing just off my deck and has a cap as big as a medium sized pancake.

I'm trying a different pen -- a sepia 'PITT artist pen' .... but the sepia gets lost. It looks like plain old black ink. Plus watercolor on Strathmore #140 cold press.

Will-O-the-Wisps #86

Western Oregon winters are composed of rain, fog, clouds, and not much sun. Everything ends up soaked. As a result I often see mist rising out of the forests -- really quite beautiful. We drove to Grants Pass yesterday and had little peeks of sunshine amongst the 'mostly cloudy.' When the sun hits the dampness, beautiful plumes of mist rise, my Will-O-the-Wisps. On location I did a quick sketch of mist and trees using a water soluble graphite pencil on ho hum sketchbook paper.

After we got home I drew the more careful rendition, using what I had learned with the first sketch. I still used the water soluble graphite pencil, but this time I added a touch of watercolor instead of just using my waterbrush. The paper was my Aquabee sketchbook.

My blog has a more detailed description of the mist.

Into the Gloaming #85

I grew up associating bison with wide open prairies. Much to my suprise I later learned that there is another group of bison that live in the high country; now they found mostly in Yellowstone. They are a little smaller and darker than the prairie bison. When the prairie bison were nearly extermined, a small group of these mountain bison survived. They too like the open areas of Yellowstone, but also make use of the areas of patchy forest. This one is heading into the fringe of lodgepoles as a storm approaches.

I intended to sprinkle snowflakes onto the painting, but when I reached this stage I changed my mind. Critique is welcome!

Painted on 300 # cold press Arches ... a lovely paper, but I have to admit I am more familiar with lighter weight paper and realize certain adjustments need to be made on the heavier paper. I don't think it takes detail as well as some, but if one wants to work on a damp surface for awhile, it is great. I like how the paint goes onto the paper. Takes miskit well, but paint does not lift well.

# 49 & 50 Orchids in a teak forest!

Our wonderful holiday in Thailand ended with a visit to the bridge on the river Kwai in Kanchanabura....yes the same one which was a major movie with Alec Guinness!!! I will paint a picture of the bridge soon! We stayed in beautiful resort which was on the river itself and built in a teak plantation. It was beautifully done as the rooms were actually single roomed cottages interspersed between the trees, covered in flowering orchids of all colours. The landscaping followed the natural flow of the land and had little ponds and wooden bridges!
These two pictures were painted in my sketch book and were really quick sketches. I enjoyed being able to paint plein aire! Neither took more than an hour! I am also celebrating with the last picture as it marks the halfway mark for my challenge!!!! It has been an amazing experience, as I never really thought I would get here!

The pencil sketch was an experiment as I had left my paints behind, but I thought I would post it anyway! I don't use pencil a lot, but this turned out quite well!

Kelly - Painting 91

10x12 Watercolor

Arches Cold Pressed 140 Lb Paper

This little Red-breasted Nuthatch is in the mood for the holidays! It's the first time I ever created a holiday "collage." I drew everything out in pencil first, since it was brewed up in my head. The detailed pencil drawing really helped. I then transferred it over to watercolor paper. This is the first detailed work I've done in a long time. I was sick, so I had to take it easy. It's the perfect combination. I'd never painted a pinecone before. Whoa...like putting a puzzle together!

I liked doing the detailed pencil drawing, because when I finished, the idea to switch up the ribbon popped in my head. If I hadn't planned it out before hand, I wouldn't have been able to change the painting.

original placement of ribbon

cuter placement of ribbon...made it to the painting

Hooded Merganser # 84

This little hoodie male has just ruffled his feathers and hasn't laid down the ones on his back. When they dive for fish or want to slip quietly away, they can fold that beautiful head crest into a thin white line.

Painted on Lanaquarelle cold press #140 -- a very white paper that handles both details and washes well, but I think buckles a little more than Strathmore's 400 series 140# cold press. Takes miskit well.

#12 Paris Flower Shop- Sheryl Hawkins

This watercolor is painted from photos I took during a trip to Paris a few years ago. My husband was on a business trip for the seed company he worked for in California. This building was where the company's Paris offices were. Vilmorin is a huge seed producing company and lucky for us, they owned his company in California and we got a Paris trip! I like painting buildings and love all the details (even though I tried to keep them loose) with the seed packets and rows of plants.

watercolor on cold pressed paper

Kelly - Painting 90

Watercolor and Acrylic

9x12 Arches Rough 140 Lb Paper

Painting 90 is of a funky Henslow's Sparrow. He started as a watercolor, but then I laid heavy acrylics over the top. A day later I bunched up cheesecloth and put it all around the bird and painted it blue and white (sort of gluing it down to the paper)...then ripped off the cheesecloth so just part of the blue stayed behind (and small bits of cheesecloth here and there). It sort of has a summer memory feel--all under the art direction of my 15-yr old son because we just wanted to experiment.

Ready to Take Off -- Bald Eagle #83

When I was in Yellowstone this spring I mentioned the 100 Paintings Challenge to a kindred spirit, Judy Norris. I was hoping she might join. She didn’t, but much to my surprise I recently found out she is quietly doing it on her own! She has painted nearly 70 paintings since April! I wish all the more that she had joined officially, but I salute her for staying motivated on her own. We e-mail back and forth occasionally and I get to see some of her work at http://www.pbase.com:80/greatbear/judys_paintings_2010

I’m writing about Judy because I mentioned something about different papers. She immediately realized she wanted to know more about the special properties of watercolor paper and proceeded to paint a series of paintings on every watercolor paper she had at home – nine types. I know each artist has different goals and different techniques and there is no one perfect paper, but that is all the more reason we need to try a variety and see what works for each of us. I always appreciate it when a fellow artist comments on paper…. or paint … or…or

Judy surprised me by sending me an envelope full of paper samples. As I paint on them I plan to mention the type of paper. It won’t necessarily be the next nine posts, but I should be able to work them all in by the time I finish the challenge . I’ll try to remember to add a comment or two about each paper I use as I finish the challenge. I’ve already posted one and this post has the second. My goal when I started the challenge was to experiment … so this fits right in!

My post #82: Lonesome George is the first. It is painted on Canson140# cold press XL series. A very smooth paper, on which I can get reasonably good detail. I was struck by how easily one can lift paint off. I didn’t use miskit on the painting, but I tested it on an edge and feel it will take it just fine.

This painting, post #83, is done on Strathmore’s 400 Series 140# Cold Press …. One of my favorites for little paintings. It takes washes well, has some texture, and allows me a fair amount of detail. In this painting I used watercolor with a fair amount of opaque white. I wanted one of those dreary wintery days when there is quite a bit of moisture in the air.

Kelly - Painting 89

A Snowy Egret at Sunset. I started with a few brushstrokes but then switched over to the palette knife and finished with the palette knife. I saw this bird on Longboat Key in Florida. He was in his spring breeding plumage and a strong wind was whipping his plumes about. With the strong breeze and the liquid gold water and sky...drama was everywhere.

#48 Marigold garlands in Bangkok

We went to visit an old traditional Thai home....all made of wood now a museum. It is a really beautiful house, made in traditional Thai style, all in wood, full of priceless treasures, surrounded outside by a lush garden, full of amazing orchids and plants and ofcourse the traditional pond with lotus blooming! In the north east corner is this little temple that houses the Gods! The belief in Thailand  is that all homes have a temple for the local Gods and this protects the home and keeps everyone safe. The temple has to be built on the north east part of the property, so that the shadow of the house doesn't ever fall on it....or the gods will get angry! The wonderful bright mariglod garlands and white flowers adorning  the wooden temple, surrounded by a forest of greenery in its many shades, including an overhed hanging 'bird of paradise', certainly caught my eye and made a pretty picture.

Kelly - Painting 88

When I see this fellow...Shorebird in Green on a Blue Day pops to mind, so that will be its title. Of course, this isn't a real bird, but he lives in my imagination. Before the challenge, I never painted Imagination Birds, which is a shame because I really like them! The challenge has helped me free up that part of my brain. This guy actually has longer legs, but since I only used a 9x12 piece of canvas paper only the body would fit! I painted him entirely with a palette knife. It was fun...

Kelly - Painting 87

Painting 87

9x12 Acrylic Canvas Paper, Open Acrylics

After Painting 86, Maria joined me with a paintbrush and started creating her own painting. Maria is 15 and has a very creative soul. She was working on a winter, spring, summer, fall painting with a gorgeous heart, and her style inspired me to create this one. I kept going with her spring component and added a bird (surprise!). I would never have thought of painting something like this on my own. It's good to work with another artist to try something new. We had so much fun painting together!

Flowers and warmth are just a memory now...it's cold and rainy--and snow is on the way this weekend.

# 47 Flowers in the sun

We visited the Royal Palace in Bangkok yesterday. The sun was 'white hot' and bright as we walked down the long driveway. On either side were these big borders of wonderfully green plants with bright boganvilla and marigolds shining in the sun....it almost hurt the eye. It was too hot to paint outside so I took a picture and painted it at home! Its hot in Kolkata as well, but somehow the sun seems brighter here, there seems less dust as well. Viveck says everything has been covered in concrete, hence there seems to be less dust, and certainly no garbage in the areas we are staying in.  Bangkok is such a glittery city, full of high rises and really grand malls, and now with Christmas around the corner, full of lights.

# 46 Crown of Thorns

Finally there is time to paint again so am glad to be posting something! I have been travelling a lot with work so very little time to paint...now am travelling again....but this time on holiday in Bangkok....and one of the things on the agenda is to try and do one painting everyday! I saw this wonderful terracotta planter on the road side, with the corwn of thorns....the colours were so beautiful, that I did a quick sketch!

Lonesome George #82

I call this one Lonesome George because nearly every time we drive past the lone Douglas fir there is one hawk perched high in the dead portion. Sometimes it is a red-tailed hawk and sometimes a red-shouldered hawk. I was trying a new paper, Canson 140# cold press.

I'm also posting my last post, but this time with the edge showing. A couple of you commented you like a little roughness along the edge. I do too ..... but this obviously was a mess, so I cropped it off. Just thought I'd let you see what it looks like without cropping. I pressed down along the tape edge. Next time I'll make a point of pressing harder, but I really think the problem was throughly wetting the paper and having the moisture sneak underneath the tape ... and releasing it. My recent foggy scene in the trees was also taped (on different paper) with less juicy paint). The taped edge worked just fine on that one.

Kelly - Painting 86

My niece, Maria (who is also an artist), was at my house Saturday evening, and I wanted to show her how easy the Open Acrylics are to work with, so I did this little Red-breasted Nuthatch as a very quick demo. When I was finished she wondered if I was going to put the painting in the 100. "I don't know, what do you think?" I asked. "Definitely," she said! So...here it is...painting #86.

#11 "Grandmother's China" - Sheryl Hawkins

This cup and saucer is part of a set of Haviland China hand monogrammed by my great-grandmother. It has been passed down in our family and is now in my mother's china cabinet. I am still on a quest to make "shiny" easier to paint. I have been practicing on metal and glass surfaces also. I am finding that I really do like using purple tones as my shadow colors (in cool areas, that is). This watercolor paper is smooth surface instead of rough, which I seem to use often since I like the visible texture. I used mixes of yellow ochre and raw sienna in my gold paint color. All in all, very fun to paint and I have my eye on some other pretty little items in the china cabinet for future watercolors.

Watercolor on Arches cold pressed paper

Amanita # 81

Amanita are one of my favorite mushrooms. Off to the left of the amanita are two tiny bird's nest fungi growing on the twig.

I taped the edges of this piece and painted it on a blank Strathmore notecard .... but the paint bled under the tape. Darn! Guess I'll have to trim it and mount it on another piece of paper.

Kelly - Painting 85

Painting 85

Oil pastel
12x16 Arches Cold Pressed 140 Lb Paper

(same painting...just showing what was cut off by the scanner)

Happy Thanksgiving!