Sunday, February 24, 2008

Painting Again

I've not updated my blog in a few days but have a very good excuse - I've actually been painting! Nothing special or for any reason except to try out some tips from artists whose work appeals to me.

These two paintings are both watercolor on watercolor paper. The first is of some crape myrtle in an old McKoy (is it spelled McKoy or McCoy?) vase. Here I was practicing removing color from areas with a damp brush. I was also practicing glazing.

copyright Jan Gibson


This second painting is one that I've wanted to do for a while. We have some Yucca in our yard & I just love the color variations in what appears to be a creamy yellow flower from a distance. When you look at a single blossom up close, and particularly in sunlight, there are actually all kinds of colors in just one blossom!

The actual painting is more subtle than the scan shown here. I've found that when I scan a painting with a dark background, the scanner intensifies other colors. So far, I haven't figured out how to prevent that nor how to fix it without washing out the picture entirely! The painting is ATC/ACEO sized at 2.5 x 3.5 inches and has an added white border of a quarter of an inch all around so that I can frame it if I decide to.

Yucca
copyright Jan Gibson


And that's what I've been doing instead of tending to my blog!

Critiques are always welcome as these exercises are for learning. Feel free to point out any area that needs improvement!


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3 comments:

Jeanette Jobson said...

Lovely watercolours Jan. I think I like them both equally. It is amazing the colours that you can find in what seems white or offwhite isn't it?

Jan said...

Thanks, Jeanette,

Yes, it seems as if I've been very intrigued with finding colors within colors here lately. Maybe it's due to the fact that we've had some gloomy, rather colorless weather in the past few months!

Paulette said...

Just beautiful!