Watercolor Painting for "Gates and Doors" Challenge

You can probably tell this was a real quickie.  It was done for a challenge on an art site I belong to (Art Class Friends) where the theme was "Gates and Doors".  As usual, I had to put an animal into it!

Watercolor on Arches Hot Pressed.

Watercolor and Gouache Floral

I'm still playing around with watercolor and gouache and thought I'd try a flower painting instead of an animal this time.  These are some cosmos flowers from a reference photo by Debbie Byess on Paint My Photo.  It's a work in progress and is watercolor and gouache on Arches Hot Pressed watercolor paper.

I still have some shading to do on the stems and some additions of the ferny leaves.  Also, the background needs some more work.  While it looks black here, it's really a mixture of various greens, blues and the pink and maroon of the flowers.  Since I'll want to use this primarily for prints (if it ends up good enough!), I want the background to look flatter and more varied than it appears right now.

While I've got you all looking, I'd like to put in a plug for my friend, Sue Clinker from PencilPix blogspot.  She has a wonderful entry in a "Best of British Drawing Contest" sponsored by Derwent and the winner will be determined by votes.  Her painting is of her husband trying to bar-b-que in the rain (which I gather is pretty typical of British weather much of the time).  Here is a link to the contest:

http://promoshq.wildfireapp.com/website/6/contests/222621/voteable_entries?page=1


You can vote for up to 20 entries and I do hope you'll find Sue's entry and will vote for it as I think she's done a wonderful job on this painting.  It's called "Typical British BBG" by Sue Clinker.

Watercolor Lucie

I've been exploring pet portraits in watercolor for some time and really like the medium of watercolor and gouache (opaque watercolor) but I haven't had a lot of time to experiment with it lately.  Recently an online friend posted some photos of a little service dog trainee that she was keeping and I couldn't resist painting her.  I also felt that she would be a perfect subject for a watercolor portrait.

My husband is usually my best critic and he thought the painting lacked enough contrast (first photo) so I went back in and deepened some of the color.  I think I like the first version best but it's done now so I plan to leave it alone.  What do you think?  Comments and critiques are always welcome.

ATC Trade

We're doing an Artist's Trading Card trade at an art forum I belong to (Art Class Friends - let me know if you would like an invitation to join) and these are the two cards I painted for the trade.

Both are regulation ATC/ACEO (Art Cards Editions and Originals) size at 2.5 inches by 3.5 inches and both were painted in watercolor or watercolor and gouache.  Both of the painting photo references came from MorgueFile.com.  I hope the recipients like what they get as I had a lot of fun painting these. 

Attempted Rescues

 The following paintings are a couple that I started painting eons ago and for whatever reason lost interest in them.

The painting of the magnolia started out as a watercolor but was unsuccessful so I decided to see if I could rescue it with pastel.  I think I like the technique of pastel over watercolor but I'd used hot pressed paper for the original painting and there wasn't much tooth to allow for more than a layer or two of pastel.

The poppies started out as pastel but it was a painting from my first attempts at pastels and all I had were pastel pencils and not very many of them at that.  I've done what I could to rescue this painting and I do like it better than the original but  it's still not what I hoped it would be.

I guess you can tell I'm STILL in the process of organizing my studio but I keep getting distracted when I find these old paintings!  One of these days I WILL have it done - hopefully before Dors arrives!  lol

Finally, a Painting!

Sue, from PencilPix blog, has sort of been prodding me to get off my duff and post a new painting.  Well, I did a new watercolor this morning.  I always feel that I have so much to learn about watercolor and usually hesitate to post anything I paint in that medium.  But, I also feel that maybe some of you can either learn from my mistakes or give me a critique or tip that will help me learn this elusive medium! 

The mallow flowers are courtesy of MaLu at Paint My Photo, and I didn't come close to the rich colors of the original photo!  It's hopefully enough, however, to break the painting slump and if nothing else goes a long way toward helping me forget that it's winter outside!

C & C gratefully accepted!

Still Playing Fast and Loose

The challenge last month at Paint My Photo was to paint a photo in an hour or less and Teresa at Blueberries, Art and Life has been doing some remarkable paintings in 20 minutes or less.  I'm a slow painter so I've been trying these exercises to try to speed up at least some. 

The idea is to paint as quickly as possible and still retain the quality you want your finished piece to have.  That means deleting unnecessary elements and keeping the important ones.  It means making every stroke count.

This is one of the Cotons I've been commissioned to paint as a Christmas gift.  She's an absolutely adorable dog and I thought I'd practice quick painting with her.  I think I need more practice!

Watercolor on Kilimanjaro cold pressed paper

And Back To Watercolor

I belong to a group called "Paint My Photo" and Rich, one of the members, posted a photo of a Chickadee that I couldn't resist attempting to paint. 

Of course, after being away from watercolors for ages, I would decide to paint it on watercolor canvas (in a pad from Fredrix)!  The canvas buckled as badly as unstretched watercolor paper and it was difficult to paint on it.

However, paint lifts wonderfully from the canvas so any mistakes wipe right off and can be re-painted.  The canvas also makes for great texture so I guess the good and bad of it are about equal.  It would just depend on how you paint as to whether you would enjoy this support or not. 

I'll know to stretch it and tape it down if I ever use the canvas again and I don't think I'd use it for transparent watercolor in the tubes/pans.  I've used it before with watercolor "crayons" and that worked fairly well.  And I think gouache might work with it ok. 

I've had this pad of canvas for years though and it may be a long time before I use it again.  The idea of a canvas that will accept watercolor is a good one but, for me at least, the reality doesn't work as well as the idea.

Sunlit Cove - Pastel on UART Paper

This is a recent ATC that I did in pastel on UArt 800 sanded paper.  I like the sanded papers as a general rule because they hold so much pastel (or colored pencil) but I'm not overly fond of this particular grit.  I bought a package of this when I attended Jerry's Artarama trade show because the UArt rep said that it was very good with the pan pastels.  However, I wish I had chosen a paper with a bit more grit to it.  Live and learn!

Lots of things went on this past weekend including the fact that a couple of girlfriends and I went to Greensboro yesterday to an Arts and Craft show at the Coliseum.  We went early enough that it wasn't horribly crowded so were able to see the art very well.  There seemed to be quite a few craftspeople there along with photography booths but there were also a few painters.  I always enjoy looking at any art work but one booth in particular caught my eye - that of North Carolina artist Susan Crouch.  Her watercolors seemed so light-filled and, probably because her subject matter reflects my own preferences, I was totally enamored of her work.  While her art looks good on her website, it was gorgeous in person.  I could see that "glow" that watercolors are supposed to have and I long to paint like that!  She does offer workshops from time to time but I don't know if I could ever work up the courage to take one. 

I tend to fall all over myself when painting in public - sort of like someone trying to speak in front of an audience.  I knock over my water, I get flustered trying to mix paint and everything I already know flies right out of my head.  To top it off, it's as if my painting hand gets almost paralyzed and if there is any movement at all, it's choppy and jerky instead of the smooth, fluid strokes that are needed! 

OK, so now you all know my "dirty little secret".  Does anyone else feel this way?  If so, how do you get around it?  I've seen several workshops that I'd like to take but feel that I'd be too nervous to get much out of one.  I guess like every other fear, you just have to confront yours and do it afraid until you get past it!  Anyone want to go to a workshop with me?

Chinese Brush Painting

One of the art forums I belong to (Designing  Artist's Women Group or DAWG) has started a discussion about Chinese Brush Painting and I just finished a watercolor after that style.  I don't think I can call it a true CBP as it's on regular 140# cp watercolor paper and not rice or bamboo paper.  Also, I used watercolors and not true Chinese ink.  I also think it's certainly overworked and not a truly spontaneous piece.

However, I like the way it came out even if it's not at all authentic!

Uh Oh, I just noticed that the legs don't look quite right - the original does look better.  The legs are actually bluish in color and I do have a sort of scaly texture on them!

TerraSkin Experiments

After Jeanette at Illustrated Life posted about using a paper called TerraSkin, I set off to find out all I could about it and also ordered some samples. (Note: start with Jeanette's December 2, 2009 blog post on Rocky the Snowman and work your way forward so you don't miss anything!)

TerraSkin is a paper made from ground stone (mineral powder) and a small amount of non-toxic resin binder and is supposed to be highly "green" and good for the planet. Of course, I was very hopeful that it would be good to use for my favorite art media so I did some very quick experiments. You can click on the pictures to see them larger but they may not show very large even then. The samples I received were about 6 x 6 inches and I squeezed the different media onto one of the sample sheets. I received about 10 samples, each a different weight from almost tissue thin to a very heavy-weight sheet. I used the lightest weights in the examples above.

OK, where to start. I guess with the print since that picture shows up first. The TerraSkin is not supposed to print well with inkjet printers but I thought this came out very well. I was using an old Canon bubblejet type printer to print with and I didn't have any problems at all with it. It came out quite a bit darker than usual but that could have been the printer also.

As for the different art media, I'll take them one at a time and give my impression of how they work. I will say that I was most surprised at some of the results I got!

At top left is a very quick soft pastel sketch and I only added it as I had a bit of room left on the paper. I had tried my pan pastels on another square of the TerraSkin and was impressed that it went on so well and actually adhered well to the surface. Since the paper is almost slick, you wouldn't think pastels would work at all. The soft pastel sticks went on well also and also seem to adhere well. However, layering was something of problem. I don't know if workable fixative would help or not, but I do think this paper would work for glassless framing using the PVA glue between layers as the paper is almost plastic-like and does not seem to be very absorbent.

Moving down, I used some Twinkling H2O's that I had and they also worked fairly well which, again, was surprising. They're waterbased like watercolor until they dry in your painting then they become more or less permanent. There was still some beading up and they needed to be flooded on to cover well.

The same was true of the acrylic inks, the tube acrylics, water soluble oil and the gouache which all worked in a similar manner - the color would bead up and sort of crawl unless globbed on (that's an artistic term, btw).

Since Jeanette had already tried watercolor and colored pencils, I didn't repeat her experiments with those. I did try the Inktense pencils though. I used them dry then dampened with a moist brush. If I got the color too wet, it would also bead and crawl but otherwise was a surprise in that it worked better than I thought it might. I was disappointed in the color intensity though - I couldn't get it real bright or saturated at all.

Last, but not least, I used some plain ole Crayola markers and was super impressed with the way those worked on this paper! I have never used markers in a professional capacity so have no idea of how to use them properly or if professional markers would work in the same manner but I had a ball playing with the Crayola ones. I was able to layer and blend and change colors and the color stayed put - it didn't bead or crawl at all!

So, if you're a marker artist, you might try this paper to see if it works for you. If you're an artist who uses wet media, you'll probably be a bit disappointed with it. However, a lot depends on your methods and how wet you work and how detailed you are.

I think acrylics or oils would work ok, again depending on the way you work. I don't think I'd advise using pastels unless you're going the frameless route because layering and blending is very difficult. And I'm not sure it would be any better using the PVA between layers. The pastel smears but doesn't really blend.

One note repeating what Jeanette said - marks do not come off of this paper. I used every eraser I have (except the Magic Eraser) and the pencil marks especially were just barely lightened. (I just tried the Magic Eraser and it does work but takes some effort. FYI, according to the ingredients listed, there are no chemicals in the Magic Eraser brand I have.)

In summary, I don't think this paper will work for most artists but if you like the look of art on Yupo or watercolor canvas or other supports that tend to make your media bead up and crawl, you may love this paper. It's so great that it uses so little of the earth's resources and breaks down into non-hazardous elements when we're finished with it. It would be wonderful if we could trade some of our less earth friendly supports for the TerraSkin and perhaps the inventors will eventually make it so that it works better for artists. Perhaps a little texture or something. I say go play with it and see how it works for you!

Still Ugly

I've honestly been working on this but in stops and starts. It's still not anywhere close to being done. I'm adding layers cautiously using some blue in the underlayers in places to add richness to the black I've mixed from a dark blue (probably ultramarine but I can't be sure because the color tag I put on the palette well has worn off), Roman red & dark umber.

Anyway, it's still in that ugly stage but I thought I'd post an update anyway to keep me working to prove that it will (hopefully) come out right in the end!

Christmasy Watercolor

I haven't done much more to the dog I posted about yesterday but wanted to post another watercolor that I did some time ago for an art exchange at a forum I belong to. I was rather pleased with this as it's all freehand without a preliminary drawing. I wished I'd added some more darks to the leaves but, overall, I think it came out pretty well.

Watercolor is really not my medium of preference most of the time although there are times when the work just sort of calls for it. This is one of those times when it all just seemed to come together and work!

The recipient has received it and seemed pleased - I hope so anyway!

Will post more on Heidi, the dog, when I've got more to post.

New Watercolor WIP

I almost hate to post this as I think the ugly stage is going to last for a while but I haven't posted in so long that I figured I needed to show you something. Wouldn't want you to forget me, lol.

The truth is, I just haven't been in a painting mood for quite some time and am still having a hard time getting going with this. The sketch went quickly though and it seems that if the sketch goes well, the painting does also. Let's hope that's the case with this portrait.

In case you haven't guessed it, this is a black dog with touches of orange like in the eyebrows and lower chest area. This blue gray color that I have so far is the highlight color. Of course, it's in the very beginning stages so there's a lot left to be done.

This is not really a commission but is from a rescue group's auction where I had donated a gift certificate for a portrait. I got to meet this pretty lady in person as I shared a booth with a friend and Miss Heidi came by for a treat and some petting. She had been adopted from this rescue group and now has a great home. I wish all the animals there & in shelters or foster care everywhere could find loving, forever homes.

If you have room in your home and in your lives, please consider a shelter dog - they are so loving and grateful to you for adopting them and they can make the best pets! I know because ours came from rescue organization foster homes and there's none better!

Anyway, pop in from time to time for updates. I'm hoping to be able to finish this by the first of next week at the latest.

ACEO Painting Frenzy

All images copyright Jan Gibson

As you can see, I've been on an ACEO painting frenzy in the past few days. Most of these are watercolor with the little kitty being painted in gouache.

If I ever finish my new website or find the right online sales site, these may hopefully find new homes! No matter, they were really fun to do anyway and even if I never sell any of them, I don't regret the time spent painting them.

Just in case you're new on the internet or to art on the internet or have been on an extended vacation and have missed it, ACEO stands for Art Cards, Editions and Originals. The cards have become highly collectible because they are affordable art. The only rule is that the size be exactly 2.5 inches by 3.5 inches. This is the size of one of the sports trading cards and ACEOs will fit into those plastic pages with sleeves used for those sports cards. Many people put the filled pages into a beautiful scrapbook or dressed up binder and used it for a coffee-table book.

Other people frame their little masterpieces either singly or several in a frame and hang them on a wall.

No matter how you display the ACEOs, collecting them is fun and you can get the art you like at very reasonable prices. ACEO prices start at just a few dollars and climb into the hundreds depending on the subject and popularity of the artist.

These little cards are also additive to paint even though it's much, much harder to paint small than it is to paint large. I've had a running contest with myself to try to pack as much detail into these little paintings as I would a larger painting.

Sometimes I win - sometimes I lose but it's always fun!

Gouache It!

Rooster

Gouache on Paper
Copyright
Jan Gibson

Photo reference compliments of Daisyree Bakker, used with permission.

My granddaughter returned to Maine this past Saturday and I'm back playing with the gouache I bought. It works a whole lot differently on paper than on canvas and I'm trying to decide whether I like the difference or not. Of course, I'm using a cheap acrylic paper instead of the good Arches watercolor paper, but I wouldn't think the paper would make all that much difference. I've used watercolors on this paper with good results.

This rooster went quickly and more easily than the previously posted tulip. It may be that I'm a tad more used to working with gouache now but I really think it's the paper along with the fact that there weren't that many subtle color transitions in this rooster. I did notice that layering went better on the paper than on the canvas but the same can be said of regular watercolor. Both will lift more easily from the canvas than from the paper.

Right now, I don't see a lot of difference between watercolor and gouache except for the transparency. Since I'm a bit heavy-handed with watercolor, and have such a hard time with it, the gouache may be more my style. I'll just keep playing with it and see how it goes!

Still Kicking Lions - errr, On a Lion Painting Kick

Lion _ ACEO 2-1/2 x 3-1/2"
watercolor
copyright
Jan Gibson

I don't know what it is about painting lions lately but this will be my third one in about 2 months! Lions certainly aren't my favorite wild animal or anything but there is something compelling about them, isn't there?

I don't know how many of you remember watching Bob Ross paint on PBS, but if you do, then you heard him say to use "two hairs and some air" when blending. That was one of his stock phrases when he blended with that fat two inch brush of his!

I can almost say that this painting was done using about two hairs and some water! I like to paint relatively small, but it's so much harder to paint tiny and actually have it look like anything! This probably took as long to paint as a larger painting but it was fun.

The ref photo came from Wet Canvas and I think I'd like to paint a larger version of this guy. However, I think I'd use pastel the next time!

Lenten Rose and Who Are You?

"Lenten Rose"
Watercolor
copyright
Jan Gibson

This is what I painted yesterday. My husband really likes it (darkish background and all! lol) but it feels as if something is not quite right to me. Of course, I usually agonize over any watercolor painting and I don't know if it's that "watercolor doubt" or if something is really off with it. If you have a comment either way, I'd like to hear it.

I'd especially like to hear from those of you who visit on a fairly regular basis but never comment. Since I got the feedjit live traffic feed, I can see where my visitors come from but not who they are. At least now I know I do get visitors, but now I'm curious about them!

So, go ahead and comment and tell me about yourself. It's like that song from the Who that's played on CSI (Las Vegas) -"Who Are You? Who, Who?" lol

I'll go put the coffee on and you just come on in and make yourself comfortable. I like having visitors and may even whip up a batch of homemade blueberry muffins while the coffee is brewing!

Giraffe in Watercolor - WIP

Giraffe

watercolor
by
Jan Gibson

I've always had a thing for giraffes but don't paint them often. However, I've started another one and decided to post it as a wip (work in progress) here.

It's funny how you see all the little things that you don't see irl when you post online! I may need to start over as I see I didn't leave any "air holes" in the foliage! Well, there are other things too - good thing this is a wip!

Black Cat - OSWOA

"Black Cat"
watercolor
copyright
Jan Gibson

I've been hearing a lot lately about OSWOA's (Original Small Works of Art) and wanted to try one. Actually, the Japanese Magnolia that I posted a couple of days ago is an OSWOA but that was sort of an experiment. This painting was intentionally painted as an OSWOA and I was determined to paint it to the best of my ability.

One of the specifications for an OSWOA is the size - 4 inches by 6 inches. As a matter of fact, that's about the only specification other than the work has to be original - no copies or prints except for some very stringent rules for prints.

It's the size that I want to comment on though. Four inches by six inches is pretty small and therefore very hard to achieve much detail on them. I've done a few ATC's (Artists Trading Cards when traded with other artists) or ACEO's (Art Cards Editions and Originals when sold as original artwork to the general puplic) and it's extremely difficult. ATC/ACEO cards are even smaller than the OSWOA's at only 2.5 X3.5 inches and it's very hard to do them with the mediums I use. I thought the OSWOA's would be a little easier but it's still difficult to get a brush or a fat pastel pencil into such a small space and come away with something recognizable! Not only are the brushes/pencils almost too large for detail, but your hand is always in the way so you can't really see what you're painting!

So, I was pretty pleased with the outcome of the cat painting above. I belong to a group of patrons of my favorite pet store who get together once a month or so and this month we're having a small gift exchange. This kitty will be my gift for this occasion. I hope whoever gets it likes it and isn't disappointed at all. The plan is to put all the gifts (wrapped) into a large container and let everyone draw one out. So, no one knows who will get what gift. I debated about painting a cat. I know about the dogs everyone has, but somehow, the cats don't get as much discussion time. I didn't want to paint a dog as most everyone has a rescue dog or two who certainly aren't purebred and it would be almost impossible to please someone with a dog breed painting. And, not knowing who would receive my gift also made it hard to paint a specific animal. I actually wanted to paint a wild animal but figured I'd be safer painting a cat. We'll see if I change my mind and paint something else before the exchange! lol

But this cat photo spoke to me plus I wanted to try a black animal again to see if I could give it enough life to make it interesting. I'll let you decide if that's been accomplished!