May 31, 2012 June 1, 2012

I have set aside my Yupo for the moment. I stumbled on a photograph of a man with the biggest smile I ever saw. It was enchanting. As many of you know I am fascinated by faces and frequently do rough sketches from magazines and then make them my own. I usually am intrigued by one facial feature that catches my eye. In this case it was the crinkly, laughing eyes. I started thinking about what could make him laugh – he’s having fun – why? – he’s at a festival – what’s happening? – fireworks – shazam! I can use my abstract palette of pthalo blue, quin magenta and cad yellow to make it took like he’s watching fireworks. What fun!!!!!! Are YOU smiling?

Laughing man

May 29, 2012 May 29, 2012

I am getting ready for the exhibition/competition season in the Indiana art world. I just got back seven paintings from my framer. I think they did a GREEEAAAT job.  They are very good at throwing out ideas and introducing me to new framing materials (Aspen Moulding in Indy – I would recommend them with a score of 100%!) Here is the whole group:

My current crop of paintings “ready to go”

The frames are wrapped to protect them. I leave the wrapping on until they’re delivered to their first show. A closer view:

Do they look like they’re marching forward?

I really love this silvery, gold finish. I find it very attractive and sophisticated but I occasionally have a painting that screams for a plain black frame. Another close up:

Two of these are heading for the Hoosier Salon Juried Show judging and five to a 3 artist show at the Hoosier Salon Gallery in Wabash, Idiana that opens in June. I love the way they look! I’m a proud parent…

May 27, 2012 May 27, 2012

Memorial Day weekend in Indianapolis and looking forward to great things today. First the race. The coverage has already started – right now the topic is the dedicated fans that spend the night camping at the gates waiting to claim their favorite spot. Later the “Greatest Spectacle in Racing”. It is an exhilarating experience but after four or five times attending I decided that was enough. Now I listen on the radio while planting flowers. Our family is getting together later in the day. I have the responsibility for the fried chicken. Ymm-o!

Here is my final work based on the trip to NYC. I did this painting after returning home. It started out as my latest experiment with Yupo but as I worked I began to think about walking the streets and subway stations of New York about the rough surface and the colorful bits of paper, about the wear and tear of daily life and all the traffic. I think that comes across in this little abstract.

Underfoot

This painting was done in watercolor on a quarter sheet of Yupo and has a little of everything in it. Multiple layers of paint, at least three collage layers, some pencil, some colored pencil, some charcoal, all topped off with a touch of dry brushed gesso. I must have my mind on food – sounds like a sundae!

 

May 24, 2012 May 25, 2012

This is my final sketch from my trip to New York City. I made this one in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. It is graphite in my little Bee sketchbook. This sketchbook allows wet media but that is too much weight to lug around NYC – even using aquabrushes!

Temple of Dendur

This piece of history is displayed in a huge light filled room. I have barely hinted at the texture and carving in the huge old stones.

May 20, 2012 May 20, 2012

Another sketch from New York’s Central Park. This one is of the Belvedere looking across the Turtle Pond. This is an incredibly beautiful vista. I had to darken my original sketch.  It is amazing how light all of my sketches turned out. Bright sunlight definitely plays tricks with a person’s vision.

The Belvedere in Central Park

This is graphite in my 6″ X 9″ Bee sketch book.

May 16, 2012 May 17, 2012

This is the second sketch from my trip to New York City. I sketched this tower at the Belvedere  on Sunday morning. It was sunny and bright and the glare from the paper about blinded me. DUH! I was finally smart enough to move into the shade. I thought I had taken a photo of this but couldn’t find it so there is no comparision this time.

I sketched in pencil in the park but always had the intention to finish it in marker. I also added just a touch of watercolor to add soft background shapes and some texture to the stone walls.

May 14, 2012 May 15, 2012

I spent the last week in New York City immersing myself in art. Two whole days in the Met and visited the Frick Collection, the Whitney, the Cloisters and the Asian Institute. Can you imagine – 8 – count them! – 8 Vermeers and Rembrandts in less than 2 days. I was in heaven. We stayed on Times Square and also visited Ground Zero and the Lady herself (Ms Liberty). All this embellished by great food, the NYC Ballet and the Book of Mormon. Great week…

I was lucky enough to have about 3 hours to sketch in Central Park on Sunday morning. I did one sketch in the room earlier in the week. I will post my Central Park sketches later but here is Times Square from the room. First a photo.

Times Square

Then the sketch.

Times Square Sketch

Done with watercolor and markers. Oh yes – add MOMA to the list. I’m overwhelmed…

April 27, 2012 April 29, 2012

When I started painting seriously in 2007, I used primarily Yupo. I love the exotic, interesting effects it creates. I have been doing a lot of painting in my head lately. I have been trying to figure out if I can adapt the technique I’ve been for use with Yupo. The combination of technique (many layers of paint) and Yupo (no absorbancy) is a real challenge. I know it could be done with acrylic inks but I am not sure about watercolor. I decided to give it a shot on a quarter sheet and to use a square as my focal point rather than my usual circles. Here is the result.

Vintage 1

I called this Vintage 1 because a friend and I have been attending antique auctions recently. I have been thinking about old things… worn, rusted, scuffed…a lot like the way I feel these days. Anyway, I decided to use straight lines and a rounded square shape. The dots are made with bubble wrap and this painting has 2 or 3 layers. My usual paintings take about 5 or 6 layers of paint. I’m not happy that I have found a process but I HAVE taken that first step.

 

April 22, 2012 April 23, 2012

Good Morning to all my blogging friends. I have been going through a very dry spell lately – buried in one final tax return and administrative responsibilites for the docent program. I have not felt creative, just tired and worn out. When this happens, drawing or coloring seems to help rejuvenate me. Yesterday I decided to use a set of celtic stencils to create a postcard for my granddaughter who is out of town. I colored it with my Sharpie markers. I chose the colors carefully – green is her favorite color, blue is my favorite color, yellow is her mother’s favorite color and red represents her grandfather (not my husband – other side of the family) who is also suffering from cancer. I hope it looks interesting and cheerful. Like a family, all overlapping and woven together!

Celtic Design Postcard

 

March 31, 2012 April 1, 2012

My daughter had surgery so I have been caregiving and chauffering for a few days. I got back to artmaking on Friday. About once a year, I do a class for various non-profit groups that I call Watercolor 101. As all of you know it is expensive to acquire artmaking materials, especially if you’re starting from scratch. I started doing this class for organizations I support, so that people can have a hands-on experience with watercolor without buying any materials. I use materials that I have or materials that the Watercolor Society of Indiana has for Outreach Programs. I originally used a geometric design approach that I learned in a workshop given by Judi Betts. It works really well and generally a small watercolor can be completed in about 2 hours if I have the design predrawn on the paper. I used this approach in the background for this painting. I have my “students” working on a warm and a cool painting at the same time.

Apples and Circles #3 - The background approach was learned from Judi Betts

I want to have a second approach ready. It would need to be simple, straight forward and easy to paint. Also, it helps inspire future painters if the result is attractive. I have been pondering how to live life and what adds fun and value to life. I decided the pieces would have to have something living like a person or a dog as the focal point and that food and drink or nature seem to consistently bring enjoyment to life. I started flipping through magazines because I want the newbies to find three simple people or items in photos in magazines. The idea is to use tracing paper to do a rough, imperfect design from these perfect magazine photos. I did that and then did an initial underpainting using cad yellow, cad red and viridian. After transferring the design to the watercolor paper,  you paint in light washes, glazing to build up colors. With beginners I have found that it is good to finish by outlining with markers – it fixes many flaws and makes a nice finished piece. Here is my trial work – too complicated for a beginner but you get the idea.

WC 101 Exercise

I was fascinated by the idea of a very finished, business woman standing on a street corner eating an ice cream treat. I did not include the hibiscus in the original design but added them later to add color and to tie in the edges of the paper. My mind is focused on the words “Live Life” – how better to live life than with a lovely cup of tea or an ice crteam sundae? We’ll see where this goes…