May 24, 2010 May 25, 2010

Oh my gosh, has it been a struggle! This painting has really given me fits but I THINK it is done. I started it by working on a wet-in-wet background as part of my demo at the Broad Ripple Art Fair. I painted the entire thing and decided that it was flat and boring because I did not have enough variation in my values. Plugging away over several days I got that fixed but then I decided that the color was very blah so I’ve spent the last day working on that. I think the painting is about as good as I can make it. I find dark purples to be hard to bring alive but I’m learning. I am not unhappy with it and I thought about cropping and making small paintings of the parts I really like. But then I decided to leave it alone…it is a quarter sheet size and I really didn’t want to cut it down because I’ve done so many small paintings lately. Anyway, here goes…

Purple Iris, 140# Arches Paper and Transparent Watercolor

May 22, 2010 May 22, 2010

Horrible, busy week! Today I do my fifth tour of the week (at the art museum). Five tours and all different! I am also plugging away but not happy with my Iris painting. So now I will stop whining! So sorry…

I thought I would share another 2007 painting that shows how I incorporate my love of geometry. I did three paintings in this series. This particular one was one of the first paintings I ever sold. I still love this design concept (by the way, courtesy of Judy Betts) and am thinking about whether to use it again in combination with the florals I am currently fascinated by … ah, the wheels they are a’turnin’.

Apples & Circles #3

I hope to have something new to show Sunday or Monday. Hope everyone has a lovely weekend painting!

May 16, 2010 May 17, 2010

Last night I was reenergized and went back to the painting of Dogwood that I started at the Broad Ripple Art Fair. It has taken me most of the day (interrupted by one LONG trip to the grocery store) to finish the painting but I am pretty happy with it. Aren’t flowers a lovely thing to paint? They always put me in a happy mood – even when the rain has been falling all day and the dogs are bouncing off the walls. This painting is 9″ X 12″ and is on 140# Arches paper.

A Dogwood Spring

May 15, 2010 May 16, 2010

The Broad Ripple Art Fair was held yesterday. It is one of the largest Art Fairs in Indiana and probably the Midwest. They have 225 artists, 10 Galleries, four stages with live music, great food and a large kids area. It is held on the grounds of the Indianapolis Art Center where I take classes. I was asked to demo at the fair so for 3 hours yesterday afternoon I drew, painted, talked with families, entertained the young ones and shared ideas with visiting artists. It was a great experience. I had three watercolors “cooking” during the demo. I wanted to show that watercolor is not just pastel colors so I did the following abstract. I have been working on a series of paintings that use only primary colors since I started painting in 2007. This little guy is Primary Colors #8. I made some technical errors but you get the idea and it communicated my thought really well. Some folks were really surprised by the deep color and the use of watercolor for bold abstracts.

Primary Colors #8, Broad Ripple Art Fair Demo

I also had two soft, pastel, traditional florals going – a dogwood and an iris. I have the background for the dogwood fairly complete so I am going to show it but the iris is still in its infancy. It was really a great day.

Dogwood (in process), Demo Broad Ripple Art Fair

May 14, 2010 May 14, 2010

I spent the last two days mapping out the competition schedule for the balance of the year. It is time to register for the major competitions and I have to be careful about where I show my paintings since most of them forbid paintings that have already been in a juried show. Now that I have this planned I can begin working on framing those I know will need framing.  The only year I competed actively was 2008. In 2009 I took time to study drawing, color theory and composition. I made that my focus and I feel like I have shown improvement…and have continued to improve through more frequent practice, drawing and painting this year (and thanks to all of you for your inspiration comments and support). Even with the ATC’s I make myself think about composition and color selection. I would be in heaven if I have a work accepted by the Hoosier Salon or Watercolor Society of Indiana for their annual juried show this year. Very difficult indeed…but if you never try…well you know how the saying goes.

Now just a comment on my poor little neglected circles and triangles…I think I mentioned that I struggled for a couple of years to find a good way to combine geometric shape and prismatic color. Last fall I found a way that I think is pleasing. I have done five paintings in this series and I started small (5″ X 7″) so I could work on the concept and not get overwhelmed by the size. The first work was a circle and NOT my ubiguitous square.

Geometry #4

The design is pretty simple. Next I tackled the square. Again I kept the design straight forward and simple in concept.

Geometry #5

Then came the triangle. It took me at least 2 weeks of sketching possible designs to find one that “felt right” and looked balanced. This type of work gives me great joy. I hope your find it interesting.

Geometry #6

May 11, 2010 May 12, 2010

Crazy busy day yesterday! I found out yesterday morning that my grandson’s deployment to Afghanistan has been moved up to June 15th, so my daughter asked me if I could research flights and travel to Germany so she and Alex’s new wife can visit him before he leaves for a year. That’s done and now we are waiting to hear if he will be able to spend time with them if they go over. The unanswered questions are making everyone crazy.

An odd occurrance – shortly before I heard from my daughter I had just finished a little watercolor. I sprayed water, dropped paint and alcohol and named the painting Fire in the Firmament. I hope this isn’t a premonition.

May 10, 2010 May 10, 2010

Painter Linda SquareHead here! Do you think I’m obsessed with squares? Do you think all the poor little circles and triangles running around in the world are feeling left out? Do you think I need help?

After painting the two florals last week I needed a break from spontaneity. Even though I enjoyed painting these glorious flowers (no thanks to me…they sort of painted themselves!) I needed to do something quiet and rational so I went back to my squares. I used the same colors that I used in the florals because they are great colors and I call the little (7″ X 10″) painting Squares and Such.

Squares and Such

May 9, 2010 May 9, 2010

Well, have I been a busy beaver! I have been splashing, dropping, swirling, masking and, yes, even painting. I have been working with wild abandon – and my new painting looks like it! I am enjoying the deep, bold colors that I’m using but I think they got away from me here…oh well I had a tremendously good time painting this. It is small – just 7″ X 10″ but can’t you hear the wind roaring through the evergreens as the tulips sway in the wind?

Dancing Tulips

May 7, 2010 May 8, 2010

A rainy, blowy, cold morning. Yuk! This has been another busy week. Today will be my fourth day at the Art Museum. I am doing two Family Tours today and am talking about Animals in Art in the Asian and American Galleries. I have heard that the Family Tours are very enjoyable to do and they are only 30 minutes each. This could be a great experience!

I have been painting this week but not very productively. I have been working on an ATC of a Dinosaur toy that my grandsons used to play with. For some reason this one has not gone well. I even scrubbed it out and started over using the “ghost” image. I am about to scrap it and start over. I did finish a 7″ X 10″ watercolor of a Bird-of-Paradise that went reasonably well. I think it is interesting even if I am not totally happy with my original drawing now that I see it painted.

Bird-of-Paradise

This was really an exercise in splashing paint on wet paper to help me loosen up after my problems with the ATC. I used mask to help hold the shape of the petals. Really relaxing experience. And I went for BOLD color! Kind of a slam! bam! pow! painting.

By the way the new Asian rotation at the IMA includes some absolutely beautiful scrolls from both Japan and China. I am going back to try my sumi-e cherry and plum blossoms again. I am really inspired!

May 4, 2010 May 5, 2010

I have been “enhancing” American Square as I find time. To you it probably looks the same but to me it looks more balanced. I defined the edges and worked on the range of values throughout each color section. Anyway I am happy with the painting and am MUCH happier with this photo.

American Square

I took the photo outside in natural light and it solved many of the problems I’ve been having. Thank you all for your help and advice. Yupo is a very challenging surface to both paint and photograph.

I think am going to start a small floral today. Ken and two of the canine critters had oral surgery yesterday so I am nursing the sickies. I have so many prescriptions to manage that I finally had to write it all down. Isn’t the mind the first thing to go???