Lovely spring tulips to view

Easter Flowers - Fresh Tulips, Oil Painting and Watercolor sketch

The first of these three photo's is the original fresh tulips our daughter and family brought when they came on Easter to spend the day with us . I always feel so artistic / creative when I'm around fresh flowers. The next day with my oil paints (and timer) I painted this (the second photo) oil painting, hoping to capture the beautiful colors of the flowers in one hour. The canvas was some that I had left over from a previous painting project so it is an odd size at 8 5/8" x 3 5/8". Then yesterday I saw the petals were drooping a little more and realized that soon they would be just a memory, so I grabbed my sketchbook and watercolors for one last try at capturing the beauty of them , photo #3.

Recently I've been reading and seeing all the vibrant watercolors Schmincke has to offer. I think next time I'm at the art supply store I'll pick up a couple of tubes to try out. The watercolors I use (Winsor & Newton, Da Vinci, and American Journey)are so dull compared to the Schmincke watercolors I've seen ... although if used alone, with out doing any mixing, my watercolors do have some sparkle to them. Do any of you have a favorite brand of watercolors that you prefer to use or recommend?

Belle

Belle, 6" x 6" oil

After working on Belle a little more, I've finally decided this painting is as finished as she will ever be. The painting isn't perfect, yet I see the resemblance in her face. I think I've learned a lot by attempting to paint an animal in oil, but I'm ready to move on.

The Belle of the ball ....

I ran upon a photo of my daughters dog Belle the other day while looking through some photo's for something to paint. Belle looked like a perfect subject, laying so calmly in front of the carpeted stairs. I decided to use a square format so I taped off a 6" x 6" on my canvas. The reference photo is on the left and you can see I must have decided to take some artistic license here with the eyes looking a little strange and the head at more of a tilt than I had intended ... *wink. I didn't use a timer with this painting. At this point I've worked on Belle about 3 hours and I still need to do a little more work, but, I'm not discouraged. I'll do a few more touch ups then I'll go back to my 1 hour paintings.

Toni who has the the most wonderful blog, "A Spattering" ,where she shares so much, has tagged me to tell 5 things that others may not know about me. 

One thing that you may not know is that I love the Northwest. The cold rainy climate like that of the west coast of British Columbia is my kind of place.

#2. For about 8 years I never wanted to learn another medium other than watercolor. Recently I've developed an interest in oil painting.

#3. The majority of the blogs in my favorites has always been oil painting blogs.

#4. I love reading about the impressionists. Their struggles fascinate me.

#5. I have a very hard time throwing out anything, because I always think I'll find some creative way to use it. I usually find some way, but seldom get to the part where I actually do the project.

I think, since I've been tagged before, I won't tag anyone this time. But, if you are reading this, and have not been tagged before, please take the initiative and tell us a few things about yourself.

#11 & 12 1-hour paintings

I started the shell painting, #11 of my 1-hour painting's, using a

shadow box made out of an ordinary cardboad box and used a little desk lamp to shine onto my sea shell. My thought was that this will help show 1/2 of it in light and half in shadow. It may have done just that but as I started painting I once again forgot the steps I promised myself I would take with this painting. #1 draw the shell onto my canvas. #2 Fill in the lightest lights, #3 fill in the darkest darks, #4 establish the major shadows ... Oops, forgot this step! I just kept on painting and couldn't figure out why it wasn't turning out as I expected. I forgot to block in my major shadow shapes.

On #12, although it may not look like much to anyone else, it is a success to me. All I really have been wanting to do with these 1-hour painting is to make sure and BLOCK in the major shapes. Today I think I finally did that. It was a struggle the whole way. I had to remind myself with each brush stroke that all I had to do was block it in ... no added values or colors, just block it in. Success finally came. I blocked everything in. I can't say it was easy, it wasn't. I took me 50 minutes to achieve this. But I did it!

#8, #9 and #10 One-hour paintings

I am learning that I have a lot to learn about oil painting.


Each of these paintings are 5" x 7".
I thought my red Lamy Safari fountain pen would be a simple subject to paint, only to realize that I was concentrating on detail way too early, then when I photographed the pen I realized how important the brush strokes are in oil painting, all I see is glare because of the direction the stroke went. Anyway, I'm assuming that is the reason, because I see it when I look at the painting also.

#9 is a small wooden bird that I usually have sitting in my kitchen window. In this painting I forgot about the shaded side of the bird and didn't allow for the light that hit the birds head and part of his back. Only one of the issues with this one ... whats with the pink back ground. It was sitting on a white counter.

I was starting to be happier with #10, a fresh pear. Yet I didn't block in the shaded side like I wish I would have. And again with the brush strokes .... I eventually hope to paint in a painterly style, which has so much to do with brush storkes, yet when I'm painting I find I'm still thinking detail and color. Color mixing is not coming easy for me.

The last day of the month and I've completed 10 1-hour paintings. I think so far I'm content with working at the goals I've set out to accomplish.

I am working on my mailing list even though I've had major computer problems and had to completely start over with my address list because most were lost when the computer crashed. (I may have learned the hard way to back up everything) I should have it pretty well set up in an Outlook program before long.

#7 One hour painting

Oils are proving to be a bigger challenge for me than I thought they would. With each new painting, I have more question's, yet I know that the more painting I do the question's will probably answer themselves.

I thought this would be a relatively simple scene to paint, especially since I had painted it in watercolor some time ago.

Because I limit myself to painting each painting one hour only, (for at least 50 paintings) I may feel rushed and am not taking the time to make good decision's. I found that I didn't follow my own cheat sheets. Also, I didn't mix enough color for certain areas, then when I attempt to mix more, I end up making the wrong color choices. Tell me this will become easier with experience please...

The first photo is the oil painting. The second was my reference photo of a local scene and the last is a watercolor painted some time ago.

The oil is approximately 5" x 7". As you can tell I painted green trees 'cause I know trees are green. The trees were in silhouette and were just a dark image ... not green. I also find I'm concerned with my brush work. Should I be blocking in only, then covering with the more painterly thick oil paint? Now my oil paint hardly covers the canvas, when in reality I want a more thick paint in a finished painting (I realize that my time restraints are more than likely the problem there) .

Time to find another scene to paint.

2 more 1 - hour paintings

I decided to do an oil and a watercolor today, both using a photograph I had taken last year on the beach. It was a warm day, but on the gray side, with the wind blowing a little. This is the kind of day we see often. It is a rather unemotional landscape I think.

The first painting is a one hour oil. I was way off on my values of the tree's and bushes... well, the beach also.

I have decided I need to do my color charts if I'm going to continue to try oils. I can figure out my colors pretty well with watercolors, but the oils are a tough medium for me to use accurately and not "waste" the oil paint. Geesh, I'm wondering if they even make enough white paint, the way I seem to use so much of it.

The second one is a one hour watercolor. I definitely felt more comfortable. The finished painting may not reflect it, so I think it was just because I was use to handling the medium.

This bottom photo is my reference photo.

So, tomorrow I'll tackle some color charts.

It's proving to be an exciting start for my New Year

Since I posted my goals for this New Year, I feel a new excitement with my art. Being very happy with my watercolor's, I have never wanted to experiment much with other mediums, but, over the last 6 months I've gained a new interest in oil painting. I've been reading a few books on oils and with my New Year's goal of 50 1-hour paintings I thought oils would be fun to learn and if I did some of my one hour paintings in oils, I just might learn faster.

Anyway, that's my hope. These are four 1-hour paintings I've painted so far. Each of these are small, only 5" x 7 ". So far, I have not felt limited by the timer being set for the one hour like I thought I would. Given more time, I know I would do more to finish these small paintings, but I think I've done ok with the given amount of time.

Although I really want to paint more landscapes this year, I had these limes that I thought would make a nice still life. I just knew with my experience with watercolor's oils would be easy. After all, you can go back in and correct your mistakes easily right?

I am finding that with each oil I paint, I attempt to overcome what I felt was a mistake of the previous oil. In the first I should have cropped the image, and corrected or focused more on the shadow side of the limes. In the second lime painting (oil still) I remembered to crop the image when I drew my sketch but didn't do well with my values.

I enjoyed painting two different paintings of the same subject, so I decided to do two 1-hour paintings of a clove of garlic. I found this subject very hard to capture the correct values and the shadow side. There was a shadow side, but being so light, I had a hard time putting down the correct values. And with this first garlic, what's with centering it so well?

When I started the second garlic painting I thought first of all I would correct the way I centered it on the first painting and maybe set it at a different angle. When I was done I couldn't believe what I saw. The values are still
off and it didn't change much in placement. Go figure.

These have been so enjoyable to paint. I love the idea of the timer. I find it freeing and I think it is because I know I have an excuse if it doesn't turn out "perfect". What a concept! Also, I am really enjoying painting from life. And, I only have 46 more painting's to go for my goal of 50 1-hour painting's....... *wink.

New Year - New Goals

As you may have guessed by now, coming up with some artistic goals for the New Year has not been easy for me. I would go to bed thinking about them and wake up thinking about them, and every time I come up with a list of what I thought was a list of goals I'd soon realize was nothing but a task list! What do I really want from my art? How can I achieve this? And, what will keep me from giving up before I reach this goal? All questions I felt needed to be answered before I put anything down on paper that was substantial yet obtainable.

To have a goal it needed to be SMART so that I could/would stick with it. It needed to be:

SPECIFIC,

MEASURABLE,

ACTION ORIENTED,

REALISTIC, AND

TIMELY

I want to become a better painter, paint more landscapes 'en plein air, and share my work with others. So, these are (after some considerable thought) the goals I will achieve (note the positive attitude here ;-)

1. I will paint 50 one-hour paintings by July 1st. If I do more than that, great. These will be small paintings and need not be elaborate. I will set a timer and when the hour is over I will put away my paints. These need not be finished paintings. The object is to collect as much information as possible for my support (canvas or paper etc.) to help me "see" better as an artist. Each painting will be dated and numbered consecutively. At the end of these 6 months or if I complete the 50 before the July deadline, I will establish another timed and numbered goal. (I realize that this may not seem like much to some of you daily painters, but I am not a prolific painter and this will take me way out of my comfort zone.)
2. I will paint 12 plein air paintings for the year on my own. I will paint 'en plein air at least once a month on my own. Right now I belong to a “Plein Air” group that usually meets twice a month. This group doesn't always paint outside because of the weather here in the Pacific Northwest. During those times we paint inside from a still life or portraiture setting. This could be a pretty tough goal for me. If it's too wet, cold, or snowy for the group, finding a day that will be better for me on my own, may be a huge challenge.
3. I will keep and maintain a mailing list by December 2008. I will research how others are doing this and find what will best suit me. I will break this list up into different categories, so that I can send specific information to those who are on the list.
So, these are the goals I’ve come up with that think I will definitely benefit from. The first two goals will help me become a better painter, the next will help me share my work with others. I feel comfortable with the deadlines I’ve given each of my goals and I also feel these goals will be tough work for me and I will be stretched and grow as an artist, yet each is realistic and obtainable.
Yes !... I can accomplish these!

Crayon sketch

Here's the same ol' mug Ive drawn before.

There are times when I'm sitting in my recliner watching t.v. yet I still want to be drawing or painting, yet, I don't want to go into the studio right then. That's when I gather up my pack of 16 Crayola Crayon's and still get the color I want without using my watercolors. I love how they are so user friendly and clean. If you drop a crayon, no big deal, just pick it up. Nothing to clean up - as opposed to oils or watercolors that could do some damage to my chair, floor, table etc. Also, I love the availability of crayon's, and how well they travel if you want to carry them in your purse. Let's hear it for Crayon's!

I'm finished with the two bazaar's I wanted to try selling at this year. Although this was my first year selling at bazaars I did ok and gained some insight as to what I would do differently if I choose to try this again. One thing I really appreciate is that I had a good friend volunteer to come with me ... she was a great help in setting up and helping me through-out the events. You know who yours friends are when they are willing to sit all day with you in a crowded bazaar setting and help you set the stage with your wares, don't you?

The holiday's are upon us.....

I think you can always tell that the holiday's are right around the corner because the Christmas bazaars start. This last Saturday I participated in my first ever holiday bazaar. While I was a little frazzled trying to get ready for this it wasn't bad at all once I had enough prints, cards and originals complete and ready for the public. The only thing was that not a lot of public showed up.

This is a small 5" x 7" Poinsettia I painted in preparation of the holiday's.

This next one is a little larger. Approximately 6" x 18". I have cropped it in the scanner just so it is doesn't look that large. Both look so pretty in gold frames.

With my first bazaar behind me I am now concentrating on a commission I agreed to do as a surprise gift.

A full sheet in the works..........

Step one.. pencil lines and first washes

This is a full sheet watercolor I started some time ago. Just saying that makes me think I should write the date I start a new piece on the back. Not knowing the exact date, you should just take my word, it has been some time ago. The painting will be of the bridge to Harstine Island on a foggy day. The fog is pretty thick. You can't see much of the bridge or the Island. Only the beginning and some of the boat ramp this side of the bridge. In the first photo you see I have laid down a few very light washes of an indigo mix on top of my pencil drawing. At this stage, seeing the drawing on the paper, I wonder if the composition will work. It looked fine before I got it on the paper. The ususal self doubt is starting to take over.

Second stage - a few washes plus some large shapes.

In this photo you can see numerous light washes have been added since the initial drawing and washes, helping to give a foggy look to the painting so far. I have started giving shape to a few trees and the structure of the bridge. At the boat landing, this side of the bridge, I will need to pay close attention to so that it doesn't take on too much weight.

I'm hoping by posting these photo's and blogging about this painting, I'll start working on it. I have noticed before that after I start a painting those doubts come as to "can I paint this?" etc. I need to learn from this and just let the doubt come and then move forward ... after all it's only paper and watercolor.

Tuesday the 9th ...our bad weather Plein Air day

Sketch of Allen

I can never get my pencil sketches to look their best when I scan them .... but, doing the best I can by tweaking them in a photo program, this is what I was able to come up with. It turned out grayer than the paper really was and the small amount of color I used doesn't show, but I was able to keep most of the pencil line. This sketch was from the last Plein Air meeting I went to. When the weather isn't conducive to going out and painting we will spend the time to critique work that each of us bring, offering suggestion's, praise, etc. Some times if there aren't many of us we will paint after our critique ... working on something we may have started at another time. I had nothing that I was working on that I could bring so I chose to use a 9"x 6" sketch book and sketched a fellow artist. Fellow artist, Allen, was finishing up a painting he had propped up on an easel. He thought it was a pretty good likeness, so that was good enough for me.

Local Color

I love watching movies about artists!

Recently I saw the trailer of Local Color. Having only seen the trailer I think it looks like a good movie. Although I do not paint many oils I think it has a possibility of inspiring a lot of us artists.

PLOT: A successful artist looks back with loving memories on the summer of his defining year, 1974. A talented, but troubled eighteen year old art student befriends an elderly alcoholic genius painter who has turned his back on not only art, but life. I think it's due out later this month.

One goal that has yet to be accomplished.

As I look back over a few of the goals I made for myself at the beginning of this year I see that the enthusiasm I started out with doesn’t seem to last. One goal is to post more on my blog, keep it fresh and learn more of the tech stuff everyone seems to know but me. This seems to be such a challenge!

When I think of the blogs that I enjoy reading (and there are some great ones out there), I wonder how did they learn about widgets, rss feeds, alt tags, etc? How do they keep their posts full of enthusiasm and keep us coming back for more?

Although I am a watercolor artist, one of my favorite blogs to read is that of ceramic artist Cynthia Guajardo. I find her posts to be both informative about her work and her personal life – just enough, yet not too much – she even shares some of the technology side of blogging! Recently I stepped out of my usual field of watercolor and became a reporter... asking Cynthia numerous question's. Because she is such an inspiration to so many of us “blogging artists”, I’d like to share with you these queston's and answers with you.


An interview with Cynthia Guajardo

Nancy: First of all, thank you, Cynthia, for taking the time to answer these questions and allowing me to share them with others. I know you as a ceramic artist. Has your medium of choice changed over the years or have you always known ceramics to be the medium for you?

Cynthia: I always knew that I would love working with clay even before I touched it, however, I am absolutely seduced by other mediums. Every so often, I flirt with painting and I took 2 print making classes in college which I adored. In the end, the mediums converge and I have been exploring image transfer to clay since last summer.Nancy: What is the allure of clay?
It's a plastic material and able to be used to make virtually anything from functional pottery, sculpture and even jewelry.

Nancy: Did you receive formal education in the ceramic field?

Cynthia: Yes, I have a BFA from the University of Southern Maine with a concentration in ceramics. I graduated later than most - I was 38 years old when I finally received my diploma. To tell you the truth, my real education continues today as I work on my own with no benefit of an established, fully equipped studio.

Nancy: What part of the ceramic process do you enjoy the most?

Cynthia: I definitely enjoy the creating and making part of working with clay. Working with clay is physical; yet at the same time when I am in the zone, it's very meditative. I am pushing myself to concentrate on the glazing and decorating aspect of working with clay now that my forms are pretty solid. Glazing is often an after thought for many ceramic artists, but it is what makes the work spectacular in the end.Nancy: Where do your draw your inspiration from?
I draw my inspiration from so many places and people. I love architecture, nature, color and art history. I see patterns everywhere and am also inspired by the handmade movement happening right now. It's fantastic to make something knowing that a little piece of my energy is transferred to the recipient. When I see or touch an artist made object or art piece, I wonder about the maker which is a lot more meaningful than a mass production piece out of a factory.

Nancy: Are you inspired by other artists, if so, who?

Cynthia: I'm inspired by so many other artists including a painter that I did my internship with in college, Richard Lethem http://www.richardlethem.com./ At 70+ years old, he still paints everyday, teaches at the university and is vigorously pursuing show opportunities. I have also met a lot of really talented artists in cyberspace who I might never have met otherwise, including yourself.

Nancy: I admire how you have kept your blog looking new and fresh. Have you always been a "techy"?

Cynthia: Oh, God no! Just 6 years ago, I had to learn how to use a PC for the art history classes I was taking. I didn't even know how to use Microsoft Word to write a paper. That being said, I'm not afraid of technology and am able to figure programs out. What's the worst that can happen? Major computer Crash - oh wait that happened to me last year and I was so proud of myself bringing the old gal back to life.

Nancy: Can you tell those of us that are "technology challenged" how we might learn to take better care of our blog?

Cynthia: Well, that's the hundred thousand dollar question and I'm still trying to figure that out myself. I try to post at least 3 times a week with fresh material. I also try to keep up with new social networking sites that I think might be beneficial and interesting to me. I read a few other blogs and have learned a lot by looking at how other bloggers make it fresh and exciting for their readers. If they have a new widget, I check out the site to see if it's worth implementing. Most important of all, I respond to all the comments left on my blog and I reciprocate with a visit to the commenter's blog if they have one. My goal is to make it very easy to navigate my blog so that people aren't lost and frustrated.
I might add that I am never at a loss for words and I actually enjoy writing. I have a blog post in draft mode where I write ideas and add links for future posts. I have also added a tracking counter on my blog to see how people end up on my blog. It's important to add relevant tags to your posts so that people can find the information for which they're looking.I might add that many new opportunities have come my way since I started blogging 1.5 years ago that wouldn't have happened otherwise. It's in my interest to keep my blog alive since it receives so many more hits a day than my website does. Blogs are inherently dynamic whereas, websites are more static - both are, however, necessary in my opinion for an artist today.

Nancy: You keep your posts enjoyable and fun to read. How do you decide what to share about your work and life and is there a strategy to this?

Cynthia: I don't have any hard and fast rules about what to share. I am an open book at this point, though I do keep my husband, daughter and other family and friend's identities a secret for safety reasons - unless they have a public Internet presence. I also try to keep my blog PG-13 because my daughter sometimes reads what I'm writing over my shoulder and my mom reads daily. Sometimes, I wish that I did a better job at censoring my posts, because I'll write about almost anything. I will occasionally edit a post that I wrote the night before if it feels offensive. I don't know that there is a strategy per se, but I do think familiarity breeds recognition. And, that goes back to the initial impetus for starting my blog - to market my work to a broader audience.

Nancy: Thank you so much Cynthia, for taking the time to answer these questions. I know you keep a full schedule with your own creative work, family and now returning back into the work field. I know that myself and many others will be better artists because of the insight you have shared.

Cynthia: Thank you, Nancy for the opportunity. I enjoyed "talking" with you and reading your blog the past year.

Please if you haven't been to Cynthia's blog, you can see it here http://cmguajardo.blogspot.com/

Red Fall Leaf

This is just a fast watercolor sketch I did of a pretty red leaf I found while on my daily walk. The leaf on the left is the real one. I enclosed it in some packing tape and then adhered it to my sketch book, placing it next to the one I painted. Soon enough all the fall leaves will be gone ... only a memory, replaced with wind rain and cold weather.

October exhibit at the local hospital

Monday I hung some of my art prints at the hospital.

Our local art association is allowed to hang art in a 4' x 8' section wall in our local hospital and each month a different artist hangs their work for the whole month. Although the art is at one of the entrances, this is not the main entrance so I am not sure about how much exposure the art work receives.

Each time I hang my work, enter a different contest or sell my work somewhere I feel I learn so much. I need to be writing down all the information I gather from each new venue so that I can improve for the next time I try it.

Completed - Autumn Leaves

Autumn Leaves

For once I felt that I knew when to stop. I could have kept working on it by adding more color here or there, but I didn't ... and I'm so glad I stopped when I did. The colors are bright and vibrant just as I had wanted. Then, when I was happy with my colors, I added some water soluble metallic splatters and I think it adds to how I wanted to depict fall.

Autumn leaves

I had found some pretty autumn leaves on my daily walk that had fallen from some huge maple trees. They were so pretty I wanted to capture the colors before the leaves dried and the colors faded. In this photograph you can see the leaves are starting to emerge. These are not necessarily the colors I saw on each leaf ... but I thought I'd take come creative license here and just let the bright colors fall. I'll post my finished painting when I finish.

I love the fall gold and orange leaves that Toni Kelly

has one her blog heading. Tony is a wonderful watercolorists and calligrapher. She is such a creative inspiration.

Belated - Happy First Birthday ...

BELATED

Happy 1st Birthday

No one could be more surprised than I am ..... my blogs first birthday was on the 12th of this month.

This year has gone by so fast ... I remember I was nervous about starting my blog. I wondered would I find enough to blog about? Would anyone look at my blog? Would they post a comment?

My fears were for nothing. I've really enjoyed blogging. I love being able to share some of my thoughts on art and show my work to other like minded people.

To all my subscriber's, fellow blogger's, friends, family and collectors of my work ... thank you for sharing in my first year of blogging ... my I continue to keep learning and keep you interested in my work and creative endeavors.

Thank you, it's been a great first year!