JOSHUA ELEK: WATERCOLORS

Category: Composition

  • Gesture Practice

    Gesture Practice

    A big part of my recovery is focused on doing things. I spent a lot of time trying to reset by taking time away from things, and just slowing down a bit. Now, part of my next steps are getting back into things, though I’m trying to do so without putting so much pressure on […]

  • Farm Road: End of Year Four

    Farm Road: End of Year Four

    This year I posted fewer paintings than any of my previous years. There are a few reasons for this. First, I painted less. I spent a good bit of effort this year on practicing drawing. I tried learning more about perspective in particular, because I want to be able to depict the things I’m trying […]

  • Proko Challenge: Landscape #5

    Proko Challenge: Landscape #5

    I wanted to write up each Landscape thumbnail that I painted, but I ended up needing to dedicate the time to the challenge itself in order to finish on time. I am very pleased with the results that I got from doing this, and I think I’ll be working thumbnails like this into my workflow […]

  • Proko Challenge: Landscape Thumbnails #2

    Proko Challenge: Landscape Thumbnails #2

    This is the second post about the Proko Landscape Thumbnails challenge. The challenge was to submit five landscape paintings, each 2 inches wide by 2 inches tall. I started this painting off wanting to paint trees in the distance using wet-in-wet. I tend to do this often, but in my mind, there is this technique […]

  • Proko Challenge Landscape Thumbnails: #1

    Proko Challenge Landscape Thumbnails: #1

    Proko has a challenge going right now, and I decided I would try to enter. I hope I can finish in time. The challenge is to paint 5 thumbnail landscapes. They can be painted in any medium, but they must be 2” x 2” large. The biggest focus of the challenge is to learn how […]

  • Nostalgia Blossom: #1

    Nostalgia Blossom: #1

    I have decided to take a brief two week hiatus from watercolor. I think a small break will help me bump past this plateau I’ve been stuck at for the past few months. In the meantime, I’ve been working on some other creative endeavors. I think by exploring other media, I’ll improve at watercolor by […]

  • Crappie Weather: #1

    Crappie Weather: #1

    I have been wanting to get out and go fishing for quite a long time, and this past weekend, I finally did. The ice has thawed, and they are letting Nimisilla fill with the ice melt. So, on Saturday, I dropped my kayak from the ceiling, loaded it on the car, and drove to the […]

  • Buttermilk Falls: #3

    Buttermilk Falls: #3

    I hate this painting. No… I loathe this painting. This painting actually made me mad at it when I was finished last night, because I knew it was ruined as soon as I laid down the first wash in the sky. I kept going likes dummy, hoping it would somehow fix itself. It didn’t. I […]

  • Spiker Park Bridge: #1 & 2

    Spiker Park Bridge: #1 & 2

    I drive through a park on my way to drop off Norah at swim practice, and I pass the same park when I take Winne to dance class. After we cross a small bridge, I like to go straight where Rachel turns right. Every time I do, the girls tell me not to, because they […]

  • The Tree You’re Looking For: #2

    The Tree You’re Looking For: #2

    I decided that I’m sick of painting the same kind of thing over and over. Or rather, it’s not that I’m sick of it, it’s that I am stagnated because I’m always doing the same thing. So I decided to try something abstract. Ok – what a righteous failure. Yeah. It’s awful. it says nothing, […]

  • Wave Crash

    Wave Crash

    Ok … GUYS! I’m proud of this one. That means if you don’t like it, shut up. Because I’m fragile. Call me a snow flake, a wuss, whatever. I don’t care. I just know that I like this painting, and I almost never actually like my work. If you tell me why it sucks, I […]

  • Collette’s Happy Place

    Collette’s Happy Place

    My mom has a friend in Arizona who wanted a painting of a photograph that her daughter took of a place where she likes to camp. It was a challenging photo, but I’m pleased with the final results. The photo is beautiful, and a really interesting composition. This is very different from what I normally […]

  • Barn in Walhonding: Studies

    Barn in Walhonding: Studies

    I think I’ve learned my lesson by now… before I paint, I need to study my subject. And, what’s the point of doing all these studies if I don’t take the time to reflect on them to better evaluate what I’ve learned by doing them? That’s the purpose of this post – I want to […]

  • Fundamentals of Composition: Rule of Thirds

    Fundamentals of Composition: Rule of Thirds

    Easily the most challenging thing for me is composition. I have to hunt and peck, twist my shoulders and cross my eyes in order to find a composition that’s interesting and occasionally beautiful. I look out at the world around me and see beautiful subjects, unique subjects, intriguing stories, but capturing that in a photo, […]