Category: Water Color
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Surowicz Rocks: 4.23-4.28
Here are my renditions of exercises 4.23-4.28 from Rick Surowiczs podia Rocks and Water. There is a surprising amount to discuss regarding these exercises. Pedagogy I love the way Rick laid out these lessons. At first, I played with a full painting by doing value studies. Then, theres a wax on, wax off moment where…
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Surowicz Rocks: 4.21-4.22
This is exercises 4.21-4.22 from Rick Surowiczs Podia Rocks and Water. It strikes me as I type this up that I might need to get Ricks permission to post these. Im going to post this, and then ask him-hes responsive on Facebook. My concern about that is that someone might stumble on these and decide…
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Surowicz Rocks: 4.12-4.19
This is an exercise from Rick Surowiczs Podia Rocks and Water. In these exercises, the top row focuses on mixing warm and cool washes, the bottom focuses on those same color variations, but now the focus is on value. Lessons I learned: Stop Stabbing I didnt notice until I was doing this that I have…
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Surowicz Rocks: 4.3-4.10
Above are the mixing exercises from Rick Surowiczs Podia Rocks and Water. These exercises are admittedly basic. So much so that I almost skipped them. But, Im a student. I want to get better. And if I want to improve quickly, I should be a good student. That means I need to trust the pedagogy…
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Mohican Covered Bridge: #1
Its absolutely gorgeous out today, so I went to Mohican State Park near Loudenville, and painted the covered bridge. On my way out, as I walked across the bridge, I passed a park ranger, so I gave this to her. It took a lot for me to paint this outside because there were a ton…
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Surowicz Rocks: 3.4 – 3.5
After discussing a bit about composition and source selection, as well as materials, Rick Surowicz starts the lessons for this course by having you create a value study and a color study. I have never done a value study in watercolor before, I have always done them in pencil, so this was a big lesson…
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Surowicz Rocks: #1 (Before)
I purchased an online workshop offered by Rick Surowicz, whose YouTube channel has been very helpful and inspirational to me as I try to learn to paint. Rick Surowiczs Podia Rick Surowiczs YouTube Channe Before I go through the workshop, I decided to give the painting a go, as a pre test. I want to…
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Mites, mud, and a microscope.
I spent a glorious day yesterday outside with my dog Lego. We fished in my inflatable boat. We walked through the woods. She sat while I painted a church. We drove for an hour and a half through Amish country to my favorite camping grounds. And, she lolloped through tall grass as we climbed a…
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Back in the saddle…
I went out today to fish, but it was really too windy for my boat, so I decided to do some Plein Air painting instead. I drove around looking for something interesting to paint and found this church on a corner in Berlin. I set up my easel on a patch of grass in a…
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Self Portrait Charcoal: #1
I took two weeks off of painting. During that time, I dedicated time to learning a little bit about drawing. I have no desire to specialize in figure drawing, but I do think I can learn a lot about painting by learning how to draw. There are a few things I learned are important, which…
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Reilly Method Infographic
I have been trying to learn how to draw, and I came across the Reilly Method, which is sort of a middle ground that help go from the Loomis Method to see the Asaro planes. You can Google those terms if they don’t mean anything to you. I really like the Reilly Method, probably because…
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Drawing Exercises
I am a little over halfway through my two week break from watercolor painting. I keep having to force myself to stay away. I decided to use this time to work on my drawing. I havent focused on drawing much largely because I get frustrated by how bad I am. I want to draw from…
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Sunset Road: 1 & 2
I realized that Im stuck in a bit of a rut as far as my paintings go. I think part of the reason Im stuck here is because Im trying to do too much, and Im listening very closely to my inner critic. In my mind, as I paint, there are a slew of teachers…
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Plateau and Failed Paintings
Progress in anything Im familiar with is marked by improvement curves and plateaus. Im in a plateau right now with my watercolor. I wonder if its because I have been trying to learn by watching many different painters and trying to grab what lessons I can from them all. Maybe, learning this way is the…
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Mark Sargents Flat Earth Model
The only Flat Earther I am aware of who has proposed a mostly working model is Mark Sargent. Mark Sargent says we are living on a flat Earth, and all of the things we see in the sky are projections on a solid dome. Beyond this dome is undefined – the sum total of our…
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Plein Air-McKinley Monument: #1
I have been wanting to get outside and try some Plein Air painting for a while. Ive been so busy lately that I havent had time to get out, so I decided to prioritize it today. I need some sun, and some stillness. I drove to the McKinley Monument and set up. I started with…
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So it Goes: #1
Kurt Vonnegut wrote about the Tralfamadorians a lot. They are an alien race in his books, and one thing that always interested me about them is that they live freely in time. They compare the human experience to being on a train car in an iron suit thats bolted in place, with a helmet that…
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The Ravine: #6
I like this sooooo much more than #5. It still has a way to go, but Im happy with this for now. I was watching videos of Joseph Zbukvic painting, and I came across one of a painting that captured a lot of what Im after in this exercise, so I tried to follow along.…
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The Ravine: #5
Im still trying to get the feel of my memories of the Ravine communicated in a painting. It turns out, nostalgia is tough to paint. Especially when you arent feeling particularly nostalgic. I really dislike this image, and hesitated to post about it, but Im trying to be good about posting the progress. My hope…
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The Ravine: #5
I wanted to try the Ravine again while the lessons from my last attempt were fresh in my mind. And – you just cant leave the driving range on a worm burner. I didnt bother with a value study because I wanted to paint this one from my last attempt. One of the things I…