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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 […]
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Nimishillen Creek: #5
I drive through Spiker Park three times a week, to take Norah to swim, or Winnie to dance. The West Branch of Nimishillen Creek goes through Spiker Park, and I drive over it on the way. Almost every time I do, I am struck by the strong contrast in the reflections on the water. When […]
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Ray Hendershot Exercise: Lighthouse #1
I have been absolutely stuck for the past few weeks. Every time I sit down to paint, nothing comes to mind. Nothing inspires me, I have no intention. But, just as an act of discipline, I paint anyway. The results are nothing to write about. It’s all very ugly, muddy, cliche… just nothing that I’m […]
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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 […]
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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 […]
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Buttermilk Falls: #2
I bought the game Parks the other day, and was inspired by the artwork in the game. The cards contain images styled after the WPA posters for the National Parks that were created in the 1930’s. I was enamored by the designs and imagery, so I decided to try making something that fit into that […]
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Buttermilk Falls: #1
When I think about the past, everything is either polluted with a frenetic purple anxiety, or it’s a soft marigold mist of peaceful contentment. There doesn’t seem to be any in-between. I don’t know if this is peculiar to me, or if everyone has such a bipolar memory, but for me it seems all the […]
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Reflections in Water: #1
The other day, I watched Joseph Zbukvic’s “Rural France in Watercolor” for the thirsty-eleventh time. I figure it was more expensive than any other movie I’ve ever paid for, so I might as well watch it over and over and over… I decided to try his water lilly painting. It came out fairly nice, though […]
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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 […]
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Poplars at An Imagined Stream: #1
I have long been inspired by seeing Van Gogh’s “The Poplars at Saint-Rémy.” When you see photos of this painting, it looks almost drab, and lifeless. I don’t know if the Cleveland Museum of Art recently had it restored, or if the photos just simply can’t do it justice, but the painting in real life […]
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Nimisila C-6: #22
I know, I know… be done with it already. The thing is… I went to the store today looking for a frame for painting 21. It turns out, they are having a big sale on custom framing. So I decided I would get a custom frame made for it. But the problem is, I don’t […]
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Nimisila C-6: #21
Darn. I’m genuinely disappointed. I hoped I’d be able to transfer some of the success I had at smaller versions into this larger format, but I feel like I ended up with a little bit of a junk drawer painting. I don’t want to write a whole lot about this, because I’m feeling defeated. After […]
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Nimisila C-6: #18 & 19
Well, one more go, and I think I’ll have accomplished what I’m after with the drafts. A process like the one I’ve gone through here is a big part of why I think people give up on watercolor. I have made 19 different versions of this painting here, (not to mention the slew of pencil […]
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Nimisila C-6: #15, 16, 17
This painting might be the death of me. This subject is a very important one to me, because of how much I love going to Nimisila Reservoir. It is not at all unheard of for me to finish work and head there just to paddle around. Or, to put the kids to bed and show […]
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Nimisila C-6: Study Review
I decided that before I start a new painting of these lily pads at the C-6 Dock at Nimisila Reservoir, I should review the paintings I have made so far. I realized over the weekend that I’m not painting the actual scene anymore, I’m painting some kind of analog of what I saw and felt […]
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Nimisila C-6: #14
Well folks, this is the last painting of my second year of watercolor! This is number 14 in my studies as I prepare for a painting that I’ll be making on a full sheet. I think I’m close, but I want to try again, with more wet in wet work in the peninsula, and any […]
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Nimisila C-6: #13
You know that famous saying, “The thirteenth time’s a charm.” Before I get into the painting, I wanted to show the sketch, and a little thing I did to my easel this weekend. Easel Hack I have this drafting compass from Rachel’s Pappy that I use all the time. I use it to measure something […]
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Nimisila C-6: #10-11
Dang. These are hard. Number 10: I didn’t bother to go back in and paint the flowers on this one because I knew it wasn’t going to be a finished version. I like the way the water is rendered in this one, but like all the others, the lily pads here are quite dark. I […]
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Nimisilla C-6: #8-9
I decided to try the painting of the lillies at the C-6 boat ramp at Nimisila Reservoir again today. If you want to see the evolution of this one, the first four paintings are discussed here, and paintings 5-7 are here. Nimisila C-6: #8… Yuck For this painting I wanted to try to focus on […]
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Nimisila C-6: #5 – 7
How? HOW?! How did Monet do water lillies so much justice? And how does Joseph Zbukvic achieve similar perfection in his paintings? I clearly do not know. I tried to paint the scene from Nimisilla Reservoir dock C-6 again today. I think I’m getting closer, but I’m still not entirely sure how to represent that […]
