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Lobelia Cardinalis: #1
This painting has been haunting my mind for years: This is by Oleg Kozak, a Ukrainian watercolor artist who unfortunately passed away in November, 2017. This man had the ability to capture light in a way that I haven’t seen in many other painters. I decided to try to look deeper into his paintings to […]
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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 […]
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Tufted Titmouse: #1
My friends Tyler and Shanti want a tufted Titmouse painting, so I went for it today. I didn’t bother taking any progress photos because I wanted to focus on the painting itself. I find that when I’m painting I get all worked up thinking about what am I going to write about on my blog […]
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Bluebird: #2
I have been feeling stuck in a bit of a plateau for a while now. I decided to take a break from painting for a bit because my lack of progress was troubling me. I then watched a video on YouTube that convinced me that I need to put more effort into understanding construction and […]
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Bluebird: #1
Ok. I have excuses. This is a painting of a bluebird. First things first: it’s awful. Ok. Fine. Now that the self defeatism is done with: what can I learn? Well, three big things jump out at me: 1. The composition is flat flat flat. I liked the effect I got with one of the […]
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Red-Bellied Woodpecker
The next painting in the series of bird paintings for my friends Tyler and Shanti is a Red-Bellied Woodpecker. I LOVE seeing this guy show up at my bird feeder, so I was pretty excited to paint him. One thing – in case you don’t know. The red-bellied woodpecker has a red head, yes. But […]
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Barred Owl: #1-4
My friends Tyler and Shanti asked me to paint some pictures of birds for them. I agreed to do so, as long as they agreed to just tell me that the final paintings were good, regardless of their true quality. (Kidding, I didn’t make them agree to anything.) The first (largest) painting they wanted was […]
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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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Self Portrait: #Something
This looks like a painting I would laugh at if I came across it in Magic: The Gathering. (Which I have never played, but want to.) The artist who painted this was clearly trying really hard, and clearly didn’t know where to start or what to omit, and as a result we have a sloppy […]
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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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Great Tree Off Cantongawa: #1
I am trying more and more now to find my voice. I look online and see paintings that I admire, and I find myself trying to paint like them. But, I don’t find much success with Joseph Zbukvic’s silvery greys. I am never restrained enough to implement Alvaro Castagnet’s flare of colors. I can’t get […]
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Depression: #1
I deal with chronic depression and anxiety. It’s a bitch. Recently, I decided I wanted to paint what I think it feels like. This is really hard to do, because depression feels different to me all the time. Sometimes, it feels like a wet slug on the back of my neck. Sometimes it feels like […]
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One Pigment Challenge: #1
I decided to challenge myself to paint something with just one pigment. If you want to join me, here’s the challenge: use one pigment, and one pigment only. That means the paint you choose must be a single pigment paint. You can use water, ox gall, masking fluid, whatever, but when you are finished there […]
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Market Heights: #1
Hey guys! I’m proud of a painting! I have been feeling pretty down about my paintings lately, because I’m not able to produce the paintings that I have in my mind. But… I keep moving. And tonight, the blind squirrel found a nut. Before I get into that, I guess I should show you the […]
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Back Yard: #1
I am regularly looking for something new to paint. When I want a new subject, it’s pretty common for me to get in the car, and drive out to look for something interesting. I end up in the rural areas around me, or at one of the reservoirs where I like to fish. The problem […]
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Master Study: Michal Jasiewicz, Part 2
I went into excruciating detail about my proposed process for recreating this painting by Michal Jasiewicz in the previous post. Today, I’ll explain how I took the lessons I learned from that exercise to try the painting a few more times, and experiment with different options. This was my first attempt. A few things I learned […]
