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Master Study: Michal Jasiewicz – Part 1
A user on Reddit posted this image, asking how the artist (Michal Jasiewicz) achieved the effect on the distant cliffs. I am not sure how he accomplished it exactly, but I posted this as my best guess. I don’t know how they did it, but here’s what I would try. Forgive the over explanation, I […]
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Chickadee dee dee dee dee dee dee dee
I have always enjoyed watching birds. I’m not a “bird watcher” but I really do get a kick out of watching the greedy little bastards slobber at the bird feeder. I remember a field trip I went on as a kid. We went on a hike through the woods with a tour guide from the […]
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I’m Back
The holidays this year were really fun for me. I tend to be a bit of a homebody by default, so not having to go anywhere was actually pleasant for me. I really do miss everyone, and as much as I enjoy relaxing at home, I am sad that I didn’t get to see my […]
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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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Ray Hendershot Exercise-Stucco: #1
Continuing in my work through Ray Hendershot’s “Texture Techniques for Winning Watercolors” I worked on the Stucco Wall exercise yesterday. This exercise focused on using splatters of masking fluid, and splatters of pigment to create texture. I’ve used these particular techniques before, so I was pleasantly surprised to see how strongly these added to the […]
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Ray Hendershot Exercise, Fieldstone Building: #1
Yet another successful painting from Ray Hendershot’s “Texture Techniques for Winning Watercolors.” I was getting really down on myself recently because the paintings I was making were all turning out muddy and gross. This exercise helped me learn patience. The more I paint through this book, the more I learn about how to rely on […]
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Ray Hendershot Exercise, Clapboard Siding: #1
This weekend I decided I would take my own advice, and paint from the book. I decided to paint from one of the books that I have because trying to learn from my own failures has been pretty discouraging. I’m only about a quarter of the way through Ray Hendershot’s “Texture Techniques for Winning Watercolors” […]
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Datura Innoxia: #2
I have been painting. But I’ve been exceptionally bad at it lately. Out of the dozen or so paintings I have made in the past week or two, I have one that’s not sitting next to the firewood outside. (Watercolor paper makes a great fire starter by the way.) I’ll show you what I mean, […]
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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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TRuth Bader Ginsburg RIP
I was deeply saddened to hear that Ruth Bader Ginsburg passed away recently. My whole family celebrates RBG, we regularly play “I Dissent” an RBG-themed board game. We have a children’s book biography of her life that we have read several times. My youngest daughter even went as RBG for Halloween. I am deeply grateful […]
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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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Farm Road: End of Year 2
So… my second year of watercolor is over. As an attempt to measure my progress, I decided a while ago that I would paint the Farm Road painting each year. Last year, the results were pretty remarkable. When I compared last year’s painting to the painting I made when I first started, I saw a […]
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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: #12
This is my attempt to paint this scene from Dock C-6 at Nimisila Reservoir. If you are curious about my previous attempts… Attempts 1-4 are here. Attempts 5-7 are here. Attempts 8-9 are here. Attempts 10-11 are here. Number 12: OMG… I think I’m getting close. So I decided to try to follow the recipe […]
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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 […]
