What's Coming in 2017!

My calendar is beginning to look pretty booked up for 2017.  Starting in January, I will be traveling to a few places I haven't been too in several years,  January through October, I will be teaching several classes & workshops that I am really looking forward to.  Subjects include: Watercolor, Screen Printing, Paper Collage, Abstract Acrylic, Gelli Printing and more!  Plus I will be taking a few workshops this year as well. I love to learn new things.  It's going to be a fun, productive year!

Image is of a gelli print I made a few years ago. These make the most awesome backgrounds for greeting cards, art journals, ATC cards, etc. 

Busy Day in the Studio

While vegging out at the Marriot-Springhill Suites-in Oklahoma City for the past few days, I was able to get in some great study time.  The Art of Watercolor magazine had some pretty amazing artists featured in the most recent issue.  I found several techniques to experiment with when I got back to my studio.  Mixing walnut ink with watercolor pigments was my favorite and the results were compelling me to try more pigments.  It also lead me to experiment with mixing plain watercolor pigments of darker values with my routine palette for some interesting color play.  Love the beautiful dark gray I got mixing Burnt Umber with Cobalt Blue.  

Sharron Bell's Crystal Workshop

I had the privilege of attending a workshop on how to paint crystal this past Saturday and I finally put on the finishing touches yesterday and removed the masking.  When I heard that Sharron was going to teach a workshop on crystal I was intimidated at first, but knew I wanted to attempt a painting.  Sharron provided us with an exquisite photo for our drawing and I got creative from there.  After transferring the drawing onto my watercolor paper, I proceeded to paint in the darkest of darks to establish my values.  I used a permanent black acrylic ink than masked out the few white areas I wanted to retain.  The painting was done during the workshop and I finished it yesterday in my home studio.  The background was originally too busy so in order to focus all the attention on this beautiful crystal, I chose to darken the entire background except for one streak of purple which helps to ground the image and lead the eye to the focal point without being distracting.  Sharron's workshop was very interesting and it has inspired me to get creative with my own crystal still life for the future.  Thanks to everyone who made the day very special, who provided us with a catered lunch and for the Sandy Senior Center for allowing us to use the facilities on an off day. 

Welcome to the Artistcellar Blog Hop!

It is my privilege to participate in this current Artistcellar Blog Hop and Thank You for joining in on the fun.  I hope you have had a chance to visit all the other blogs on the list of participants (see below if you missed one!) and I hope you left comments along the way to be entered for a chance to WIN this amazing stencil set!  If you leave me a comment before midnight, Oct. 31st, I will enter your name in my drawing as well.  Please be sure to leave me a way to contact you along with your comment.  (If I cannot contact you, I have to disqualify you and I want everyone to have a chance at WINNING!)  Please visit the Artistcellar website to view many more designs and get your creative Mojo on!  The other Participants are:

Oct. 25^th – Lisa Cousineau (Artistscellar) Official Start Date of this wonderful Blog Hop!
Oct. 26^th – Effy Wild
Oct. 27^th – Lisa Chin
Oct. 28^th – Cheryl Sleboda
Oct. 29^th – Paula Phillips
Oct. 30^th –Cindy Powell (YOU ARE HERE)
Oct. 31^st –Cecilia Swatton

My technique for using Cecilia Swatton’s “Kaleidoscope Series” of stencils involves something unusual.  It involves the art of watercolor.  Much like acrylic painting, watercolor is a fascinating medium in that it is usually transparent and can be removed. 

 

In order to design backgrounds in a free form painting, I like to incorporate a variety of techniques but one of my favorites is removing paint through a stencil so that it leaves an imprint of the stencil behind.  (Similar to a ghost image if done correctly) 

 

Since I am using a 140 lb. watercolor paper I must be careful not to scrub the paint off, but gently remove it with a slightly damp sponge.  If the sponge is too wet, it will seep under the stencil and create an undesired effect.  (Just like too much paint on your brush). 

Another way to remove watercolor from the paper is to use a baby wipe, but these are moist towelettes, so if using them, this process needs to be done carefully.  Moisture from the towelette will seep under the stencil, but if you blot it on a paper towel first-like a sponge, it can be used with wonderful results.

 

I have used Cecilia’s stencil collection for many art projects including of course the Gelli Printing Plate to create background pages for art journals.  I won’t go into details as there is an over abundance of information out on the web about this topic.  But I will give you a tip:  I paint a lot of paintings on some of the most fabulous papers, but, not every painting is a keeper.  I never throw them out; I recycle them into awesome art journals by applying acrylics & stencil patterns over them.  Once bound, they become books full of ideas for future projects and experiments.

Whatever medium you use, stencils can add such interesting depth to your work, so I hope you will give this a try in your art journal or fine art piece.  Experiment and have fun with these unique stencils by Cecilia.  Don't forget to leave me a comment below to be entered to win one of these wonderful sets.  Or browse the Artistscellar website for more designs.

My Passions

Most of you know that I have been studying the art of watercolor for several months now, I think it's going on like 9 months and I'm still overwhelmed with all the information that I have yet to devour.  LOL!  I recently purchased a video of Soon Young-Warren's painting water and have watched it several times now, trying to get a feel for the methods she uses in her own work, while incorporating a few of my own tricks along the way.  I haven't been sharing any of these paintings with you only because they were either not good enough, or barely good enough to be juried into a local show.  I have 2 currently hanging at the Sandy Senior Center here in town for our Spring Show-2014 and one waiting to see if it will be juried into the UWS Spring Show in Provo this year. 
Anyway, this little painting is of a photo I took of a koi down in the pond at the Flamingo Hotel in Las Vega, and using some of my mixed media techniques, I was able to get a pretty good likeness of the real fish.  To do this again on a larger scaled painting will be the challenge! 

Kandinski Circles

I recently found a new project that inspired, motivated and relaxed me all at the same time!  Kandinski Circles.  I painted these with watercolor but you could color these easy designs with just about anything.  A great art journal project or a wonderful way to spend a rainy afternoon with the kids.  They're simply circles drawn inside of circles and colored in.  When drawing these move your hand to the end of the pencil and loosely move your wrist to get some interesting shapes/circles.  Follow up with crayons, watercolors, pencils, markers, acrylics, etc.  Relax, listen to music, talk to friends, and just have some fun!

Happy Holidays!

Wow! Ann Blockley's Latest Book!

I had the privilege of reviewing Ann Blockley's newest painting book and I wish I had this amazing book a few months ago!  It is the perfect book to motivate and inspire anyone who is interested in incorporating mixed media materials with watercolor.  The instructions allow you to experiment on your own with plenty of ideas to get you started.  Ann Blockley shares plenty of her beautiful paintings throughout the book along with her observations of how she accomplished each technique.  Her goal was to explore the many possibilities of incorporating various ways to achieve her desired effects and she has succeeded. 
A must have book for those painters wanting some inspiration and motivation to branch out and explore on your own,  This book will enable you to  create paintings that are uniquely yours using supplies that you can combine with watercolor.  Techniques that will give you individual results.
If you are an intermediate watercolor painter, or want to learn more about this media, click the link in the sidebar to get this book today.  Even though I was able to review this book without making a purchase, I bought the book!  It is a must have and I have already begun experimenting with mark making using tools I already have! 

Please note-I am an affiliate of Amazon and I do receive a few pennies for every book you purchase via the link.  It adds up and allows me to purchase a book or two each year.  So thanks for clicking on....

What have I been up to?

It certainly has been awhile since I've posted to this blog.  I've been super excited to learn the ins and outs, pros and cons of painting in watercolor.  I've been trying to take this knowledge a little further and incorporate some mixed media textures, even some other water media such as gouache, air brush pigments and my all time favorite, acrylics.  I've been working on a variety of paintings in order to experience the full effects of watercolor and I've made some headway. I finished this one in time to enter it in one of the local shows.
"Angel of Grief"-11"X14"- 140# Arches watercolor paper, watercolor pigments, custom textures.
Image is from Wikipedia, CC license, image is of the statue at:  Stanford University, one of many copies of the original in Rome.

I'm still maintaining my photography blog but a little behind in posting there also.  I'll be catching up soon.  I have another photo op later today.  With live models this time! 

Learning Something New

Watercolor painting is something I have taken up and put down so many times over the years that I lost track of how many times I've attempted to finish just one painting. Well, I am challenging myself to pick it up again.  I read some very interesting books recently, such as: "Watercolor-The Spirit of Spontaneity" by: Karlyn Holman and another book by the same author: "Watercolor without Boundaries" plus a few others written by various authors.  Anyway, what I learned was I was approaching this medium from the wrong direction.  Being a painter most of my life, using oils & acrylics, I finally figured out that watercolors are done using the opposite approach. You start with the lightest color in your palette and build up the color, instead of creating the background first and moving forward to the final layers.  So, anyway, without going into to much detail, let me just say, the light-bulb went off and I finally feel I might be able to actually finish a painting.
I've spent the past 6 months creating a series of acrylic glaze paintings and poured acrylics, that using what I learned with these thinned paints, should help me to better master the right combination of water with paint.

This is the photo I took while in Las Vegas this past week, with the plan of creating a watercolor from the image.  Not a typical tourist photo, but I love these faded colors and the reflection from the pool is amazing.  There was a duck in the fountain, creating these wonderful ripples.  This is a patio bar outside of Caesar's Hotel & Casino on a day when it was a comfortable 74o.  Loved it!

Watercolor and Digital

I decided to try my hand at watercolor painting again and on the left is the original doorway.  I struggled with this but learned a lot about controlling the amount of water and having the patience to let it dry, naturally.  (I do need to hunt up another hair dryer to speed up this process!)  I also want to try using different brushes for better control of the paint as well.  When I taught the Chinese Brushwork workshop a couple of years ago, I was amazed at the control the Chinese brushes allowed me with the inks, so I will give them a try next time.  Anyway, when I removed the painters tape, one whole side of the painting tore away.  I wasn't sure how to respond other than to gasp!  Oh no!   But the more I look at it, the more I liked it.
So-I  decided to scan in the painting and see what I could do with it digitally.  The new version is on the right and I have to admit, I really like the adjustments I made to this.  By brightening up the colors, it really popped.  Since this was just a play session, I didn't print this out, nor will it be for sale, but eventually, when I get much better at this, I hope to have prints available for purchase on another blog.  I will be offering some of my digital prints for sale soon.  :-D

Learning Watercolors

I have been wanting to learn watercolor painting for years but it is very frustrating to me considering I've always been an Oil and Acrylic painter.  With watercolor, control is a big issue for me and I like having control.  After gathering up a few supplies that I would need to do some experimental painting-I sat down and just played with the water to paint combinations.  I started with making some washes.  Well that was OK, but I have a long way to go with that.  Then I tried my hand at painting some bricks.  LOL!  Those ended up being the fence on the left and the red lines on the right!  It's a good thing that I'm a mixed media, altered art artist or these would have ended up in the trash!  I had fun for a few hours-I learned some valuable lessons about watercolors and how they act and I learned that I want to keep at it as time allows!  As in everything, it takes practice!