Tag: watercolors


Oct
2013

Fall Fairy in Watercolor

categories: Watercolor

fall fairy painting in watercolor

Today is a spectacular fall day with crystal clear blue skies and temperatures in the high 70s–not too hot, not too cold–just the way I like it. The leaves are just beginning to change colors and I can’t wait to see the show. All this fall goodness got me in the mood to paint something with a fall theme, so I whipped up this colorful fall fairy complete with a magic wand and pumpkins just waiting to be turned into Cinderalla’s coach. Now All she needs is some white mice to be turned into horses, and away she’ll go to meet prince charming.

This painting is based on a tutorial in Linda Ravenscroft’s book, The Fairy Artist’s Figure Drawing Bible. I’ve learned so many new painting techniques from the tutorials in this book. It was definitely money well spent.


Oct
2013

Asiatic Lily in Watercolor

categories: Watercolor

Asiatic lily

My daughter painted this beautiful yellow Asiatic lily during a recent mother/daughter painting session. We haven’t painted together in a while, so it was nice to have my favorite painting partner join me for an evening of painting, small talk, and pumpkin lattes. To create the background texture, she sprinkled sea salt on the paint while it was still wet. It adds a lot of interest to an otherwise very simple painting.

As usual, she completed her painting first, so I’ll be showing my latest painting as soon as I finish it.


Oct
2013

Pink Lilies in Watercolor

categories: Watercolor

Pink Lilies in Watercolor

Pink Lilies in Watercolor

The gorgeous gold tone on the flower buds and stems is green gold by Winsor Newton–one of my favorite colors. It looks fabulous paired with the pink and coral tones in the flowers. I painted the veins on the leaves with white acrylic ink and a Number 1 round paint brush. This painting is based on a tutorial in Fiona Peart’s book, “Vibrant Flowers in Watercolor.” It’s a great book for beginning–or seasoned–watercolorists. Watercolors and acrylic ink on cold pressed Acquarello Artistico paper by Fabriano.

Here are some close-up views:

Pink lilies in watercolor - closeup view

Pink lilies in watercolor--close up view


Oct
2013

Poppies in Watercolor

categories: Watercolor

poppies in watercolor

Keeping things simple today. No shading, no fancy watercolor tricks, just plain, solid color on a white background. The keep-it-simple (KISS) rule always works. This painting–which was inspired by a pillow case that caught my sister’s eye–is for my sister’s new home. She wants to add a touch of orange in every room, and I’m happy to oblige. I can’t wait to pull up a chair and have a cup of coffee with my sissy in her new kitchen.


Mar
2012

Delphiniums

categories: Watercolor

Watercolors on Acquarello Artistico 100% cotton paper by Fabriano. This is my variation of a painting by Wendy Tait.

My daughter, Greta, joined in on the painting session and produced this lovely version of the same painting using watercolors and Pigma micron pens:

Want to try your hand at watercolors? Pick up a copy Watercolor Flowers by Wendy Tait.


Feb
2012

View From My Studio

categories: Uncategorized

Nothing better than taking a break from painting to take in this view. I designed this patio, and my brother, sister-in-law, nephew, niece, daughter, and I did all the heavy digging, lifting, placing of bricks, and planting. It was lots of work performed twice a year–spring and fall–over the past three years but the results have been well worth the effort. It’s fun watching my five dogs play or just mill around the garden while I cook or paint. Plus it makes for some awesome photo ops of my dogs (more on that later).


Feb
2012

Experimenting With My New Tools

categories: Watercolor

The first thing I did when I unpacked my art supplies was to grab a sheet of watercolor paper and start experimenting. I wanted to try out my tools to see what they could do. So I grabbed a cup of water and a couple sheets of paper towels, picked up a paint brush, and got down to business. It wasn’t long before my daughter, Greta, joined in.

So we stood there at the breakfast bar at 9:00 pm, still in our work clothes, and played. We tried wet-on-wet techniques (wetting the paper before paint is applied), dry painting techniques, using the paint straight from the pans or tubes, mixing colors, layering colors, adding ink details after the paint dried, adding ink first and applying paint afterward, layering multiple washes of paint, and lifting sections of paint with paint brushes or paper towels. Here’s the end result of our little play session:

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