ACCEPT AND REJECT . . .

The good news is that my painting "Farmall" (fluid acrylic) has been accepted into the Georgia Watercolor Society National Exhibition!

On the flip side, the bad news is that, once again, I've been rejected from another national show. 

Oh, well.  I consider that my entry fee is my contribution to Art, and it will help fund an award or workshop there, so it's going to a good cause.

Art gets a lot of my cash throughout the year.  Hope "he" appreciates it and spends it wisely!

I . . . AM . . . NOT . . . A . . . ROBOT . . . . . . .

What the heck is up with these stupid Blogger word verifications all of a sudden?  It was bad enough before when you looked at them, but at least only one word was required to be deciphered.

Now - two.  And it takes forever to figure it out, and of course each time you "miss" there is another jumble to look at.

I'm starting to feel like I'm playing the lottery - when the page says "your comment has been saved . . . " I expect to see little cherries flying around and I'm so happy I feel like jumping up and dancing a jig.

Good grief - is spamming REALLY so bad that we need to use an eye exam just to post a comment on a blog? 

"Is that an l followed by a d, or a b followed by an l".  Gee, I dunno - YOU figure it out.

We should all band together and inundate Blogger with emails and texts and tweets and maybe an actual phone call and have this stupid and probably unnecessary verification withdrawn.  Hey, it worked for all those Verizon customers who got extra charges taken off their bills, maybe we should try it!

Until then,

(I was going to insert a scan of some of their gibberish - but now the scanner on my printer doesn't work - even though I've scanned plenty of stuff in the past - jeesh - COMPUTERS).

ABSTRACTED LANDSCAPE - FINAL

I had meant to get more photos in between beginning and end, but forgot!!!

You can see here the vibrancy of the colors I used, but there really isn't much punch in this painting.

After I added in black lines to outline each shape, you can see how different and vibrant the painting looks.  Certainly not my usual colors (what's up with that!). 

I probably should not be so dark in the orange part of the sky area, but, oh well.  This was a demo.  Overall I'm happy with the outcome and I think the students impressed themselves with their final results!

ABSTRACTED LANDSCAPE - 1

I had a landscape class to teach and, since I'm not really a landscape painter, I admittedly was a bit worried.  It finally came to me that there was no need to paint a "real" landscape, but we could abstract it!

Above is my photo reference.

Below is how I defined each area.  You can see the clouds outlined as well as the trees, which were defined for each tree.  The original photo obviously didn't have much in the way of color or separation in the tree area.  I broke everything down into a simple shape - the clouds, the reflections, the land mass.

AND THE WINNER IS . . .

My husband is taking me out to the local tavern to celebrate Valentine's Day - wow, aren't you all impressed!   Actually, that's fine with me, they have great hamburgers, he can have a beer, we will probably see someone we know, they have yummy real home made soup (made literally at the home of the lady down the road and carried to the tavern in big pots!) and I don't have to get dressed up.  Plus, I don't have to cook!

Now - on to the meat of this post - time to select the winner of the note card giveaway.  Well, guess not too many of you folks like my paintings since not many of you posted your favorite.  (Can I have some cheese with this w(h)ine!)

So those of you who did enter had a great chance of winning!  Didn't take long to pull a name out of my hat -
and the winner is . . .

Susan Roper

Susan - please contact me with your address so I can mail your package of note cards - which will include the "Secrets of the Geishas"!!!

Thanks to those of you who did enter to win!  Maybe next time.

FREE GIVEAWAY - COUNT DOWN

It's not too late to win the FREE GIVEAWAY drawing on Valentine's Day - just go back over my blog and pick your favorite painting and then let me know which it is by posting a comment.
I've only had a couple of comments so far - Are my paintings that bad???  I'm starting to get a complex . . . .
Here are the "rules" again:

In order to win this one, a packet of “Specially Selected Notecards from Watercolor Originals by None Other Than Deb Ward” (ha, ha!) here’s what you have to do:

1. Go back over my blog and decide what your favorite paintings are!
2. Then leave a comment with that info. (You can even comment on why you like those particular paintings).
3. If you prefer to remain “incognito” just tell me and I won’t post your comment, but you will be eligible for the giveaway.
4. I’ll draw the winner on Valentine’s Day!!!

So, come on all of you Potentially Lucky Winners! Pick a painting, leave a comment and . . . . Good luck!

FREE . . . . GIVE AWAY . . . . . .

FREE . . . . . GIVE AWAY . . . . .
. . . . . I thought that might get your attention!

Haven’t given anything away for quite a while, and thought this might be a good time!

In order to win this one, a packet of “Specially Selected Notecards from Watercolor Originals by None Other Than Deb Ward” (ha, ha!) here’s what you have to do:

1. Go back over my blog and decide what your favorite paintings are!
2. Then leave a comment with that info. (You can even comment on why you like those particular paintings).
3. If you prefer to remain “incognito” just tell me and I won’t post your comment, but you will be eligible for the giveaway.
4. I’ll draw the winner on Valentine’s Day!!!

  So, come on all of you Potentially Lucky Winners! Pick a painting, leave a comment and . . . . Good luck!