BRUSH-PAPER-WATER BLOG

I'm happy to announce that my work is being featured over at Chris Beck's "Brush-Paper-Water" blog!  I consider this a huge honor.
Chris makes me look good!  Go take a look at what she has to say on both her blogs!
"I'm Painting as Fast as I Can"
"Brush-Paper-Water"

SUNLIT TEAPOT

For the background I decided to do some “wallpaper”. A friend brought over some wallpaper samples and I reduced one of the patterns, then traced it onto vellum, then copied it onto 2 pieces of paper, then overlaid it on the painting, then traced it onto the painting, then miskited it, then applied 2-3 layers of yellow paint, then removed the miskit and then added the slight shadow behind the table edge and – voila!!!! This shows the miskit still applied.

Sunlit Teapot, Casein, 20x16

And, finally, here is the almost completed piece. I’ll live with it until I’m sure it is finished, and then will use 3-4 layers of varnish to complete it.

TEAPOT - 3

Sneaking up on those shadows in the roses, and adding some color to the "not lace"!  Also more color to the pot an some of the reflections painted in.
After the demo I received an email from someone who told me she tried to paint lace the next day and it was the first time she had been successful - due to the fact I talked about  painting "not lace" - it helped her understand negative painting!  That was cool!!

The roses pretty much finished, lace finished, and a bit more color added overall.

And, by the way - today is September 2 - my birthday!  "Happy birthday to me"

TEAPOT - 2

Second layer of washes - beginning to work on the handle, top. reflections, roses, lace.
You can see a light raw sienna wash on the lace, and a slight blue on the edge of the drape of the lace over the edge of the table.
Added more yellow to roses and began some shadowing of the roses.  In retrospect, wish I had NOT begun the shadows now.
I believe this is how it looked when I began the presentation to GCWS.

BLUE TEAPOT - START

Here is the start of a teapot in casein. This was part of my mom’s tea set which still has the sugar bowl, but the creamer must have long since been lost or broken.
I had a demo about casein to give to the GCWS at the beginning of August, and decided this would make a good photo to work from – lace and roses and a solid reflective surface!
I enlarged the photo and marked my reference spots onto the board and then drew in the rest. The centers of roses are just sort of squiggles that make them look like roses, and lace is, well, get a few of the open areas dead on and our eyes tell us “look – lace!”
blue teapot

Here is the first wash.

GREATER CINCINNATI WATERCOLOR SOCIETY AUGUST MEETING

On Wednesday, August 4, I gave a presentation about casein to our watercolor society.

I don’t think people realize what goes into making a presentation, unless they have done it. A couple of weeks were spent in getting 3 paintings ready to demo, in addition to some info to pass out, and something to work on for the w/s following the program. And, not to mention having to load it all into the car, from the car to the building and all back again in unbearably hot and humid weather! Thank goodness my casein paintings are lightweight and portable!  And thank goodness there were kind people there who volunteered to help - namely Les, Jean, Ritzi, Rhonda, Sally, Jo and Jane!

And then there is always the concern – a la Sally Field – “will they like me, really like me?”

I had started two paintings to work on and brought one to start so I could show the group how I typically (not "always"!) begin my paintings, whether working in w/c, fluid acrylic or casein.  Rhonda was kind enough to snap a few photos with my camera, so here are some photos of yours truly hard at work!  (Unfortunately she seems to have left off the "Raquel Welch" filter and therefore I'm not really sure who that gray haired older woman is in the photos).

First up was the beginning of a bromeliad which I had drawn out.  I wet the board and applied water and paint for my start.

Next I worked a little bit on a painting of daffodils and fruit, which I have previously painted in fluid acrylic on canvas.  I showed the group how I paint apples, pears and bananas - in preparation for the afternoon w/s.

Then on to my tea pot.  I showed them how I painted in the rim of the pot to achieve a golden ceramic color; then I painted some lace for them - again in preparation for the afternoon w/s.

Last but not least, here is a photo of a portion of the group.  We usually get 40-50 people at each meeting; sometimes the summers a few less since people will be travelling on vacations then.

I received many favorable comments on the demo and w/s afterward, so even though it was a long day, it was also a very rewarding day.

For a few photos of the w/s after the program, go to Rhonda's blog, her August 5th post!

CASEIN DAISIES - 2

I added some more greens, then drew in the design and misketed it, then added some purple.
After assessing the darks and lights, I added some indication of flower petals, added a bit more green and purple here and there; then per a suggestion from a friend, I added just a touch of orange here and there along the design lines. I then added a touch of the orange in the flower centers.

The colors are a bit gaudier than I normally paint, and it is much looser than my normal paintings - but it shouts “Spring!” to me!
After the painting was completed and signed, it was varnished.

CASEIN DAISIES -1

I like to pour watercolor and fluid acrylic and decided to give pouring casein a try.  My idea is a photo reference of some daisies.

Once I sprayed the canvas and added the paint, I really liked the way the flowers just sort of appeared – and, other than the pencil lines that I followed for the background design, there are no pencil marks on this painting.

DEARBORN COUNTY REGISTER NEWSPAPER ARTICLE

I was pleased to see a feature newspaper article about me that ran in our local paper. You can click on the link here or on my sidebar if you are interested in reading it!

http://thedcregister.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4182&Itemid=106

A correction would be that I was in the Georgia Watercolor Society Member's Show and the Richeson International Still Life & Floral last year.

Casein Still Life (Part 5) - TEA WITH THE CLASSICS

Or maybe - not quite!
After looking at this picture a while longer, I decided the cloth was too white, so toned it down a bit.
Now – is it finished???

CASEIN STILL LIFE - Part 4

Finally I added dark to the background and did something I have not done before – used some actual black – half-tone black – along with dark blues and put plastic wrap over it for a texture. Well, I’ve used plastic wrap on other backgrounds and liked that, but this time it didn’t work! Totally YUK!

So I had to repaint the background – it’s darker than I had planned but I’m not unhappy with it and besides, what else can I do????

After living with it a few days and getting some “friendly critiques” I tried to soften the lace edge on the left side and added a bit of dark to the books on the right hand side to lose that line of the binding going off the page. I also added a touch darker shadow under the saucer and under the top book onto the bottom book.

Then, the name. My first idea was “Tea With Hank and Bill” but decided that was not serious enough, so it’s now called “Tea With the Classics”.

By the way, the books were my mother’s. She was an avid reader and actually read Shakespeare! The date in the frontispiece of Longfellow is 1902, and the Shakespeare must be equally that old – and the pages are bound upside down in the binding! I’m guessing she must have bought them at a second hand store when she was a young woman working in the “city”.

At any rate, I think the painting is done – what do you say?

Casein on watercolor board, 14x18

CASEIN STILL LIFE - Part 3

Added the tea cup and saucer shadows as well as shadows under the books and then added some brown below the shadow marks on the lace.

Then I began adding the words to the books. "Longfellow" went on well, but when I looked at the blue book I couldn’t read the words I had traced, so I took a white Caran d’Ache crayon and rubbed it on the back of the words and re-traced them. (I used my computer to find the fonts that looked like those on the books, typed the book names and printed them out).

Then I realized I didn’t have the words at the correct angle, so I “erased” them from the painting, but in doing so I rubbed out some of the blue paint (you will note that little lighter smudge at the top of the book binding if you compare it to the last post). In the past I would have been really upset with myself, but I know now that sometimes these little “mistakes” can actually add to the painting. I decided to leave it alone and re-do the words once again.

Now I’m kind of happy with that mistake – I think it makes the book look even more old and worn.

CASEIN STILL LIFE - Part 2

Well, after looking at it I think the shadow areas are too dark, but that may change as I add my darks so will overlook that for now.

I painted in the books and shadows on them, trying to keep the worn look of the books.

Still liking it at this stage, but unsure of the shadows.

CASEIN STILL LIFE - Part 1

In continuation of my still life set ups previously posted . . .
Sunlit Pears – January 1, 2008 and July 5, 2008
Sunlit Pears 2 – January 16, 2008 and May 6, 2008
Roses and Blue Fiestaware Pitcher on Quilt – March 12, 2008
Grandpa’s Shaving Mug With Roses – March 26, 2008
Bag of Apples – May 30, 2008
Pears and Lace – July 22, 2008
. . . here is another casein painting. In order to try something a little different, this painting utilizes casein emulsion in some areas to get more of an “oil painting” look to the painting.

Since I thought the cup would be the hardest thing to do, I began with it, then the flower. I was worried about how to do the book pages, but they were actually easy – just used a flat brush and swiped it along in the direction of the pages using yellow ochre. Then I added an indication of the worn edges of the binding with raw sienna “smooshed” on. Last I added areas of shadows on the lace.

I’m very pleased with the start of the painting.

Create Better Paintings (we hardly new ye . . . )

I was saddened to learn that the web-zine “Create Better Paintings” published by Jennifer King, will no longer be published, following the January issue. So, before she closes the website (www.CreateBetterPaintings.com) go over and take a look at it. She had articles from so many well known artists and the concept was great.

Here is a list of watercolorists featured there, and that is just the tip of the iceberg of talented artists whose articles were published – myself included! (Not implying that I'm talented, but I was truly honored that she accepted my article on casein –“Cay-What?” October, 2008).
Dana Brown - Soon Y. Warren - Christopher Leeper - Paul Jackson - Carla O’Connor - Charles Reid - Linda Doll - Judi Betts - Stephen Blackburn - Skip Lawrence - George James - Alex Powers - Birgit O’Connor
There are also many talented oil and pastel painters, too.

Jennifer - I will really miss the magazine and your professionalism. Good luck with all future endeavors.

CHALLENGE PAINTING

This is the first time I’ve done a painting to the specifications of a “challenge”. This one was to include one or more of the following: wood, a shoe, a sphere, something yellow and something from the refrigerator. Got all but the frig item. It did not win an award, but overall I’m pretty happy with it.

“Quick Change”, 16x16 Ampersand aquabord with casein.

On Line Article!

I have just had an article about casein published in the "webzine" www.CreateBetterPaintings.com. If you are a member of the site, you can log in as a member and read all about it!

If you are not a member and are interested in reading the article, send me an email and I'll send you the info about how to log in!

Painting Lace

This is another in my casein series of lace, fruit, flowers, etc. using some of my grandmother’s things. There is one more in this series planned, if I can just get the picture figured out and drawn!

I do enjoy working in a series. Sometimes the series is planned in advance, but sometimes it dawns on me that I’m doing a series without realizing it. I’ve got several paintings composed of roses, peonies, pears, that I didn’t really realize until I sat down and looked at my digital photos the other day. Well, DUH!

Anyway, I’m very pleased with the lace on this one. My husband said I have the cup, etc. too high, there is too much lace. Well, gee, this was planned to be “all about the lace”. I took the coffee cup which appeared in my original photo and redrew it shorter and wider to become a tea cup, and made up the rose patterns on the cup and saucer.

Even my Darling Daughter (my harshest critic) whose normal critique always consists of “needs more detail” said “Looks good, lots of detail.” And my husband’s final comment was “you have raised the bar” – which I think means that I’m improving (maybe?).

Hope you enjoy looking at the “in progress” photos.

Pears and Lace, casein on watercolor board, 18x14

Art Events

This painting, Sunlit Pears 2, (Casein on watercolor board) - (previously featured on my blog) - was accepted into the Woman's Art Club of Cincinnati 115th Annual Juried Exhibition. I feel it is a strong painting and was thrilled when it was accepted into the show, even though it did not win an award.

They had 275 entries and only accepted 58 artworks - having seen the exhibition list, I'm in some very good company! A friend of mine had both of her paintings accepted into the show, and she also sold one! (I’m so happy for her!)

The show is the inaugural event at their new Woman's Art Club Cultural Center, 6980 Cambridge Avenue in Mariemont, OH, and is open Thursday-Sunday through May 18.

In addition, Greater Cincinnati Watercolor Society opened our annual spring show which will continue daily through June 15 at Evergreen Retirement Center, 230 W. Galbraith Road, Cincinnati, OH. I’m happy to report that all went well from registration to opening – since I was the Chairperson this year!

The painting below is one of the paintings in the GCWS show - Frank's Apples, watercolor on Arches, and I have received several favorable comments on it - that the apples look freshly polished, that you could reach out and grab one and give it a bite! That certainly makes me feel good about it!

If you are in the Greater Cincinnati area, hope you get a chance to stop by both of these shows!

In addition, tomorrow is our Greater Cincinnati Watercolor Society monthly meeting and we will have a nationally recognized, award winning artist - Steve Blackburn (www.learnwatercolors.com) - to present our program. Steve has a unique miskit and paint pouring technique that he has perfected and he creates some amazing paintings. I’m looking forward to seeing him again. I have attended 3 of his workshops (so that should tell you what I think of him!) He’s an amazing artist, great teacher and all around good person.

I’ll be bringing one of my students with me to the meeting. Her name is Valia and she is from Russia, having moved here in the past year with her American husband. She paints in acrylic and oils and wants to learn watercolor – she has a lot of talent! She is eager to meet new people and wants to find artistic outlets in the area so I thought it would be nice for her to come to one of our meetings, and get to see a great presentation, too!

Casein - Applies in a Bag on Lace

This is my most recent casein picture – and my husband paid me a very high compliment – he said he didn’t think I could improve on it! Wow, very high praise indeed! He even commented on the depth in the shadows – perhaps he really is “Mr. Art Critic”!

I like to paint in series and apparently I now have a “thing” for lace and fruit – hmmmmmm!

It’s good to be painting again and, even more good news – finally got my Kodak Easyshare to work – only 3 calls to Kodak (read that 3 hours on the phone) and the receipt of a CD from them – but it’s working – thank goodness!

And – the best news – my husband bought a laptop and one of those wireless cards – which works on my computer also. So I now have semi-high speed internet – hey, anything over 24.0 bits per second is fast (yes, that’s correct – 24.0) – so if I get 200+ I think I’m flying and it’s already been up to 500+. I can even see videos! Hallelujah!

Apples in a Bag on Lace, Casein, 16x20