FAVORITE BRUSHES

We all have our favorite brush, don’t we! Mine used to be an Isabey sable, 1 in. flat. (Now I do still love it, but use it for my caseins and fluid acrylics).
Some years ago I was searching for inexpensive but good brushes for students and came upon the Ebony Splendor brushes (sold at ASW and Jerry’s). When I saw them in the catalog I didn’t hold out much hope, but when I got them and tried them I was really happily surprised. Since that time they have become my primary brushes and are what I recommend to my students. Due to their low price, when they become “scraggly” at the tip, I don’t feel compelled to hang onto them the way I would with a more expensive brush, I just throw them out and buy a new set – for the cost of a single brush! And if I happen to lose one, I’m not upset! You can get a set of either 3 flats (1/4 in., ½ in. and 1 in.) or 7 rounds – each set about $17-18 (of course the prices have gone up – mine were in the neighborhood of $12.99!). They are also sold separately. (And if you are counting – there are only 6 of the rounds in the photo; somewhere along the way I’ve lost one of the smaller ones).
I also like this Cheap Joe’s American Journey #8 round which was a gift to me – it’s got a great point.
Another one I like is this Black Velvet ¾ in. 3008S flat by Silver. It’s made of squirrel hair and black synthetic, but very soft and really holds a lot of paint. I purchased it at the Chicago Art Expo last year upon the recommendation of Karen Vernon. I can’t remember the price, maybe in the $20 range?
Some of us swear by sable, others like synthetic. Anyone care to share info about their favorite brush – what kind is it and why do you like it so much?

NEW SUNFLOWER PAINTING - Part 2

At this point I began putting in some darks. I used my greens and ultramarine turquoise for the dark. And this time, unlike last, I worked around the painting so one side wouldn’t get too dark compared to the other and hopefully I wouldn’t get bored with it!

And then, I decided to turn it - and I like it better!

Here is the completed painting – which I’m happier with. I managed to keep it lighter and cleaner.

Sunny, 15 x 22, watercolor on Fabriano Artistico 140 CP

NEW SUNFLOWER PAINTING - Part 1

Let’s try this again!
I used my same drawing and value study; just removed the leaf and pushed the bottom two flowers up a little.
Once again I began with the miskit pour and then poured hansa yellow, quinacridone gold and Indian yellow.
On the second pour I used the same colors plus vermillion hue.
After the miskit was removed I poured some greens and yellow and blue - the greens I used this time were sap and hooker with some ultramarine turquoise added.
At this point I’m happy with the pastel-y and light colors I’ve got.

GIVEAWAY PAINTING WINNER!

As you will recall, the rules for this giveaway were to leave a comment on my blog during the month of August and each comment would give you one chance to win an original painting. (I can hear all the ooooohhs and aaaahhhhhhhs right now!)

So –
I typed each person’s name onto a sheet each time they commented.
Then I cut them separately and folded each in half and put them in a bowl.
Then I swished my hand around the bowl and pulled out one name.

And . . .

The winner is . . .









VICKI GREENE!!!

I couldn’t believe how appropriate this is – since Vicki is always giving something away on her blog!

Congratulations Vicki! You need to contact me (dwardart2@yahoo.com) with your address so I can mail you your “prize”????

Right now I won’t say what that prize is so you will be surprised (I hope you will be pleasantly surprised – otherwise you are allowed to toss it into the trash at any time!) Then you will have to let me know you got it so I can post it (or you can!) for all the world to see!!

P.S. This is being given away on MY BIRTHDAY (blue sapphire, in case you would like to forward an exquisite and price-y piece of jewelry!!!!!) Just thought I'd share!
P.P.S. This is also being given away on MY ANNIVERSARY - 32 years! - (Elder purple in honor of my husband all these 32 years!!!)

SUNDAY DRIVE

It’s always an adventure to take a Sunday afternoon drive with my husband. (I did check to make sure the gas gauge was above half!)

I keep a small tote bag full of maps for the region in MY car – 3 states, Cincinnati and N. KY, and all local counties. Of course, he decided all we would need was the Indiana map and the Yahoo map he had printed off and then he tossed the bag back on my car and we were off (in HIS car)! And, of course, once we got going, he decided that he would ignore the Yahoo map and just use the Indiana map and not even remotely go the way the Yahoo map said to go.

All was well until we got to a town we’d never been in and the map said go straight only that would have taken us into a parking lot! So we went left a ways and then turned around and went the other way a while and then came back to a gas station and my husband (MY HUSBAND!!!) got out and asked directions! (No, I’m not hallucinating, this actually happened!)

We followed the directions well until the “Y” in the road with the sign pointing right to Milhausen and my husband unerringly went left toward Brownsville!!!! A sudden brake check and reverse and we were back on track. We got to Westport where there was a Dairy Queen with only ice cream products – no burgers! and no bathroom! – so he got a malt and me a delicious Mocha Moolatte! – and we were finally back on the Yahoo map route (yippee).

But don’t get too excited yet! We were looking for 850 S or some such of a number – out here in the rural areas you get numbers like CR S 800 W. I’ll translate for you – County Road South 800 West. Yep, no wonder we get lost! (In a local town Eastern and Western Avenues intersect!) Well, these numbers went from 800 to 1200 – oops – so we turned around and found a little church with a shady spot and pulled in and my husband got one bar on his cell phone and called. We were told to look for “either 1100 or 1400” about a mile down the road! Hmmmmm . . . . imagine my delight at actually locating 1400 “about a mile down the road.” Then we went to a church at the “T” in the road and “then turn left to the second farm on the right.” (And people think we live in the boonies!)

Once our business was taken care of it was back to civilization and a late lunch (and bathroom!). After that we continued on our drive but on roads we were familiar with – until we missed another turn, but we realized it pretty quick and turned around.

It was a nice day and kind of fun.

Next time, though, I’ll pack us a lunch!

IXNAY ON THE UNFLOWERS-SAY

Here is a grouping of sunflowers. This painting started a bit differently than the previous single sunflower (posted on June 19 and 21).
After getting my drawing ready, I went ahead and transferred it to my paper and then began my pouring – rather than pouring and then transferring the drawing. Colors used were hansa yellow, quinacridone gold, hansa yellow deep, Indian yellow, cadmium orange, vermillion, organic vermillion, sap green undersea green, jadeite (some Daniel Smith, some DaVinci). My browns were various combinations of the oranges with the greens. Other than that, the process was the same – as you can see by the progression of photos below.
I am not happy with this one and will try again. It is just too dull – I totally lost all my vibrant colors. My husband liked it, though! So maybe he will like the next one I do, too!

Above - got too brown too quick and - below - way too dull!

VIEWPOINT

I hope some of you have clicked onto the ViewPoint information on the right side of my blog and downloaded your prospectus! This is a national show sponsored by the Cincinnati Art Club and this year it is being supervised by me. Hopefully all will go well!

If you have any questions about it, let me know. If you do enter, good luck to you!

CRISIS!

I couldn’t breathe, my heart was pounding, my eyes welling up with tears – I was in full blown panic mode.

“Why?” you ask.

I thought I was out of Daniel Smith Indanthrone Blue*.

I had:
Antwerp blue
Blue ochre
Cobalt blue
Cobalt teal blue
French ultramarine
Genuine azurite
Genuine lapis lazuli
Lunar blue
Manganese blue hue
Phthalo blue
Prussian blue
Smalt genuine – Daniel Smith and Winsor/Newton
Soldalite genuine
Ultramarine blue – Maimeri
Ultramarine turquoise

Even Payne’s gray!

“Check again, check again” my brain cried. So I did – and, lo and behold, there it was. How did I miss it the first time?

Oh well – once again my heart rate is slow and steady, I’m taking full breaths and able to see clearly again.

All’s right in my painting world!

* Those of you who know me know that I pretty much cannot paint unless I have Daniel Smith Indanthrone Blue and Quinacridone Gold on my palette! So you would understand how upset I truly was!

NEW COMPUTER!

Sunday was a very looooong day – spent purchasing and having my new computer installed. Thank goodness for a friend who is a computer expert!

I want to thank all of you who weighed in on Mac vs. PC, but PC won due to the fact it is less expensive and I’m totally used to them. It will take me a little while to get used to the keyboard, etc. – but it looks quite dashing I think, since now I’m all color coordinated in fashionable black – the keyboard, monitor, mouse and tower!

Also purchased a new printer; my current one is getting bad on the b/w but still very good on color. There just wasn’t enough time in the day to get the new one installed, but when it is I’ll be putting on my “computer repairperson hat” and diving into the old one to see if I can get that b/w to print better (knowing the new one is waiting if I totally screw up!)

So, I’ll be getting used to some of the Vista features, the odd feeling of the new keyboard and mouse (feels kind of plastic-y compared to my old one) and having a few odd “Kodak moments” - apparently the folders I had didn't transfer, so I've got lots of "albums" just by date rather than by subject - that will take some getting corrected, guess I'll just have to work on it as much as I have time for, beginning with my newer photos first. Gee, I just love all this extra work!

But at least I’m functioning – and quicker too - not at lightning speed like you folks in the city, but at least faster than it was.

BATIK FLAG - Part 2

The red stripes have been waxed and the blue background (French ultramarine and indanthrone) has been painted in. I liked the area where the red had bled into the background – happy accident! I think it made more unity in the painting.

As you can see, I use a styrofoam plate for my palette when working in this technique.

After the blue dried, I applied the wax to any portion of the painting that was uncovered. After all of the wax was dry I crumpled the painting so that the wax broke apart. You might want to do this step holding your painting directly over a wastebasket!

Rather than using Sumi-E ink as some artists do, I mix up a dark, or black, with my watercolor paints. For this particular piece I used Maimeri Terra D ‘Ombra (burnt umber), Winsor Newton raw umber and Rembrandt Brun Van Dyck (Van Dyke brown), each mixed with some Daniel Smith Indanthrone.

Then I take an old brush and “smoosh” that dark paint into the cracks in the wax. And, did I mention it’s messy? You can see the wax floating in the water. (See why I say use OLD BRUSHES!)

After applying the dark or black paint, I lay tissues over the painting to mop up any extra paint that lays on top of the wax. (It makes me think of “101 Dalmations”!)

Here is the finished piece.

I adhered the painting to my canvas and turned 3 sides under. I then tore the last side to make it look like the flag was old and tattered. I sprayed several coats of Krylon matte over the flag.
This was just an idea I came up with, and the person who purchased the piece can certainly turn under that right side and frame it in a standard frame, or leave it as is – blowing in the wind!

Now – I’ll make you play the game – how does this painting incorporate the theme of seven???

The Veteran, 12x20, watercolor batik on rice paper (SOLD)