WHITE PEONY 3

Throughout my background, I have used Nick Simmons’s technique of spraying off some of the paint just before it dries. This is one of those techniques that depends on timing (and luck!). I am pleased with how it worked in some areas, not in others. But since I used several layers, it wasn’t a problem – if I didn’t like it the first time, there were a couple more chances to get it right.

To introduce the background into the flower (to avoid that pasted on look) I used another of Nick’s techniques – the “sewing machine stitch”!!! I have to laugh at that one – it’s something I’m sure we have all done many times – I call it a broken line or running line!

I needed to eliminate what a friend said was a “pinwheel” look in the center of the flower. I did that by adding some cobalt and French ultramarine on the petals above and to the right of the center.

Additionally, since I had gotten some spots onto the flower during the spraying off process, I intentionally splattered a few edges and the background to tie it all together. (Also, a little sewing machine stitch).

Well, now it’s time to let it sit again and evaluate.

WHITE PEONY 2

Here I have begun my darks. They look a bit too green for me so I’ll be working on pulling in some more dark color to offset the “green-y-ness”!

Since I have a habit – a bad habit – of too many hard edges, I decided to incorporate tape on the edges of some of my petals for some softer edges. I really like how it has worked, even though it’s a pain – very time consuming to tear it, and then you are left with little pieces to dispose of.

I should have taken a picture of my table – there were dozens of little pieces of torn tape stuck to the oil cloth I use to cover the dining room table when I paint there. I was able to use some of them on the paper, but the rest were disposed of – mostly after I accidentally set my arm down on them, thereby attaching them to me!

And, I think I’ve got too many hard edges on the petals.

P.S.  It may take me a few days to get back to this - got "office work" stuff to do - don't you hate it when life interferes with your painting time!!!

Also - has anyone noticed that Blogger seems a bit "jumpy" when going from post to comment - or is it just my computer here in the frozen wasteland (aka "The Midwest"!!!)

WHITE PEONY

Here’s another peony – only this time “white”.

For me, “white” and “black” are relative terms.

“White” is usually the “white of the paper” – and as you know, that, too, is a relative term! Compare the “white” of Arches to the “white” of Lanaquarelle! And, sometimes, “white” is just the lightest value on my paper after a thin wash of color.

“Black” is also relative. Generally speaking, if you add black to a high key painting, it will look oddly stark – it’s just too much of a value shift. In a high key painting, anything in a mid value range will read as black. But, if you already have some pretty dark values in your painting, you may have to go very black for your darkest darks.

When I began painting, and got to the point when colors started to mean something to me, I would look at paintings that seemed a bit dull to me. That is when I became aware of people using black in a mix to darken a color. I didn’t care for that; to me it looks a bit dirty. Now, in reading through some blogs, it seems that “black is back” and more painters are beginning to use true blacks again. Generally I do mix my blacks, although I do have an ivory black somewhere in my paint stash.  I would still rather mix blacks – that way I can incorporate some of the colors in my painting into my blacks and I think it adds some unity to the painting. 

That doesn’t mean I disagree with using black! That’s your choice as the artist!  Anyway (climbing off the soap box!) . . . this is a “white” peony.

This painting is fluid acrylic, and I began by painting the flower area with a light wash of white. Then I began laying in shadows.

TIP: “High key” refers to a light value painting; think sunshine. “Low key” refers to a darker value painting; think rainy day with dark clouds. I also remember which is which by thinking of a piano! The “high keys” give us a light “plink” of sound, very light, high tones. The “low keys” give us that deep, somber bass that resounds for several seconds.

WINTER IN SOUTHEASTERN INDIANA!

Just a quick snapshot of the reason my workshop was cancelled this weekend!

On the left is part of our driveway - my husband wanted me to take this photo, since he thought it was especially pretty - and told me to "blog it"!

Once again I've got several winter scenes; now if I could just paint some of them!

Gary - if you see these - how does this compare to Wyoming?????

CORNY 5 - FINISHED?????

This is definitely the most intricate painting I’ve ever done (way more than my lace, but probably less than Rhonda’s “Stranded”) – and I did really enjoy painting it!  And, believe it or not – NO MISKIT. Zero, zilch, nada!

For all of you who want to know how long it took – several hours over several days to get it all drawn out and ready for paint. Then poured and dried at least twice. Then painted over several weeks, some small sections, some larger, as long as I had patience that day!  And I did add a few small touches of acrylic here and there at the end.  I think it's done.

Does it look like corn to you, or just an abstract??? I think it might be one of those paintings that you look at a while and then all of a sudden you realize what it is you are looking at.

Corny, ½ sheet, Fabriano Artistico 140, w/c and acrylic

CORNY 4

Now that there is paint over all I have begun lifting some and adding some

I will be putting my acetate over this to decide where it needs to be darker or lighter. I figure a few more hours work at this point.

-or - should I just title this "How to Ruin a Perfectly Good Piece of Watercolor Paper!"?  It just looks dull, muddy, old, tired, dead.  NOT what I had in mind when I started.  I'm thinking of using some acrylics to spiff it up - if that is possible!

TIP! When I tape my paintings down, after I wet the paper and pour the paint, I will leave it sit overnight. All of those hills and valleys that occur when the water is applied to the paper will dry and smooth away overnight. In effect I am stretching my paper, but I’ve also got some paint down – it’s a “two-fer”!

CORNY 3

Here are more photos of this painting in progress.

My husband told me to add more yellows in the corner. After this stage he said “I see you added more yellow in that corner, looks more like corn now.”
Well, guess what – I did NOT add yellow! After more of the painting was completed it simply affected the way the rest of the painting looked.
I think this is one of the hardest things to realize – that everything you do affects the rest of the painting and you just have to BE PATIENT to see how it all works out!

CORNY 2

I poured Daniel Smith quin. gold, quin. burnt orange, sap and thalo and then, even though I know I shouldn’t, I touched in a bit of quin. rose in what I wanted to be my center of interest. Well, of course it got a little muddy – duh.

After that dried, I poured more of the same colors, except for the rose.

When that was dry I began painting in the upper left corner, basically from left to right and top to bottom – again using my handy viewfinder.

I have no idea why I want to do things like this – I have an astigmatism and refuse to wear my glasses most of the time, so this type of thing is a real challenge!

CAP'N QUACK!!!!!

Just opened some mail and look what I found!  Many of you may remember this painting from  Rhonda's blog.

After my request for this little gem - followed by threats (!!!!) - she was kind enough to send it to me. 

This just tickled me no end - I must find a little frame for it and put it somewhere I can enjoy it.

Thanks Rhonda!!!

SOUTHERN SOJOURN

We just returned from spending a few days in Chattanooga, TN (where the people were warm but the weather was chilly!) attending SSAWG (Southern Sustainable Agriculture Working Group) convention with my husband.

On the way down we stopped at Bybee Pottery. Even with printed Yahoo directions and a GPS lady telling us where to go (!) we still had a hard time finding it – and of course when we finally decided to go in a store to ask for directions, the employee pointed across the road and said “there it is”.

I had been there many years ago and have recently heard that they might be closing – after 200+ years! Just in case that is true, and because we were going past the area and having lunch at Berea anyway, I talked my husband into going there. It appears that closure is not imminent, but they are having a hard time finding people who want to work there.

Here are a few photos of the facility.

As you can see, over the years the clay has built up! The roof is also supported here and there by steel posts, but it has held up – if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!

Here they are loading the kiln – the car they use to move it has warped from the high heat.

Shelves filled with items to be glazed.

The glazing room.

If memory serves – on the left - the pitcher in front will be blue, the mugs dark red with white speckles, the bowls blue with white speckles and on the right - the back bowl will be black with white flower and the bowls dark blue with light blue speckles.

As the gentleman told me - they don’t have a lot of variety but their simple designs have served them well for over 200 years.

After our brief tour there we went on to Berea for lunch at Boone Tavern. Once again we ignored GPS lady and after driving on some backroads in the general direction of the “foothills of the Smokies” we found ourselves in Berea. They have made a $13 million renovation of the Boone Tavern and it was quite different both inside and out. (I now wish we had gone upstairs to see what they have done with the rooms).

However, they haven’t tampered with the food, thank goodness, and we had a wonderfully delicious meal, along with that famous spoonbread.

Berea is home to Berea College (http://www.berea.edu/) where each student  must work at one of the student enterprises while attending college.  It's a beautiful town - just a bit overcast when we were there.  On the left are some of the dorms - on the right the student store where they sell so many of the beautiful hand crafted items produced in the area.

Filled to the gills, we continued on and arrived at Chattanooga just at dusk. This time the GPS lady was steering us on a good course, only to be thwarted by my husband who, even though the GPS lady and I were both yelling “keep left”, made a right hand turn and, once again, we were temporarily lost!

We made it to the hotel, parked and found our room. After we realized how convoluted the garage was, after dinner we decided to move the car to a spot much closer to the elevators. We got off on level 4, only to find this was a different level 4 and the car was in a totally different area of the parking garage! After wandering around we did finally locate the car and drove to a better parking spot. In fairness to us, several other folks mentioned that they had also misplaced their car and wandered through the garage!

After that it got better! The hotel was connected to the convention center and the meeting rooms were easy to find. A nice soup and salad buffet was provided each day for a reasonable cost and we found the most delightful place for dinner each evening – City Café Diner. Can’t say enough good things about this place – the food, service and friendliness were extraordinary!

As far as the workshops - we had some good classes and some so-so, but that is to be expected, and I had one fantastic speaker! We met some nice people, learned some things and overall had a good experience.

Now if you will excuse me, I’ve got 25 pages of notes to type!

I’ll be back with more art related info as soon as I catch up!