HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!

On the way to Cary, IL on Christmas Day, I shot a few photos of open fields.  I just loved the sky that day and knew that I would have a few neat photos to work from.  Here is what I came up with. 
Both paitnings are on Strathmore cold press, 140 lb paper and done in gouache.  They are approx. 8 x 8 in size. I call them "On the Way to Christmas I and II.   

Enjoy!  and have a great NEW YEAR!!! Welcome 2010~goodbye 2009!

Back to Watercolors and Gouache

Did these two paintings of some scenes I photograhed a few weeks back. I call them First Snow and First Snow II.

Both paintings are 9 x12 on Arches 140 lb paper.

First one is a watercolor and gouache the second one is a gouache. Both paintings can be purchased. For more information on the paintings please leave me a comment and I will contact you or go to my website and you can email me directly. Thanks for looking!

"Met her at the Bus Stop"

Finally a pastel! It's been awhile since I have painted a completed pastel and it was so good getting into it. Went to the Art Institute over the weekend and got a lot of ideas from all the wonderful artists.

This was originally a photo of two people at a bus stop on a corner in Chicago. I cropped it down and found this scene to paint. Also saturated the colors to get these really cool colors.

Painted on paper, 12 x 12.

"Down the Beaten Path"

This past Saturday was such a wonderful morning to be painting outdoors at my plein air session. I found a place to paint and set up my stuff on a nearby bench. I knelt down to paint this scene of a path that led to a wonderful little lake. It was hard to decide what to paint, since there was so much beauty. There were a number of other painters and they too were set up and started taking in the breathtaking scene of that morning.

Here is the painting that I created. Most was completed at the session, around 2 hours and another hour at home to finish it up. Isn't nature beautiful? Those trees are so interesting and easy to look at!

This is a watercolor with some white gouache to highlight on Arches watercolor paper, approx. 12 x 16.

WELCOME FALL!

~SOLD~

Well, if it doesn't stop raining, we will be floating away here in the midwest!

Maybe the sun will come out today, like it did last Sunday?

While driving down to Niles, I caught some pictures out our car window at 45 miles per hour and I painted this gouache from one of those photos.

It is approx 12 x 16 on Arches 140 lb paper. Enjoy, fall is so short here, blink and it will be winter soon.....BURRRR....not looking forward to it.

Learning something every Plein Air Session

Today I spent my morning at the Raven Glen Forest Preserve in Antioch, IL. It was a beautiful day and I am so happy that the weather cleared up for our plein air group meeting.

I took many photos of the area for later reference and after having a difficult session out there in the cold crisp morning I realized that taking a "cheap" paper to work on was not a good idea. The water was saturating the surface and making it warp out so bad that I was having a hard time getting the painting to look like anything. Then I tried a few smaller pieces with no luck and tore them up. Lastly, I folded the cheap paper and mounted it to my board and used very little water. It worked but my painting was not what I wanted in the sense of depth and color darkness, so it was a good lesson for me today.

After going home and sorting through the 75 pictures I shot, I ended up painting this scene on some good Arches 300 lb paper 12 x 16 size. I call it "Light from the east".

I LOVE TO PLEIN AIR!!!

Today I was able to attend my plein air session at the Reed-Turner Nature Center in Long Grove, IL. What a beautiful place! There are lots of trees with their leaves turning orange, red and yellow and densely grown foliage to look at. What a treat to be able to have no rain and clouds that were spectacular all morning long to paint. Here is the painting that I did from the session. It is 7 x 10 gouache on hot press. Gouache is becoming one of my favorite paint mediums, next to pastels. With the plein air though, its easy to transport my watercolors and gouache, so I concentrate on those mediums when plein airing.

Yankee the Dog!

Well, I have been waiting to post this painting so that my friend Cindy Gross would not see this gift I was planing on giving her and her husband, Ed for having us over to their home up on Turtle Lake. And today, I was able to surprise them with the painting of their dog Yankee.

Yankee is a labordoodle (not sure how you spell that) He is so sweet and cute. I thought it would make a nice gift for their kind generosity of sharing a Friday up at their home on Turtle Lake with Debbie and I.

We really enjoyed spending the day with them. They served us lunch and let us ride on their go-kart and paddle boat. Unfortunately the weather wasn't cooperating with us, so it rained a bit on and off all day.

Then Cindy and I sat at the table on their porch, looking out at the lake and plein aired some art, while Ed found something to work on in the barn and Debbie sat back with her book. That was really fun. We enjoyed the peaceful quiet of the short but sweet Friday retreat up at the Gross' home on Turtle Lake.

Here is the painting that I did of the view from the porch, looking out onto the lake. It is watercolor and gouache with some pastel accents that I added after I returned home.

Can't wait until the next time we can return. I just loved the peace and quiet. And of course the company!!!

Wow! What a great day to Plein Air!

Today, I went over to downtown Antioch to join my plein air group. But only found one person sitting on the main drag set up for our 3 hour session. So, I opened my chair and set myself up just up the street and started painting one of the shops there. There were two big beautiful trees and a blue sky that attracted my attention. The shop was a dog grooming place and that too attracted me. So, here is the painting that I did.

Several people came up to me, including a policewoman and wanted to see my work. Another wanted to know if I did commissions and if I could work off a photo. So, maybe I will get a call and paint the jewelery store building for her.

There were so many interesting buildings, I could go back there and capture many interesting street scenes there, because of the very old and unique storefronts.

Janet's Garden

Thought I try a fun painting of my friend Janet's garden. I painted it on Canson rough paper, 15 x 20. I used mostly watercolor, but started with some green gouache.

For those who do not know what gouache is, it's an opaque watercolor. Regular watercolor is transparent and you sometimes loose the colors as they dry into the paper. With the opaque, you can lay on the color and it dries pretty much like what you put on. So for this one, it helped with all the foliage.

Second in Chinese Series

This was very fun to paint. I did it on a small 5x7 piece of watercolor Arches 140 lb paper in all gouache. I think I want to make this bigger, but here is what I did today. I am calling this Chinese Soup Kitchen. Kirsten, hope you like this one! I just loved the photo and thought it would make a great painting. What do you think?

Lots of Good Photo Ops

Well, my trip to Washington DC is over and done and I was able to see so many places. I went to four Smithsonian's, two of them art museums. I saw a fantastic exhibit at the Historical Society, Lily Sandorf, she was a watercolor, gouache and ink artist who captured street scenes of Washington DC in the 60's before the buildings were demolished. This was a treat to see. I also visited the US Botanic Gardens near the Capital Building. What a beautiful place to see. I took many pictures there of some gorgeous flowers. Here is one of them I captured in a pastel painting. It is 12 x 16 in size and was done on paper.

China-First in the series

Got some photos from my nieces China trip and thought they would be fun to paint. Still working on my perspectives and this one was a real challenge.

Thanks Julie Fredricks for the photos!

My niece, Kirsten and her husband, Jon, and a group went on a China Cultural Exchange and their friend Julie took all these great photos. Can't wait to start another painting. I am including some in my umbrella series, since many have them in the photos.

The Flowers are Starting to Open

After days of heavy rains, the sky's cleared and the flowers stood up and opened. Last Saturday, I went on my annual garden walk with my garden club. My garden was included in the walk, but most of my flowers are still not open. My yard had a show of Iris, but are now gone. I took this photo of a group of flowers, not sure what kind they were, but they were blowing in the wind and where so full of color that I couldn't resist their beauty.

This one I painted last night on 300 lb Arches, size 6 x 8. Used watercolor and a little white gouache. Doing paintings in yellow are definitely a challenge!

Love doing the Landscapes

This one I took off a photo that I took back in the spring at a plein air session. It's called "Spring Breaking Through" I painted it on Watercor, Cold Press, Arches 300 lb paper, which I love! It is 6 x 8 in size. Fun doing this one.

Limited Palette

Took this challenge on Artist Network Forum last week for a chance to win $50 gift card to North Light Books. The challenge was "using a limited palette". So, I was pondering it for a few weeks to see what I would do and came up with this painting. It's a watercolor. I used only Orange (Reeves) and Prussian Blue (Grumbacher) and a little bit of Zinc White (Schmincke) gouache. This was a fun task and I did it in about an hour.

Saturday was a long but interesting day. I went down to the University of Chicago early in the morning with my partner Debbie for her graduation from the Graham School of General Studies, Basic Program. This was a four year commitment reading the Great Books. Her last class was that morning, so I went down with my watercolors and was working plein air for a few hours in the rain. It's not a good idea to paint watercolors in the rain-I got very little accomplished, but it was a challenging idea. I spent most of the time taking pictures of the beautiful buildings and the green ivy that was growing all over them.

I took this shot of a young man who was watching the regular University of Chicago graduation ceremonies, which were outside. The color of his rain coat intrigued me and the flowers were so beautiful in that part of the square.

I will attempt to paint some of the buildings when I have time to concentrate on perspectives. Getting that right is very important for the painting to look real.

Anyway after I attempted to plein air, we all met for lunch and then went to the Smart Museum and we saw a wonderful artist on exhibit, H. C. Westermann. That was really interesting and fun. Then we went over to the Ida Noyes building clear across campus to participate in Debbie's graduation and acceptance of her certificate with a cocktail and appetizer finale'. That was a very exhausting day!

For those who know my dog Nemo and read my last few entries here, he is doing better. He has not had a seizure since that first night and has adjusted to the medication. I just hope we have him for a lot longer! He is very sweet and loving and when I think of losing him, it really gets me weepy eyed.

Getting my mind off MY NEMO!

Yesterday I went to my plein air session over in Zion. We all met around 9:00 am at Illinois State Beach Park at the old Camp Logan National Guard Rifle Range. There we were able to draw and paint many structures that are still standing but in very deteriorating condition. I photographed many of the buildings and there were some beautiful old pine trees soring above the one structure.

Here is the painting I did. Also I have attached my recent watercolor of a Chicago city street scene. Still working on perspectives and starting to really get the hang of the diverse subjects to paint.

I am so sad............feeling down about my dog.

I want to share with you the sad experience I had this weekend. My sweet 13 year old Jack Russell, Nemo, had three grand mal seizures. I was devastated. He is the best dog in the world. After several trips to the vets, they put him on some phenobarbital. I am so afraid for him! The blood work showed an elevated enzyme in the liver, pointing toward Cushings disease. He will get a test next week to see if indeed he has Cushings. He had been tested several years ago for the disease, but the tests didn't show signs of it. So hopefully this is something that can be treated. The other possibility is brain tumors that could be causing the seizures. I just hope he can live the rest of his life comfortable and not suffer too much pain.
Nemo is a very bright dog. So bright, he watched tv when he could see well. He even could distinguish a rat or possum on the screen. When the scene changed, he would go around to the back of the tv looking for the prey.
Well enough of this sad news, it's making me cry!

Getting into some detail with this watercolor painting. Have been wanting to try this for awhile and was intimidated with all the detail. Used 300 lb Arches. 99% watercolor and some white gouache to clean up the white areas. This was fun and exciting to see it emerge.

Changes on a Watercolor-Just add some Pastel

Well, after looking at this watercolor, I decided that it was way too dark, so I lighten her up with some pastels. What do you think? Did I mess it up or does it do it justice?

Experimenting on 300 lb Arches

Watercolors are so interesting. They are supposed to be the hardest medium to master. I really enjoy painting them. They are a challenge and the effects that you can achieve are like no other medium. With the wetness of the paper you can create some cool color combos and shapes.

Another thing that it does is teach me patience. You have to either work fast or leave it dry to get the right effect. So, sometimes I have to wait, put it aside and go back to the work and rework. This is one of my latest ones on 300 lb Arches watercolor paper, 8 x 10.

Watercolor/Gouache/Ink

This was a study in perspective. I am trying to teach myself how to draw things accurately.

I picked up a used library book at a sale a few weeks ago called "Perspective for Painters" by Howard Etter and Margit Malmstrom. It was listed orginal price $18.95 and I got it for .25 cents! It was well worth every penny!

Here is my first attempt to get it right!

Another Mettawa Shot

Here is one that I just did yesterday. I just love the colors. I may still tweak this, but basically it's done! Walla! Pastel's are so much fun and exciting to paint with. The colors are so vibrant and rich-------that is if you don't mess with them too much!

Finally figured out the sky color, I was having a hard time getting that blue, but it finally clicked when I used a color that I wouldn't normally think would work! Anyway.....hope you enjoy!

I call this one "The Old Fence"

Back to Pastels!

Almost two years ago I was introduced to pastels by my good friend and fellow artist, Cindy Gross. She hired me to do some interior painting for her in her home and there she showed me her work as a pastel artist. Cindy is a very talented artist and was excited to share this unknown medium to me. I had been doing watercolors and she thought they were beautiful. She told me that I would love pastels. So, one day when I was working at her house, she let me try some. I spent about 30 minutes messing with a few sticks adding colors to a landscape, I believe. Of course my favorite! She was amazed how quickly I took to it. We instantly became friends and I decided to join the North Shore Art League and take a class with her. After that, it was all history! I couldn't wait to get my hands into the pastel dust and start creating painting after painting. Oh how much fun it was to take those classes. I met many talented and fun artists, including my teacher Frances Vail. Thank you Frances for guiding me...........I miss the group, and maybe someday will meet again for more fun with the North Shore Art League.

Finally after a short break from pastel work, I have finished this latest painting. I was inspired by the beautiful daffodils that I saw at the Mettawa, Adlai Stevenson home last Saturday at the plein air group. What a great group............I am grateful for all the fun and help they all provide to advance my career as an artist!

Quick Watercolor and Ink

Learning to just paint is what counts. I have a habit of trying to add every little detail to a painting and crowd in all the little details making the painting too busy. This time I put in what I thought would make a good painting. I found the big old oak hanging over this docking area very beautiful. The original photo was taken on a plein air session last year up in Antioch, IL.

Today I am going to go to the Adlai Stevenson Historic Home in Mettawa for another plein air session with my group from the Lake County Art League. I am excited because the sky's are clear and it will be warmer today. Last session, it was a bit brisk and sunny, but was a little windy for painting. So I am hoping for a calmer day to actually have more time to paint.

Got Watercolors on the Brain

Boy when you go into streaks, you go into streaks! I have been cranking out watercolors like crazy. I am working on a few pastels, but can't seem to get them finished to post. So here is another watercolor I did from that batch of photos from the last plein air in Zion.

Still fighting a cough and cold, but everyday feel better and better. Now we are suppose to get more snow! Go figure! April and it's acting like December!

Working on finishing up some of my art

My office/studio looks like a nightmare with all these unfinished paintings hanging around the place, so tonight I thought I'd work on some of them to get them off the easel so to say. I work mostly off of boards, and prefer to work at my desk with the board resting on the computer keyboard tray or stuck in the open drawer! This way I can look at the photo I am working off of from the computer and see the colors and detail right up in my face.

Anyway, here is another watercolor and ink that I did from the photos I took at the Thunderhawk Golf Course. This is approx. 12 x 17.

Thunderhawk Plein Air

Here is another one that I did from the photos I took of the Thunderhawk Plein Air Session.
Been under the weather a bit, not feeling well and have not painted for a few days until today.
Fun painting these simple landscapes with pen and watercolor washes. Used Arches hot press 140 lb paper, approx. size 7 x 11.

Plein Air Session-what a great way to learn!

Yesterday, I met the plein air group from the Lake County Art League at the Thunderhawk golf range in Zion. What a beautiful place. Chris Tanner, our fearless leader of the group, arranged for the plein air group to have access to this facility for the morning. The group met at 9:00 am and by 9:40 am we were off photographing and painting out on the course. We were provided golf carts to help us get to the beautiful nature scenes on several of the holes. I took over 97 photos. Between the water and the trees, there was plenty of beautiful shots to take. I did the painting of the milkweed seed pods when I got home, it's a watercolor on hot press paper. Thank you Bonnie for the paper! The watercolor scene of one of the marshes I did at the plein air session is still being worked on. I of course over did it when I got home and am not sure if I like what I did. Okay, I'll post it for you to see.

Also the first one is a photo I took that I just love.

After we did our thing out on the golf course, we all met back at the cafe' and talked about what we did out in the field. Having these pow-wows afterwards are what makes plein air such a wonderful learning tool. We all critique each others work and get to hear what others think about the art. It's also a good way to meet other artists and meet new friends. I just love it! Can't wait for the next meeting.

What happened? It Got Cold Again!

Well, I thought spring was on its way, but I think it's going to take a little bit longer to finally settle in. Yesterday it was 66 degrees and today, BURR! I just hope it comes soon.

Yesterday I did a few little watercolor paintings. I am trying to discipline myself to have more patience with the watercolor paints. Giving them time to dry and letting them flow were they need to before I go messing them up has always been a problem. This time I took my time and spaced out the layers so they dried.

These scenes were from a few days about a month back and the ground was starting to thaw, but the snow was still on the ground in places. Hope you enjoy. These are only 4 x 5 on Arches watercolor paper.

Is Spring on its way?

Today it will be in the 50's and hopefully spring is on the way. So tired of the cold and want to see my flowers. I painted this pastel last night, thinking about the colors of spring.

Watercolor vs. Gouache

Today I painted using gouache and ink and then watercolor. Both very enjoyable to paint, but I think the watercolor ended up being more brillant. The gouache is easy to correct mistakes, but I cannot seem to get a good detail on using it. So, I used a pen to highlight the work.

I think I need some better gouache to work with to get the effects I am looking for.

Thinking Small

Experimenting with my new opaque watercolors, so I thought I'd do a few small 3" x 3" studies. I threw most of the pieces in the garbage, but worked this one out.

My favorite thing to paint is the beautiful landscapes that I capture on my camera. You never know when you will get the right shot, so I just shoot and shoot and shoot. Then when I see something that is interesting, I paint. Fall colors are my most interesting subjects. The oranges and reds are so intense and beautiful here.

This one I call "Small Wonders", it's a watercolor and ink.

Bought Some New Paints

Yesterday I purchased a set of Grumbacher Deluxe Opaque Watercolors and wanted to give them a try this morning, so I did. This one is on rough watercolor paper approximately 6" x 8" and is done with a combo of transparent watercolor the new gouache set and pen. The painting is from my Irish Series. This was the third attempt at this subject. I found the colors fascinating. I call it "View from the Window".

When is Spring Going to Get here!!!!

Yesterday I got a glimpse of spring by attending a very fun plein air session at the Garfield Conservatory in Chicago. It was my first visit to the Conservatory. What a breath of fresh air stepping into a place filled with massive ferns and flowers growing almost as if it were summertime in the city. A group of us went down there early in the morning in a late winter storm with over 4 inches of snow coming down as we traveled to this fantastic colorful place.

Here is a couple of watercolor and ink paintings that I did of the fern room and of the flowers blooming.

Next plein air is the Volo Auto Museum, which should be interesting and lots to photograph and paint.

Yupo experience!

• The most fun thing about doing art is the different mediums that you can experiment in. I really love the way the watercolors look when they turn out, but boy can they be a challenge to get the right colors and depth. Once the color spreads onto the paper and if you have not controlled it in some way, it can spoil a perfectly good piece.

• Pastels are so much more intense, but messy and if you add too much the colors get muted and overworked. Pastels are my favorite because of the great colors and the intense finished look. They are an art medium that you can literally get your hands into.

• Another new method I have been trying is the alcohol based paints called Pinata'. They are actually an ink that you apply over Yupo paper. Yupo is a plastic that can be used for watercolor or these types of applications. The Pinata' does all sorts of wild things and it is very hard to control. Here is a few of my latest creations of Pinata' on Yupo.

• Fun, fun, fun!!! Note: These images are very shining and difficult to photograph without getting a reflection.

Back to the Grind or is the GRIT?

Well the weekend is over and I am back to the grind of the week. Working as hard as I can to keep things a float. I noticed this weekend with the warmer weather, there were tons of people out and about shopping, having breakfast, etc. I think the weather does have an effect on peoples moods. I know that I was very happy that the snow is melting and the signs of spring are in the air.

I painted one other painting this weekend. After the comment from Chris Tanner, I thought about something more complicated to work on. I started out with a watercolor drawing of a window that I photographed in the old Brainerd School building in Libertyville from the last plein air session. I trashed the first painting that I tried, after realizing that my angles were completely off.

Here is the second attempt in watercolor and ink.

After showing Chris this one, here was his comment: Deb --- Very cool. I have noticed that artists often take advantage of a greometric grid (and other tricks) to do "unify" a painting, and that's exactly what works for you here. As it was explained to me, a painting that has no unity will seem to be a combination of two different paintings, though it's probably more complicated than that. The result is a little confusiing and is quickly dismissed by the mind as misinformation. It's a common trap for inexperienced artists. You would have that problem here, because the view in the top of the window is so different from the view in the bottom. But you tied it all together with the grid so there is no disunity at all. The mind notices the top/bottom difference and enjoys trying to work out a meaning. I like that. I also like the way you cropped this to make a dramatic.

Lake County Fine Arts

Last night was a gallery opening for the new artists in the gallery, and I was one of the artists. Having your stuff hanging someplace is a great feeling. And it's an even better one when someone buys your stuff!

I was a bit distracted because about 4:30 pm, I got a call from my partner and she had slipped and fell at the Sears Tower where she works and had to be taken to the emergency room. Luckily, she did not have anything serious, except that she is in a lot of pain. I was relieved to hear that she did not break anything or have a concussion.I hope everyone enjoyed my paintings and visits the gallery often to see what other great artists are there.

Got up and went right to the easel

I can't help myself! It's Saturday and it's my day off and all I want to do is my art. I tried a structural painting yesterday, but I am chucking that one. I will try it again to see if I can achieve a better effect. Until then, this landscape was something I thought would be pleasing.

Chris Tanner, plein air leader and vice president of the Lake County Art League gave me some good advice regarding my compositions. He said "Deb --- Your painting capture the viewer's attention with the wonderful color, but now you want to hold the viewer's attention with composition. That means directing their eye through the painting with carefully staged patterns, lines, details, contrasts, focal points or any other trick you become comfortable with. Look at artist's work you really like and figure out how they did it. It's a big step, but fun. The next step is actually engaging the viewer to get something of you and your feelings across." Good point Chris, Thanks!