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!

Still Life of Pears

Yesterday, I did a challenge on Wet Canvas.com. Wet canvas is a forum for artists where you can post your artwork for critiques and meet other artists. I really enjoy the forum, because it gives me a place to show other artists my work and meet other creative people. It's also fun to hear their ohh's and ahh's about my work.

This was a challenge in the pastel forum. You had your choice of four photos. I chose the still life of the pears, because I really don't do still life painting and I was definitely outside my comfort zone on this one. I also have been wanting to try out a technique where you take turpeniod and wet down the pastels. First I blocked in the color with Nu Pastel sticks, then wet the surface with turpenoid. Once the painting was dry, I came back in with the colors that you see on the surface. I had to spray this once, but the results were very interesting.

I do have to say, I enjoyed the challenge, but will stick to my landscape painting! I will have to try the turpenoid on one of them in the future.

Wow, it's been awhile since I wrote in here. I am going to start uploading my art for you all to see. Here is a painting I just did today. I purchased some Arches watercolor paper and walla, I found something that works for me. I hope you enjoy!

This painting is approx. 5 x7. I was inspired by a photo I took several weeks back of an open field in Deer Park area, I believe it's part of the marsh off of Ela road and Long Grove Road.