An 'Old Fashioned' Breakfast is DONE!

"An 'Old Fashioned' Breakfast"
8.25" x 8.5"
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I just finished this tonight and thought I'd share it.  Now I'm headed off to bed.  Long day of painting, but VERY productive.

A Day Late . . .

"Old Fashioned" -- in progress
8" x 8"

Well, it's more like DAYS late.  I had originally started the painting above for the Daily Paintworks Challenge last week -- "Paint Your Breakfast." Unfortunately time just got away from me. It's close to being done, but not quite. Ugh.

As you may remember, I've been working on a commission, so I haven't spent much time on my watercolors.  However, I have managed to get in a little watercolor painting when I need to break away from the commission and let it set for later re-evaluation. You know how it goes. Anyway, hopefully I can finish this one up soon.

Below is another painting I've just begun.  Hopefully I can get it done for some of the Spring juried shows that are coming up. We'll see.

OH wait! . . . that's not the painting . . . it's an image of what happens when I try to snap a picture of a work in progress and the dogs are in. That's Teddy. He likes to poke up right in front of my camera and lick my face when I'm low to the ground. He looks cross-eyed when he's so close. He makes me laugh . . . what a goof!  :)  The next photo is the actual painting in progress.  It's a larger one for me:  15" x 19".

Ooh . . . this looks a little crooked.  I think it's from the rounded lens.  I try to fix that in photoshop, guess I didn't do such a good job.  Ok . . . so back to the drawing board . . . hopefully I can finish SOMETHING in the next few days!  

More Bittersweet

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I finished this one last night.  I had a heck of a time getting the computer image to match the painting.  It's always going to be a little different and I have no control over everyone's monitor settings, but it seems that I'll get the image's colors to appear accurately in Photoshop, but during the uploading process they'll fade out or something and change altogether.  Ugh.  The lower shadows on the door may appear slightly lighter in this image than they are in real life . . . yes . . . I think there is a hair more contrast between the lights and darks. But I think for the most part you get a fair idea of what this painting looks like in person. Anyway, I hope you like it.  Have a great weekend.

Work In Progress

"Bittersweet Door"
9" x 12"

I've been dividing my time between this and a commission.  I just have a little more to do . . . tweaking the details.  Have a good day.

Oh My Darlin'

"Oh My Darlin'"
8" x 8"

(what this painting could look like framed)

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I had started this painting right before Christmas but couldn't get the background right.  After letting it sit for a while and then consulting my friend Bill, we decided that the background needed to be toned down a bit as it was competing with the focal point.  It's a little tricky . . . ok, "A LOT" tricky painting a wash over an already developed area such as this patterned background.  So I masked out the big leaves with tape and just went for it.  Luckily the wallpaper was light enough that it didn't bleed all over the place. Although that first (violet) wash helped to mute things, I still thought I needed it to be a little warmer.  Gaaahhh . . . so although I had already removed the tape, I carefully went for it again with some yellowy-orange.  I had nothing to lose . . . it really needed it.  I think it all worked out.  Hope you like it . . . and thanks Bill!  :)

Quick Post

"Insight Into My Sole" (detail)

I was recently notified that "Insight Into My Sole" was juried into the Concord Art Association's Member Show.  The details regarding the show can be found here at their website.  Have a good weekend.

Happy New Year!

"Insight Into My Sole"
12" x 16"

"Egg On A Plate"
23" x 23"

So I'm finally posting again.  I hope you all had wonderful holidays. Best wishes for a very happy and healthy New Year to you as well.  I took quite the hiatus, eh?  But I'm motivated and inspired and ready to paint.  While I don't have anything new to show, I've been planning out some new paintings and have a couple that are just about finished.  I've also been working on a commission.  It's very different from my watercolors -- part of my "other life" -- a tavern sign in a more early American naive style.  It's been fun and a nice departure.  I also have another commission after that -- a home portrait in acrylics.  So I'll be busy.

In the meantime I just entered the two slightly older paintings (above) in the Concord Art Association members show.  We'll see how they do -- it's juried so there's a good chance they may not even make it in.  Gaaahhhh!  I'll keep my fingers crossed.  I would preferred to have entered something newer, but the good news is many have sold.  :)  So I must get busy painting away!

Have a great day . . . and I promise I'll be back soon with some new work.  Cheers!

Thank You Pratique Des Arts

I spent a wonderful day in Concord yesterday, with my sister-in-law Hallie, only to have the excitement continue when I reached home to see that I had received in the mail the issue of the latest Pratique Des Arts, the beautiful French watercolor magazine.  As you can see above, they published 3 of my paintings in their International Portfolio feature.  I am very grateful for the inclusion.  This issue features many amazing artists whose paintings I've long admired and I am extremely humbled to have work among theirs . . . including Carrie Waller's beautiful painting "Nostalgia."  It's been a favorite of mine ever since I saw it on her blog.  Congratulations Carrie -- I was very excited when I turned the page and saw your painting!  :)  

Thanks for letting me share my news . . . have a great weekend.  

Bulbs and Stripes

"Bulbs and Stripes"
6" x 6"
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(what this painting could look like framed)

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Here's the latest Christmas painting.  I took a bunch of photos when I was planning my Christmas card so I thought I might as well put them to good use.  It will give me some things to choose from next year when I find myself behind the eight ball and needing an image for my cards.  Hope you enjoy.

A Retro Bulb

"A Retro Bulb"
5" x 7"
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Here's the little painting I finished over the weekend.  Now, back to decorating!  Fa-la-la-la-laaaa!

Christmas Cards

I just received the proofs for my Christmas cards -- LOVE THEM!  If you haven't ever tried catprint.com you should give them a whirl -- I use them for all my printed cards.  I particularly like the little holly leaf and berry I put on the inside sentiment for the "Vintage Bulb" card -- I wanted you to see that little detail.  :)

ALSO . . . I would like to thank Carrie Waller for interviewing me for her blog. Below is her painting, "Pomegranates and Cranberries." 

Carrie is a fellow watercolorist and blogger.  In addition to posting her own work she also features different artists on Fridays. I was quite tickled when she asked if she could interview me and post some of my work. I had long admired hers, so of course said yes. So if you're interested in seeing some more of her beautiful work or finding out more about my work process (or whether I prefer chocolate or vanilla ice cream) :) check out her blog or her latest post.  

And speaking of paintings -- I've been a little lame lately, but I assure you I'll be posting a new one this weekend, so stay tuned!  :)

Finally!

"A Vintage Bulb"
8.25" x 10"
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(what this painting could look like framed)

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Well finally I'm posting again. Good grief! I apologize for the delay. It gets a little hectic around here at the holidays -- lots of cleaning and decorating to do. But alas, here is my latest. I make my own Christmas cards every year and have them printed over at catprint.com. Once I get that all ready, I'll post so you can see the finished product. It's always exciting. I also make cards for my dad to use too. It's a fun tradition. And I love seeing my paintings in miniature!  :)

Just in case you're interested, I took some pictures during the process of this painting. Because the photographs were taken at various times of day, the colors may be a little off -- especially in the second step image.  That one is a little heavy on the red. But other than that, this will give you an idea of what goes on "behind the scenes." Have a great day!

After drawing my image on the watercolor paper, I masked out some of the "glitter" areas on the bulb and a couple small highlights. Then covered the painting in wet-on-wet washes of Alizarin Crimson Hue, Cobalt and New Gamboge.  

Next I added a couple washes of local color -- adding the green for the "wallpaper" and leaves. I also added a few more shadows on the bulb as well.

More details . . . In this step I started to build up the values, adding depth to the cloth and bulb.

More local color, worked on the leaves. Oh! . . . and I mustn't forget those circles on the "wallpaper!"  I cut out a small circle stencil and used that over and over again on the background.  Call me crazy!

Here I added more detail and value to the bulb.  I like working on Fabriano hot-pressed paper because it allows me to "push and pull" on my paintings.  (That's what I call it) . . . I add and most importantly, take away, scrubbing out areas that may get too dark.  At about this point I carefully added some Alizarin Crimson to the bulb making sure not to paint areas that I'd want to pull color out from later on as this pigment stains.  

Final details!  I added some green to the shadow under the holly leaf in the foreground, played with the cloth a little more, and obviously layered and layered color over the other leaves.  I also eliminated the masking fluid from the bulb and worked on the "glitter" design - scrubbing out color and picking out small highlights with an X-acto knife after the paint was dry.  While I work I make sure to keep checking the overall values and their relationship to each other within the entire painting, I assess and adjust what I think needs more work, giving additional depth to each item.

I hope you found this "step-by-step" informative!  (Oh and if you click on any of the images, you can view them larger . . . and you can sequence through the process which is kind of cool.)  Ok that's all.