Friday Watercolor

This is a portrait of Oliver, the beloved dog of one of Averill's Odi et Amo readers.

She emailed Averill a couple of months ago asking if I would be willing to paint his portrait. My first commission!

Painting, like any other skill, requires practice. I haven't been painting since Patrick's accident, our friend Diana's illness and passing, and the birth of our grandson. This was a great opportunity to get back to it, but it also meant re-learning some techniques and wadding some early attempts at the portrait.

This is the one Averill and I agreed could be sent to her Reader, and fortunately she loved it.

Friday Watercolor: Pool Nap

It's too hot for anything but a nap in the pool! This was inspired by a photo of DK's niece.

Friday Watercolors: Two Dogs, Two Still Lifes

Several weeks ago I did this painting of St. Betty's dog, Sweetie, from a photo her daughter Jane Long sent me. It's a present I'm giving her tonight at a dinner celebrating one of those Big-O Birthdays. I didn't want to post it before today because sometimes she reads the blog!

I had a darling photo of Olivia which made a nice portrait painting. Now I have to take a similar photo for Bea and do her portrait so she won't be jealous!

At the end of the week I was stuck in the house supervising the dogs because the construction fence between us and the home being built next door was coming down, so they couldn't go outside without supervision. That gave me some more time to paint so I tried these two still lifes of lemons and peppers.

Friday Watercolors: Street Scene and Still Life

Today's watercolors are both class exercises.

The first one was inspired by my online class exercise in painting buildings.

This second one is a still life exercise I did in the watercolor class I took this month at Watercolor Art Society of Houston -- their acronym is WASH, don't you love it?

I really love the way the colors came out in the still life. This is what I like about watercolors. It makes the street scene look drab by comparison! At least it does in real life, the digital image is brighter than the original. I'm resolved to use less water and more paint in the future.

Friday Watercolors: Buildings and the Beach

This week I spent some time on my online class exercises . The section I am working on now focuses on painting buildings. I continue trying to find a style that I will be happy with.

This one is an exercise in simplifying the building details. It is a view of Venice at dawn. Definitely NOT a realistic style, which was a good change of pace.

I've always admired ink and wash paintings and so was eager to try this technique myself when this exercise was next. It is Melling Church in the UK. I used a brown ink instead of black so the lines wouldn't look too harsh. I didn't like the colors the instructor used for the landscape around the church so I changed them which was maybe not the best idea!

The last one is my third attempt at painting a photo of two little girls playing at the beach. Each time I tried to make the painting less realistic and more impressionistic. This one shows improvement but I'm still not satisfied with it. I'm finding it hard not to put in too many details!

Friday Watercolors: A Shrimp Boat and 3 Pelicans

I've been inspired by recent trips to our bay house to practice painting more Gulf Coast scenes.

This one is a shrimp boat that was moored at a harbor in Port O'Connor, Texas. I painted this one from a photo I took there. Yes, the shrimp boats are still working on our side of the Gulf. Hopefully the BP cap on that well is going to work!

The painting of the three pelicans is also done from a photo. I didn't take this one myself, but used one from the website Paint My Photo where people post photos and give permission for artists to use them for their paintings.

In both cases one of my goals is to edit a lot of the detail of the photos in order to have a better composition for the painting.

Friday Watercolor: The Blue Door

I finished this yesterday whilst listening to the live feed of the General Assembly debate on ordination standards.

I call it " The Blue Door."

Painting and polity don't mix, so that's all for this post!

Friday Watercolor: Port Lavaca Lighthouse

I don't know why this looks so pink on the computer! It's not in real life.

This is the top of the old lighthouse at Port Lavaca, Texas. It was removed when the lighthouse was abandoned and set up at the edge of town where it now serves as a historical marker and visitor's center.

I started a class in beginning watercolors at the Watercolor Artists Society of Houston (a/k/a WASH, don't you love it?) this week and decided to use the "Classic" paint palette recommended by our instructor who said it was the most forgiving. Its a little bit different than the palette used by my online class, but it certainly suits this subject well.

Friday Watercolors

Here are this week's watercolor exercises. The first one is called Rocks Under Water and the second one is called Cascades and Running Water. Water is hard! I'm not crazy about the large boulder in the middle of the waterfall in the second one. It looks like it is suspended in the air instead of having the water rush around it.

The third one is the lighthouse at Sabine Pass, Texas--on the border with Louisiana. Its in a state park which is on the grounds of the Battle of Sabine Pass -- the only battle fought in Texas during the Civil War. (UPDATE: El Jefe points out that while the Battle of Sabine Pass was the most significant Civil War battle fought in Texas, there was also a battle in Galveston. The Battle of Palmetto Ranch (near Brownsville) actually took place AFTER the war was over, but word hadn't reached the combatants.)

In the exercises you use a prepared sketch and draw or transfer it on the paper and then practice the different techniques demonstrated in the videos. Rocks Under Water used a glazing technique that shows up better in real life than in the photo.

Just so you know--I'm only posting the semi-acceptable results. Today I tried to paint from a favorite photo of the San Antonio riverwalk and found myself foundering pretty badly! I will probably try that one again later--maybe when I get to the ink and watercolor lesson.

Friday Watercolors

I'm really happy with the way this exercise in my watercolor course, called Silver and Gold, turned out! You use a lot of different techniques, including masking fluid, wet on wet painting, and sponge painting , and apply them in layers. I'm going to look for some photos for other subjects that I adapt to get similar effects.

Before moving on to the next set of exercises, which are all about painting water, I decided to do another painting that focused on skies and trees. This one is the outdoor chapel at MO Ranch in Hunt, Texas--a Presbyterian retreat center.

I like the way the sky turned out and the trees are pretty good, too. The chapel is on top of a very high hill, but the photo I used to paint from didn't show that so I didn't either!

Friday Watercolors

Bet you can guess that I've been working through the Tree exercises in my watercolor course!

Although, actually, neither of these are included in the exercises. I wanted to try painting a Texas live oak because they are such magnificent trees with unique shapes. This is the second attempt because I didn't like the first one. I'm pleased with the progress on this but still have a way to go.

Then I decided to try a wet-on-wet painting using a photo that suggested an impressionistic scene. The last one was also a good exercise in using just two colors. I'd like to get my style to evolve to be more impressionistic and less realistic, so it was time to give it a try. Watercolors are a great medium for that but you have to make yourself relax and let the water do its work.

Friday Watercolors

Yesterday I did this little painting from a photo sent by Brother W. Before I painted this one, I tried to do the last exercise in the Mountain and Rocks section of my online course and it was a disaster! I was certainly out of practice because of MOB duties plus I tried to use a new brush the instructor recommended. Couldn't quite get the hang of it.

You can tell I haven't gotten to the sections on water (reflections) and animals yet! Next up: Trees.

While I had the paints out, I did this study of Olivia from a photo sent to me by Portia. I think it was a hint.



Next up: Trees.

Watercolor Exercise: Rocks and Wet Sand

Here's my latest watercolor exercise. The idea is to practice painting rocks and water. This is actually my second attempt because the first one was a hot mess!

The folks on the discussion board for the online class suggested the painting needs some additional detail in the foreground, and I think they are right about that.

However, my brain right now is totally in MOB mode, so I got nothin'. After the wedding, I'll go back and try to stir up some creative juices.

Watercolor Friday

Here are a couple of my latest watercolors. The Matterhorn is one of the painting exercises in the course. The idea is to practice painting a snow-capped mountain. You can see I haven't gotten to the DVD about painting trees yet!

The other one is Beatrice and Olivia, of course. I did it from a photo of these two napping together, but changed the background to make a better composition. I'm pretty pleased with it, all things considered. And I was getting tired of working through the mountain painting exercises!

Watercolor Exercise: Mt Fuji at Dawn

I did this exercise in my online watercolor course yesterday. It is called "Mt Fuji at Dawn" and the purpose is to practice painting skies and mountains. I'd finished the sky exercises but found them very difficult. But I must have learned something because I was really pleased with the way this one turned out.

I skipped ahead and watched the first lesson on painting trees in order to complete the painting and that definitely helped me!

All in all, I'm happy to report seeing myself progress with this.

Olivia Blogs: My Portrait

Woof! Olivia here. QG decided to try painting my portrait. after doing some of the drawing exercises in her painting course. I didn't have to pose because she took my picture first and used it for her go-by.

SHHHH. Don't tell Beatrice, she'll be jealous. Don't know why, it's hardly great art.

But I'm thinking that maybe I have a career as a model, dah-lings. Ta-ta for now.

Woof!
Olivia

Misty Watercolors....

I've been feeling the need to find a new hobby so I can escape from the wedding preparations and my anxiety over the state of the nation, which is all I've vowed to say about the subject on this blog.

For years I have thought about taking up watercolor painting--something my mother also did-and decided that there is no time like the present.

I found a watercolor painting course online (Watercolor Secrets) and decided to sign up. Here's my first effort, which is a monochrome study of a lake in Italy. The idea was to learn how to do a wash for the sky and some dry-brush techniques for the hills. This is my second try at the exercise. In the first attempt I had too much water on the paper so my mountains didn't have any white patches on them which adds some interest and texture. I also improved the gradations of color in this attempt.

So just for fun, I will post some future efforts as I work my way through the course, learning the techniques.