Valentines Update!

Every year, when the snow piles up outside, and the world is monochromatic, I am drawn to brightly colored paint and creating Valentines.  It's part self-care, and part caring for others.  

This year, I combined a masking fluid "pen" and bold Schmincke watercolors.  

• Step 1: Draw a simple design on watercolor paper with a masking fluid pen -- my masking fluid was unpredictable, so I let blobs & thick lines happen.  Sometimes I waited for the masking fluid to dry and then removed big puddles in the wrong places, other times, I incorporated them into the design.  
• Step 2: Let the masking fluid dry.  This takes 20-30 minutes, depending on how thickly you lay it down.
• Step 3: Paint!  The masking fluid allows you to place bold colors right next to each other without any unwanted mixing.
• Step 4: Let paint dry & rub off the masking fluid -- with a gum eraser or your finger. Add any extra touches you like with colored pencils, etc.
• Step 5: Glue artwork to a blank card to create your Valentine. 
• Step 6: Write your message; sign your card; & drop it in the mail.  You just made someone's day!

The beauty of using small pieces of watercolor paper is that you can set up a stack of them, and experiment without the pressure of making "perfect" art.  

I also found a Valentine rose card tutorial video from Ellen Crimini-Trent on her YouTube channel.  You will be surprised at how easy and relaxing this project is!

I hope you'll take the opportunity to play with your art supplies and create Valentines cards to share with the important people in your life!

Art for Self-Care Update

I've been enjoying reading Cathy Johnson's book Painting Watercolors, North Light Books 1995. Her playful approach to building skills with watercolor painting makes picking up a brush and experimenting easy. Sunday morning I wanted to do a bit of painting, but didn't want to do anything complex, so I flipped through Cathy's book and found a simple landscape to copy.

Copying another artist might seem like "cheating," but it's a time-honored method used to train art students in the techniques used by more skilled artisans.  Every time you copy another artist's work, you gain insights that don't come simply from looking at the artist's work.  You get to play with your art supplies, to learn, and get a burst of inspiration all at once. 

And, you're left with something lovely to prop on your desk and admire as you pass by in your daily routine.  This little painting will likely become a post-card and get dropped in the mail after I've enjoyed looking at it for a few days.  Small art has the benefit of feeling like less of an undertaking, and more of a game. Isn't playfulness the best type of self-care?  

I used a palette of Prussian blue, Cobalt Green, Indigo, Burnt Sienna, and Chromium Yellow Hue Deep. The feathery snow effect resulted from table salt sprinkled on the snowy Prussian blue hill. I let it dry a bit, then used a blow-dryer on low to make sure it was crisp-dry before sweeping the salt off and adding the cabin and trees. 

I hope you find time this December for some artful self-care!

Here's a link to Cathy's book in case you'd like to explore self-care with a watercolor brush:

 https://cathyjohnson.info/bookpages/paintingwatercolors.html

And, here's a link to her blog:

https://cathyjohnson.info/tips.html

Cathy also has provided her e-book Keeping an Artist's Journal  free for a limited time in response to  Covid-19.  Here's the link:

https://cathyjohnson.info/ebooks/artistsjournal.html 

 

Painting the Lakeside Woods in November

 

David & I took advantage of last Saturday's bright sky and unusual heat to get out to Raccoon Creek State Park.  We hiked in a picnic lunch, and some paints, and enjoyed lunch by the glassy, calm lake.  Later, as I painted, David read the news aloud to me that the election had been called in favor of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.  The sky seemed bluer, the day more colorful and full of hope. 

Watercolor Projects

 

As we turn towards Autumn, the natural world is full of beauty to capture with my watercolor paints.  Time falls away, and only the colors and nature remain.

The First Signs of Autumn

 

I sat outside with a pot of tea and my paints to capture the first tinges of autumn coming into the landscape.  A cluster of scarlet Poison Ivy leaves climbing a cherry tree stood in stark contrast to the lush greens of late summer.  

First, I warmed up with pen & ink sketches of "Things Leaves Do." Then I made a quick pencil sketch of the scene, laid in color washes and details, and finished the page with leafy shapes, limbs and shading with a Micron pen.

Sunflowers!

 The sunflowers around my home are blooming gloriously in spite of the drought.  Bumblebees, butterflies,  and Ruby-Throated Hummingbirds visit the blooms from dawn to dusk.  Goldfinches, Titmice and Chickadees are already dining on the seeds from older blooms. 

While the flowers feed a plethora of wildlife, they make my heart rise whenever I see them and feed my soul as I try to capture them on the page.  

Celebrating Color in Summer

The joy of new paints is trying out the colors and exploring what you can do with them.

The page "Things Leaves Do" was inspired by nature journaler Hannah Hinchman, author of A Trail Through Leaves: The Journal as a Path to Place.  She fills illustrated journal pages with topics like "Things Snow Does."

Painting Grandmother Oak

At the foot of my country driveway I can see a massive oak tree I've long admired and wanted to draw.  I call her Grandmother Oak.  One recent summer morning, I toted my paints and pens down to the spot, sketching her first in my nature journal, and then trying to capture her with watercolors.  The gift of a painting done on a summer morning, aside from the experience of painting, is that you get to carry the memory of that time and place with you through the winter every time you look at your artwork.

Finished 3 Fabulous Feathers!

I couldn't be more delighted with my new Schmincke watercolors.  Here's the finished study of a Crow feather, an Owl (?) feather and a Downy Woodpecker feather.  Of course, the real feathers that I found out on hikes and around my farm weren't purple and blue, but I decided to take a colorist's approach to the black, earth-toned and black-and-white, feathers, respectively.

New Paints!

I allowed myself a luxury over the 4th of July weekend:  A new set of Schmincke Horadam Aquarell watercolors.  They arrived Tuesday evening from Jackson's Art supplies in London, and I have been amazed and delighted by the intensity of the colors and the ease of painting with them.  A wet brush picks up the gorgeous colors easily.  Here are some samples of my early color tests.