Thursday, December 21, 2017

Mysteries in the Woods

I've been looking at the leaves that are still on the trees and they sparkle against dark backgrounds. I've been trying to figure out how to pull this off in a painting in a loose fashion. It seems like it should be easy but it's definitely not! This piece is my impression of what these leaves look like.

I masked whites with white gouache and floated acrylic inks over that. When it dried I washed off the gouache and went back into the piece with watercolor and more acrylic ink and even some Pearl Ex powders! I added the whites with a wooden nib. I was exploring making marks with instruments other than paint brushes. A lot of the dark marks are make with the wooden nib as well. I like the variety that the marks add to this piece. There's also a lot of iridescent paint in this piece.

I put this piece up in my living room when I thought that I was finished and decided that I really like it. It's more impressionistic that I've been working lately but it's really interesting to look at!
"Mysteries in the Woods" • Original mixed watermedia on 100% cotton paper • 15" x 11.5"
If interested in purchasing this piece click HERE.

Monday, December 18, 2017

Full of Life, Full of Dreams

I love working with acrylic inks, letting them flow and seeing the results. That's how this piece began. After the ink dried, I added watercolor and then more ink. There's a lot of iridescence in this piece in the water and the lower left especially.
The woods seem a little magical to me this time of year. Although mostly dormant the promise of spring is there—a good time for dreaming.
"Full of Life, Full of Dreams" • Original mixed watermedia on 100% cotton paper • 15" x 11"
If interested in purchasing this piece click HERE.

Sunday, December 17, 2017

Magic Blossoms

This is a waterlily piece that I started a few months ago. I used acrylic ink and masked out the flowers with white gouache. The initial wash was so awesome that I wasn't sure where to go next so I set it aside. I found it yesterday and thought "What a GREAT START! Surely I can finish this!!!" I really loved all of the background color and the flowers were wonderful to paint since they were mostly white. That made for nice clean pinks. I love the strength of these colors.
"Magic Blossoms" • Original mixed watermedia on 100% cotton paper • 7.5" x 8.5"
If interested in purchasing this piece click HERE.

Monday, December 11, 2017

Magical Day

I worked with watery washes today in acrylic inks, watercolor, liquid watercolor and gouache. I had a lot of color on this piece but didn't see much going on until I added the pink near the bottom. Then all of the sudden it looked like something! I white gouache for the sunlight sparkles.
"Magical Day" • Original mixed watermedia on 100% cotton paper • 5.5" x 7.5"
If interested in purchasing this piece click HERE.

Sunday, December 10, 2017

First Snow

This is another watercolor and gouache piece. I scraped out the trees into a wet wash with the idea of adding gouache later after everything dried. Because gouache is so opaque, it works well. I spattered on the snowflakes after completing the piece. I think the first snow is something to take note of and these birds are part of the waiting quiet as those first snowflakes fall.
"First Snow" • Original watercolor and gouache on 100% cotton paper • 5.5" x 7'5"
To purchase this piece click HERE.

Wednesday, December 6, 2017

Together in the Winter

This started out as a class demo that I wasn't sure was going anywhere. I looked at it a few days later and added the birds and the white for the snow. I think it works really well! If you can do it just right, watercolor and gouache work together wonderfully.
"Together in the Winter" • Original watercolor and gouache on 100% cotton paper • 7.5" x 5.5"
If interested in purchasing this piece click HERE.

Tuesday, December 5, 2017

Winter Love

I've been experimenting with adding gouache to my watercolor paintings so that some of the white can go on last. It adds a nice contrast when there is also white paper since the gouache is more opaque. I painted most of this piece wet into wet and added the birds last.
"Winter Love" • Original Watercolor and gouache on 100% cotton paper • 7.5" x 5.5"
If interested in purchasing this piece click HERE.