Just Finished!

This morning I decided that I'm REALLY FINISHED with this piece! I have changed the colors in the background at least 3 times, tweaked the color on the bottom right at least twice, and added different colors and highlights to the rooster's comb about 5 times!!!!!!!  Oh, and I've worked on the feathers quite a bit as well and underneath the paint is a layer of collage for added texture.
So, here it is: Anticipation

Text and photos ©Melissa Gannon 2014

"Star Attraction" — A Unique Piece

Have you ever started a piece, never finished it, and when you looked at it again didn't want to finish it? Well, that's how Star Attraction began. Looking at all my available canvases to paint on, I came across an older piece which had never been completed. Deciding that this canvas would be the perfect size for the rooster that I wanted to paint, I gessoed over it with kind of a pink color and went to town! Well, my first issue, which I didn't think would be an issue, occurred when I figured out that the collage of acrylic skins showed through my painting and detracted from my rooster! What a bummer! I wondered if I could pull the painting together and fight the weird directions of the collage pieces. (You can see the under collage above the rooster's comb; it's that star shape radiating out.) There was more collage that didn't fit in the feathers. Not wanting to abandon the piece and liking my brushwork, I pulled out my collection of acrylic skins and figured, why not??? So this piece would have more than just the brushwork! Lighten up already!!!!! I put a lot of skin pieces in the red comb of the rooster, in the breast feathers, the tail feathers and sprinkled some through the background. I thought the stars collaged in the upper right hand corner added a little whimsy! All the texture really adds interest to this piece and experimenting a bit provided creative challenge.

"Star Attraction" • 10" x 8" • $100.00

Text and photos ©Melissa Gannon 2014

Seasonal Note Cards from my Etsy store!

Think about the upcoming holidays? Can't wait for that shivery, wintery feeling?
Here are some seasonal note cards from my  Etsy Store: Melissa Studio Fine Art
 
Check them out!

Christmas Cats

Sand Dunes in Watercolor

Today's watercolor class created color complexity using glazing. Many folks have questions about glazing, so I thought that it would be a good exercise to incorporate it into a painting. We undercoated with yellow and blue and glazed over that with orange. You can see the beautiful results below!

As you can see, everyone had a different interpretation of this interesting subject.

Traveler's Song

Traveler's Song…poetry with paint…presented quite a challenge! I decided I wanted an Autumn piece with Snow Geese. My first step after figuring out where to put the geese was to mask the birds and trees with masking fluid and masking tape. Then I washed on watercolor paint and acrylic inks, tilted the paper to let everything flow, added texture with saran wrap, lace and whatever I could lay my hands on.

First wash of Traveler's Song with all the masking removed

 

 

 

What next? How do I add while keeping the texture and spontaneity already present? I decided to add some blues in the water, add more leaves and more detail in the tree trunks. Nearly finished, I spent several days looking at the piece trying to figure out what little details would make the piece SING without going too far. The finished product is below.

Traveler's Song • mixed watermedia on Fabriano 140# paper • $600.00

Just feel yourself watching the Snow Geese winging their way. Smell the smells of Autumn and see the colors and the colored light!

Photos and text ©Melissa Gannon 2014

Golden Woods in Watercolor!

Today we celebrated Autumn by painting a piece with BRIGHT colors!!!!!! Trees clothe themselves in yellows and oranges at this time of year—truly an inspiration for a seasonal painting! We started by masking the trees and then freely adding flowing, magical colors! Watercolor is SO SPONTANEOUS! Time passed quickly and we all ENJOYED!!!! Thanks everyone for coming!!!!!

Some of the steps we took to make COOL ART!

Our BEAUTIFUL Autumn painting!

Dynamic Change—painting process

Recently I've been combining watercolors and acrylic inks as well as black ink. Try putting that on your wet paper!!!!! Major BIG black spot!!! To this painting soup, I'm adding ox gall liquid as well as spattering gum arabic. Over all this wet paint I place saran wrap, lace, cheese cloth and whatever else I can come up with. Then comes the hardest part, letting the whole piece dry! If I'm patient enough to do this, when I remove all of the texture it's a lot like unwrapping a Christmas present!!!! WOW! Lots of color mixes and color flows! 

Next comes the hard part. How do I define what I want without losing all of that cool texture? So this process involves a lot more thought. Using acrylic inks which are opaque helps because the ink can cover but stay watery enough to blend in with the watercolor already in the piece. In this piece a lot of the blue in both the sky and water was added with acrylic ink. I thought it was too yellow and wanted to add color variety as well as set off the oranges and browns. The cool blue also really makes the yellow POP!

All content of post including photos of artwork ©Melissa Gannon 2014

Dynamic Change • mixed watermedia on Arches 300# paper • 22" x 30"

 • $600.00

The Evolution of a Painting

Watercolor painting is exciting to me! Color moves, blends and swirls. Acrylic inks mixed into the beginning wash add color excitement. Adding Ox Gall Liquid to the paint increases granulation and Gum Arabic creates shiny areas where it's applied.

This piece began with a
reference sketch. To keep the whites of the tree trunks, I used masking tape and scattered masking tape pieces throughout the piece. To finish this piece with sparkle, I spattered white acrylic ink on top.

The Serenity of Change

Autumn brings changes of color, of temperature, of daylight and the air just crackles! This piece shows that change can be serene. Everything is as it's supposed to be.

All content of post including photos of artwork ©Melissa Gannon 2014