plein air

my friend Gina and I said as soon as it got to 60 degrees we'd go out painting. So the other day it was 57 but seemed so nice, so we decided to go to Hereford Inlet and paint. Well, the wind shifted and we froze our butts off! But we stuck it out for nearly 2 hours!

classwork

                            11x15

The preliminary studies are always better than the "painting."

Two more paintings following along with a Lois Davidson demo on YouTube.

Good practice for me using a big flat brush, I think.

roots pt 2

These are from the 2nd half of the workshop.

The exercise below was interesting: Chloe had 5 ref photos, a couple were the same root turned sideways, and we drew one after the other on the same piece of paper. So the first image below is what I had after 2 photos; the last after 5.

roots pt 1

I have not been diligent about keeping up with it, and I think that's okay, but I am going to try harder because it is such a wonderful resource: these drawings were done in a workshop with Chloe Briggs. You can draw with her--and it's a great experience--every Monday at drawingisfree.org. for free. Just log in.

I follow Chloe on Patreon and she really provides great content: thoughtful, meditative, expansive.

These drawings are from an online workshop.

sketchbook

Quick studies from photos I took in Maine.

still life

                             10x14

An in-progress still life on hot press paper.

I'm not sure I can complete it ...

stormy sky

                            10x14

Painted along with Lois and Morgaine Davidson Art on YouTube. I really enjoy their stormy sky paintings.

hyacinth

                          10x14

I buy bulbs most years to force with the idea of painting the stages to blooming.

3 of my 4 bulbs are in full bloom and I haven't gotten around to it till today.

amaryllis

Still plugging away at the amaryllis!

This one is the fanciest, with very fine stripes and a bright green center.

classwork

                             11x14

From class with SaltyWaterArt last night.

The study is always better than the painting. Planning to do more "studies" (😉) from the reference.

from a car window

                           11x11

I took a picture of this scene from my car in Maine.

Started this painting a while ago and, I think, finished it today.

patterns

                              8x10

Enjoying painting patterns, it's very engaging.

This is hot press paper and the sizing was not great, which kind of helped me keep all the little bits of the pattern discrete.

amaryllis

My final amaryllis is about to bloom.

still life

                              10x11

Been dabbing away at this little still life for days and I think it's finished.

My red and white amaryllis is about to bloom; I am forcing several hyacinth bulbs, which are in various stages ...

Having a hard time painting of late, feeling low, anxious ... Started about nine days ago😟

classwork

small scenes painted during a workshop with Molly Hashimoto.

amaryllis

.                               16x18

My red amaryllis is pretty wilted now; I think the white one will hang on a couple more days. Then I have one more getting ready to bloom!

still life

                                8x8

I picked up this bottle at a thrift store. Just loved it shape.

Below: my patterned cloth sampler, in progress, before one of my amaryllis fell over onto it and converted it in wet dirt. I was liking the results so much that I may do another.

.                              16x18

sumi

And a litle homework practice.

These are also small, about 3x4.

sumi

Started a sumi class today online with the Seattle Art League.

Today we were doing practice, getting used to the brushes and paper by painting tree shapes.

These are small, about 4x6.

finished

                              16x16

I don't know why but I'm not as pleased with this as I'd hoped to be. I love the cloths and the postcard, Matisse's Red Onions but the cup and the oranges ... Meh.

I wish I had had some red onions!

amaryllis

                                12x16

My amaryllis are still in bloom! And I have another that hadn't bloomed yet.

                              12x16

classwork

In class with SaltyWaterArt this week we practiced painting grasses

classwork

I'm taking a class called Expressive Watercolor with Susan ONeill, who is a really great painter, on zoom via the art League in Alexandria VA.

These are some exercises done on scrap paper during our first class.