oyster shells

The inside of an oyster shell can be so colorful. These were served on a plate garnished with strands of seaweed, which I found so visually appealing.

house sparrow

from a photo I took a couple of years ago

melo & arya

This was coming along pretty well, then I started having trouble with Melo's face ... and the overworking began! I didn't finish; though I may, just for practice.
I will definitely try this one again, hopefully having learned from my mistakes.

chickadee

A couple of winters ago, I took some photos of birds in my yard after a snowstorm. They were all overexposed but I liked the quiet wintry mood that caused.
This is my first attempt to paint from one.

holiday themes

... from last year.

cape may point park

 

(7x11)

From a photo I took this summer. I liked the dark reflections and the space of light between it and the shore. 

And, below, a little card I painted last year.

snowy pine cone

A little pine cone painting, 5x7. 

technical difficulties

(a painting done on location this summer)

Having some problems posting this week: posts sent from my phone or tablet keep failing. So, took pictures with my camera to download to laptop, but the laptop's not reading the memory card.
I've exceeded my frustration for the day--and it's only 9:30!--so I'll have to try again another day.
In the meantime, Happy Thanksgiving!

poppy

The first, light washes were very pleasing, then I messed up with the darks.
Plan to try it again, I think I can do better.

lady cardinal

I think I prefer the female cardinal, with her tawny coloring.
My cardinals always look cartoony to me ... haven't been able to figure out why!

value practice

The idea here was to be rigorous in establishing and maintaining values ... I can't seem to do values in color. That will be my next attempt!
I wasn't happy with how thick I let the branches on the tree get, so I added some streaks of white and splatter for snow.

pine cones

I was just about to post this, and looked at the photo, and realized I should add a few more darks.
I often see what needs fixing only after photographing it.

rhodo sprig

T

The plants here are all confused. With the terribly hot summer we had here most of my plants were scorched and near dead, it seemed, but the recent warm weather has apparently encouraged some things to bloom again.

old dpw challenge

Addendum: Sorry, I got my sources mixed up! I saw this exercise, using a DPW photo, from Jo's downloadable Visual Guide to Painting (which is on sale this weekend); ten lessons with links to her videos on YouTube.

You can see Jo's work and lessons on YouTube and on her website.

I

I came across this old Daily Paintworks challenge on Jo MacKenzie's website. I have long admired the clarity of the values in her paintings, so I decided to give this challenge, which she credits with helping her see values more strongly, a try.

The challenge was to change the color and paint the value. I didn't change the colors (much) because I couldn't decide which colors to use! But I think I will do it again, the way it was meant to be done!

 

Melo, interrupting my photo-taking. 

pine cones

Still being a little more careful than I'd like;  but, I think anyway, if I keep at it it, I'll 1) get more confidence and 2) be able to distill the cone to its essentials for representation.

apples

Trying to paint some apples a la Jo MacKenzie, who is a whiz at seeing values.
If you haven't yet, check out her short videos on youtube.

bluejay re-do

 

8x11

Painted this again, a little larger. I wanted a more high-key background and wanted to, if I could, improve on the branches. Perhaps not surprisingly, I think I prefer the branches in the first version.

But I do like the almost marbled effect the salt created in the background.

 

 

6x8

backyard birds

Two cold weather tenants: white-throated sparrow and dark-eyed junco.
I like white backgrounds, but I'd like to come up with something else ... something out-of-focus.

monday class

Trying to get back in the habit of attending class-- tho' it'll be breaking up in a couple of weeks for the winter break.
This week, working on imaginary landscapes, trying to build up from light, loose washes to darker, more descriptive ones.
My problem is I always end up covering up too much of the underlying wash, and I'm never sure where to put the darks!

sktchy 30 faces/30 days

Accidentally posted this draft from a while ago yesterday ... Since it's here: I participated in the Sktchy app (only available on Apple devices, but they have a FB page and you can join challenges and get the reference photos via email) 30 Faces/30 Days challenge in January, when I was living with my mom. To keep it simple (and even so I only made it about halfway through the month!) I used only a mechanical pencil.

I found it very engrossing!

oak leaf sketch

A simple motif. Painted on lightweight sketchbook paper. Might try on watercolor paper where wet- in- wet might yield some good effects.

value studies

A page of small value studies. I find these, more than anything else, help me simplify a complicated or detailed subject.
Also just fun to do when I have no other ideas!

pine cones

Picked up this little branch on my bike ride. The symmetry appealed to me.
Still struggling to find the right balance in rendering the pine cone: I don't want to pick out every light edge; I need to get a little looser, freer.

winter birds

Ok. Not there yet ... but I do love the subject.
Back to the drawing table ...
I am thinking maybe going bigger--this is 6x8--might help: more room for colors to run, more space around branches...

winter themes

Beginning to explore some winter subjects.
I have several lovely photos of birds in snow that I took in my yard.
I have to work on a few things to pull them off: 1) making a variety of soft grays, and 2) maintaining soft edges for snow drifts and trees/twigs in the background.
In this particular case I think the paper, which was not conducive to bleeding, was a hindrance. Better paper next time.

(oops, just notice, after posting, that I forgot to paint his feet!)

sketchbook pages

Been picking up things on my bike ride-- leaves, pine cones. Beginning to try to draw them.

another workshop day

Another street view. Tried for fewer brushstrokes ...
If you look up Alvaro Castagnet's watercolors, you'll see his horizon line, or where the house hits the pavement, is very dark, with indeterminate details made with negative painting and adding shapes with lighter opaque colors. It's painterly and convincing, and not easy!
You'll see I left out the horizon!

alvaro castagnet workshop

Took a workshop last week.
The second day we went out to paint some Cape May streets a la Alvaro.
Normally I'd spend a good hour drawing an architectural subject; these I spent about 5 minutes on, then rushed in with big wet washes.
They're a mess but it felt kinda liberating.
Alvaro's comment,"Too many brushstrokes " was on the mark!

ps That mess in the sky on the bottom isn't calligraphy--it's supposed to be birds!

Magnolia wip

Working on an 11x15 magnolia painting trying to apply Birgit O'Connor's method. But it seems I skipped over one of the early important steps: evaluating the composition for drama. This may turn out all right, but it probably won't have that stunning element Birgit's have.

birgit o'connor rhodo

Finished, for now. I cannot work on this any longer!
I might darken the stamen shadows, but I already overworked them and the stamens, so maybe it's best not to draw attention to them!

another wip

... from one of Birgit O'Connor's online classes.
Struggling a bit with this one--confused by my own drawing!
I do like her classes. They are pricey, but she does offer sales, and you have lifetime access.
I wouldn't approach everything I paint in this way, but I am thinking of some subjects that might work well. And, I'm getting comfortable with half sheets!

autumn marsh

The neutral tint is much more forgiving than color!

value studies

These are fun and relaxing to do: not much drawing, one color ... Should have been more careful and kept the path of the water lighter.

color chart

Spent time this weekend setting up a palette for next week's Alvaro Castagnet workshop and made a color chart as several of the colors he requested--lots of warm reds, e.g. Mayan orange, pyrrol red--aren't on my palette.
(18 of the colors are his recommendations; I added 2: azo green and dioxizine violet.)
I got into the habit of avoiding warm reds, using burnt sienna instead, because all the ones I tried seemed pretty opaque and didn't make nice purples.
But these make some lovely mixes!

birgit o'connor class: calla lilies

That's a lot of green paint!

chalfonte side porch

A small sketch, about 8x10, so not very detailed. But I think I might scale it up ... after practicing overhanging branches and dappled shadows.

cape may point dunes

A subject I normally wouldn't tackle: feathery light-colored things in front of dark things.
I think if I did it again I'd try to be more daring in my color choices.