Signs of Spring

The moment I walked into my painting class yesterday I got nervous. I could smell the fragrance of the lilacs. I love lilacs but they sometimes cause me to have a sneezing fit which can be really embarrassing. Fortunately, yesterday they did not and I got a chance to paint the ones that Paul, my instructor, brought to the table.

I used watercolors and a touch of pen to complete my painting. Paul allowed me to borrow some Purple Madder (Windsor Newton) and Mineral Violet (Holbein). It was faster than mixing all of the colors.

Finally, spring has arrived in Boston. Flowers are showing their colors. It feels so invigorating to go outside without my coat, boots, and scarf.

A second value study

I did a second value study, again in ultramarine. This time I focused on a different type of tree. I found this excercise valuable in helping me to “see” the attributes of my subject more closely.

Winter Study in Values

I am taking a series of workshops on Cape Cod with a wonderful instructor, Kate Aubrey. The most recent workshop focused on trees, outer shapes, bird holes, and values. Kate asked us to focus on lights, mediums and darks using one color. I selected French Ultramarine. Kate suggested working from light to dark, which worked well for me. Another interesting source, for newbies to watercolor like me, are books by Steve Quillar that focus on value and mixing colors. I think I may buy the Quillar Wheel, a map of how to mix colors. It’s also in most of his books and/or it is sold on Amazon.

Wonderful Team Member Award

posted in awards by http://Mariansart.wordpress.com

Thank you Megan for nominating me for the “Wonderful Team Member Award!” Please check out Megan’s blog

http://MakeSomethingMondays.wordpress.com

because she has posted some great sketches, awesome photographs, and lots of interesting tidbits about design & color.

The rules are as follows;

1.The Nominee of the Wonderful Team member Readership Award shall display the logo on his/her blog.
2.The Nominee shall nominate 14 readers they appreciate over a period of 7 days, all at once or little by little.
3.The Nominee shall name his/her Wonderful Team Member Readership Award nominees on a post or on posts during 7 days.

Here are my 14 nominees in no particular order.  Each of these people intrigue and inspire me with their art, photography and/or writing talents.  They may not even realize that they helped to launch me into the exciting world of blogging.  I consider each of them my teacher as I roll myself into a more artful life. I am spellbound by their collective talent and creativity.

Thank you!

Marian

http://Erik R Davis.wordpress.com/

http://Photography Art Plus.wordpress.com/

http://Filippa Levemarks Blog.wordpress.com/

http://Snoring Dog Studio.wordpress.com/

http://leaf and twig.wordpress.com/

http://THE FORESTER ARTIST.wordpress.com/

http://Alessandro Susin Illustrator.wordpress.com/

http://TurtleAndRobot.wordpress.com/

http://JanasJournal.wordpress.com/

http://Hundredpic.wordpress.com/

http://Elenacaravela’s Blog.wordpress.com/ - Elena is not accepting more awards right now, but I wish to acknowledge her.

http://Brian Gaynor Photography.wordpress.com/

http://rue Manuel bis.wordpress.com/

http://Aletha Kuschan’s Weblog.wordpress.com/

Anticipation Flowers

I have not been present on WordPress for awhile. A construction project on the Cape has scooped up all of my time and energy. I miss my WordPress friends and I really miss my daily painting a lot. But, all that being said, I just received such wonderful news and the only thing I could think to do was to paint. So, I did! It felt good not to think about tile and countertops, etc. for awhile.

The flowers are inspired by the news that in October our fourth grandchild will arrive, a little girl. We have three wonderful little boys whom we adore and we are all very excited to think we can now buy bows, ribbons, and dresses. What fun!!

Colorful pansies are one of the first signs of new growth in spring. They were the first flower that came to mind.

Tea Time 3

So, it’s snowing and sleeting like crazy in Boston again. Knowing I would be in the house today I decided to take a fieldtrip around the first floor looking for items to paint. I was drawn to this little teacup that was my mothers’. The blue color attracted me. It says Copeland, England on the bottom. The glass candies in the painting are bits and pieces that I picked up on a trip to Venice years ago and the bud vase was a holiday teacher gift from a former student.

I like painting items to which I have an emotional attachment.

I have done two things lately to find mistakes in my work. I turn the painting upside down and/or I take a photo with my Iphone and then send it to my computer. It’s amazing how quickly I can spot mistakes that my brain had otherwise accepted as correct.

Oh well, nothing is perfect, but I thought I would share this anyway.

Tea Time 2

I’m not sure why I never considered painting my mom’s teacups before, but for now it feels so right. Adding objects from around my house to round out the composition is an easy task – there is lots of “stuff” from which to choose. I like adding some food to the picture it feels comfortable.

In the spirit of learning, a blog friend suggested watching Charles Reid videos. This was really helpful. In the video, he has suggestions on composition, mixing colors, and applying washes. He is inspirational and makes it all look so easy.

As summer approaches, I have started to gather information for sketching and painting outside. Another blog friend mentioned urbansketchers.com and dannygregory.com for tips on sketching outside. Both links are helpful. Lots of people seem to like the Moleskin bound sketch books. If you have another suggestion I would love to know. The jury is still out on using watercolor pencils, watercolor pens, or a small transportable palette with tube paint. What do you use? I’m interested and want to begin to organize materials, but definitely want to consider traveling “lightly.”