Daydreamer... still in Progress

All of last week I spent at the hospital with my mom who has terminal cancer.  This is a particularly difficult time for me since I have cared for my mom for the past 16 years.  Letting go is never easy.

While at the hospital I used the time to go through old sketchbooks looking for usable hints I might have written down and to go back through some of the books I have that I hadn't looked at in a long time.  I think sometimes it is fun to realize how far you have come or in some cases where you are stuck!!!  One of the books I looked at was Watercolor Wisdom by Jo Taylor.  What a great book... so full of information and exercises to do.  It was in looking through her book that I realized I am sort of stuck  and need to do a little bit more exploring to really find what I have to say.  Time will tell if I really do that or not.  I am pretty big on staying in my comfort zone right now.


I didn't get to do much painting last week, but yesterday and today I have spent doing a little painting just to escape from what is going on with my mom.  Yesterday I spent putting details in the back ground... felt so good to be in control of something!  Then today I spent covering up those details using a technique I found in Alex Power's book Painting People in Watercolor-A Design Approach.

I really have a long way to go on this but am making some progress slowly but surely.  

Judy Morris believes there are five stages to a painting...

1. idea stage
2. drawing stage
3. just paint everything
4. go back and finish the painting
5. use magnifying glass or gray cardboard viewing card to look at the finished painting.

Be Still My Art,

Kay

My Color Notebook and More Tips... (Oh! No! Not more on Value!)

The past several days have been especially difficult as we had to put my Mom in the hospital on Saturday.  She apparently has cancer that has spread to several places in her body.  We will know more on Wednesday but until then I am struggling to maintain some control... Mom has lived with us for the past 16 years so it will be especially difficult to let her go.  I sit at the hospital desperate to separate myself from the situation so I work on art related things that can be done on the "fly" with few supplies.  Today I penciled in some quick exercises in one of my sketchbooks so that when I had a minute I could just add the color to them and my samples would be nice and tidy in an actual book instead of "floaties" that tend to disappear.  When I got home tonight I just had to hold a paint brush in my hand for a while (at least I can control that, right?) so I painted a few of the samples.

I can also round up all the "floaties" and put them in the book and everything on color will be in one place.... well, almost everything on color.  What about you?  Do you keep notes on mixing colors and samples of different formulas?  What do you keep yours in?

I hope you are starting a notebook on value... if so, here are even more tips that I found on a handout that I have.

• Place a middle value first for a better grasp of the whole range of value and to reveal light areas.  Add darks last.
• Full value range paintings lack a dominance... omit unnecessary values.
• Take a black and white picture of your painting.
• A small halo of light accents an edge where it meets a dark.  Conversely, a small gradation of darker value will relax the same edge.
• Keep middle value paintings in the #4 to #7 range... middle values hold a painting together.  We need middle values in large areas or shapes for cementing.  They are the walls that support your windows of light or upon which darks can be patterned.
• Dark value paintings should be kept in the #5 to #10 range.  They give punch, drama and like light values can be used for structural unity. 
• Light value paintings should be kept in the #1 to #5 range.  Light values give life, breath and sparkle to a composition and can be used for structural unity.
• A photo of a sunlit subject usually blackens cast shadows.  Lighten these and put more color into them.
• Alternate value contrasts along extended edges.
• It takes a value change to separate a tree from the sky.  Don't rely on a color change to separate it.  Even worse, don't rely on texture.
• Most brighter colors come to full intensity in mid-value
• Give most of your attention to the four to seven largest pieces of value in your painting.  If these few large hunks are not the most distinguished shapes you can make, your painting will fail.

Haven't had a chance to work on "Daydreaming" but maybe soon I will have an update on it.

Be Still My Art,

Kay

Work in Progress... values

Things felt good this afternoon as I had some uninterrupted painting time.  As I worked on this painting I was thinking a lot about the values I had planned.  Instead of working the entire painting like I did yesterday in just trying to get some color down, I started working more on individual areas of the painting.  It is difficult to judge the values when you don't have much color surrounding the area you are working on.  So, I pulled out an old value chart that I probably cut out of a book and punched holes in... so I had something to compare the values to.

Value chart on white paper

                           Value chart over the painting... what value would you say
                            the blue is?  It looks like a great middle area value to me...
                                only problem is it is supposed to be a dark value in that area.            

Here is the painting so far... remember it is a WIP!

Daydreamer.... in progress

I keep a poster on my wall that I made about analyzing a painting.  Of course it comes from some book that is long gone... sorry.  It reads:

All details must be eliminated so each object in the painting

is reduced to its basic shape.  Then the structural skeleton can be seen.

The examples of this are paintings by Grunewald and El Greco:

Altar Triptch by Grunewald

Kneeling Saint by El Greco

Notice how the paintings are reduced to three values in black, white and grey and then simplified by removing details and combining shapes.  I seem to be able to do that in my planning... now the trick is to carry it out in the final painting.  Sounds so easy, doesn't it???  Do you find it that easy to do?  Not me!

Be Still My Art,


Kay

Mr. and Mrs. McAdams and my WIP

I finally got to meet Mr. and Mrs. McAdams today.  They are the couple that I was doing a commission portrait of so their son could give it to them for their anniversary.  What a delightful couple.  Mr. McAdams is 90 years old and still plays racquetball.  Mrs. McAdams is 87 and such a delight to be around... you never know when she may break out into a song, and she has a very nice voice!

Mr. and Mrs. McAdams with their portrait

I began the painting of "Daydreamer" today and got several glazes on.  I am at a point now where I really need to concentrate and think about what I am doing so I had to stop until I can have some uninterrupted time for painting.  Just being able to put paint on the paper was pleasing to me today.

Daydreamer... a work in progress.

How about you?  Did you get a lot accomplished today?  I am looking forward to painting more tomorrow!!

Be Still My Art,


Kay

More on Value and a WIP

My Mom (who is 90 years old) had some medical tests run last week and sitting in the lobby waiting brought back memories of when she had a stroke several years ago.  At that time I was in a critique class led by Polly Hammett.  Polly is a master at design and composition and really emphasized underlying abstract value designs.  She suggested that we take old art show catalogues and look at the value patterns of the winning entries and/or paintings that we liked.  By putting a piece of tracing paper over the photo one could see the larger value shapes in each painting.  I happened to have a sketch book that I had made by putting a sheet of drawing paper and then a sheet of tracing paper, until I had enough pages for the book.  To pass the time while at the hospital I started my Value Patterns Book...

Award winning paintings

Value Patterns of the paintings

Award winning paintings

Value Patterns of the paintings

Stephen Quiller

 I filled an entire sketchbook with the underlying abstract value patterns of winning watercolor paintings and also with the paintings of artist whose work I admire.  It was a very soothing exercise and I think I really learned a lot from doing it.  One thing I began to notice in all the value patterns was the use of large value shapes.

Value Patterns

Arne Westerman

Today I finished the drawing on my next painting and got the first glaze put on!!  Yea me!  Persistence and perseverance... one little step at a time.  Any progress is good progress... as long as it is progress in the right direction!

Work in Progress

Be Still My Art,


Kay

Gladiolus

Gladiolus
Watercolor and Pen and Ink
4.5" X 13.5"

I wish I could say that I stepped out into my yard the other day and cut these gorgeous gladiolus from my flower bed... but since I have a major brown thumb I would be fibbing if I said something like that.  The best I can do is pick them up at the store... but they are still gorgeous.  I took a few minutes after breakfast to do a contour line drawing of one of the stems.  I wanted to do a small painting to see if I liked it enough to do a larger one later.  For me this painting wasn't much fun.  That "wow" factor had been missing from the get go so my heart never was in it.  Even though it was a small painting I really had to push myself to stay involved enough to even complete it.  Do you ever find yourself in a spot like that?  Since I had started it I felt like I should follow it through to the end but it was almost like punishment.  So, maybe for me a lot of the "Wow!" factor comes in the "discovery" of the painting and the planning that goes into the painting at the start.  I love to design the paintings and work with the values and most of that preplanning was missing from this painting.  Maybe next time I should work with a better light source and the dazzle that is so necessary for me will be there!! 

Be Still My Art,

Kay

So Many Paintings, So Little Time

It seems to me lately that I go to bed on Monday and when I wake up the next day it is Friday already!!  Time is just whizzing by!  And that creates a dilemma... I have so many watercolor paintings to be painted and so little time to paint them.  Yesterday the grandchildren were all here for Father's Day and everyone went to the community pool to swim... except me and I went to take photos!!  With 3 boys and a girl all ranging in age from 15 to 4 I knew I was bound to get at least one great painting prospect ... and sure enough I got two!

I know you are probably wondering what I see in this photo that is worth painting (besides my granddaughter!)  Look what happens when I put it in photoshop and tweak it a little:

I really like the radial composition and I think that is what makes this work even though her face is right in the center.

And this photo:

becomes this reference for a painting:

Now all I have to do is complete the three paintings I am working on and I have two more ready to start... well almost ready.

How about you?  How many paintings do you have going?  And, more importantly, do you have enough time in the days to do all the paintings you have in your head?  Me either...

Be Still My Art,

Kay

Two Woo Hoos and a New Product

Today was a two Woo Hoo day for me!!
First I got an email advising me that my painting, "The Prodigal", had been selected for the 48th Annual Membership Exhibit of the Southwestern Watercolor Society.  Woo Hoo!!!  Alex Powers juried this year's show.

The Second Woo Hoo is for completing (well, almost... still have a little tweaking to do yet) the commission portrait I have been working on.  I am close enough to give a shout out anyway!! Woo Hoo!!

Commission Portrait near completion

Have you had any Woo Hoo days lately?  If so, give a shout out yourself!!

Before I started work on this commission I had ordered a new product from Daniel Smith.  It is called Watercolor Ground.  It looks a lot like gesso and it brushes on like gesso.  It is supposed to make any surface paintable with watercolor.  I couldn't wait to try it out so periodically when I was on break from the commission portrait I worked on a canvas that I had brushed with the watercolor ground.

Painting in beginning stages

This is a 12 X 12 gallery wrapped canvas that I am in the process of painting with watercolor!  It has been a lot of fun because it is a different feel and the watercolor handles differently on it than it does regular paper.  To me it seems to be like a cross between gessoed paper and Aquabord.  It is very easy to rub out areas.  I noticed it can be difficult to get a hard line (see close-up of the eye) and also, you can see the texture from  brushing on the ground.  Sometimes it just makes a neat texture on its own. (see close up of hair)  

Notice how the brown of the iris ran at the top?

At the top of the hair you can see fine cracks created by the ground.

Have you tried any new products or colors lately?  If so, what and how did it work for you?  There is still lots of exploring to do with this new ground, but it promises to be much fun... and soon I will have more time to play.  I wonder if it can make my heart skip a beat or flutter with excitement just a little.  

Be Still My Art,

Kay

 

The Value of Value

I'm still working on the portrait and suspect I will be for several more days.  Right now it is not fun...grrr... paintings that just seem to paint themselves are so much more fun.  Don't you agree?  I have been struggling with the values in the ladies face all day.  If she were here and I could look at her I would probably have better luck seeing the values, but she isn't and I am working from a photo so I am struggling.  Not long ago I was working on a painting and I knew there was a problem... but for the longest time I couldn't put my finger on it.  Then the light came on... (that happens once in a while cause I think I have a short in my brain somewhere!!) I grabbed my camera and took a photo of the painting, put it in photoshop and turned it black and white and printed it out.  I wanted to compare it to the value study I had done earlier.  As luck will have it sometime, the problem stuck out like a sore thumb... all the values seemed to run together.  Oh that all problems would be so simple to fix...  today I came across a color value chart I made several years ago... you may have one like this...

Since it was made so long ago I couldn't remember if I ever checked the values in black and white to see how close I had gotten with the colors.  So, I checked it... like I do my paintings.

And, another light has come on... so I'm going to take a black and white of the portrait and see if I get a little better perspective on how it is really coming along.  It may be a heart thumping moment after all.

Be Still My Art,

Kay

Abstract Distraction

I am currently working on a commission portrait of an elderly couple.  This type of painting can become rather tense at times, at least for me.  I am so particular.  I paint and I think about the people I am painting... often I say a little prayer for them.  Somehow this makes me feel more in touch with who they are and not just what they look like physically.  But there are times when I just have to take a break from the commission and work on something totally unrelated.  Sometimes I work on another painting (I always have several at different stages somewhere in this room!... don't you?) sometimes I draw, sometimes I do exercises (NOT the kind where you perspire!!) to improve some aspect of my painting, and yes, often I play Angry Birds.  Today I decided to paint a small abstract since that is so far removed from what I normally do.  Several days ago I had taken a view finder and gone through a magazine looking for abstract ideas that I might want to paint.  I drew around the rectangular shape of the viewfinder and cut out the shapes.

I picked one out, not being very particular as to my choice.  I had some small scraps of paper and I used the grid method to get the proportionately correct size and draw the design on the paper.

Using the grid system makes drawing the design simple and fast.  All that is left is to paint the shapes.

I thought the large red shape on the right would balance the yellow shapes, but now that it is painted I think it needs a small yellow shape on the right that is on top of the red.  That would also give me an odd number of yellow shapes which would be much better.  What do you think?  It certainly is different from what I normally do and a "learning distraction".

Be Still My Art,

Kay

The Prodigal

My son and I like to go to estate sales once in a while.  There are often lots of treasures to be found... you should see the watercolor paper I have gotten at a bargain price!  Once in a while we will get to a sale and the sellers will be limiting the number of people who can go in at one time, so we have to wait outside until it is our turn to go in.  Not too long ago we were waiting and it was already getting pretty hot when my son put his arms on the gate and laid his head down... and bam!  There it was ~ the sun shining on his back and arms and the entire situation changed for me.  Instead of being at an estate sale I was planning a painting!  Actually I was still at the sale but my intentions changed.  Instead of bargain hunting I was grabbing for my phone (I didn't have my official camera with me!) and ordering my son not to move!

The photo isn't the quality I could have gotten with a "real" camera instead of a phone, but it was certainly good enough to bring back the feelings the moment had provided... I just knew there was a painting in there.  I don't know how you work, but often I mull a painting over in my mind for several months before I do anything about it... other times, not so much!!  This time I thought about the painting for a long time before finally putting it on my computer and into photoshop where I played with it a bit.

The first thing I did was crop it to make it a horizontal painting.

The next thing I did was bump up the contrast and the saturation of the colors.

It is already looking better.  Next I discarded the color so I could work with the values.  I had to isolate a couple of areas so I could make them darker or lighter.  When I had the values the way I thought I wanted them I posterized it at level 3.

Then I just had to draw it on the watercolor paper and paint it.  After I had worked on it a while I asked Susan Giannantonio to critique it for me.  She had a few suggestions... some I took and some I probably didn't. :>}   

The completed painting... Body Language: The Prodigal   

(I think it is a long distance from the gate where the man is to the front door... what is keeping him from going on in??  Why does he appear so dejected?  Lots of unanswered questions...)

The first in a series on Body Language.  

And now you know how I work from start to finish of a painting.  How bout you?  What tricks of the trade do you use when painting? 

Be Still My Art,

Kay

Be Still My Art

 There have been moments in my life when something or someone has been so beautiful that my heart has fluttered and my breath has been short. In my mind, if not aloud, I have muttered a little "be still my heart" and I knew that moment had to be shared.  Ever have one of those moments?  Like when a grandson is born and is crying and the only one who can console him is his great grandmother...

...or when your granddaughter is swimming her heart out determined to win the race...

...or when your grandson is that rock star that he is certain he will be someday...

...or maybe you have a couple of big leaguers in the making...

It may be a moment when the morning sun is shining on a flower that has just bloomed, or the sun is coming through the window creating gorgeous lights and shadows.  Wherever you are and whatever you are doing you stop, grab the camera so you have a photo to jog your memory and the seed for the next painting has been planted.  Ever have one of those art moments?

My blog will be about those art moments that take my breath away and how I capture that moment for others to experience also.  The teacher in me may even come out sometimes and who knows what might happen then... it is said the best way to learn something is to teach it.

 I hope you will join me and share your art moments as well.

Be Still My Art,
Kay