Blue Puff Flowers

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I found the inspiration for this on Pinterest. After having to practice color mixing for my watercolor class, I had a tray full of blue/greens. This shot is blurry, but I am very pleased with how this one turned out. 

I was mixing oranges today. Sounds like poppies are next : )

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Fall Color

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In the dead of winter. The inspiration for this watercolor came from a photo that I saw on Pinterest. It had beautiful color in the leaves and the light shining through. This was practice for a wet on wet and using salt for a little texture. The tree, she needs some work, but hell, I am not Matisse. 

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Sea Turtle

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Inspired from another painting I saw. Additionally, tried salt in the blue texturize the background. I think he turned out pretty well. 

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Watercolor Landscape

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I found a series of videos on youtube on watercolor landscapes. The artist is in the UK and I like his loose style. This is the first of the landscapes I did following his lead. As always, I see [alot] of room for improvement, but at the same time, I think it's not that bad.

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Watercolor on paper

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Sunflower

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Sunflower Study - watercolor on paper

December 17, 2011

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As I look at this I see things that need to be corrected/changed on my next attempt.

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Hell's Kitchen

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We went for lunch at Hell's Kitchen in Downtown Minneapolis. The atmosphere was warm and inviting and the walls were covered in interesting art. The food is prepared with fresh, organic ingredients. We shared a garden salad with homemade blue cheese (for TOM) and a walnut vinaigrette (for me) and a grilled chicken sandwich with sweet potato fries. The fries did not need ketchup, but the bottle of homemade on the table was terrific. Overall, a very enjoyable dining experience...and it was warm too; a nice change from the cold outside. We also had the daily mystery dessert. Check it out if you are ever downtown MPLS.

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Check out their website: Hell's Kitchen

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Coat of Many Colors

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Walking thru the IDS Center, I spotted this wonderful piece of wearable art.

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Painting Practice

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I haven't been painting much since I had my drawing class, as I have been focused on that. But this weekend was my DIL's bday and I wanted to add a personal touch to her gift. She likes yellow and I like flowers, so this is what i came up with. This little work is a prime example of not planning your work. I had sketched out  the larger flowers, but did not consider the foreground in the plan so the perspective is not correct. Anyway, she's getting a barbara original along with a pair of cozy, warm boots. 

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Signs, Signs, Everywhere Signs ...

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This is my contribution to signs, signs.

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U.S. Mail

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My contribution to signs, signs.

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Banquet on the Bridge

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My contribution for signs, signs

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Booty from the River

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A couple of items in this pile we are still trying to figure out. Both are metal.

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This Week in Art

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Cali Coast Lighthouse in Color

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I have added color to the drawing from a couple of days ago. 

The original sketch is about 5x7, the watercolor is 8x10.

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Somewhere on the Cali Coast

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I like lighthouses. Not really sure why, maybe because they speak to travelers at sea and I have always had a bit of wanderlust. For drawing practice today, I picked this calendar photo because it had a lighthouse and I thought it would be easy. I am not sure how long it took me, a couple of hours at least. I started it at work, but finished it later at home. I would like to show these 'projects' to my teacher, but she is sooooo good at what she does it is a little intimidating to think about sharing my work with her. I mean she would say nice teacher things, and maybe even offer a kind critique, but I don't know if I am ready for that yet.

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Drinking Glass

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Pencil sketch

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Before I can take any more watercolor classes, I have to take a drawing class. I have to practice every day and this was my attempt from yesterday. I didn't finish the top of the glass, but I was more interested in the shading. I did this during my lunch break. Now I need to get to work and finish today's drawing. 

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3 for the Price of 1

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I had several colors in my palette that I wanted to start cleaning up. I began by putting in the background using a wet on wet technique to blend from one shade to another. Then I added the orb; I wanted an element that was repeated in each of the 'frames'.

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Butterfly and Flower

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Now that I have completed my first watercolor class, I feel a little more comfortable mixing colors. I mixed all of these myself : ) It is not as hard as you might think. I also tried a wash for the background. Typically, I have too much paint on the brush which will take over. I think this was good practice of one of my photographs. We made a simple lightbox, I traced the photograph with tracing paper and then using the lightbox, I traced the design on the watercolor paper. It was good practice. I see a lot of things that could be better, but TOM says I am too close to it. He thinks its pretty good. 

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Pink Flower

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I found some patterns so I could get some practice. The flower was the easiest of the three, so I started with that one.

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Vermont Pumpkin Patch

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This my my interpretation of a photograph that I took at the pumpkin patch behind the Vermont Country Store on vacation a few years ago. I actually drew the painting a few weeks ago, but was afraid to apply paint to paper. I was not comfortable with mixing colors so I decided to wait until I started my class. 

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I like certain aspects of this better than others. I like the background and I like my vague attempt at creating some shadows. I have had a problem with not knowing when to stop in the past so I was very conscious about keeping it light. I like the little shed and I like the yellow that I added in front of the shack that helps to outline the contour of the land. 

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I am not crazy about the pumpkin patch and I really don't like the green. I used green straight from a tube. If I had mixed it using my palette, I probably would have been happier with it. It looks best if you squint : )

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All in all, not bad for my very first watercolor painting. The exercises that we are doing in my painting class, creating a color wheel and a complimentary color chart were fun too. Creating these are good practice for color mixing.

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