Sunflowers - a watercolor in progress

It has been raining more than sunny over the last couple of weeks - which is quite prefect for doing watercolor paintings! Usually the humidity in Calgary is so very dry that it is hard to keep the watercolor paper damp. Not so today!

So, I wanted to show you a little bit of my process... 

 The first thing I have done is to work up a small sketch of what will be the painting, and determine where my darks, mid-tones and lights will be. I have discovered some great pencils from Derwent, called Graphitone, with which to do this easily. They come in dark (6B), medium (4B) and light (2B). You "color" with them, and then use your watercolor brush to wet the "graphite", which then shows up as dark, mid or light tones. Very cool and no smudging or mess like you get with actual pencils.  

I then sketch the flowers/leaves on 140 lb. Arches watercolor paper.

Here you can see that I have done a color swatch of each of the potential colors I could use for this painting. After looking at each one and at my photo reference, I decide which ones will be the ones I will paint with in this piece. 

I then paint a small swatch of the chosen colors next to the thumbnail sketch in my sketchbook.

Then I begin to paint, using those chosen colors! 

I will post this painting when it is complete. 

VENETIAN PLASTER

It is ironic, I think, that I have been working very hard the last two weeks, and I have "nothing to show for it". :-)  By that I mean, I have completed two portraits of two little girls in charcoal, but I can't post pictures of them. You see, the portraits are to be gifts from the grandparents to the parents of the girls, and with the way things travel around the internet, chances are the parents would see the pieces before they are presented if I post photos of them. 

When the portraits were commissioned, I talked with the clients about how this kind of an investment becomes a heritage item. The parents have the portraits first, but at some point, they will go to each of the girls who can show their children what they looked like as young girls. They will be passed down to those children and their children, and they will know what their grandmothers looked like in 2013. It truly is a gift that continues to give throughout many, many years ahead! I just LOVE that about doing commissioned portraits!

Since I have "nothing to show" for the last 2 weeks' work, I thought I would post a few of the pieces I finished up from my Venetian Plaster workshop which I took last month. The plaster is similar in some ways to my Textured Acrylics, but there are things I was able to accomplish with these that gives them different qualities as well. 

The blowing trees was done on a masonite board, while the others are all on gallery depth birch panels. 



I have shown you how the sides are finished on one of the pieces. These were are small learning pieces (5" x 7" or 8" x 8")  which were fun to experiment upon. I have now purchased some large birch panels which I will be creating new works upon in just a few days. FUN!!! And messy...but did I say FUN??? Yes!

 

 

AFTERNOON GLOW

I think I can make a case for the genetic inheritance of love for horses. My older sister was just a toddler when my parents visited a large stable where racing horses were kept. Many of these were high strung horses whose handlers even had difficulty controlling at times. As my parents were being shown around the facility, they lost track of my sister, who had wandered into a barn and into the stall of one particularly bad-tempered stallion. When they found her, she was underneath the belly of this stallion that was standing absolutely still as she patted him. Everyone who knew this horse was astounded that my sister had not been trampled to death by him. To this day, she still loves horses.

My dad enjoyed all horse races, and particularly the ones where the jockey is in the little cart that is attached to the horse (harness racing). Saturdays meant the T.V. was tuned to horse racing and/or hockey. I preferred the horses over the hockey, and I distinctly remember my excitement the first and only time my dad took me to a live horserace. It was a whole new world of sounds, smells, and levels of excitement I had not experienced before! As the horses were paraded before the race, my dad would talk about their build, their racing history, and a whole lot of other details that faded from my hearing. I simply wanted to watch them walk, canter, gallop. I wanted to touch them and even ride them myself.

As a teenager, I was able to get drives to the outskirts of the city where I lived to a farm/stable that had horses to ride. All of my hard earned money went toward paying to saddle and ride those majestic creatures, then brush them afterward. I'm sure the horses were old and worn out, but to me they were as commanding of respect as if they were in their prime and from a top line of breeding.

My granddaughter has an affinity and deep love for horses which has been evident from the time she could first talk and walk. When she was only 4 or 5 years old, she was taking riding lessons - a tiny little girl on top of a huge animal. Horses LOVE her, whinny to call her, puff over the top of her head on her hair, and allow her to ride them when they won't tolerate others! 

So, all of this to say, is it any wonder when I saw this beautiful horse standing in the late afternoon sun, with his coat "on fire" with color, I had to get a photo that captured his beauty. The look in his eyes, the turn of his head, his mane...it all was just so perfect and struck such a chord in my heart! 

As I painted this creature, I found myself reflecting on how the love of horses has been a part of my family for several generations. Both my sister and my granddaughter were too young to have been influenced by external teaching when they showed their connection to horses. I think it is in the genes. I am so glad I got to paint this majestic guy...my first horse painting, filled with a lot of meaning and even "history" for me. 

AFTERNOON GLOW
30" x 40"
oil on gallery wrap canvas

AMAZING STUDENT WORK

Have I ever told you how rewarding I find teaching art? It is like a rush of adrenaline when I see the student's work begin to come alive, to become 3 dimensional and "leave the page". I love it when I see the person I am teaching begin to believe that he or she actually has the ability and talent to create what they never dreamed was possible.
A short while ago I taught a high school aged young man who had an interest in drawing, but had no teaching which enabled him to know how to go about doing a drawing. He did every exercise I asked of him, as well as his homework, and by the end of the 6 lessons (spread over 6 weeks), he produced this rendering of a hand...not just any hand, but my best model's hand (my husband!). He did a fantastic job of capturing the lights and darks, the lost edges and the blurring of shadows. I love the reflected lights and the way you see the fleshy part of the thumb folding into the palm.
I am so pleased for Jaron, and for the results he achieved during our time together. I hope he continues to draw, and to improve through practise. But most of all, I hope he feels joy in the process, knowing he can do so much more than he dreamed was possible.

Jaron's drawing of a hand

SPRING NEWSLETTER COMING SOON

Some of you may not know that I send out quarterly newsletters with information on new pieces I have finished, art tips and techniques, upcoming workshops and classes I will be giving, and other art related information. I will be sending my spring newsletter in the next couple of weeks, so you can click on this link to sign up so that you don't miss your copy. :-) 
JOANNE'S NEWSLETTER