My Blog List

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Winter Outside, Summer In

Gaillardia #1 went out the door this morning and is en-route to California in an impressive crate my children will have to figure out how to trash. Aging moms are always a problem.

Not anymore for my old neighbor's kids. She passed away leaving them two pianos and an organ to dispose of before they sell the house. I never heard Betty play solo. She and I did have a lot of laughs playing duets and drinking wine late into the night while the fathers babysat. I haven't seen her in decades, but we've talked every now an then. She was a pistol. I liked her. I loved our duet sessions.

THE FLOWERS OF THE WEEK ARE DAISIES/BUTTON MUMS AND IRISH BELLS. All are long lived, perky, cheerful and fun to paint in winter between painting sessions of Winterwhich is looking gloomier than what it looks like outside--with the exception of the town in Alaska who can't see the outside over the eighteen inches of snow that made them all shut ins till the National Guard arrived to shovel them out. Can you imagine!

January Daisies #1

3 comments:

  1. I am really enjoying your watercolors! Love the one you "fixed" a few posts back especially - it seems closely related to your acrylic works. What kind of watercolors do you use? The colors are very vivid. I have been a bit disappointed with my Winsor & Newton - I bought one tube of Daniel Smith and it was wild! Thinking of getting more. For me change is in the air too - I am restless in my art - the first result has been paralysis (part of that, lack of time). Now, we will see ..

    ReplyDelete
  2. Watercolors are fun Dan--mainly because I don't take them seriously. I got to them first by buying a set of Crayola washable markers--would make a drawing then go in with a wet brush where I wanted bleed. Then I bought a "delux" set of Crayola watercolor pads and used them with the markers, then without the markers--all the stuff came off the supermarket shelf down the school supply aisle. Then I thought, "Let's get serious" and went out and bought good 140 lb paper-5 sheets to the pack and a set of tube paints, Reeves, not the best but an economical way to see what the color differences were between pads and tubes. I read a book, A Passion for Watercolor Painting the Inner Experience. The author recommended only using tube paints, freshly squeezed every time. An expressionist, I liked what it had to say--no predrawing, which means to me no pre-thinking, the act that makes art stiff and stilted. I've yet to upgrade my paints. The color mixes from the tube paints are richer, brighter, more vivid than the pads, (less water is required to make them fluid), but I still find myself wanting inkier darks and I still must have the ability to correct. (Stiff oil paint brushes wetted with clean water work, but if the paper isn't good enough, it will not hold up to the scrubbing). Next time out, I'll splurge on 300 lb., but the 140 large sheets are doing okay for my quick, spontaneous, studies. I've never heard of Daniel Smith, but I'll give it a try.

    I've always been restless in my art. I never really knew what to do with the "gift." Now, I'm just going to do what I want, move on to the next and drop all my judgmental tendencies--they will freeze you up with just one critical thought. I highly recommend the book. It's by Stefan Draughon who encourages you to just let the paint flow however and keep at it--doodle with the stuff, if you will.

    Sorry I wrote your ear off. Now you know more than you ever wanted to know.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Wow, Linda. Thank you. It's like I had my own dedicated blog post.

    I found that you can get pretty dark darks by using compliments along with some paynes grey. Also, there is a way to "erase" watercolor (to be used sparingly) although it's a bit involved. I discuss it in my post http://danscanvas.blogspot.com/2011/10/tricks-and-treats.html

    Thanks for your advice re restlessness in art. I will try to take it to heart - I have been giving myself the same advice. I will check out the book too!

    As for knowing more than I even wanted to know - it's exactly the opposite. So I look forward to our interactions in the coming year. :) Thank you for your generosity.

    ReplyDelete