Author: -N-

WWM 2019: Days 27-31

What a wonderful, fun-filled month World Watercolor Month 2019 has been!  It’s been work, learning, improvement, crazy, fun, creative.  I think it has been a worthwhile endeavor altogether.  Those prompts were provocative and simple at the same time – literal, figurative.

Let’s begin!

27:  Fruits

Both of these are in gouache.  I painted the figs first and then the grapes and apricots.  I worked hard on trying to create a sense of depth with the second painting in particular – looking for light and dark, shadow and colors.

28:  Metallic

Metallic items, reflective surfaces – in others words, shiny things – can be very challenging to paint.  In many ways, the mind rebels.  It’s shiny!  I can’t paint that!  But, in reality, metallic and shiny objects are simply shades of colors, sometimes similar, sometimes varied.  Once you think about it like that, it becomes much easier.  I chose an old enameled metal kettle, a spoon, and a key.  Each one has different colors, with the spoon simply being varying shades of the same color, Payne’s Grey.  The kettle was difficult because of its shape (it’s rather mangled) and the key because of the varying shades of brown, golds, reds, and oranges of the brass.

29:  Glorious Greens

Pretty amateur, I think, but it was fun to do.  I saw a photo of a single tree silhouetted against a stormy sky, and the greens of the field were electric.  Colors under a stormy sky always seem more intense (while it’s not raining), and greens especially so.

30:  Wild Things

As we were finishing up patching, painting, and refurnishing the studio, I was in a foul mood. Crabby to be specific. Guess what motivated this subject?!

31: Favorite Colors

I had thought of making color swatches of all my gouache paints, but once more, life got in the way. Some thought and I chose magenta, turquoise, and green. Bougainvillea is the perfect subject for all these colors.

Some Thoughts

As I said, #worldwatercolormonth2019 has been a wonderful experience.  I learned something each day, even if I couldn’t tell you what.  Improvements are visible in color handling and brushwork in both watercolor and gouache.  Daily painting is work – and love!  It’s a challenge and play.  Today (8/1) I haven’t done a bit of painting, but like everything, we need to walk away from something to get a new perspective, to refresh, to let the subsconcious work its magic.

Gone to Seed

Here in California the Monarch Butterfly population is decreasing.  They live on milkweed, and to help the butterflies, people plant the milkweed in their gardens.  I have several plants, donated and self-propagated, in my side patio container garden.  The Monarchs do come around, too, and often they flit in pairs.  Perhaps we will find caterpillars in the future.  This milkweed is sending forth its seeds, scattering on the breeze.

WWM #31: Favorite Colors

When I thought about this prompt, “favorite colors”, for #WorldWatercolorAMonth2019, I was rather overwhelmed.  There are just so many beautiful colors out there!  I also have added a dozen new colors to my palette, and I was of the mind I should put together a swatch of the colors to see them separately and pure, not mixed up with others on my messy palette.  This would answer “favorite colors” because I don’t think I have met a color I don’t like.

It seemed like a task too daunting for me today – I have spent the past two days putting my house back together as we have finished all the repairs from the slab leak of earlier this month.

So, what are some of my favorite colors?  Truth be told, greens and magentas and turquoises.  These are the ones I like the best – light, dark, brilliant, quiet.  Sky, leaf, flower.  Bougainvillea against a bright, sunny sky hits the spot!

 

WWM #30: Wild Things

Today, when I was trying to figure out Wild Things for #WorldWatercolorMonth2019, I was really in a sourpuss mood.  I had to cancel a photo shoot with a friend and was not happy about it.  When you are tired and don’t feel well . . . you are absolutely crabby!  Hermity.  Crabby.  Hermit crab.  (How is that for subtle?)

I didn’t feel patient, and I didn’t feel capable of anything with a bit of subtlety.  I needed containment.  I wanted my shell.  I wanted limits and boundaries.  I wanted to feel safe.  Lines are perfect for that!  And as I have not done a line-and-wash watercolor for a month now, today I indulged.

And lets face it – hermit crabs are downright cute and fun with all their different colors and shells and homes.  Seeing them always makes me laugh – don’t know why, but they are such a delight.  And, as a result of this drawing, I, too, am in a much nicer mood!