-N- – Page 368 – Ink, Yarn & Beer

It Gets Overwhelming

Returning to watercolor is becoming an obsession, and the more I look at the work of various watercolorists, the more I become mentally deluged with images and colors and styles and painters. It is a seriously crazy-making experience! Like photography, most of what I do is really not good at all – from downright awful to meh – but it also becomes rather distressing. That’s when a break is necessary, like making chocolate gelato or going out for a hike or looking for a new pair of shoes. Just do something different to break out of the ruts of daily life.Focusing on “direct watercolor” – painting without any preliminary drawings or value studies – is sort of what I am trying to do on a daily basis. This is from a photo, and the study was windows and reds and buildings. The proportions are off, and that feels like failure big time. The colors were all the dregs on the palette, so most were muddy and not interesting, but determined not to waste paint, why not? I also used a water brush, and that can make colors even murkier if you don’t squeeze out excess water.

Another direct watercolor painting, this time limited to a 1/2 inch flat brush for everything. The colors are cleaner, for sure, but the contrast of light and shadow are off. The fun part was learning that yes, you can paint with only a flat brush.

I admit, I rather like this one, because I like its brightness. However, after I finished it, I got a good laugh over my totally unrealistic chimney (or whatever that thing is) on the top of the building in the upper right. What dimension is that in?!

I think I am going to return to this one again, as it is from a photo I took a couple of years ago along the coast. The bluffs are really intense. The problem lies in rendering the ocean and beach below them – lack of depth and overworking.

This is a WIP – from a black and white photo to consider light and dark. I am going to try to work on this one today, or the one below, which is from a macro photo of a dahlia or similar flower. I started this one in my Friday afternoon watercolor class.

Lastly, sometimes just a quick interpretation can give a lot of satisfaction. There is something about light-colored walls on a brilliant day, colorful flowers – here, a rambler rose – and dancing shadows. I would like to do this one again, too, on a bigger piece of paper and a more formal and finished work.

Somebody Used to Live Here

Friday was a busy, busy painting day! Quick sketch in the morning, class in the afternoon. More last night. And this morning I did this using only a flat brush, learning about its characteristics and such. I even got into using it really, really dry, which I had forgotten about. And the side – the edge of the flat – to make little dabs, such as in the pink flowers. It was great for wood texture, and fun for the sky. This was done without a preliminary sketch nor lines drawn on the paper.

Carpinteria Bluffs

Another “direct watercolor” from a photo I took sometime ago when up along the bluffs in Carpinteria, CA. This one might be worth repeating just because there are some areas I really like about it, but the rocks to the left of the cliff are rather dismal. The topmost rock was really a boat on the horizon! I painted the boat first, and then it just got bigger and bigger, to the point I morphed it into a dreary rock. Those rocks need work, as does the color gradation of the sand on the beach. I like a lot of the colors, but overall the sparkle is missing from the photo. If at first you don’t succeed . . . ya know.

Roses in the Wind

I saw some climbing roses against a bright white wall, dancing with the wind. The play of light and dark, flickering shadows, and the swaying of the roses in the wind – tried to catch it in this morning’s sketch. No lines, direct watercolor.

Mornings

I love mornings! They are the time of day when everything is new and fresh, and each day is a gift. Add to that I fall asleep at 9, and you can tell I am a morning person for sure. Usually I spend my mornings reading the news – but that is becoming less interesting as I change my usual morning habits to spending anywhere from 15 minutes to an hour sketching or doing some form of watercolor, structured, unstructured, from an object, a picture, or my imagination. Hopeful that I don’t dump my paint brush into my morning coffee (believe me, it has happened more than once!), here are some pieces from the past few weeks.

Doing these paintings and drawings every day is resulting in some good experiences and increased confidence in what I can do. There are times everything sucks – no perspective, no contrast, whatever – and then there are times when it comes together. And times when that proverbial “ah ha!” moment hits, and what has been intellectually clear is now clear in the mind-muscle-eye coordination when rendering paint. Occasionally I use line, other times I don’t and just paint, thinking ahead to figure out what goes where. Stepping back to critique things is also a worthwhile endeavor – fresh eyes after a few days.

In a couple of weeks – no school! I’ll be free until I pick up 3 weeks of ESL at the end of July. Until then, painting, continued cleaning up and unpacking after the flood, and a trip or two here or there. Summer awaits!