Category: Blitherings

Snowfall

Christmas Day! Nothing like a snowfall and the cold and the quiet of the woods for remembering the magic of the season. New and old traditions overlap, memories and hopes for the future all seem to be rolled into the end of the year and depth of winter. The stillness of the winter woods gives pause to our crazy lives. Holidays of any sort at this time of the year make us look backward as well as forward.

Here I worked from very light to dark. The colors I used for the greenish-blue sky were cobalt teal, a bit of ultramarine, and a touch of Hooker’s green, neutralized by a bit of alizarin. The leaves and autumnal foliage were various siennas and orange with a touch of Indian yellow. Trunks, from light to dark, were essentially ultramarine with burnt sienna and raw umber with a bit of Payne’s grey. Snow shadows were ultramarine and Payne’s grey. Finally, I watered down some titanium white gouache and tapped my brush across my forefinger to look like falling snow after applying a few lines and dots in white here and there.

This is another watercolor which pleases me. Perhaps I should stick to Arches Rough paper instead of my usual cold press . . . ?

Have a wonderful Christmas Day – or whatever it is you celebrate!

Watercolor, Arches Rough 140# paper, 10×14.

Later in the Day

A few days before Christmas and, while I don’t live in it, I do enjoy a snowy holiday! I’ve always thought that a walk in the woods, in the snow, on a misty but sunny day is the best way to enjoy the cold. Colors are soft in the distance. The contrast of bright white against dark branches and trunks is fascinating, creating twisty patterns on the intertwined branches of bushes and young trees devoid of leaves. There are lines and blobs, shades of blue and grey snow, bright white and deep shadow.

I used a limited palette here – mostly umbers, sienna, some yellow, blues. A touch of alizarin, too, to make some warmth. One of the goals of this painting was to create a soft view of buildings in the distance, suggestive of a misty sunniness. The pale blue of the sky is barely there. I used a lot of water for this effect! Coming closer to the viewer, colors are a bit brighter and shapes more evident. In the woods, sharp trees, shadows, snow, plants.

To date, I think this is one of my better watercolors.

Watercolor, Arches rough 140# paper, 10×14.

A Man from the Mountains

In between life and knitting disasters and housecleaning and purge-atory (I got rid of a lot of junk last week), I have been painting a portrait in acrylic over the last few sessions of my figure painting class. I used one of the many wonderful portraits available from Pixabay.

Painting this portrait was a challenge. I did not want to do a photographic reproduction. My idea was something moody and a bit sketchy, more so as I think such a style is more easily done in acrylics (which I swore to work on!) than a realistic rendition of the person himself. I painted using more transparent paint and scumbled a lot of the paint onto the canvas. Some areas don’t even have paint on the surface, or very little. Layers and glazes were built up. The quick drying quality of acrylics makes this easy to do in a classroom.

My palette was pretty limited, too. I used carbon black, ultramarine blue, raw umber, cadmium red light, titanium white, and yellow ochre. First step was to sketch in the man, working on proportions and then mixing general areas of color, slowly moving into details. I stepped back and forth to look at my painting.

What really attracted me to this portrait was the lighting, the expressiveness and rather mysterious quality of the man – he could be from so many places. My first impressions is he is a man from a remote part of the world, a man who works hard and labors with his hands to provide for those he is responsible. I wanted to catch this quality – a rugged ability to endure.

I think I will hang this on my wall to enjoy. Yeah, pretty pleased! That is after I correct the mistake under the man’s mustache . . .

Heavy body acrylic paint, cotton canvas panel, 11×14.

Christmas Stocking, 2

Ten days ago I began a requested Christmas stocking for my SIL. Started out fine – as you can see from the previous post. Disaster hit soon after – yarns tangled, knots, and total frustration as dropped stitches occurred and, and, and…I took it off the needles to ravel and begin again. More knots, more disaster, and my angry solution was a pair of scissors and the trash.

Total stop.

A break.

Begin again.

I returned to the pattern once again, cast on my stitches and began. This was couple of days ago. Things are proceeding in a more orderly and much more happy manner. I’ve continued to change things around as far as color and patterns to a degree, but am happy with the results. Sitting in the afternoon sun, coffee and audiobook for breaks, make for a pleasant and non-stressful knitting time.

Onward!

Christmas Stocking

Back when dinosaurs roamed the earth, my mother knit each of the kids in the family a Christmas stocking to hang above the fireplace, waiting for it to be filled by Santa on Christmas Eve. It worked, too!

We each had our own in a different color – mine was purple, my brothers and sister had red, green, and white. Mom embroidered our names on them, and then added fun little items like jingle bells, angels and snowmen she made by knitting them, and crocheted snow flakes. For years, even into adulthood, we continued hanging these stockings. Then, brilliant me, hung mine too low over a hot fireplace. Being of acrylic yarn, it melted a bit!

And, as time goes by, we are dispersed and gone from the world. We don’t see each other as often as we could as we are thousands of miles apart – or at least hundreds – in California, Wisconsin, and Colorado. My youngest brother’s wife put in a special request this year – she would like her own hand-knitted and personalized stocking. Challenge is now being met.

I looked through a lot of free holiday stocking patterns – some meh, others too much. Stranded color work is my favorite “fancy” knitting (forget lace and cables), and the one I have settled on is this pattern from Yarnspirations: the Festive Fair Isle Stocking. I am doing my own variant of it – already found a pattern mistake, but who cares?! As long as it looks good, and is enjoyed by the recipient and the maker, nothing is wrong.

The pattern itself is red, grey, and white, but my brother’s stocking is red, so I have to use green in his wife’s stocking to complement it. Yesterday afternoon, lounging in the afternoon sun on the patio, I began. If you follow the link to the pattern itself, you will see that “fur” yarn is at the top. I couldn’t find any so I made an I-cord, picked up the requisite 60 stitches, and made sure I had enough I-cord for a generous loop.

And so, the holiday season has officially begun for Christmas. Thanksgiving is past – and ours was nice – and this little project is a pleasant way to listen to audiobooks, relax, and watch the stocking grow.