Rosemary & Peppers

Today I experienced a breakthrough in my painting.  I intellectually understand negative painting, but today I physically understood negative painting.  I just some how “got it” and this painting began to shift in its creation.  Our bodies and our minds are so connected, but in this world of a separation of physical health from mental health, the connection is oftentimes lost.  Personally, I do have a bit of problem connecting the right brain and the left brain from a long ago head injury, so when that connection occurs, it is really a very physical awareness.  I’ve had that when studying math.  Today I had it while studying lights and darks.

Red Poppies

I always have loved vistas of wildflowers, and the red poppies seen in so many French paintings always seem wonderful to me.  Red like that is hard to find (I think) in the natural world.  Painting it is even harder.  I ended up using mostly Cadmium Red Orange.

This is another direct watercolor from this morning, but because of the multiple layers of washes, I had to let it dry in between.  I went about getting ready for work between layers.  At first, I just did a sky and put in colors of grasses and poppies – but they all bled together, so the second attempt – the one above – is the final version.  If you look at the pictures below – click on them to see them in sequence – you can see what I did.  I scanned each wash layer before doing the next.

Original Attempt

Buildings from Somewhere

Another focus on direct watercolor – no lines, no pencil.  Here, my main focus was to draw straight lines with a brush, as well as consider how not to get everything bleeding into each section.  I tried to do one area at a time – say, one building part – and then move on to one adjacent to it, working carefully to make each area separate but connected.  Sounds like a lot of hooey when I read it, but that’s best description I can give right now!  I’m running late to work.

The Inn at Brandywine – Another Study

This has been a busy weekend!  A lot of painting – certainly beats housework, I tell ya.

Here is another study from Rick Surowicz’s YouTube channel.  This is the “Inn at Brandywine” study.  Again, use of masking fluid, glazes, warm and cool greens.  If you like to paint and want to get better, you cannot go wrong with his videos.  They are detailed and informative – info on brushes, colors, techniques, thoughts on what he is doing.  All very helpful and insightful.

Using the masking fluid is becoming easier, as is thinking ahead.  Like painting in negative space, planning ahead is a different way of looking at a painting for me.  It’s hard to explain.  The thing is, while kind of frustrating to do, it is becoming more of a part of painting, if that makes any sense.

Below, Rick’s excellent video.