Wednesday, May 28, 2014

Late Winter . . .

Late Winter
Another one hour (more or less) painting I did last night.  I had a strip of watercolor paper that was going to be used as a test strip, something I keep at hand when painting so I can see value and color on paper before I apply what I've mixed on my brush.  But I loved the size (3ish by 8ish) so I taped it to my board and dug into my photos to see what worked.

I'm hooked on Nebraska and South Dakota landscapes right now after our little trip over Mother's Day weekend to the Black Hills by way of the Nebraska Sandhills.  I wish I knew how far we could see into the distance as the low hills and bluffs faded away into grey and pale blue sky.  Twenty miles?  Thirty miles?  More?  The expanse gave us a sense of how small we really are in comparison, you know, and I could not quit taking pictures of it all.  For me, the mountains just got in the way of the view and almost all of my photos are of the broad expanses of grasslands and skies.

This particular scene is no more than 50yds from my front door, however, Big Traveler that I am.  A late winter snow was coming in from the west and I put on my parka and ventured out the drive to the middle of the gravel road and took this photo.  The sky was lowering and grey and in the distance the snow was starting to blur the horizon, not yet blanketing the fields and cedars.  Love playing with skies and atmosphere and remembering that a sky doesn't have to be blue to be expressive.


Sunday, May 18, 2014

Gerbera : a Sunday hour . . .

Gerbera
Simple gesture-style painting.
One hour allotted makes me eliminate all of the unnecessary bits of background and detail allows me to give just a sense of the subject.

Monday, May 5, 2014

Developing . . .

Passing
I am trying to find the mental art-link between the metalwork I am used to doing and the watercolor I am getting used to doing.  Is the link the color?  
The high contrast?  The composition?  

Or is it the difference between the two media that captures me?

Is it the color mixing?  The achievement of depth?  The lack of edge?  
Or letting the materials do their little jobs?

I would love to give credit for the reference photos I used in this composition but no idea where they came from.  Only that I saved and printed them a long time ago.  
So 'thank you' whoever you are.