Moving away from the outdoor rural sorts of subjects in the last couple of days. Here's a facescape
and a cityscape
The palette, range of colors, I'm using, is mostly from the transparent nonstaining colors, aureolin yellow, alizarin crimson, cobalt and I think viridian. And a bit of burnt umber, but only a bit.
It's practically impossible to make mud accidentally with these, so I recommend them if you're wondering what colors to work with to embark on watercolor painting. And all the paintings to date I've done with a half inch flat brush. No pencil marks ahead of time, plunge in with the brush. Just fyi. And the paintings themselves are perfectly rectangular, but my camera skills are imperfect so they don't always appear that way.
As to the content of these pieces, I have a good idea of what I was saying, but I don't like to impose it on the viewer. Always open to hearing what you see in any of my work, though, because that's sometimes a surprise, sometimes not, but always useful.
I turned in two more small paintings, sort of pleased with them. The hitch about making art is that it never comes up to your plans, and you just have to do your best and move on, taking the learning with you.
I recently started following a lovely account on Twitter, of an illustrator who posts daily an image from an illustrator, some of whom I know, such as the Moomin creator, some of whom I'm only vaguely familiar with, and all of whom I think I need to know better.
At the moment it's about picture books, and since my own acquaintance with them is slight, other than Ezra Jack Keats, for whose major birthday celebration I led a community giant artwork based on The Snowy Day, that was great fun, where was I, oh yes, I am planning on getting to know picture books much better. It's a whole area of art that I can explore and learn from.
Starting here with Quentin Blake, whose The Five of Us is a marvelous parable of inclusion, differences, friendship,fun, bravery, problem solving, and all done in a virtuosic ink and wash.
Do you have picture book illustrators to recommend? I'm open to all suggestions on this.
Many hours of sleep and much dreaming later, today is a better day. I actually managed a trip to the store and home, yay. So, doing much better.
And I made a little landscape or two. One per day. This is working out nicely, just enough work before I'm ready to move on. Still working in 8 x 5 and 5 x 8. The pix are a bit out of true, but the paintings aren't.
While I was at it, I thought you'd like to know that if you have those expensive tubes of watercolor (don't bother with the cheapies, don't buy student grade, get the best), and if said tubes have dried and gone hard you need not despair.
You just cut them open, and with the application of water, you go right on using that pigment. It's like a pan of color, only better, because it was formulated to stay moister. And as you see, my palette doesn't look elegant or anything, but it works a treat.
So, despite feeling a bit like a long wet week in Wigan, I did manage to keep my promise to myself and paint two small fast watercolors, one per day. I had to get a new pad of watercolor paper, so I chose Arches.
I love Arches paper, though I know there are all sorts of great papers aside from Arches, but I just have a good feeling for them. I used to give out little samples of (very expensive) Arches hotpress paper, when I was introducing students to ink and wash.
When I told them Arches has been making paper since 1492, that is not a typo, they'd look at me funny, wondering what the joke was. But they really have. So by now they're pretty good at it.
The basic surfaces of watercolor are hot press, where the paper is run through hot rollers to finish it with a glassy smooth surface, cold press, known in the UK as "not", which is textured, and rough, which is a bit like painting on rough concrete.
People like each for different reasons. Mostly cold press is great for letting color flow and mix, hot press is great for ink drawing and washes, and I have never found out what the virtue of rough is, since I don't see eye to eye with it for painting purposes.
So here's the cover of the Arches pad which just arrived, all written in several languages, not, as far as I can see, including English. That'll teach us to think everyone should speak English!
So despite feeling a bit weak and not so good with a fluey thing going on, I do feel better if I manage to make a bit of art. This includes climbing up to the third floor to work, since that's where I've got all the doings set up ready. Once I get there, I'm under way.
The goal with this series, all to be 8 x 5, or 5 x 8, depending on which way you see it, measurement of height always precedes measurement of width, is to get back my watercolor chops, and stay loose and calm with it. At least, as usual, that's the plan! Also to start each painting with, well, here goes nothing!
What with one ailment and another, today was a day of low energy. Meaning that by the time I'd set up two small paintings, I had to go rest. I plan on a series of watercolor/marker paintings in a golden rectangle format. In this case 5 x 8. Fibonacci rules! Not promising myself how many, at least until I get a bit more energy going.
You may notice that this is the size of a big index card, very handy. Because it's a shape that's friendly to art in terms of composition, it's a great size to work in if you want a series of small works, which I currently do. And here's the fairly informal set of tools I'll be using.
Foreground are the two little palettes, aka lids from other containers, with the remnants of earlier painting sessions. They'll revive nicely with water. Nothing wasted in watercolor. As you see, I don't mix on the palette, would rather let the colors mix on the paper. Two brushes, one big flat, one big round.
None of these paintings will take more than a few minutes, since it's not about spending endless time fiddling and niggling at it. It's about a swift execution of the idea. At least that's the plan.
So tomorrow, with luck, I'll attend to at least one of these. Once you've laid down the masking tape, you have to work soon, or it will wreck the paper surface when you remove it. But the lovely clean edge of the painted area when you remove the tape is just great to see. And this way there will already be a mat area in place. Easy for framing.
The reason I had to mark and tape and cut this paper is that typically art paper doesn't come in the right proportions. Likewise frames. They're designed to fit the machinery that's producing them, not to accommodate the needs of the art. So we work around that.
Do you fancy painting along a bit? just a small painting here and there, gets your eye in and your skills working.
This collection completes the ink drawing adventure, at least this one. Fifteen views of trees in the wind. Empty portfolio in background.
Now installed in a portfolio, just placed behind cords, you can rearrange, play with at will
made from an old book cover I painted and sponged, and drew on.
The back cover says "plein air paintings next?" the artist lady on the front cover sneaking away to think about it.
For the benefit of people who've asked, yes, I am in the process of exploring a business Paypal account. To make it easier for everyone who doesn't want to send checks and all that. Meanwhile, this portfolio is in my sales category. Highest offer above $50US plus $5 s. and h. Checks welcome for now!
So yesterday, at the Embroiderers' Guild meeting, I organized the signatures of the little January Art Book, saddle-stitched them, then attached the signatures to each other using buttonhole stitch. That work not visible here, since the cover is now attached, with a length of black crochet cotton that works with the black drawing on the cover. I rounded off the corners, too. Always gives a nice touch.
January art is now done. It now contains the last drawings I did of Marigold.
Just mulling over what's next.
