I’ve painted the swamp trees a few more times. Here’s one example. I’m still not sure what I’m trying to get at here, but it’s been fun to explore.
Guadalupe 7, watercolor on Arches 7×9″
Category Archives: Watercolors
Christine Lashley
On Monday I took a private watercolor lesson with talented artist Christine Lashley. I brought in some paintings that I liked, and a few I was not happy with. Christine gave me some wonderful feedback on my paintings and we did some exercises together to practice seeing different values in a scene.
I have been having a particular challenge with this scene of gnarly trees along the Guadalupe River in central Texas:
Photograph of cypress trees along the Guadalupe River.
I had already painted the scene three times, attempting to put onto paper what I saw in my mind.
Christine asked me, “What do see in this picture that you want to convey?”
It was an “Aha” moment. I thought, I didn’t really know and I was flailing about, trying to figure it out. Now as I paint the scene again, I am trying to answer that question as I experiment with the paint in hand. Here is the painting I worked on in class.
Cyprus No. 4, Watercolor, 7×9″
In class we decided to work on just the two trees on the left. This is not what I really wanted to say about the picture, but I’m still asking myself, “What is the message?” I have done three more paintings since this one and I’m still searching.
Click here to learn more about Christine Lashley.
Filed under Texas, This Is On My Mind, Watercolors
Sketch Challenge
A group of artists on the net and on Facebook are doing the 75 Day Sketch Challenge. It’s an exercise to improve your drawing and observation skills. The catch? Pen and ink only: no pencil. That’s like skiing without a pole, but I’m going to give it a try. Note: the drawing must be done with pen and ink only, but it’s okay to add watercolor or other embellishments to the drawing. Here is my attempt #3.
Sketch #3: Geranium. Pen and ink.
Sketch #3, Geranium, with watercolor.
Filed under Drawings, Watercolors
Lower Blue Lake in color
You can’t imagine the color of this lake — the most gorgeous turquoise blue, like the Caribbean. Here is the drawing from my previous post, with a bit of color added. Not quite the vivid blue of real life, but a touch of it.
Lower Blue Lake watercolor study, pigment liner and watercolor, 6×9
Filed under Colorado, Watercolors
Forget-Me-Not
We did a lot of hiking up in the San Juans this year. The flowers were not as prolific this year but we did capture the precious few we could. I have to thank my son and my dad for being patient with Anna and me for all the stops we had to make to take pictures.
Forget-Me-Nots are tiny flowers, only about a quarter of an inch wide and growing in clumps. Here is a study of these pretty guys.
First, the pencil drawing.
Forget-Me-Nots, pencil, 2×2″
Then I inked the drawing and removed the pencil.
Forget-Me-Nots, inked drawing, 2×2″
Finally, the watercolor. I like it but I’ll do it over again a few times to get a better feel for it.
Forget-Me-Nots, watercolor, 2×2″
Filed under Colorado, Flowers, Watercolors
