Cinderella Castle

 I started this a long time ago and just kept putting it off, due to the iconic nature of the subject. 

I’m glad I did as this was the perfect piece to use the metallic watercolor paints Barbie bought me. 

2.5” x 3.5” - watercolor 

HERE IT IS

 I wanted to changed things up for Project 52 and decided to tackle this iconic sign on Route 66. I completely messed up the lettering and needed to bring white acrylic into it. 

Mixed Media (Acrylic and Watercolor) - 3.5” x 5” 

Homemade Cookies

 Continuing to go through new watercolor paper gifted to me by Barbie. While a rough paper, it was incredibly nice to work on and had no issues with tape or masking fluid. 

Watercolor on Arches Bright White 100% Cotton Rough - ACEO 2.5” x 3.5” 

Seahorse

 I did a few more “expressions,” for lack of a better term, in watercolor. In this, I saw a manta ray at first. Then a dolphin, but proportions were all wrong. I flipped it and thought seahorse, which I’d actually taken a reference photo of at The Seas at Epcot. I love the top half, and contemplated cutting it down, but Barbie said she loved the bottom and how it melded with the shape, and the negative space around it is important. I’m leaving it, but really wish I’d spent more time on details. 

I kind of wish I’d left it like this, now that I look at it.

Camel Butte, Monument Valley

 This was tough, due to a wonky sketch, and I almost gave up half way through. The foreground… I’m not exactly thrilled. I can’t even say I learned anything from this. It is #12 of  Project 52. 

Watercolor - 3.5” x 5” 

Expressionism

 This is the “Wet on Wet Expressionism” in my Watercolor for Beginners class. I did several versions, and didn’t like any of them as a whole. I did cut out portions of each that I did like, to use as backgrounds eventually. 

Then I realized I was overthinking this seemingly simple course, and did 2 I’m pleased with. So pleased I didn’t bother with the second part of the course, which was to find something in the piece and create a work around it. These, to me, are what I say they are already, no further alterations needed.

This is :

The Landscape of the Red Dot’s Heart

4” x 6”

Wise Mister Owl 

Approximately 4” x 6”

The backgrounds produced from the failed attempts:

Bananas with a Blue Background

 This is on Arches Natural White 100% cotton cold press. It’s about the same as the bright white, though I didn’t use masking fluid. 

Peaches on Purple Plate/ Arches Review

 I started off the morning discovering the oil experiment I talked about the other day wasn’t for me on any level. I wiped it.

 I needed a win, so I grabbed the new paper Barbie bought me and did this. Thankfully it came out better than I’d hoped.

The paper is Arches Bright White %100 cotton cold press. It was amazing. I worked the hell out of this, and the paper held beautifully. Taped it and used masking fluid with zero issue. Big time thumbs up!

Watercolor, 2.5” x 3.5”

Fun to be had!

 Barbie Maglio bought me a metallic watercolor set, new brushes I’d never tried, and 30 unique samples of watercolor paper, ACEO 2.5” x 3.5.” I experimented with the paint, using my pewter Figment for reference. The paint’s properties are very interesting. They seem to dry slower, which is great, but blending is difficult, which is not so good. This is going to be fun! 

Thank you,

West Mitten Butte, Monument Valley

  I started a 3.5” x 5” version of this last night, and I overworked it completely. I was very discouraged, and decided I was going to have to admit defeat. To add insult to injury, after really liking the way the seascape came out yesterday, I decided to tape a border on this, and when I went to peel up the tape, it ripped up the paper and part of the actual painting! In a way, I suppose, it’s better I learned this when I did. 

I didn’t sleep well, and started painting as soon as I was up. I painted on the same paper as I used for the seascape, because I knew tape would be ok. It also seems to hold water better, despite it being 140lb paper as opposed to 300lb.

This is #11 of Project 52

Watercolor

5”x7” 

8/12/22

Seascape 1.2

This is attempt 2 on the seascape from the watercolor course I’m taking.

Watercolor - 5” x 7” - painted on 8/11/22

Back to Oil Paint!

 I’m unhappy with the last 2 pieces I did for various reasons, so decided to change it up and do an oil painting. 

It’s been almost 20 years, and the initial smell brought me back to when oil was what I’d paint with exclusively. 

While Googling  painting techniques one night I came across one that intrigued me. The artist takes a reference photo and blurs, one max blurry, one less so, and again, then the final. He also takes the initial photo and turns it upside down, so he’s just seeing blocks of color. 

I gave it a go. 

It looks crazy, I know. But I’m trusting the process. 

Clownfish at The Seas

Acrylic over Watercolor - 2.5” x 3.5”

Seascape One or Calm Water at Sunset

 I’m taking an online watercolor for beginners course. This is a basic waterscape that I really didn’t like at first. Plus, because it was just experimenting, it’s on cheap paper that shredded. I cut it down to 2.5” x 2.” 

As I look at it I realize it sort of looks like water coming onto a beach at Sunset, so I’ve renamed it.

I’ll eventually do one on good paper.

Acoma Sky City, New Mexico

Watercolor- 2.5” x 3.5”

Week 10 of Project 52. 

The Painted Desert, Petrified Forest National Park, Arizona

 Week 9 of Project 52.

Watercolor on 300lb. Paper - 3.5” x 5” 

A HUGE Breakthrough

Giraffe - Acrylic over watercolor paint- 2.5” x 3.5” 

This was my first go at painting acrylic over a watercolor background. This was an experiment with acrylic over a watercolor background.

I was totally discouraged at first. I’d rushed into it, not bothering to draw out the giraffe, immediately doing an underpainting, which looked off. And the experiment needed the background untouched. Amazingly it wasn’t as off as I’d thought. 

I was also able to apply what I’d learned using watercolor paint to this. I’d never thought of layering. I’d just been painting opaquely over the previous layer. 

I’ve learned a lot from this painting, which is why I’m keeping it, a very rare thing.