And now, to Yupo! And Sunflowers!

You know it was only a matter of time before I go back to sunflowers. They must be my most paintable flowers. They inspire me every time.

And, like I promised at the beginning of this challenge, I am painting on Yupo. I like having it mounted on a panel, so that's what I'm doing. For an excellent tutorial on how to mount any paper on board using double-tack film, go here.

After these are varnished, they don't need a mat, a piece of glass, or even a frame. Here's what this painting looks like just sitting pretty on an easel:

Or even propped up on a book shelf:

See more of my available flower paintings here. Not ready to buy an original? Check out the prints here.

I am also recording the process of most of these flower paintings, with the idea of releasing it later as the material for an online course. If you are interested in my future course offerings, please make sure you are signed up for my updates (below).

Summer Morning (Day 3)

I've been spending a considerable amount of time thinking of and feeling out color combinations that I'd like to use. Which is only natural, as I am leaning more and more towards abstraction. I remember leafing through a book on Van Gogh and having a revelation along the lines of "Oh, so he could draw pretty well in his earlier works. " Same thing with Picasso, except I don't think he was that good. But at some point, they made the choice to let go of accuracy in drawing in favor of expression and abstraction.

Now, before you start lamenting the death of traditional art and getting angry at me because you actually like the representational art, hold on. Do not worry. I intend to draw things as they are, albeit with a bit of my own flair, till the day I die. I just like abstracts, too :)

This painting today is number three in a mini-series I worked on this week. There is a total of four miniature 4x4" paintings, I will post the last one tomorrow. Click on either image to go to the listing and find out more about it (and buy! :) )

P.S. If you get my blog by email and you don't want to see me in your inbox every single day for the duration of the September 30 Paintings in 30 Days challenge, you can easily update your subscription preferences to only send you a once-a-week digest (look for an "update profile" link on the bottom).

Summer Midday (30 paintings in 30 days)

Tada! Painting number two is here. And it goes so well with painting number one (and just between you and me, also with painting number three and four ;) )

I decided to make things a bit more fun and add a frame (you can see a couple more framing ideas in the listing for this painting). Here it is sans frame:

This one is also a 4x4" watercolor on Aquabord. And believe it or not, I used flowers (roses, to be specific) as a starting point for both of these first two paintings. What do you see?

My choice of frame here was guided partly by a curious discussion on houzz.com I've been participating in. We got a little bit into watercolor vs oils debate after someone said that they prefer watercolor paintings for their bright and vivid color. Which is, apparently, not a common sentiment. So that watercolor painting in an oil-ish frame up there is my response to the watercolor nay-sayers. Bright and colorful it is.

Do you have a space in your house that needs some brightening- and coloring-up? Go here to buy this painting.

Day 1 - Summer Evening

Whew. I feel like I just had an intense workout. What did I do? I wrote a product description for this piece. It's not long, it's not fancy, but it takes so much of my mental energy to do this stuff! I don't know why it is so hard to detach myself from my work and not freeze up when it comes to painting titles and sales copy. Do you get like this?

It's like someone putting you in front of the class and saying, "Okay sweetie, now tell us why we should like you."

Anyway, here's the first painting of the 30-in-30 challenge! It's an abstracted flower (I'll let you see what you want to see) and it's watercolor on Aquabord.

I haven't used Aquabord in a while. I wanted to ease in to the daily painting and chose the smallest panels I had, which happened to be these 4x4" Aquabords.

They are tiny but, unlike a piece of paper (even Yupo) they feel solid. I think they are highly gift-able and show-off-able. And for those collectors complaining that they have no space on their walls left, this 1) doesn't have to go on a wall - it can be a feature element on a shelf or table and 2) surely, you can find a spot for a 4x4" panel?

For these in-home shots, I actually set it up on my nightstand, with enough room for books and a vase.

Do you think you have a perfect spot in your home for this little jewel? Buy here!

What's on My Palette?

So glad you asked :)! My watercolor palette is a perpetual work-in-progress and I think it will be fun reviewing it once in a while. As of today, this is what it looks like:

View fullsize

It's a John Pike's palette and I'm quite happy with the number of wells, their size, and the ample mixing area. I rarely use the lid for mixing.  

Click on the image to view John Pike's palette on Amazon.com

Okay, the interesting part. Colors, from left to right: 

(Colors in bold larger font are ones I use most. The links are affiliate links and will take you to DickBlick.com. If you buy something, I will get a small percentage for sending you their way. Thanks in advance!) 

Blick Dioxazine Violet.

 

I put it in there more out of habit than out of need. I pretty much never touch it anymore, but dixazine purple used to always come with my St Petersburg pan watercolors, so I've used it for years.

Blick Artists' Watercolors, Dioxazine Violet

Winsor & Newton Cobalt Blue.

I use it when I want a slightly lighter and more opaque version ofFrench Ultramarine.  

Winsor & Newton Artists' Watercolor Tubes, 178 Cobalt Blue, 37 ml

Winsor & Newton French Ultramarine.

The paint I should probably buy by the bucket. In the absence of buckets, I get the largest tube available (37 ml). And it gets used all the time.  

Winsor & Newton Artists' Watercolor Tubes, 263 French Ultramarine, 37 ml

Utrecht Cobalt Turquoise.

One of those random colors I have and occasionally use. Makes a very delicate violet color when mixed with Quinacridone Red.

Blick Phthalo Blue.

I have a complicated relationship with this one. I love it for giving me nice, transparent darks and brilliant greens, but I hate it for not drying fast enough on the palette and invading every single color while I'm on the move and the palette is not just sitting on a flat surface. It's also a bit of a pain to clean up and it's a staining color (so, don't put it where you think you might need to lift paint later). I am considering either keeping it in a separate container or just bringing a tube when I need it.

Blick Artists' Watercolors, Phthalo Blue, 14 ml

Holbein Verditer Blue.

Used occasionally. A semi-opaque, easy-on-the-eye color. Thanks to Tom Schaller for introducing me to this one.  The well next to it holds the remains of American Journey Manganese Blue, which turned out to be kind of dull and very crumbly. Not at all the same thing as Winsor & Newton Manganese Blue.

Holbein Artists' Watercolor Tubes, 295 Verditer Blue, 15 ml

Daniel Smith Blue Apatite Genuine.

Another random color I use very rarely. Super-granulating, bluish dark gray. I like it, I just don't often paint something that would call for it.

Same goes for

Daniel Smith Indanthrone Blue.

Beautiful, transparent dark blue. Reminds me of writing ink.

Daniel Smith Quinacridone Red .

This is my primary red color. I can warm it up with a yellow or cool it down with a blue. It mixes well with pretty much anything. I tried this color in other brands and it works just as well. Quinacridone Magenta used to be in the well next to this one, but I found it to be a bit redundant. The other well next to it used to hold Daniel Smith Rhodonite Genuine. A pretty color, but it crumbles like crazy when it dries on the palette and I can't say it's essential. I also read somewhere in forums that Rhodonite shifts in color.

Daniel Smith Quinacridone Sienna.

Love it! Apparently, I also need a new tube of it. Again. The color is a nice rusty orange. Transparent, mixes well with most colors on my palette. Not to be confused with DS Quinacridone Burnt Orange, which is actually a rather boring brown.

Maimeri Blu Cadmium Orange.

A basic orange color, semi-opaque. Not used very frequently but is good to have when I need an intense orange. The well next to it is the above-mentioned Daniel Smith Quinacridone Burnt Orange - which is not an orange at all, and I will be scraping it out and throwing it away.

Maimeri Blu Artist Watercolors, 54 Cadmium Orange, 15 ml

Next one is my primary yellow well.

Currently it's Daniel Smith New Gamboge  but I'm pretty sure there is some Daniel Smith Hansa Yellow on the bottom. Maybe even some Indian Yellow. I'm not very picky there. The blob in the next well is

Maimeri Blu Raw Sienna.

A bit too brown and boring for my taste, so I will be scraping that one out, too. 

Blick Yellow Ochre. 

A good color to have, but not a necessity. Quite opaque and tends to get chalky.

Blick Artists' Watercolors, Yellow Ochre, 14 ml

Winsor & Newton Quinacridone Gold.

Another color I buy a lot of. Wonderfully transparent, somewhat greenish yellow. I tried it in other brands, trying to find the same thing but cheaper, and was less than impressed. Winsor & Newton it is.

Winsor & Newton Artists' Watercolor Tubes, 547 Quinacridone Gold, 37 ml

That's it! I also own a box of St Petersburg (Yarka, White Nights) pan watercolors, with some pans already emptied and refilled with other stuff, for trips and such, when I would not bring my large palette.  

What about you? What are the staples on your palette? 

P.S. For an excellent concise overview of different watercolor brand paints, check out this Wonderstreet article.

How to Make Watercolor Batik on Rice Paper Step-by-Step Demo

Watercolor batik is a painting technique that has been floating around for a while. I have painted on fabric before (not batik method strictly speaking), I knew the theory (basically, you use wax/paraffin in place of masking liquid and rice paper in place of regular watercolor paper) and I kept seeing paintings done in this technique here and there. Finally, months after bookmarking a demo by Kathie George on Artists Network, I decided to give it a try.

Materials and gear:

• Watercolor paints
• Some kind of oriental/rice paper. I used something looking like the regular sumi-e rice paper (the one that has no sizing and makes your paint run like crazy)
• Ink pen (optional). I used Pigma Micron
• Brushes - your regular watercolor brushes plus something designated specifically for applying paraffin. I used a 1.5" flat bristle brush from a hardware supply store and a couple of smaller bristle brushes.
• Electric griddle or some other way to keep the paraffin melted.
• Paraffin - I used a candle stump
• Iron
• Lots of newspapers/tissue paper/any thin absorbent paper that you can use for ironing the paraffin off your painting

The process

1. Make your drawing if you plan on having the lines. If you need to make a sketch first and then trace it onto the rice paper, be my guest. I drew straight on the rice paper - I think the uneven lines are not so horrible and actually add character.

french windows step 1

Here, I already decided what my lightest lights are (a term meaning the areas of the artwork that will be the lightest in value. In watercolor, you typically leave them untouched, no paint at all). I masked them out with melted paraffin.

2. Apply first wash of color. You will be working from light to dark, so decide what your next lightest areas are and fill them in. Often, those are going to be your yellows, as they tend to be light in value. I also painted the bright colors of the flowers on the windowsills at this stage. I wanted to keep them fresh, so no more layers of paint on top.

french windows step 2

3. Apply more paraffin to areas that you want to keep the way they are. Paint middle values.

french windows step 3

4. Same thing. Mask out the areas that you are happy with and move on with another layer of watercolor. Here I am about to add the darks.

french windows step 4

5. The image below is almost completely covered with paraffin.

french windows step 5

6. More paraffin, more paint.

french windows step 6

7. Once you're done, cover it all completely with paraffin and crinkle the paper. Apply a wash of color on top. I chose rusty orange to match the color of my ink lines. It will bleed into the cracks and bead on top of paraffin.

french windows step 7

This step is optional. If you don't want the web pattern on top of the painting, feel free to skip it.

8. Newspapers and iron time. Place the painting between several layers of newspaper or tissue paper and keep ironing until all of the paraffin comes off. You will need to change the layers of paper to new ones in the process.

french windows step 8

This is what it looked like after removing paraffin. I was fine with it for a day but then decided the white spots in the bottom third of the painting were just too distracting. When I tried painting them over, I couldn't: there was still some paraffin in the paper. One extra ironing removed it and I was able to tone the white spots down.

Here is the finished version:

View fullsize

french windows

Detail views:

french windows detail 1

french windows detail 3

french windows detail 3

And a handy time lapse video: French Windows

Hope you enjoyed it! Questions? Suggestions? Comments?

En Plein Air Pro Portable Watercolor Easel Review

I have been using En Plein Air Pro Watercolor Easel for half a year now. I still love it almost as much as I did on the day it arrived but I have a bit more perspective on its advantages, disadvantages and uses. So here we go:

Pros:

• Very lightweight (the easel proper, not counting tripod and shelf, is 1lb. 5oz)
• Extremely quick and easy to set up
• Fits onto any tripod via a standard tripod mount
• Thanks to that, you can manipulate the angle of the board any way you like

• You can buy the whole package with the easel, tripod, palette shelf, and carrying bag, or pick and choose among any of these. Since I already had a decent tripod (Slik Heavy-Duty Tripod with 3-Way Fluid-Effect Head and Built-In Bubble Level), I bought the easel attachment and the shelf.

john pikes palette on en plein air pro easel

• Fits into most backpacks, which means that your entire plein air setup can be carried in one backpack (the tripod can either go inside the backpack or be attached with straps outside).
• Both the easel and the shelf have holes for holding your brushes

en plein air pro brush holder

• Despite being so thin and lightweight, the easel is actually relatively sturdy. It is made out of ABS plastic, which you can bend a little - but so far, it has stayed flat and straight.
• Has a lip on the bottom, so you can just prop up a sketchbook or sheet of paper against it without attaching it to the board
• Has a hook for hanging a water container - nice idea, but this is also going to the "cons" section below
• Compared to the heavy french easels with all of their paraphernalia, En Plein Air Pro just looks cool. Anytime I paint outside with some new people, somebody asks me about the easel.

plein air painting

Cons:

• The above mentioned hook for the water container is on the bottom right, which makes the easel board bend and lean that way whenever a normal size water bucket (like the popular collapsible water jar) is hanging from it. I usually just put the water container in the middle of my John Pike Watercolor Palette - 15 x 10.5 which sits on the shelf. It looks like the Original Series easel has the hook in the middle. I'm guessing, the hanging water container was interfering with the user's ability to reach into the back of the shelf/palette, so they moved the hook to the side. The new Advanced Series Plein Air Pro palette shelf lets you put the water under the shelf, so you don't have to worry about those hooks at all.
• Since this is a portable easel, you should probably expect to be limited in your choice of painting surface sizes. In the case of this easel, anything taller than 16-17 inches feels too big. It is definitely awkward to work on something like a vertical 16x20 piece.
• Because of the angle of the tripod legs, the shelf is tilted back, towards the center of the tripod, when all three legs are extended the same amount. To correct that, I make the rear leg longer, so that the whole tripod is leaning forward. This makes the shelf level but at the expense of shifting the tripod balance. I have had it topple over at the slightest touch of my 2-year-old. (Tip. Keep those toddlers away from your easels...especially if there is something on the easels that you care about). It looks like the Advanced Series palette shelf also fixes the tilting issue by introducing adjustable tabs.
• Umbrellas for plein air are not likely to work with this kind of setup. It would just be too heavy and throw the balance to the wind. But then, I don't even own an umbrella.

apple valley plein air

As with most portable setups, you have to watch out for that wind I just mentioned and weigh the tripod down. You also need to tighten the tripod mount screw quite well before attaching the easel to the tripod - otherwise, the board develops the tendency to slowly but surely rotate counterclockwise.

Because of the portability and flexibility, I use En Plein Air Pro more than my studio easel. I take it outside, I bring it to my classes, and I paint on it at home. If I didn't already have a large palette, I would likely get the Advanced palette shelf.

French Windows Watercolor Batik - Virtual Paintout

For now, I'll just say that it was a very labor intensive, albeit interesting, process. Step-by-step tutorial is coming soon. Don't forget to check out all the other submissions to November Virtual Paintout!

Oh, and it smells nice...I used a stump of a very smelly white candle :)

Sue From My Plein Air Figure Drawing Group

I think it's about time I started posting sketches and paintings from my occasional trips to a plein-air figure drawing group. They meet every other Saturday and so far, I've only been able to attend four times. It's a drive for me..Over an hour drive, but it's worth it.

The group has all kinds of people in it: professional artists, amateurs, interior designers, graphic designers, students, an archeologist, an orthotics/prosthetics specialist, and, of course, architects. The sessions are usually three hours, without a whole lot of structure - other than the general idea that the shorter poses come first, the longer ones last. The models range from professionals to total first-timers (I still remember one of them doing a cart-wheel for a dynamic pose :)). The whole thing takes place outside, in the organizer's backyard. It's fun :)

These sketches are of Sue, a professional model who endured direct midday sun, ants, and an occasional lizard.

Half a Red Pepper Wet-into-wet

I think painting wet-into-wet is relaxing...This is pretty much what watercolor is all about :)

House on a Hill - Virtual Paintout August 2011

After a few months long break, I managed to create another painting for the Virtual Paintout project. It was one of those instant inspiration cases, which is a bit surprising given my reference image. Somehow, it really resonated with me - the high horizon, the birches, the grasses, the isolated little building...

Here is what it looks like on my living room wall:

The other news is that I'm 9.5 weeks pregnant and that I started teaching adult group watercolor classes. Being pregnant sucks, while teaching...I like it quite a lot so far :) I'm working on offering the basic class in other locations and I'm also developing an intermediate class.

Garden Scene with Blue Pot and Stairs - Watercolor on Aquabord Step by Step

Ampersand Aquabord is nice. 2" deep cradled Aquabord is even nicer! You don't need to mat it, just spray it with a fixative and varnish. You don't even need to frame it. Stain the sides any color you want and it's ready to be put on a wall. The painting above was born partly of the client's wish for a smaller size and partly out of my desire to try the cradled Aquabord.

blue pot with hydrangeas reference photo

Reference photo: their very attractive corner of the yard. I love the windmill but I also felt that it would compete for attention with the pot. And, since we decided on a square format Aquabord, I would have been difficult to squeeze it into the composition.

blue pot preliminary sketch 1

As in most of my commissions, I spent some time doing preliminary sketches.

blue pot preliminary sketch 2

We went with this one.

blue pot ip 1

I skipped the drawing - I typically don't feel the need for pencil lines unless the subject is complex. For the first time ever, I noticed that on the Aquabord packaging, they recommend washing it with clean water before painting. So I did. It bubbled a bit (which it is supposed to do) and behaved much more wet-into-wet than I expected. If this last phrase sounds odd to you, I just mean that the paint spread and mingled better.

blue pot on aquabord

That's what the 2" deep cradle looks like with a 6x6" board. I like it.

blue pot ip 2

Next layer: trying to keep the flow and spontaneity of the first wash while adding a lot of detail. Not easy!

blue pot

And the end result :) Like it? I do have prints and greeting cards :)

A Portrait A Day 62 - Julie (And Some Figures in Watercolor)

Julie is the beautiful model that I had the pleasure painting at the Sacramento Fine Arts Center during my trip to Sacramento. The watercolor above is a 15 or 20 minute painting. I did a very simple drawing with a yellow Nupastel and completed it with watercolor.

This one is a 5 minute pose. I wish I had more time and a steadier hand!

Julie sitting. Again, watercolor with Nupastel - this time, I did the drawing with light green. Unusual color as far as figure paintings go, but I like the way it softens the Quinacridone Red I used for the skin tones and in the background. 20 or 25 minute pose, which, on the whole, I'm pretty happy with.

That's all for now. In the next post, I'll share some of the sketches I did at the Sacramento Second Saturday Art Walk and the wonderful artists I've met there. Stay tuned :)

How to use artist's tape

I discovered artist's tape not in a class or workshop but by a kind of accident. When we were learning to make our own giclee prints, we bought artist's tape to attach the prints to the back of the mats (which works very well, looks neat and can be easily disassembled). Recently, I started using artist's tape to block off the edges of my paintings to give the finished work a clean and professional look. I also used it for lifting off very thin lines in one of my recent paintings and, of course, for picking up areas masked out with liquid frisquet. The following step-by-step guide is one of the most popular applications of artist's tape - to give you a straight edge separating areas of different color in a painting. The painting I am working on is of the new building of the Mississippi Blood Services. It makes me think back to my first years in architecture school (nothing to do with blood..just the hands-on approach to architectural renderings). So, here I am going to do a gradated wash that represents the sky, while blocking off the edges of the building with artist's tape. Here is the drawing:

mbs in progress 1

I need to cover the flag and some smaller elements with masking liquid:

mbs in progress 2

I decided to mask out the stars on the flag but leave the blue area of the flag open to the wash. This way, I will be able to achieve more unity within the painting. Enter the artist's tape:

artist's tape

I applied the tape along the edge of the building that meets the sky. I also blocked off the top middle section of the building, so that I don't accidentally paint over it when I make the horizontal strokes of the sky wash. Make sure the edges where you need the straight line are completely attached to the paper. Otherwise you might end up with paint leaking under the tape.

mbs in progress 4

I apply the wash upside down and keeping the painting at a slight angle. The color is a mixture of ultramarine blue, phtalo blue, and a little bit of verditer close the horizon - which, in retrospect, was not such a great idea. Phtalo blue is transparent and non-granulating. Ultramarine is almost transparent but quite granulating. As a result, my wash wasn't completely even and I had a couple of stripes of ultramarine blue that separated from the mixture and decided to go their own way. I almost scrapped the painting and started all over - but went ahead and applied a couple more washes to see if that would even everything out. To my surprise and delight, it did. I applied several gradated washes of ultramarine and phtalo blue, using only one color at a time. The result is this:

mbs in progress 5

Not ideal, but definitely better and I don't have to start over! I also like the deepened color quite a lot.

Final tip on the artist's tape - before putting it down on paper, stick the piece of tape to your clothing (something not very fluffy or furry), like your jeans, and then apply it to your painting. This will make it a little less sticky and minimize the chances of you removing paint or damaging the paper when you lift it off.

Like I said, this is just one of the many, many ways to use artist's tape. What's your favorite? Do you have a secret trick involving artist's tape? Please share :)

Oceanside Days of Art 2011

Oceanside is one of those things that I must confess I did not appreciate enough until I had to leave it. Going back there for two days of art fair was a treat (and getting a break from watching the ball of energy that is our son 24/7 was nice, too ;))! The show itself went ok - with gas and babysitter, we almost broke even. At least 50% of all the visitors at our booth were artists or art students. I was quite glad to explain my techniques and share my knowledge with them, along with receiving some tips back from them.

I met a couple of old friends and was amazed to learn that they follow my work and read my newsletters. It made me feel wonderful :) THANK YOU!

I also made many new contacts, including these fantastic artists:

Igor Koutsenko (who presented us with a poster of his woodcut Victory II, St. George on a motorcycle :))

Annie Aldrich (who lives in Big Bear Lake and makes amazing ceramics pieces that I was really hoping I would have made some money to spend on)

Catherine M.S. Cowles (who makes light fixtures to die for)

- and many more talented Southern Californians. It was worth it just for the opportunity to be there among all those creative people.

The painting above was done using a not-so-popular method of working from a black-and-white sketch made on location. The idea is for you to be there and experience the surroundings while making an abbreviated version of what you see. Your sketch, then, gives you a framework, a recorded idea that you interpret drawing from your memories and intuition rather than reproducing a photograph. This painting could have been much better, of course, but I like it :). Here is the sketch it was based on:

Just for comparison, here is a plein-air painting of the same church that I did in 2009. This one belongs to my "how not to paint in the future" bin.

And to complete your Oceanside experience, Decemberists :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2jjn-uoENPA&NR=1

Orchids in Red - watercolor on Yupo

5.5 x 11.5"  Yupo, I've missed you. :)

Started off as purple-red orchids (which is what they actually are) on a light blue background - but I didn't like it and changed my mind to light flowers on a darker background. Thankfully, Yupo is perfect for changing everything in the middle of painting! I plan on making a similar painting with yellow orchids. My husband gave me the purple ones for Valentine's Day - and I'm proud to say they are still alive and thriving - and a couple of weeks ago, he brought me a pot with yellow ones. They also survived :)

Ink and watercolor winter landscape - step by step

This painting was a commission I did for someone who gave it as a thank you gift for a wonderful skiing vacation at the Okemo mountain in Vermont. As usual, I started with a sketch:

And, since the client wanted two skiers in the picture, a rough Photoshop mockup:

okemo mockup

On to the drawing and the first wet-into-wet wash (paper is stretched on an 11x14" stretcher frame and bordered with artist's tape to a 9x12" size):

okemo ip 1

At which point I remembered that this was supposed to be an ink and watercolor painting...

okemo ip 2

And after this, there was darkening of shadows and intensifying of color here and there. I also added some iridescent medium and snow, along with the writing on the bottom, to arrive at this:

okemo completed

At the request of the client, I mailed the painting directly to the couple who generously let them stay at their house during the vacation at Okemo. I included one of my note cards that I think goes very well with this painting:

okemo with note card

Virtual Paintout - Romania

6x6" Ink/watercolor on Ampersand Aquabord. Location is in the city of Bucharest, Romania. Check out the other entries at the Virtual Paintout Blog! They're getting better every month.

Romania shares a border with Ukraine, where I am originally from. Virtually "walking" the streets of this beautiful city made me a bit homesick - which, I must admit, I have been for a while now... I know there isn't much point to it, the country where I grew up is not the same it was seven years ago, the people have changed, grown older, and we don't even talk anymore - and yet I can't help it. Something will always pull me towards that place on the other side of the world.

A Portrait A Day 55 - Elijah - my first pastel portrait

5x7"  Nupastel on Ampersand Pastelbord. Reference photo by the awesome Jordan Boesch and this embodiment of intense focus is my son Eliajh :)

Ooh...it HAS been a while! Various important and just unavoidable things kept me from painting (not counting commissions) for a couple of weeks :( I am looking forward to getting back into daily (or almost daily) painting.

I parted with two of my recent "moody" miniature landscapes but I was glad to send them to someone I got to know through a commission (step-by-step coming soon).

As for today's portrait, I have been interested in pastels for a while now and have tried some here and there, with varying levels of failure. I have never tried working on a sanded surface until a couple of weeks ago, when I did a figure study of my husband on a sanded Colourfix paper. What a difference! Like with watercolor, the surface your work on can have a tremendous impact on the outcome of your work in pastel (unless you're a pastel genius and can work on anything?)

I know I have a lot to learn when it comes to pastels, but I like the process!

A couple of miniature landscapes on Fluid watercolor block

Back in the day when I was looking for a perfect watercolor paper block (I came to the conclusion that I just use too much water to work on blocks) - I got this little 4x8" block of Fluid watercolor paper to try. I liked the unusual format. The paper itself performs ok, at least in this size. It does curl and buckle a bit but overall it was quite suitable for my purpose (to play with little imaginary landscapes).  I might not get more of it, but I won't throw it away either.

"Fog." 4x8" watercolor on Fluid CP 140lb watercolor paper.

autumn

"Autumn." 4x8" watercolor on Fluid CP 140lb watercolor paper.