Tag: painting

Day 5, 30×30 challenge: Cozy Door,6/5/18

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My neighbor has moved (sad!!) so I made this little sketch of her front door to give her. Now that I’m looking at it again, I wish I’d tried it several times and gotten a feel for it, then given her the best attempt. It’s too late, I’ve already given it. I think I could do better with practice, but I’m happy with it. Also, I’m working on not using pencil, and letting little mistakes be part of the art of it, so I need to just let it go.

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Supplies:

EEM Handmade Watercolors (Burnt Sienna, Mais, Tia)

Daniel Smith’s Bloodstone Genuine, for the shadows

And a couple teensy touches of some Schmincke paints, only to adjust greens a bit (I only have the three colors by EEM)

Strathmore 140 lb Ready Cut 100% cotton cold press 5×7 paper, (linked here at Amazon, currently, for $6.38)

Uniball DELUXE black pen, .5mm

 

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6/03/18 Day 3, 30×3- gouache clouds

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gouache

[gwahsh, goo-ahsh]
noun
  1. a technique of painting with opaque watercolors prepared with gum.
  2. an opaque color used in painting a gouache.
  3. a work painted using gouache.

(“A WORK PAINTED USING GOUACHE”? Really? How can you define a word using the word itself as a key point in the definition?)

Wikipedia defines it more fully: “similar to watercolor in that it can be re-wetted, it dries to a matte finish, and the paint can become infused with its paper support. It is similar to acrylic or oil paints in that it is normally used in an opaque painting style and it can form a superficial layer. Many manufacturers of watercolor paints also produce gouache and the two can easily be used together.” Basically, it is like an opaque watercolor paint.

Gouache is weird. I wasn’t a fan a year ago, but I think I may like it now.

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Cephalopodic Solar System? (May 31, 2018)

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I am in an interesting swap on Swap-bot.com, a very fun artistic swapping site. I’ve made some amazing friends there and met some incredible artists, too. This swap will have 8 parts… each person will decorate 1/8th of every participant’s plain canvas tote bag, one at a time, as they circle the group. Anything goes. It should be an interesting tote bag I receive back! The swap is international, so a little expensive for those of us in the US sending to Europe, but at least the expense of shipping is spread out over a long time.

It turns out, staring at a blank canvas bag which will end up with someone I don’t know is rather daunting!! I don’t want to paint something she hates. I peeked at her profile to get some ideas, and saw “cephalopods” on her list of “likes”… I’m not sure how the planets came into being, I just thought they’d be kinda cool. So I ended up with an octopus either orchestrating, designing, or destroying the universe, depending upon your point of view, and current mood. 🙂 Or really, maybe just playing around with it.

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What do you think? I kinda love him. Her? I may need to try a larger paper version to keep. Or several different versions.

 

Travel paint set… (one of many :) 5/24/18

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I thought I’d take you on a little tour of a traveling paint bag I have put together. I wish I could do a video tour of this for you!

The creation of this set involved a period of collecting tiny, unusual, but specific, bits. It starts with a little tin, about the size of a deck of cards, that I found at The Dollar Tree. I actually purchased two, and put the lid of one on the bottom of the other, painting all of the pieces inside and out (inside to provide a nice white surface on which to mix colors, outside just because I decided I didn’t like the way the tin looked), and the extra lid gives me an extra area to mix colors if I need it. (I saved the other bottom piece for a future project.) I used a plastic bracelet thingy to wrap around it if it gets too full, but it really doesn’t need it right now. It keeps it all together nice and tight, though, when I add a little sponge I have. Normally I use a wrist sweat band to wrap around it, and then use that as a towel for wiping my brush…  I’ve temporarily misplaced it but this is a great idea.  I keep a swatch of the included paints on the outside of the tin, and will probably create one of my most used mixed colors for the back, once I settle on a favorite selection of colors.

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Inside the tin I have:

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-6 full pans with magnets attached

-1 water brush,

-a round and a flat travel paint brush (actually the flat is a fingernail decorating brush I found really cheaply on eBay or amazon a while back, the round is a lovely one from Cheap Joes… their store brand) and a tiny winsor & newton travel brush

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(I know I don’t need all of these brushes… I just haven’t done it enough that I know yet exactly what I prefer. And it all fits, so…)

-2 little plastic fish full of water. Because they make me smile.

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-1 tiny round cup with a lid full of water (VERY small, from a travel container set at Dollar Tree)

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-a tiny mechanical pencil (I don’t have a photo, but it is the size of the travel paint brush when folded, very small.)

-a clip or two to hold the journal page open if needed, or to clip the set to the journal… these can be used a couple of ways

-sometimes I have a single silicone baking cup folded in there… it’s shaped like a cup cake liner… folds down flat and pops open to be used as a water cup. Right now I’m just using the teensy cup pictured above.

…and then the lid and the extra lid both serve as paint mixing areas.

Technically, I can just grab this tiny tin and a pad of paper and I have everything I need. It fits in a pocket easily. It’s plenty. I had seen a lovely leather bag I wanted,  which would fit a journal as well. To save myself $50,  I dug around in my closet to see what might work, and voila! Not leather. But bright and happy, and currently going unloved.

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A zip pocket in front, for whatever flat thing, paper towel, whatever… then the front flap lifts to reveal a pocket which holds my tiny watercolor journal and my pen. And another zipper pocket for my cash or debit card:

Inside the main zipper compartment I keep the tin I just showed you, with the paints, brushes, water, etc, plus another tiny tin with different erasers and a corner of a plastic gift card for making lines, and a little mister I have for wetting the paints… and there’s plenty of room for some extra little bottles of water if I think I’ll need them. (I have several of the travel shampoo bottle from the Dollar Tree set which are kept filled on my work station.)

And there’s still another pocket on the back if I need it! I can fit watercolor pencils in here, too, or colored pencils if I want them.

The paints are Daniel Smith and since they are magnetic pans, I can replace them with any of the other paints from my larger desk set, which holds a bit of each color I have, and is described in a recent post:

Right now this little travel tin holds Daniel Smith Carmine, Nickel Azo Yellow, Green Apatite Genuine, Phthalo Blue (green shade), French Ultramarine, and Sepia. I could easily fit 12 pans in once I narrow down my brush choice. Or more, if I want to keep the other supplies in my bag.

But wait until you see the tiny palette I made to send to someone… I’ll show you that tomorrow. I love it!!!! It’s so small. you’ll love it, too. And it was CHEAP to make. Everyone likes that.

 

 

Fuzzy Little Bird, courtesy of Iraville on Youtube (May 20, 2018)

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I watched THIS youtube video by Iraville, one of my current favorite artists, and tried to copy her cute little bird. I couldn’t find my masking fluid, so had to try it a little differently.

The first one, on the right, used the wrong paints. Don’t use QoR for this. For the second, on the left, I found the proper paints (listed and linked below) , and it was a bit better, but not right. Cute, though. Third try, on the top… still not right. But I see progress. It’s a good, simple technique that I think I can do better, over time, and create my own cute little fuzzies. Also… paper makes a difference.

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By the way, the black here is not actually black (on tries 2 and 3), but Daniel Smith Bloodstone Genuine,  a very granulating paint made from… well, bloodstone, a rock also known as heliotrope. This is a GREAT paint. I’ve linked it above to Amazon, $14.26 for 15 ml, free shipping, for as long as the price lasts. It’s a pretty good price. (It’s about $2 cheaper at Jerry’s Artarama, but you have to pay shipping, making Amazon is a better deal, if you aren’t purchasing several other art supplies as well.) I’ve only really used the color for shadows before, and love it here. It was one of the first colors I found on my own (accidentally) and I hope to find lots of uses for it.

(There’s only one 15 ml of Bloodstone with that seller at Amazon at that price right now…HERE is a 5 ml tube of the same color, currently $6.41, plus $1.99 shipping)

Look at that granulation!

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That bright red tummy you can tell is QoR, with it’s tendrilly edges… You can use any paint, but I liked the Schmincke and Daniel Smith better for this.

To make the birdie, you lightly pencil in the general shape. Then use masking fluid to block the eye, brush water across the page, dot in the red (Schmincke Horadam Cadmium Red Light, 5 ml tube, or half pan.) and the Bloodstone, and let them do their thing. Use a dry-ish brush to clean up the edge when they get too carried away.

Watch the video… she explains it really nicely. And it is a relaxing exercise.

 

Carrot sketch… loosely painted…

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Oh my goodness!!! This isn’t as nice as the radishes, and is still overworked… but I think I’m catching on to the idea of loose painting. I’m getting there.

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At any rate, this sketch was really FUN, and I have to credit two things for that fun. One is the LazyWonderBrush Youtube channel. Olga’s advice is so helpful. If you have an opportunity, check out a few off her videos. There are a great many artists I follow, and Olga’s style is very relaxing.

The other is this set of QoR Mini watercolors, the new pan set. So amazing. I have liked quite a few of my watercolors very much, for all different reasons, but I’m finding I keep returning to this little set. It is my very favorite right now. I still love my Schmincke and my Daniel Smith paints, (and my EEM handmade paints! love!) but this QoR set are just so VERY FUN to paint with.. I find even if I begin with DS or Schmincke, I end up changing to QoR, or adding them in a bit. (and yes, they do seem to mix fine with the others) I love everything from the QoR signature style tin to the unusual silicone insert and the beautiful selection of colors… I can’t explain it. I just know if they come out with a second mini set, I will find a way to purchase one!

May 2, 2018: Youtube tutorial- beginning watercolor techniques by Makoccino, using QoR mini

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Sooo… if you recall, my tape kept tearing my cotton paper. To combat this,  I started reusing it… and apparently I used it once too often, because the paint bled through. Paper didn’t tear, though! 🙂

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Makoccino suggests trying this in a journal ( HERE is the link to the tutorial ) … she says sectioning off the page and trying these three wet on wet ideas will help someone having trouble attacking a whole empty page. (It did) My book is small so these strips are very tiny… maybe an inch wide and 4 inches tall. Mine didn’t come out exactly like hers, but I like them, and I really had fun doing them.

I used my QoR mini watercolor pan set (found here at Amazon) again…. I just love those. Like seriously LOVE. I know they are expensive, but I wouldn’t trade them for the world.

I like this evening sky:

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My galaxy stinks. But it was fun:

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But this sky is where QoR really shines:

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A Quick QoR Watercolor Scene (4/9/2018)

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My tape tore the bottom of the paper off… even though I first put it on my shirt to make it less adhesive! I may need to find different painter’s tape.

This was just a quick fun low-pressure scene. I added little flowers with a white gel pen and with “fluorescent chartreuse Golden High Flow Acrylics” (only because both were right there on my desk and readily accessible!) Not much to it, but fun to do!

 

Tues 2/20/18 Starbucks

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(For some reason this post was in the draft section of my blog, unpublished! So I’m posting it now,  6 weeks later)

My first attempt at “urban sketching”. It was so much harder for me to do on site than I expected! AND these ladies were much cuter in person.

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Look how adorable this tiny little watercolor journal is. It has a nice leather-ish cover, a ribbon bookmark, an elastic band that holds it shut, and even a long fold out panoramic page in back.
This is the link to this 4″x4″ watercolor journal by Field Artist…

It is so nice, really heavy paper, under $15. ($12.99 right now) There’s a 5″x5″ one as well HERE, for $1 more, if the first is too small for you (The 4″ is VERY tiny… but also very portable!) And then this 4″x6.5″ watercolor journal from the same company… Right now it’s $14.95, and I do love this shape and size. Very useful. All of these are nice travel books. (although honestly I don’t take them anywhere often, I love working in them here and having them available IN CASE I want to go OUT and paint. 🙂

AND all of them will fit right inside the front pocket of the tiny purse I’m using as a travel art bag. (individually, I mean) … (The purse is a cute mini crossbody made by Vera Bradley, something from years ago that I really never got into. It is PERFECT)

 

Go paint something!