This little painting was just and Idea to get a some "winter" or Holiday feeling.

I started with ultra marine blue, and payne's gray, with the blue green for the tree.

I took a few dots of red for the birds. and then painted white gauche for the snow.

The composition is all wrong everything is in a row and laid out on one plain. the sky is uninteresting.

The exercise of the painting and incorporation of the gauche in the tree and foreground is the purpose of this whole project.  Practice and experiments are a large part of painting.

Leonardo as well as other painters did hundreds of little "what if " paintings. It is said that under the Mona Lisa there is several layers of her picture. In fact one of the trials has her with a mustache! That is how you learn and pick up some amazing ideas doing a what if painting.

So lets try a few crazy painting.

Cardinals and Mailbox

9:54 AM

Kathy

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I believe that it is as much what we say as how we say it.

I think of some of the most amazing painters in the world. Like Rembrandt, Leonardo, Monet, Van Gogh, Renoir and about a million more.  Their art said a lot!

J.W. Turner painted his most abstract painting in his older years. Then other painters did their best work when they were just youngsters.

The thing about this skill is it can be learned and is repeatable. Vincent Van Gogh learned to draw at the age of 27 and for the next ten years turned out some of the best paintings ever done by humans. But we ( the artistic community at the time) turned our back on his work because we didn't understand it then.  (1880's) Look at what we accept for art now. everything and anything.

Well with that said I offer my little bit of watercolor today. It is the two trees out front with a split rail fence and that was repeated for design sake. I find my self painting watercolors looser, and that's a good thing.

Also I am not comparing myself to these masters of the artistic world. I am just trying to paint and share with you a few thoughts.

Pines and the Fence

8:15 AM

Kathy

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These little watercolors are so much fun, This is across the road from our house and they just harvested the bean field. I can see the land contour an undulations roll.  

This is a little abstract and not real defined. A loose impression of the subject.

The farther away something is the more faint or light it is, it has a bit of atmosphere in between you and the subject you're looking at. I notice this every time we travel down I-75 to Florida. When we go thru the mountains in Kentucky and Tennessee those far away hills are almost blue and indistinct on the horizon.

These trees are closer and the far trees are only about a mile or two away. This was under-painted with ultra marine blue, and the tree line with cad yellow. The field was painted with raw sienna and yellow. I kept it wet so the sky would have movement. The fields would also blend and move.

I hope you like these little watercolor sketches. I have a few more.

Fall Color Across the Way

2:04 PM

Kathy

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Here is the pumpkin I was talking about yesterday. This one is setting by an old door and stone wall, I like so many elements of this painting.

First its by and old door, one that is rotten at the bottom. Next it is by a stone wall of various colors and shades. The tints of paint blending to make an old faded stone wall.
Then the Pumpkin is shaded and highlighted setting near the building.

I used masking fluid to cover the white brace board on the door and the pumpkin. Masking fluid is so cool to use because I can cover important parts of my watercolor paper and then later add the elements I want in a lighter or protected area.

As for the composition of this painting it is simple. The white board leads your eyes to the pumpkin then back to the door. Also with the main design, the pumpkin, I have kept it to the right of the picture and lower in the whole painting. This creates an area where you want to look and then you're able to see the whole painting.

Well lets paint more pumpkins this next few days and get ready to eat some Turkey.

Pumpkin by the Door

10:18 AM

Kathy

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Today if everything goes well, I am going to paint a watercolor of a pumpkin. I remember in grade (1950's) school we would paint a pilgrim, or a turkey, or a Thanksgiving scene.
 I now realize why we did that, it was so the teacher could have five minutes alone or with a little bit of quiet while we colored our cut out turkey. You know the one where you draw around your hand and then the thumb is the head and nose. The fingers are the feathers. Pumpkins were so simple draw a circle and paint it orange put eyes and a mouth Bamb!

Well today I hope to elevate my "pumpkin" in to a work of art. At least I want to use everything I have been talking about with the shadows and light.  I think that will fun and I will post it soon.

Pumpkin Painting Coming up

9:26 AM

Kathy

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 Painting and Planning. This painting took quite a bit of planning, first on background and then on the dark to light. Also I needed to plan how to get the distance and fade away of the lower trees.

Planning your paintings is sometime half the fun of making them.  This painting had several elements the Birch tree in front the beaver dam in the left side and the creek reflecting the sky thru the painting.

Planning is sometime the best part of a vacation, and like a painting it can be as much fun. Try it on your next painting. Take a little extra time and plan,  plan,  plan.

Painting - Planning

9:11 AM

Kathy

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Okay gang, let put it together. The shadows and light combine to make a flat, one dimensional object look three dimensional.

These two round objects look like peaches, or maybe early apples.  I enjoy the use of watercolor for the shadows under the fruit. The yellow highlight and the dark red of the far shadow.  These little sketches are a fun way to practice your skills as a watercolor artist, and also learn about the shadows.

I will talk  about masking for watercolor soon. This is another technique for more advanced watercolors and other types of water based painting.

Well lets enjoy our peaches today, or maybe a peach pie. Yum!

Putting it Together - Peaches

9:54 AM

Kathy

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