Peony

Peony

I've finally managed to complete another lunchtime painting. I've been working on this one for a while, and it took two starts to get something that I liked.

This is based on a photo taken by a budding photographer who is a cousin to my husband. She was showing several of her photos during a family picnic last year, and I was struck by one image in particular -- a closeup image of a peony in bloom.

I asked her if I could use the image for a painting, and told her that the resulting piece would be hers.

So, it's been a year, but I finally have a small painting (4"x6") for her.

I like how this painting is divided into clearly warm and cool sections. Many of these colors aren't present in the source photo...I embellished as I built up glazes, and punched up colors to build a sense of depth. Warm colors tend to move closer, and cool colors recede.

Mark making with markers

The folks with the Grant County Art Council hosted a "paint-out" last Saturday at Welton Park near the Grant-Hardy border.

Not very many people participated, but those who came had a good time and worked on some scenes of the South Branch, which borders the park on its way through Petersburg Gap.

I was meeting someone, so I could not stay for the entire session. I decided that I would use my limited time to play with my Prismacolor Markers and sketch -- it would be quicker and less messy to clean up when my lunch partner arrived.

The top scene is of a stand of trees lightly kissed by the bright noon sun.

This bottom scene is mostly made up...I'm getting better at imagining and simplifying scenes, so this one deserves a small pat on the back. Several canoes went by while I was working on the tree drawing, and I thought it would be fun to play with very simple shapes and reflections in an imagined scene on the river.

The markers are a little hard to get used to. I really wanted to smoothly transition from light to dark in places, and with the markers that sort of nuance is difficult. They're best in a posterized sense..mass strong, simple shapes, and use a minimum of values.

I bought the markers so I could develop thumbnail value drawings as a precursor to painting. As usual, the markers have remained in a coffee cup on my desk, and the brushes have reigned supreme. But, this was a good opportunity to play, and I like some of the results. I really had to think about moving shapes forward and back based on values and relationships to surrounding shapes.

Portrait workshop project

I've been playing with a project from an April workshop that I wanted to share.  Jane Paul Angelhart returned to the Shenandoah Valley in April and conducted a workshop for VECCA.

Jane had prepared three portrait projects for us to work on through the three-day workshop. Since I'm so meticulous on these portraits, especially at the beginning, I didn't come close to finishing the first two projects, and I missed the third day altogether because of work commitments.

However, weeks later, I've finally finished the little girl from the first day of the workshop, and I thought I'd share some images of my progress.

For her class participants, Jane provides reference photos and a 7x10 piece of watercolor paper with several critical outlines pre-drawn. Those are the red marks you can see on the first image above. (I'm posting these images larger than I normally would because they are class exercises.)

This first image is my favorite because I love the hints of color on beautiful, clean paper. There's something so fresh about an image at this stage.

As you can see in this version, I've skipped quite a few steps, but mostly the changes involve building up the skin tones of her face by using washes of Daniel Smith's Quin Coral, Perinone Orange, Quin Gold, and MaimerBlu's Sap Green. I also used gentle scrubber brushes to soften and alter the line of the highlight along her forehead.

 

Finally, here is the finished version, which includes several more washes along the background, additional washes on her shirt, refinement of the shape and shadows of the ear, and some more touches of wispy hair. I didn't want to fuss too much with secondary areas such as the ear, because that's not the focus of the image. Her eyes, as well as the shape of that beautiful highlight, should be the dominant element. 

I cannot stress enough how much I have learned from taking two workshops from Jane Paul Angelhart. She is an extraordinary teacher, who provides the right kind of guidance from the onset. I never thought I could paint portraits because my early attempts at mixing skin tones were always disastrous. But Jane's palette, and her enthusiastic demonstrations and advice make all the difference.

Mill at Babcock

Glade Creek Mill at Babcock State Park

So here is the colored sketch of the mill at Babcock. I'm not very skilled at these on-site exercises, and I really need to practice more to get better. I'm all for another weekend at one of West Virginia's state parks to give it a try!

Vacation sketch

We had a great time at Babcock State Park this year. Unfortunately, it rained more that we would have liked, so our outdoor activities were somewhat limited.

On our only sunny afternoon, we were quite industrious, hiking to the famed Long Point to see a spectacular view of the New River Gorge Bridge. On our return to the park, we wandered down to the Glade Creek Mill to enjoy the scenery and sunshine.

I settled on a rock by the creek's banks, and drew this scene. I then tinted it with my handy travel brushes that carry a water reservoir in the handle, but I have to admit the results were less than stellar. I've used the brushes before while on vacation with some success (see this post to understand what kind of brushes I'm describing), but I was unhappy with this effort.

So, the sketch you see below is actually a new drawing based on the original sketch, and I will tint it using my regular watercolor brushes. When drawing I use pencil first, then go over that sketch with Pigma Micron pens in three thicknesses.

When I've added the watercolor, I'll post a new image.

Postcard promotion

I promise I will post about painting soon... or at least as soon as I put my brush to paper again.

But in the meantime, I had to share this wonderful card that I received in the mail today from Anne Finlayson at VMRC. That's my painting in the bottom corner, and I am so surprised and elated to see that they chose that image for the promotional cards for the show.

Anne also sent one of the color brochures listing all the participants. That piece also includes some images of the accepted artwork, and "Wisdom Watching" was included there! So I'm really happy and humbled to see images of my work alongside the pieces of other artists. "How did that happen?" pops into my head every time I see them.

So, as the card above indicates, the show opens May 29 and runs through June 30 at the Park Gables Gallery at the Virginia Mennonite Retirement Community, 1491 Virginia Ave., in Harrisonburg, Va. Hours are 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday, and 1 to 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.

Faces finished

Here are the long-promised close-ups of the faces in my most recent painting. So far all reactions to the painting have been positive, and I'm generally pleased with how it developed.

The faces have been developed using Jane Paul Angelhart's palette of transparent and semi-transparent colors. However, I did substitute one of her stalwart pigments, Holbein Olive Green, in favor of MaimeriBlu Sap Green.

I have found in difficult to work with the Olive Green in some past paintings because it pushes toward orange tones when glazed with reds and pinks. I found that the Sap Green was more neutral in skin tone applications. I want to test that idea further in my next attempt at a portrait.

One Moment

Well, I've wrapped up this painting just in time for the entry deadline to the West Virginia Watercolor Society show. I've been working on this for about eight weeks, including the drawing, so I admit that I've reached a level of fatigue that says it's time to stop.

This is only my fourth portrait painting, so I'm still struggling with some things, but I am certainly pleased with how her face turned out. In the post where I had included closeups of their faces at an earlier stage, you can see how the lines and texture of her face were created with little bits of color.

It looked rough at that point, but a simply wash over a larger area melted all the bits together into a realistic portrayal. I'll try to scan the faces again so in a new post you can see a close up view of what I'm describing.

Honestly, I had a lot more trouble with his profile. Not having the lines and features of a face made it more difficult, and then there was the problem of creating a sense of texture in his weathered profile. My first washes were very much like my previous portraits of children...very smooth. And for him that was completely wrong. So it look a long while to build up enough thin washes to create the illusion of a mature adult's skin, but it finally worked.

Accepted at VMRC

Wisdom Watching

Shall We Gather

I received my letter from the VMRC annual exhibit this weekend, and I'm so surprised and pleased that I've had two works accepted in their eighth annual show!

The Virginia Mennonite Retirement Community is the host for the multimedia show, which is advertised in most of the national art magazines and artist call websites. I attempted to enter it once before, but I've always thought that my work was too ordinary to ever make it. The panel of jurors usually includes university faculty, and selections cover a wide range of styles and approaches.

Exhibit coordinator Anne Finlayson included some statistics in the notification letter. There were 532 entries made by 189 artists representing 31 states. The exhibition will include 103 pieces by 97 artists from 23 states...and I have two pieces (Wisdom Watching and Shall We Gather) included!

The exhibit will run from May 29 to June 30 in the Park Gables Gallery at VMRC, Harrisonburg, Va. More on the exhibit can be found on their website: http://www.vmrc.org/v.php?pg=48

Beautiful brush vase

I'm sorry this post has little to do with painting, but I had to share my wonderful find!

I went to Tamarack last weekend to pick up my paintings from the "Architectonic" show. Tamarack is mostly a showplace for fine craft, with the Dickirson Gallery as a revolving space for fine art. So I love to wander about the different sections to see the glassware, ceramics, jewelry, etc.

In the ceramics section, I decided I wanted a beautiful piece to hold my brushes. I've always used random coffee mugs, and they're never quite large enough, particularly with several flat wash brushes in the bunch.

So here is my find! It's made by a young potter named Lindsay Philabaun who lives in St. Albans, W.Va. This pattern has been her signature design, but she's adding some floral patterns into her product line. You can see her work at her website: www.lindsayphilabaun.com