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Category: Watercolor

Finding Inspiration to Paint

Finding Inspiration to Paint

Do you ever find that it is hard to get inspired to paint?  Maybe it is just finding the time in our busy lives.  Sometimes I am so anxious to get all my chores done so that I can “go paint”.  But I sit down, surrounded by all my art supplies and nothing comes to me.  I feel uninspired.  What to do!  I wanted to post a few blogs about finding inspiration…
One great thing to do is to invite a friend or a few friends over to paint with you.  Set aside time, a few hours at least, and invite some friends for a relaxing, artistic afternoon.  I set out some stencils and inks in case someone wanted to use them in their art journals.  We explored different ways to add color to our stencils.  Here are some photos of our fun afternoon….

More Color Studies

More Color Studies

Our class continues to mix and mingle different colors together to see which are the best combinations.  I showed how to make fun color chickens where you start at the head of the chicken with one color and then switch to a different color at the body.  The goal is to have blended and mingled colors in the body part of the chicken using two different colors.
The younger students got very creative and started painting other animals like color horses and bunnies!

Demonstration on How to Paint a Field of Sunflowers, Watercolor

Demonstration on How to Paint a Field of Sunflowers, Watercolor

Here is a free demonstration on how I painted a colorful field of sunflowers in my watercolor journal.  It has as a little cabin in the back of the field.  Watch closely how I negative paint around the sunflowers to make them pop!  The video is in fast motion, set to some fun music. so it only takes three and a half minutes to watch the whole thing.  I hope you enjoy watching. If you want to join me in ITALY, painting on location, I would love to have you join my trip with Adventures in Italy, May 2016!

Painting a Field of Sunflowers in Italy

Creating an Art Journal

Creating an Art Journal

Teaching in my studio in Bend, Oregon – I have been sharing one of my favorite things to do with my art journals – take them apart and reconfigure them to be more creative, artistic, and tactile!  We have been getting messy mixing acrylic products with watercolors.  We have been using ordinary office supplies and manipulating them into extraordinary journaling enhancements!  Would you like to join me in Orvieto, Italy for my Colors of Umbria: Keeping a Watercolor Journal Workshop?  We will be doing similar artistic creations in our journals as we slow down, observe and savor our time in Italy together!

Driving Around the French Countryside

Driving Around the French Countryside

We spent a day driving through the Southwest part of France coming across some very beautiful towns and sites.  This area of France is known for pâté de foie gras.  We saw geese throughout the countryside.  We even saw statues devoted to geese in the town of Sarlat.















A page from my watercolor journal
A page from Helen’s watercolor journal


Fun Ideas for your Watercolor ART Journal, Part 2

Fun Ideas for your Watercolor ART Journal, Part 2

Here are some more ideas for how to add interest, color and creativity to your watercolor art journal.  These are some of the things that I will do to the back of the page in my journal.

· Pre-paint with a light watercolor wash of cobalt blue, permanent rose and transparent
       yellow watercolor paints for a colorful journaling background.
· Journal your thoughts and about the area you are visiting.  Be sure to include the date.
· Journal about the area, weather, new friends and events.
· Using an archival glue stick or matte medium, glue collected vacation ephemera to your journal pages.  Overlap and connect object.
· Paint the page with black gesso before adding things.  Use white gel pens on this page.
Paint a collection – here I did a study of barns and buildings 

So Much Fun

So Much Fun

We had so much fun last year in the Watercolor Fun online workshop that it is being offered again.  Today is the first day of 6 weeks of full access to the painting videos and online classroom with the Artful Gathering Online Workshop.  I have often been asked to offer online classes so this is it!   It is not too late to sign up.
I take you from start to finish for three different paintings.  I also have a warm-up exercise with each painting.  As a bonus, I show you how to fix problem areas in your paintings.  Here are some photos of the paintings we will do as well as a couple of examples from what the students did:

Helpful Drawing Tips

Helpful Drawing Tips

Hi everyone! Artful Gathering starts June 6th! In my Watercolor Toolbox 2 workshop you will learn how to do a contour drawing, make a color-mixing chart, and how to get volume and depth in your paintings.

 I go into detail on how to use your pencil as a drawing tool to get the proportions correct.

Here is my list of DRAWING TIPS:

1.  Start drawing and keep drawing – you will get better! 

2.  Observe instead of imagine, at least in the beginning.  Buy a sketchbook that you can devote to drawing.  No one has to ever see it but you.  

3.  Use your pencil as a measuring tool.  You can use it to compare, multiply, divide and create angles.

4.  The closer objects are to you, the lower they will be on your paper.

5.  For a watercolor painting, draw just the contour or outline of the objects.  Don’t put in a lot of detail.  It just gets more lead on your paper that can muddy your painting.

6.  Try to break up complicated objects into simple shapes: squares, circles, rectangles… A pear can be made by drawing a triangle for the top and a circle on the bottom.

7.  Overlap shapes to create the illusion of distance.

Who Are These Kind, Generous People?

Who Are These Kind, Generous People?

Artists of course!  I am just back from CREATE, Seattle and just love all the beautiful friendships that come with teaching.  We share and give each other so much.  We share ideas, new art supplies, creative thoughts and encouragement.  And gifts!

Marlene gave me stencils – she says she bought too many, lol.  Diana made me a beautiful envelope to keep all the cool Polaroid mini photos that Michelle shared with me. Michelle also bought me a pencil sharpener because I needed one.  Susan gave me a magic wand (that can also be used as a pen).

Today in the mail, I receive two beautiful ceramic brush holders from the National Gallery of Art sent to me by Pat.   Here is what she says about them:

“ceramic brush holders – like a mug w no handle – I had one in class.  I think of you every time I look at it and would love for you to have one.  I use it for my clear water and pipette when I paint – lets me know it is NOT the one with my coffee in it and the water is always clean to add to a half-pan without getting too much water over into the next pan that I don’t want wet.  You of course, may actually drink out of it or use it for brushes.  I find it interesting that they list it as a brush holder. 

THANK YOU EVERYONE!
Wonderful Students!

Wonderful Students!

I adore my students! They keep me motivated and inquisitive.  I know that as I am getting ready to teach at the new Seattle CREATE Art Retreat, I will be meeting new students as well as many that have taken classes from me before.  I want to offer new and exciting ways to draw, paint, add to journals, create and explore.  As I am organizing and packing my boxes of art supplies I can’t help to try new things.  It makes the preparation for my class take longer but it is so fun to offer new and creative ways to do the art that I like to do!