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Category: Watercolor

Mt. Hood, Inspired by Lavender Fields

Mt. Hood, Inspired by Lavender Fields

Mt. Hood Lavender
Inspired by the fields of lavender in the Hood River Valley during my painting trip, Mt. Hood Lavender is a miniature watercolor painting.   It will be in the February small works show at the Red Chair Gallery. The requirements for the miniature paintings for this particular show were that the size was to be no larger than 10″ x 12″ framed.   Painting small paintings like this one is one of my favorite things to do.  Do you like to paint large or small or both?
Celebration, New Paintings for the Red Chair Gallery

Celebration, New Paintings for the Red Chair Gallery

I have been working on a series of watercolor paintings inspired by my trip to Provence in May.  The title of this one is Celebration.  We found this lovely village in the Drone area of France and what caught my eye was all the flags that were hanging from the ancient buildings.  This painting will be hung in the Red Chair Gallery for Bend’s First Friday Art Walk, October, 7, 2011.

Celebration, Watercolor
Painting in our Journals

Painting in our Journals

Sharon’s Poppies!

Kendra’s Paintings-on-the-go!

The View from our painting spot under the wisteria at the Hotel du Soleil

Helen’s water reflections

Sharon painted this in less than an hour!  What a colorful spontaneous feel to this field of poppies.

First day of our workshop!  The sun is shining and we walk to the Place Favier in St. Remy de Provence to paint on-site.  It is a lovely town square with dappled light and the fountain is trickling and sure enough the town drunk is here too.  He has stationed himself at his favorite park bench and his bottle of rose wine is more than half gone and it is 10:00 a.m.  He was here 1 1/2 years ago when I brought my other group to paint and so I warn my students that it is best to stay away from him because the little bit of English that he can utter is not very pleasant.  We, though, pass a very pleasant morning working on our paintings-on-the-go.  I had the students put a watercolor wash on their sketchbook page prior to venturing out, so that we were ready to sketch on top of that on location.

Little Color Studies

Little Color Studies

I have been finalizing my palette colors for my trip to Provence, France.  I thought I would use my color wheel and do some quick, small color studies to see if I am loving the watercolors on my travel palette.  Here are two that I worked on today.

I have to record the colors that I use because I will forget what they were.  This is a good way to make a record of your favorite color combination.  Why not start a little notebook to keep your studies in.

Painting on location – Provence, France

Painting on location – Provence, France

I thought it would be fun to share some of the art from the participants that went to Provence with me, September 2009.  Everyday we would go out on location to paint.  We would often finish up our paintings at our hotel, le Hotel du Soleil.

This is Mary Anne’s beautiful painting of Daudet’s Windmill near Fontvieille

The lesson for this day was about how to create volume and how to make something look round.  I think that Mary Anne did a wonderful job!

Below is Irene’s interpretation of the women who do the traditional dance of Provence.  I love her choice of colors.  She really captured the beautiful dresses the women used to wear. 

Page from Irene’s journal – Traditional Dance Attire of the Women of Provence
Getting Ready to Teach “The Good, the Bad and the Beauty of Color” Class

Getting Ready to Teach “The Good, the Bad and the Beauty of Color” Class

I always enjoy getting ready for this upcoming class starting on Friday at Bend, Oregon’s Art’s Central.  Students will be doing lots of color studies as well as learning how to use the color wheel to help them create beautifully colored paintings.  One of my favorite parts is teaching how the temperature of colors (either warm or cool) can greatly affect the color mixes.  By the end of the class we will put our color studies in a little spiral bound book, a perfect reference for taking to future classes.  There is still room in this class if you would like to sign up.  Just sign up on line with the Art Station.  Here are some photos from previous classes:

Watercolor Vignettes from Ponet; a Peek inside my Watercolor Journal

Watercolor Vignettes from Ponet; a Peek inside my Watercolor Journal

Inspired by my blogger friend, Laure and her thoughts on using different formats, I thought I would share this page from my Provence, 2009 Watercolor Journal. 
Directions:  using artist tape, tape off some shapes on a watercolor page in your journal.  Paint a watercolor wash.  Here I used an analogous mix of yellows, greens and blues.  Draw in some little vignette drawings.  Then add some more color to increase the value in certain areas.  Pull off the tape and journal in the white areas. 
Be sure to check out Laure’s wonderful painting of a Canadian Goose using a long format!

Getting Ready for the Portland Art & Soul Retreat 2010

Getting Ready for the Portland Art & Soul Retreat 2010

One of my favorite things that I do when I get ready to teach my Watercolor Journeys, Inspirations from Travel Class, is to put together watercolor goody bags for each student.  They are filled with art prompts and useful items for creating art in your journals.  There are still a few spots available in this class if you would like to sign up!  If you live in the Bend area, I am teaching a similar class at Arts Central, called Watercolor and Mixed Media for the Traveling Artist.

Demonstration at Bend’s Fall Art Hop: October 1, 2010

Demonstration at Bend’s Fall Art Hop: October 1, 2010

What a beautiful evening it is going to be in Bend.  The weather is warm but autumn is in the air and the trees are showing their fall colors.  I am packing my car with new paintings, prints, cards and new jewelry and a few supplies to set up a watercolor demonstration at the Birkenstock Store.  I will have some examples of what I will be teaching in my upcoming class at Central Oregon’s Art Central.  Come by and see what is new!

Mt Hood with Lavender Fields, a Peek inside my Watercolor Journal

Mt Hood with Lavender Fields, a Peek inside my Watercolor Journal

Mt. Hood with Lavender Fields

Here is a page from one of my larger journals.  I use the Arches Field Watercolor book.  It comes in 2 sizes (10×7 inches or 14×10 inches)  I uses both sizes.   Here is a link for the journals at Dick Blick Art Supplies:  Journals.  Other stores carry them too.  I love these journals because they are filled with Arches fabulous 140 lb watercolor paper and hard bound with a spiral wire binding so that they lay flat when painting.