Ricepaper Rose

It's fun to try painting on different papers.  This time it is ricepaper and the results are so different from painting on regular watercolor paper.  The paint soaks in and dries very light so it requires multiple layers of paint to get some decent values.  When living on Long Island NY my passion was growing roses, being a member of the local Rose Society and entering annual competitions.  The last rose show before I moved to Florida I won several 'best of show' ribbons for my entries.  It was very pleasing because of the all the hard work it takes to grow show roses.  I have many photos of roses and even grow some here on my property in Florida.  Painting roses has replaced growing them.

Jupiter Lighthouse

I give instruction in watercolor painting at a Senior Living Community.  This is a painting we did together using an easy technique to ensure that everyone had a 'straight' lighthouse.  I cut out a silhouette of a lighthouse from cardstock and the class used it to trace the perfect shape for their painting.  Everyone then added water, foliage, a bit of land and maybe a boat or dock, whatever they felt like.  I have to say that all the paintings came out quite nice.  For my reference I used a photo I snapped from across the water while dining in a favorite restaurant.

Cafe Etoile

I love painting scenes from France and thisonein articular is a favorite.  I've done several versions, some with people, dogs, wine bottle, glasses, coffee cups etc. but the whimical feel of this outdoor scene continues to appeal to me.  The crisp black and white awning makes this one stand out along with the toned background, making everything pop.  Don't you just want to sit down and while away some time in this cozy place?  I know I do!

Silhouettes

When I first created this painting it was just ok.  Very pale and rather bland with white sails and green palms.  One day I took a look at it and decided to add some punch.  I did this by making the sailboats and palms very dark, almost black.  There is a bit of green mixed in the black to make the palms realistic.  The painting took on a whole new dimension and deserved to be framed at this point.

Seafire

This is one of my favorite ways to create a painting.  The paper is wet completely before pleasing colors are added.  Not much of a plan but mostly the idea to make the colors mix and mingle and then see what happens.  Try to imagine this painting upside down.  I thought to put sunset colors at the top and then water colors at the bottom.  When I studied the dried results I decided that I liked it better when it was reversed.
I decided to go with the fiery seas and cool skies, added a sailboat to complete it.

I Love Paris

This is my impression of a scene looking at the Eiffel Tower from across the Seine River.
My son and his wife lived in Paris for almost 5 years so of course we visited as much as possible.
The 'city of lights' is a truly engaging place, one that leaves a lasting impression of old world beauty including many  impressive monuments, bridges, churches and buildings.  Add to that the wonder of eating a fresh croissant with homemade raspberry jam coupled with rich coffee that has real cream added.......gourmet French foods, delicious wines, cheeses and crunchy breads and much more.  Well you can easily understand how everyone is enamoured with Paris.

Autumn on the River

This is one of those paintings that practically painted itself.  I started out splashing the paper with small dots of masking fluid.  Then accidentally I smeared the dots and they became lines.  Not knowing what was going to happen I let the masking fluid dry figuring something would speak to me.  Many times I've heard "Watercolor, let the medium do it.  Well, not having a choice in this case,  I wet the paper and put down complementary colors letting them flow together a bit.  When dry it seemed as if I had autumn leaves.  I added the tree trunks, saw the possibility of creating a river so added blue water.  Voila.....a finished original!

Size 6 x 8 inches

Sophia's Giraffe

In a departure from the colors of nature I painted this pink giraffe for my granddaughter Sophia's room.  She is a sweet, lively one year old who has a lovely room that is fit for a Princess.  Since giraffes happen to be my favorite animal this was a treat to do.  I feel that giraffes are elegant, majestic and appealing.  My son Chris just told me that the morning routine is for Sophia to be picked up from her crib and make a stop at the giraffe painting to just take a look.  Sure warms this grandmother's heart and then some!

Down by the Riverside

 

This painting is done on yupo paper.  This is synthetic paper that has a slick surface and does not absorb water.  The results are unpredictable because the paint moves around in an uninhibited way.  The artist has little or no control over what happens.  The flip side is that sometimes the most amazing things happen, things that you couldn't paint with a brush if you tried!  I was looking for a peaceful river scene with palms and a sandy beach.  When I studied the painting I saw a lfigure at the base of one of the palms.  I decided to emphasize this shape by creating a young girl and gave her a book to complete my  painting.

Sunshine on My Shoulders

  

This  painting was done with the techniques I learned during a 3 day workshop with Don Andrews.  He is quite famous and a very successful watercolorist.  He gave 100% of himself to the class, doing a demonstration three times a day!   It was a lot to absort but so worthwhile.  We were shown how to put figures in our landscapes which is not easy.  Learning the proportion of the human body is the first step to successfully painting a figure.  Then the special use of color, shading along with keeping the white of the paper all add to the ability to create a 'figure in landscape'.