MONTHLY RECAP -- What I've Been Up To

March felt like a creative month -- lots of painting, designing, and drawing.  New projects started and work done on my re-creation project.  I do like my "starts" very much, but nothing actually finished this month.  Lots of photos taken & a 4-day trip to Denver.  Also, following the progress on my son's mural project in LA.




PRICKLY PEAR MOSAIC painting --

This is the bottom half of a painting, which (when finished) will go to the Sorrel Sky Gallery, here in Durango.  I plan on completing a total of two paintings in this "mosaic" series, which will both be hung at the gallery.  

I'm painting this on cradled Aquabord, so I won't need a frame, mat, or glass.  I decided to stain this with an oak finish, before starting to paint.

Then I drew some horizontal lines for reference, and a few swirled lines, from top to bottom.  I then did an underpainting, with a primary triad.

Using my own reference photos (most of them taken in my own backyard last June) -- I started my painting, working from "the ground up".  I design as I go, without much planning, and with minimal drawing before I start painting.

After finishing the bottom section, I sprayed it with a fixative, before moving to the next section.

I really enjoy working this way, and am liking how it's turning out . . .

to be continued . . . 

RE-CREATING THE "FIRE" PAINTING --

Work is coming along slowly, but it is coming along nicely, I think . . . 

Drawing the lines in Pearlescent liquid acrylic, using a quill pen . . . 

Now, it's time to paint in watercolor . . . 

It's tough to know whether I am getting the colors exactly right, but as long as it's close and looks good,  it will be fine . . . 

to be continued . . . 

FOLLOWING PROGRESS OF ZACH'S MURAL IN LONG BEACH --

One of my sons -- Zach -- is painting a big mural out in Long Beach, California.  He's doing all this with spray paint, on ladders . . . 

I was worried when I heard about the two earthquakes out in LA, because I knew Zach was working on those ladders.  Luckily, he was fine . . . as was the wall he was working on!

I think it looks amazing, but he says he's not quite finished.  I don't know how he did this without using a grid ???

SOME OF MY PHOTOS FROM MARCH --

"Kids, Grandkids, & Grandpups, Too!"

"Up In The Air"

"Go Green!"

"My Bedside Reading"

"Favorite Toys"

"Me & My Backyard"

The Creative Process?

I thought this was funny and true.  Is it true for you?

 - Mark Kielkucki

The trick is making it all the way to #6!

GETTING STARTED IN WATERCOLOR: Preparing to Paint

Before I paint the first strokes of color on my paper, I like to "prepare to paint".  It's sort of a ritual for me, and I do this at the beginning of a series of paintings, or before I start a portrait.  This ritual takes place AFTER I've planned the painting, or series; and usually after I've done the drawing and mounted my paper on a board.

I like to start with a clean palette, which is not this . . .

I wipe off the inside area of the palette, as well as all around the palette.  I also clean up the yellow wells, which have usually been contaminated with greens, blues, and reds.   

After I've cleaned up the palette, it is ready for some fresh paint . . . 

I gather all the tubes of paint that I have on hand, or have recently purchased, and line them up at the appropriate wells.  (You can see that I don't always have every color.)

Then, I squeeze each color into the well -- right on top of what is already there.  

I use a palette knife to spread and smooth out the paint . . . 

I continue this way, squeezing out and spreading the paint, working my way around the palette -- until I've used every tube that I had.  (I usually don't have to use the whole tube.)

It's kind of a messy process . . . 

To set up my "painting station", I choose the brushes that I think I will need, and have them handy.  I prepare a "pad" of paper towels, made up of about 10 pieces of paper towels, folded in half and stacked.  I put this just to the left of my palette and to the right of the paper/board.

I fill up a plastic container with water and fill up my mister with clean water . . . 

 . . . and, I'm ready to paint.  Just need to turn on my music . . . 

MONTHLY RECAP -- What I've Been Up To

February was a busy month for me -- a portrait commission, a one-day workshop here, beginning the duplication of the "fire" painting, and more picture taking.  Because I was busy, February seemed to fly by.  (I used to love it when February flew by, since it was never my favorite month.  But the older I get, the less I like for anything to just "fly by". . . )

But, at least it was productive.



I finished, matted/framed, and shipped the portrait, "Teagan" to my friend in Ohio.  

I hope they love it.  She was so much fun to paint!  Her hair was a challenge, but I'm pretty happy with it.  

On the 18th, I taught an all-day workshop, here at my house/studio -- "Painting Irises like Van Gogh".  We had a full house -- 14 ladies, plus me.  

You can see by the beautiful results what a success the workshop was -- 14 gorgeous iris paintings!

I love it when everyone's happy at the end of the day . . . (tired, I'm sure, but happy!)

Started work on the duplication of the "fire" painting.

I picked up the painting from my friend, Libby, with Libby Brown Restoration.  She had cleaned off the first layer of soot, so that I could see what I was doing.  And, she went a little further, so that I could see what colors I had originally painted.

I had thought that I had painted this on Aquabord, but it turns out it was on watercolor canvas which had been mounted on a board.  Really?  Why can't I remember that from just 7 years back?  

Because of that, I was able to peel off the canvas from the board.

Then, I mounted it on my lightbox, put tracing paper on top, and traced the shapes.

A few hours later, I'm done with the tracing.  Did I really tell Libby this would be a "piece of cake"?

So, first step is done . . . 

Here are my pix from the weekly Photo Challenges for February:

"LAYERS" --

"UNEXPECTED" --

"NEAR & FAR" --