Chris' ink stone

red reflections, stage three

2009-12-22T16:43:00.003-05:00

The sugar bowl is going very slowly. But it is moving closer to what I want the finished painting to be.

red reflections, stage two

2009-12-21T13:41:00.003-05:00

This is my first try at silver so it is a learning process. I am trying to just paint what I see. It needs darker darks to make the "metal" highlights shine. This is a challenge but fun too.

red reflections, stage one

2009-12-20T15:41:00.004-05:00

This is the first stage of this 20"x16" watercolor. The reference photo I found posted on the internet art site. I prefer to paint from life but this still life with the silver sugar bowl and striped fabric caught my eye. And of course red is a favor color. This does make me realize I need to start collection still life items and fabric to do my own set up. But with the 24" of snow we received Friday and into Saturday I will have to be content to work with this image.

the stocking were hung…

2009-12-15T07:24:00.004-05:00

by the chimney with care in hopes that St. Nicholas would soon be there. A quick watercolor sketch while watching TV last night.

broccoli

2009-12-12T11:26:00.003-05:00

In keeping with the red and green colors of Christmas I have pulled out a couple of pieces of broccoli from the frig. There were so many greens, warm and cool in this vegetable. It was fun to try and capture the texture of the "flowers" even though I did not managed to get it the way I had hoped. Now only 5 more spreads and a back page to go before this sketchbook is completed.

Christmas bow

2009-12-11T17:03:00.003-05:00

The sketchbook filling marathon continues. Another page down so I can see that I will be able to fill this book before the end of the year if I keep this steady sketching pace.

red apples

2009-12-11T12:37:00.004-05:00

Two more watercolor sketches of more refrigerator foods. I am trying to make sure I sketch everyday. After printmaking classes are over, next Wednesday, I have to move on to creating a half sheet watercolor painting every week. That way when a show comes up I should have some nice paintings to enter.

red, yellow, and orange

2009-12-10T16:49:00.003-05:00

Peppers in my arches cp watercolor sketchbook. I think that there are only about 9 more page spreads in this book. I am beginning to wonder if this paper is rough instead of cp. It is very hard to journal on these sheets.

I would like to finish this sketchbook plus the watercolor sample book I made before the end of the year. But I don't think I will have or make the time to do that. I will be luck to get this one completed.

more ripple plate prints

2009-12-09T14:23:00.004-05:00

I stopped by the printmaking studio today and picked up the prints from last week. I tried some more color combinations. My favorite is still the ripple plate in French ultramarine blue with the orange trees collagraph plate over the top. Since that plate kept sticking to the paper and pulling a layer of paper off it won't make it into my final print portfolio but it will make an interesting series of mix media pieces I am planning on working on in January 2010.

nativity set

2009-12-06T10:51:00.003-05:00

We decorated the inside of the house yesterday for Christmas. This nativity set is actually white and gold. It was the only one we could find in the small college town we lived in our first Christmas. I really wanted one that was colorful It never had a shepherd. Over the years we have only lost one piece, a sheep. We had a cat that would chew on the pieces and carry them off. Not sure what she liked about them because she never touch anything else in the house all year long.

ripple plate with collagraphs

2009-12-02T13:28:00.003-05:00

No photos today. It was raining and I didn't have a larger portfolio to carry the finished ones home. I worked with the ripple plate and collagraphs again today. I tried out some new color combinations. First printing the bubble plate in ultramarine blue on the purple and then lime green on another purple. Then I printed 5 more of the ripple plates in the blue. Tried the tree plate in orange on three of those. But again I ran into the problem of the paper peeling and adhering to the collagraph. Hopefully, one of these worked. Going to try using a couple of more layers of varnish on the tree collagraph to see if that is the problem.

Thanksgiving trip

2009-12-01T11:46:00.004-05:00

I took a recycled book, Mastering Your Memory, which I had gutted and filled with 22 pages of Arch 140 cp watercolor paper on this family visit. We were so busy that I didn't quite finish 1/2 of the pages. All of the sketches I did do were done on the airplane or in the hotel room. The paper was so rough that my Pit artist pen only left scratchy marks on the paper. That was interesting but I found that my Pentel GFKP and pencil worked best. It was nice to be able to use watercolor instead of gouache.

The Marriott has these wonderful "I need some me time" door hangers.

Autumn Cliffs

2009-11-24T10:10:00.004-05:00

This is the painting I submitted for the Loudoun Sketch Club fall show at the Hillsborough Vineyards and Winery in Hillsborough VA. It is a watercolor with a bit of rice paper collage and gesso for texture. I did three similar paintings but like this one the best. The show is up until 7 December 2009.

LAA show

2009-11-24T08:34:00.004-05:00

Yesterday I dropped this watercolor off for the student show at the Loudoun Academy of the Arts student art show. The show starts next week. This one was chosen because it was the most successful one I did while taking Dell's watercolor class. I don't think there are any prizes or chance of sales but it gets me out there, which is a goal.

two more sketchbooks

2009-11-20T19:38:00.004-05:00

Two more sketchbooks completed, only one more to go. The golden tan and brown cover is one of my etching prints of the Queen Anne's Lace. It is 5"x6" and filled with Dick Blick drawing paper. The thin orange, gray, marroon, and navy one is approximately 4.5" x 7". The cover is made from my large but shrinking stash of scrapbooking paper which is left from my short but expensive venture into the scrapbooking world. It has 5 signatures of left over printmaking paper. Either one should fit easily into my purse.

7 Gypsies sketchbook

2009-11-19T19:12:00.005-05:00

I call this one "7 Gypsies" sketchbook because I think that is the name of the company who made the cardstock I used on the cover and end pages. It is an odd shaped book, 7.75" x 4.5" closed. I don't really like landscape format sketchbooks but this design was the result of using printmaking paper scraps that were sitting on my desk. There are 5 signatures with 4 pages each, making this a very thin book. I didn't add my usual tabs used to add envelops or insert paper or finds. It may be perfect for a short trip or a theme sketchbook. I have 3 more books waiting to be sewn together. One also uses left-over printmaking scraps of paper and will also be thin but a portrait format. The other two use Dick Blick's sketching paper and are much thicker.

Virginia landscape #2

2009-11-18T17:33:00.004-05:00

I had worked on using engraving to darken the trees on this plate. I also went back in and scraped out some lines and added others to correct a perspective problem with the buildings. After a proof print I decided to cut off a section of the plate of both sides, changing the 9 inch square to an approximately 6.5 inch by 9 inch rectangle. Then I printed it with black ink on a golden hand made paper a friend had given to me.

ripple plate with collagraphys

2009-11-18T17:16:00.006-05:00

Today I had the most fun with color. Last week I printed the ripple plate on beautiful soft white Italian hand made paper with French Ultramarine Blue ink. When I went in today a printed the tree collagraph plate over it in orange. Unfortunetly I let the paper get too wet when I redampened it and a section torn off and stuck to the collagraph. I was able to pick most of it off and lay it back in it's original position. I will probably have to glue it in place then look at making it into a multimedia work. You really can't see the trees but I love what happen with the colors.

Next I printed the ripple plate in a purple/magenta ink on three sheets and let them dry for about an hour before coming back to work on them.

Then I only had time to printed the trees over one. I was in a hurry and printed it upside down. But again I like the color combination.

last week's prints

2009-11-18T16:59:00.006-05:00

I couldn't bring home the prints I made last week because they were too wet. Here are all of the ones I made from the Virginia landscape #1 plate. It was interesting when I put the prints on the drying rack I notice that I could see it going right side up or down. I first printed it in black ink; then black ink with yellow ink of a lower vicostity rolled over the top then printed; and finally I used teal green. I had originally thought I might print it in dark blue and use it for a base of a pastel painting. Now I am not sure what I will do with these three prints or if I will make more.

Moleskine finished

2009-11-14T11:17:00.004-05:00

Last night I filled this little Moleskine sketchbook by doing 3 more spreads. This is the 4th one I have completed. I am down to one more empty one on my shelf. What is most interesting is I use to dislike them but lately I am thinking that they aren't so bad after all. This may be due to the fact I am choosing media that is better for the paper plus the size fits so nicely in my purse. Now that Christmas is on the way do I put this on my gift list of things others can buy for me or start binding some smaller sketchbooks for myself? The ones I make are usually larger and don't fit that well into my purses which are medium to small in size compared to the fashion norm of huge. The Moleskine sketchbook paper is closer to a slick cardstock which allows me to use up my old stash of water soluble crayons and gouache. This is a plus but they are far too expensive for what you get.

More important is the decision concerning the direction to take my art that I am facing now. I have decided to drop printmaking except for the occasional relief print. Now do I get more involved in art societies? Do I take the college sketching class 2 afternoons a week or go to the Tuesday indoor painting session with the Loudoun Sketch Club? Will the drawing class distract me from concentrating on watercolor or feed my creative fire? Ah, decisions, decisions.

more persimmons

2009-11-13T08:26:00.004-05:00

I have become intrigued with these two persimmons. I had to try them in ink and gouache in my Moleskines. We ate one for breakfast so I don't think you will be seeing any more of these until next year.

goals being met

2009-11-12T11:25:00.002-05:00

One of my 2009 goals was to put my work out there. I am starting to do that in a small way. I have one watercolor in my local watercolor club's fall show and another one going into a student show in December at the school/gallery where I took the watercolor class. Neither one was juried I just had to show up with a painting but it is a start.

persimons

2009-11-12T11:14:00.004-05:00

This little sketch if from my watercolor paper sample book where I am trying out different manufactures' paper. This was painted across the gutter which used two different papers. Both are Lanaquarelle 140lb. The one on the right of the screen is cp and the left one is hp. The deepest orange used was my new Schminke color, Translucent Orange. I was sure if I liked it at first but now I do. It has greater transparency than cadmium orange. The persimons look a bit like orange strawberries here but these were more pointed than the flatter ones I am use to seeing.

more prints, no photos

2009-11-11T16:22:00.003-05:00

I made 3 prints of Virginia Landscape #1 and one of the ripple plate. I didn't take the camera to the printmaking studio and the prints were not dry by the time I needed to leave, so no pictures today. I may go in on Friday if for no other reason than to bring them home.

rescued watercolor

2009-11-11T16:16:00.002-05:00

Failed paintings always make lovely cards. I received a present and needed something a bit more special than the usual handmade cards I have on hand. So I pulled out the recent purple and green still life half sheet and gave it a new life in a thank you card. There's enough for more cards but they will have to wait to be created when I have more time.