Archive for April, 2017
Mt. St. Helen’s Indian Paintbrush
Thursday, April 27th, 2017
Mt. St. Helen’s Indian Paintbrush Washington, 14 x 20 inches watercolors work in progress. The mountain and central areas may need to be darker, but I’m going to set this aside for a few days and come back to it. Lower left detail:
Stellar’s Jays
Monday, April 17th, 2017
Work in progress, Stellar’s Jays at Nimkish Lake, Vancouver Island BC, 18 x 24 inches watercolors on 140 lb. cold press. For years I’ve been visualizing a painting that portrays the Stellar’s Jay in various poses, representing general character. My Dad pointed out that Stellar’s Jays don’t usually group this way, which is an accurate view of the broader behaviour that didn’t even occur to me. Interesting! Phase 02 below and detail image – the yellow is masking medium:
Normally I don’t outline anything when starting a painting, which works fine with acrylics because it’s easy to change things throughout the process, but watercolors don’t allow for much room for error, especially if you don’t have much practice with them. Wingin’ it usually works for me because I don’t mind failure in exchange for experience, but mapping out the shapes and arrangement lightly in pencil really helps, and confidence is fundamental to painting well.
Smoky Lake Summer
Wednesday, April 12th, 2017
Smoky Lake Summer, 14H x 20W inches watercolors on 140 lb. cold pressed premium. 20H x26W inches approximate size framed. This is my favorite summertime memory of Alberta… miles of moving shadows across bright Canola fields and expansive, moody skies. The painting started off without the tree but needed a focal point. Detail images:
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