When life gives you lemons, draw them, 11 x 14 inches dry pastels, graphite on paper

"When life gives you lemons, draw them." (Nikki)

"Color! What a deep and mysterious language." (Paul Gauguin)

mountains

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Dutch Creek Hoodoos

Sunday, March 8th, 2020


 

Dutch Creek Hoodoos, BC Canada- 18H x 24W inches soft pastel on 140 lb cold pressed

Dutch Creek Hoodoos, BC Canada – 18H x 24W inches graphite, soft pastel and markers on 140 lb cold pressed watercolor paper

Renewal: Mt. St. Helens, WA

Tuesday, March 3rd, 2020


 

Renewal: Mt. St. Helens, 18H x 24W inches soft pastel on 140 lb cold pressed
Renewal: Mt. St. Helens, work in progress. Painters tape keeps the edges white, allowing room for framing.Renewal: Mt. St. Helens, WA with Indian Paintbrush wildflowers. 18H x 24W inches soft pastel on 140 lb cold pressed.

Left image shows work as it began. Painter’s tape is used on every work on paper to keep edges clean and allow room for mat and framing. Workable fixative sprayed at various phases really brings out colors, deters unwanted blur of colors while working, plus renews the surface to fix up or brighten areas that have become dark or slippery from too much buildup.

Lake Louise

Thursday, January 2nd, 2020


 

Lake Louise, 16 x 20 inches acrylics on canvas, frame unnecessary

Lake Louise, 16 x 20 inches acrylics on canvas

Stellar’s Jays finished

Friday, May 11th, 2018


 

Stellar's Jays finished, 18H x 24W inches watercolors on 140 lb. cold pressed

Stellar’s Jays finished, Nimkish Lake campsite, Vancouver Island BC, 18H x 24W inches watercolors on 140 lb. cold pressed. Framed size 27H x 33W inches: white mat and white wood frame with crackle finish.
Stellar’s Jays are not seen in groups like this, perhaps only seen 3 together at most, so in that sense the portrayal is not accurate, but the aim here is to show a collage of 11 birds representing their distinct character.

Indian Paintbrush

Tuesday, May 8th, 2018


 

Indian Paintbrush, Mt. St. Helens, WA, 14H x 20W inches watercolors
Indian Paintbrush, Mt. St. Helen’s Washington, 14H x 20W inches watercolors on 140 lb cold pressed. Framed size approx. 20H x 26W inches – white mat and white wood frame with crackle finish.

Mountain Forest generic scene

Wednesday, January 3rd, 2018


 
Mountain Forest generic scene, 6W x 2H inches watercolors

Mountain Forest generic scene, 6W x 2H inches watercolors

Mountain Fantasy 01

Saturday, November 25th, 2017


 
Mountain Fantasy 01, 6W x 2H inches watercolors

Mountain Fantasy 01, 6W x 2H inches watercolors

Mt. St. Helen’s Indian Paintbrush

Thursday, April 27th, 2017


 
Mt. St. Helen's Indian Paintbrush, 14 x 20 inches watercolors

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:

Lower left detail of Mt. St. Helen's Indian Paintbrush

 

Stellar’s Jays

Monday, April 17th, 2017


 

Stellar's Jays, phase 03 work in progress, 18 x 24 inches watercolors on 140 lb. cold press

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:

Stellar's Jays, work in progress, 18 x 24 inches watercolors on 140 lb. cold press Stellar's Jays, work in progress detail

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.

Kaniksu National Forest

Tuesday, March 7th, 2017


 

Kaniksu National Forest, Idaho - 14 x 20 watercolors

Kaniksu National Forest, Idaho – 14 x 20 inches watercolors on 140 lb cold pressed. 20H x26W inches approximate size framed. Detail images:

  Kaniksu National Forest, upper left detail   Kaniksu National Forest, upper right detail
  Kaniksu National Forest, lower left detail   Kaniksu National Forest, lower right detail

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