My daughter paints a horse with oil

My daughter is an artist too.  Her blog is called That's Sketchy.   She recently painted this horse in oil and keeps telling me I should switch from watercolor to oil...because it's so much easier.  I tell you, oil is not intuitive to me!  It feels like I'm thinking back-words!  I started painting with watercolor such a long time ago when the kids were babies, because I didn't want to expose them to toxic fumes.  I enjoy watercolor so much and am so comfortable with it!  

I really do like the look and feel of oil, though.  Maybe I will do a little more of it!

Painting From a Greeting Card

In my last post I showed how I hung an inexpensive Autumn seasonal painting on a piece of 32” x 40” plywood.  This Christmas painting is attached with metallic ribbon to that same piece of plywood, strung through the holes and tied in the back.  See my previous post for details of how I prepared the plywood.

The idea came from a tiny gift tag.  It sparkles with glitter and measures 1½ inches in diameter - very small!  I’ve saved it for almost 8 years thinking I would use it as inspiration some day!

I did a sketch on a large 30” x 40” piece of old matte board.  Not too detailed.

I chose pastel chalk because, unlike watercolor, It doesn't require as much planning ahead.  It's fast, and I could cover my mistakes instead of tediously lifting them off.  A large piece of watercolor paper would be costly – I wanted cheap!  I didn’t have to stretch it, mount it, cut mattes, or frame it with expensive moulding behind glass.

Then I covered the whole scene with “snow” (dots of white chalk) which hid a lot of mistakes, and sprayed the whole painting with several coats of Aqua Net hair spray, letting it dry between coats.
  

I brushed a little Mod Podge (waterbased sealer, glue) to the areas of snow I wanted to highlight and sprinkled a little glitter over it. 

The white gingerbread frame was made of left-over foam core.  I made a template from scrap paper as a guide and cut the foam core with an exacto knife. Using Craft glue, I stacked a couple layers of foam core spacer strips around the edges, directly to the plywood to give space between the painting and the finished “frame”.  I glued the gingerbread frame on top of the spacers.

Here you can kind of see how the glitter sparkles from the light of the Christmas tree when the room is darkened.

I probably spent a total of 20 hours on this project.  It’s an easy one that looks festive even if you aren’t a good artist!

Easy Inexpensive Picture Frame

This is my solution for a large inexpensive Picture above our piano.

I needed it quickly and didn't want to purchase wall art with expensive moulding, mat board and glass. And I didn't want it to show poor taste. But what? Hmmmm. Something seasonal maybe!

Last year I did this 32” x 40” painting called Thanksgiving Pumpkins. It’s done in gouache and pastel on corrugated cardboard. I sprayed it with Krylon fixatif so the pastel doesn’t rub off. It’s really cheap! It’s warped and the edges are marred. Nice moulding just wouldn’t fit!

So I cut a big 36” x 40” piece of unfinished ¾” plywood and drilled two ¼” holes in each corner to fit around my “painting”. Then I strung lengths of raffia through the holes and tied them on top over the painting. It holds the warped painting in place and doesn’t look like I’m trying too hard to make it look tasteful!

I screwed two heavy-duty picture frame hangers onto the back of the plywood and strung them with framer’s wire.

The framed painting hangs by the wire on a wall hook that I nailed into the drywall.

You could use this idea with a series of small pictures on small pieces of plywood. Maybe use some of your children's artwork! And use ribbon instead of raffia for a romantic or Christmas theme.

Plein Air Watercolor Painting on Catalina Island

I’ve been watercolor painting en plein air on Catalina Island. This a finished painting of the Casino Ballroom viewed from Descanso Beach, just north of the village of Avalon. Plein Air Painting is done outdoors, in the air, on location, very quickly, to capture the light as it shines on a scene.

There were 10 of us very serious energetic ladies…well, some of us…who got up at 4:30am each morning (not me).

This is a small 2” x 3” thumbnail study I did with water soluble colored pencils. I did this before starting the finished painting to test colors and position layout.

And we painted well into the night. Here’s a picture of me with my headlight trying to paint a street scene!

Watercolor at Rancho Bernardo Winery "En Plein Air"

Rancho Bernardo is a quiet community near San Diego. And the local winery is a nice place to eat, shop, and paint En Plein Air. I am such a detailed person that painting fast this way is such good exercise to help me loosen up!

Waiting Near Cafe Merlot in Watercolor "En Plein Air"

Watercolor painting En Plein Air now that summer is here and the weather is nice, is something I don't get to do often enough!

I started this very small painting outdoors on location at the Rancho Bernardo Winery near Cafe Merlot and finished it in studio. Very quick to capture the changing shadows.

Watercolor Materials

I use very basic materials when I paint in watercolor.

Pencils:

A #2 and #5B pencil is good enough for sketching.

Brushes:

For brushes I use Winsor & Newton Sceptre Gold II watercolor brushes (short handle) sizes 2 – 14. These are a synthetic/natural mix. Robert Simmons makes good, economical brushes: synthetic, synthetic/natural mix, or all natural sable.

Paper:

I use Arches 140 lb. Bright White cold pressed 22” x 30” sheets. (I also buy the 156 lb, cold pressed rolls that are 10 yds. long and 51 inches wide and cut pieces to size.)

Lanaguarelle and Fabriano are brands I use also.

Paints:

When purchasing paints I always get professional-grade tubes instead of student-grade (not Cotman, for instance). Student grade paint has fillers instead of pigment. Some brands I use are Old Holland, Winsor & Newton, and Holbein. Call or email the company for their color-fastness and color-intensity charts.

Other materials:

Flat brushes for large area washes, kneaded erasers, hair blower, Krylon Workable Fixatif, Golden Golden UV resistant medium, tracing paper, masking fluid, plywood board, water pan (to soak watercolor paper) staple gun & staples, pliers, and a screwdriver (to remove the staples from my board).

Just experiment and adjust your materials according to your preference.

This is my color palette:

Painting of an antique Pocket Watch

I love this old watch my mother gave me. She purchased it from her husband, a retired antique auctioneer. The other side of the case opens to reveal the company seal: The Dueber Watchcase Manufacturing Co.

This little painting is a mere 6” x 6”. Sometimes small paintings are harder to paint than larger ones simply because I have to be so careful with the detail.

Time is moving quickly, only one week until Christmas here in the U.S. I try to use my time spending it with those I love!

Thanksgiving Pumpkins - Gouache & Pastel Style!

The fruit of the Spirit.

My daughter is always telling me to paint with something other than watercolor! So I have a small sample set of gouache paints I thought I’d try, which are opaque.

Nobody told me how difficult it would be to paint on an old 32” X 40” piece of cardboard! It is so big. It has ridges. And it’s not acid free! I think gouache is for much smaller projects on quality surfaces! I softened the clouds and shadows with a bit of pastel chalk where I couldn’t get the gouache to blend smooth enough for my taste.

I still prefer transparent watercolor and the white of the paper for highlights. But maybe it’s just what I’m used to!

All Tied in Sailor's Watercolor Knots!

Watercolor illustrations of knots…Sailors use ‘em, airplane pilots use ‘em, and kids play with them! There are many ways to learn to tie them and the best way is to practice. I thought you might enjoy these!

A rope is called a line.

The Bowline, King of knots. A temporary loop at the end of a line – has many uses and is easy to untie, even after pulling a heavy load.

Figure Eight. A stopper – used on all lines that you want to prevent from running through blocks (stoppers). Can be easily untied after it has been jammed.

Two Half Hitches, secure, but is easy to untie under tension. Tie to rings, spars, piles, & posts. Similar to the Clove Hitch (see below) tied around the standing part (see first picture) of a line.

Anchor of Fisherman’s Bend, similar to Two Half Hitches passed twice around an object.

Rolling Hitch, used to tie one line to another, to relieve the tension on another line as you adjust it, or adjust tie down lines holding roof-top or car loads.

Clove Hitch, quick and convenient. Keep it under constant tension!

Sheep Shank, not sure if this is a legitimate Sheep Shank or not but it’s a fun one to tie. It’s used to strengthen a weak area or to shorten a line.

Finished Family Portrait in Graphite

My finished graphite family portrait is finally ready to unveil! This is a gift to one of our first foreign exchange students we hosted about 20 years ago. And yes this is her, 20 years later, still lovely, with her beautiful family.

I used #2 and #5 pencils. Its dimensions are about 24" x 24".

Drawing My Hand in Watercolor

I felt like practicing a little life drawing today, by painting and drawing my own hand! This painting is 6" x 6".

I've been following several "daily painting" art blogs. These artists do a small painting a day - every day (or almost everyday) and post it on their blog. Many painters find it hard to find time for painting because of other responsibilities like jobs, family, school, or whatever, especially if painting is not their full-time profession. So their artistic skills don't improve as quickly as they'd like. By making a one to two hour commitment to paint one small painting every day they keep their skills up and improve more quickly. Most of these artists then sell them on their blog, on an online store, or an auction like ebay.

Two of my favorite daily painters are Carol Marine and Ali Cavanaugh. They paint full time and are my no means amateurs!

Family Portraite in Graphite

My recent Family Portrait in Graphite is finally finished and on it's way! they should receive it in about a week. That's why you still only get to see a "teaser"for now! I'll post the whole thing in about a week

I did this with a #2 and #5 pencil. I used no shading stump of finger to create shading, just very tiny, light cross-hatching pencil marks.

A nice-looking portrait subject is always a joy to draw or paint. And this is a very nice-looking family so I hope they like it!

Children's Book Illustration of Uncle Remus' Br'er Rabbit & Br'er Fox

I watched over my daughter Janna Mattia's shoulder as she did this children's book illustration of Uncle Remus' Br'er Fox and Br'er Rabbit. Br'er means "Brother".

Uncle Remus is a fictional narrator of oral folklore, stories, and songs from the Southern United States in the 1870's and early 1880's.

My daughter used pen and black ink with only three colors: red, blue and yellow.

Surprise Graphite-Drawing Portrait in Progress

I’m doing a graphite drawing as a surprise wedding gift. I can’t wait to show you the whole drawing, after it is delivered!

These close-up sections are a little more grainy than the original, because I sized them at 72 dpi (dots per inch) for the web.