Merry Christmas 2016

Merry Christmas to all of my family and friends.  This was my Christmas card this year, thanks to my two youngest grandchildren, Louis and Mary, who were kind enough to pose for me.  

"Hello, Autumn"

"Hello, Autumn" is a half sheet watercolor, done from a photo that my son, David, took while on a hike last fall.  I liked this photo so much that I did it first as a 5x7, and then had my beginner watercolor class at the senior center attempt a simplified version of it it, but it just called for a larger painting.  I'm happy with this, the first half sheet landscape in quite a while, and a pleasant change from florals.

Justin's Bird

This is my painting of a bird done with permission from a photo taken by my grandson, Justin.  Justin takes great photos, and I'm looking forward to painting more of his subjects.  11x15 on Arches.

Angel's Sunflower

This is a demo that I painted for my senior center watercolor class, done from a photo by Angel Sharum.  Angel was kind enough to give me (and my students) permission to paint from her photo.  Watercolor, 9 x 12 on Arches paper.

Red Roses

I had some fun doing this painting today - a little bit different than my usual more realistic outcome. 

Portrait/Figure workshop

Last week I took a portrait/figure workshop with Ted Nuttall, at Springmaid Beach.  Ted is an awesome artist, and an excellent teacher, and I hope that I have absorbed at least some of the info that was presented at the workshop.  I worked on two pieces, both of my grandkids.  The first one is my

grandsons,  Justin and Joe.  I think I got a really good likeness, and I'm happy with this one.   The second is a closeup of my granddaughter Kateri, from a photo taken about 5 years ago.  It's close, but I didn't get as good a likeness as I did of the boys.  I really enjoyed working on these, and I think I've found a subject that I like almost as much as painting flowers.

Day 25 - Amaryllis

Day 25 of the challenge, and I haven't been painting or sketching for a few days.  But here's my amaryllis as it looks today, the first bud in full bloom, and another one starting to open, and the second plant still way behind, but looking promising.  11 x 15

Day 18 - NY Farm

It is day 18 of the challenge, but I haven't been keeping up.  I think this is my 10th painting.  Procrastination and a bad cold have kept me on the couch too much.  This is a farm that my sister Joan and I like to sketch when we are in the Orange County, NY area.  5 x 7 from a photo.

Day 13 - Fall Scene

This was painted from a photo taken by my son David on one of his hikes.  Day 13 of #30paintingsin30days

Day 12 - A Digital Painting

An art day today with my sister, Joan.  We exchanged Christmas gifts, art related, of course.  Then we took a trip to Dick Blick for some needed supplies.  After lunch, we experimented with Joan's gelli plate for a while - fun, but messy.  Then she gave me a short tutoring session on digital painting with the Artrage app.  This is the first one that I did, before she showed me how to use layers.  I messed up my"ink" lines a bit, but I liked it enough anyway to use this for today's #30paintingsin30days painting.

Day 11 (but only the 7th paintng)

Well, this is the 11th day of the challenge, and you may have noticed that I have fallen behind.  But I don't want to just bail on the challenge, because I am having fun with it, even though I've procrastinated away a few days.  This is a garden at Skylands Manor that I've been planning to paint for a few years now. 

Day 7 - Pemaquid Point, ME

Day 7's painting is a land/seascape from one of my photos  of  Pemaquid Point, ME.  5 x 7 watercolor.

Day 6 - Snow Day

This is a 5 x 7 watercolor of a snow day at Ramapo Reservation, taken a few years ago.

Day 4...or is it 5?

Okay, I didn't forget to do a painting for day 4 exactly, it's just that this one took me 2 days to finish. LOL! So, let's say it's Day 4-5 ...One of the windows at the NJ Botanical Gardens at Skylands Manor Park. 7 x 5 watercolor.

Day 3 of 30 - Simple Landscape

This is a simple landscape done from an old photo of the Blue Ridge Mountains.  I love this view.  5 x 7 watercolor.

Day 2 of 30 - A Winter Scene

This is day 2 of the challenge.  A winter scene from the Wildlife Center.  5 x 7 watercolor.  #30paintingsin30days

"30 Paintings in 30 Days" - Can I do it?

Against my better judgement, because I manage to not keep up with these things, I joined the "30 paintings in 30 days" challenge started by Leslie Saeta.  http://30paintingsin30days.weebly.com/blog
This little watercolor is 5 x 7, and I am calling it "Rocky Landscape".  It took me way longer than a "painting a day" should take, so I am going to have to pick something simpler for tomorrow.  LOL!