Bringing the Everyday to Life

Let's face it; framing watercolors with glass can be a huge pain for several reasons. Almost 3 years ago I was struck by this while at a plein air event. My watercolor paintings behind glass seemed at a disadvantage compared to the more numerous oil paintings with which I was competing. Today I would like to share with you a process many people have been begging me to know... Framing watercolors without glass. [...]

Hello Everyone!   Now that I have caught everyone up with the progress of my studio, I thought I would post a teaching moment.  I haven't done this in a while.  Lately, I have been painting a lot of winter scenes...since we are getting so much snow, it seems appropriate.  Painting snow in watercolor is so much fun!  There are some good reasons for this:   1.  You paint snow by painting the shadows and objects around it.  In other words, painting snow is good practice in negative painting.  By painting the shadows, the light of the snow just glows.   2.  When snow is on the [...]

There are many challenges to face when painting on location without even thinking about the weather. So, when it comes to painting in freezing temperatures and with snow on the ground, many can't think why I would even bother. I hope you will see the fascination it holds for some artists, including myself, by the end of this post. [...]

This is a re-post from a couple of year's ago.  But, I have had some recent conversations about introducing plein air painting to kids so I thought I would share this again.  This is an affordable way to make a plein air easel for your kids or grandkids.  It is light and easy to set-up and my boys love going out painting with mom, even if it is only for 10 minutes.  Happy Plein Air Painting with the kids in your life...   My eldest son has been pouting when I go out to paint en plein air and asking to come with [...]

I would like to share with you one of my favorite tips for painting en plein air (or painting on location); focus on the EXPERIENCE of it, not the final product! If you can do this, not only will it help you get over the fear of producing something awful when you paint, but it helps the entire experience be more enjoyable. [...]

Sorry that I haven't written for a while, but January is always hard for me.  You are probably thinking, "but it is February?"  Yes, you are right.  OK January and February is hard for me with sicknesses and snow days I never know my schedule.  Even when I think I do, it changes at the blink of an eye.  But as I advised people in my blog entry, "Being an Artist Mom", the time will not appear magically.  We have to carve out the time for things that are important.  We have to prioritize.    Back of Chick's Cafe Watercolor  8" x 10"   So, with [...]

Hello Everyone!  I hope you are all having a wonderful Holiday Season!  Mine is going pretty well, not much stress.  I have been enjoying everyday as it comes.  It is hard not to be excited when your kids count done the days!   So, I would like to continue my discussion on my palette by talking about mixing colors and some of my favorite color combinations.  As I said in my previous blog post, when I paint I am more concerned about value than I am about color.  This means that as I paint, I am not trying to mix the exact local [...]

I have had many questions lately about my palette and the colors that I use.  So, I thought it would be a good idea to do a couple of blog posts on this subject.  First I want to say that I am not probably considered a "colorist", but I do love color.  Most artists do.  However, I believe that value is more important than color.  The composition and good values makes a great painting.  Color brings the mood and feeling of a painting.   That having been said, I will share everything I can about the colors I like to use. [...]

Hello Everyone!  Sorry it has been a while since I have written anything.  Today, I would like to share an experience that I found interesting.  Last Fall, I painted a painting of the streets of New York City.  It is on a full sheet of watercolor paper and mixed water media.  I had titled it "Tagged" and was happy with it at the time.   I entered it into 2 big shows, the American Watercolor Society Exhibition and the Art of the State Show in PA.  It was rejected from both shows.  They are both competitive show and so I was [...]

Hello Everyone!     As I am looking out my window at green hill after green hill, I am reminded of a conversation I had recently with a fellow artist about the color green.  We were discussing how hard it can be to paint green for landscape painters.   I had to agree.  Moving from Utah where green was an accent color to Pennsylvania where green dominates the scene, especially in summer.  Spring and fall of course have amazing colors and I love the winter colors here.  But, what about summer?  I often tell people that PA has too much green and a lot [...]

Hello Everyone!   Today I am going to share a struggle I had lately...  Some paintings come naturally and really do tend to paint themselves.  I feel more like a vehicle.  However, there are those paintings that don't come easily and I struggle with.  This painting, Harold Square, NYC, is one of those paintings that has been in the back of my mind for almost a year.  I painted this sometime last October.  At the time, I wasn't totally pleased with the final result, but I could not figure out what was wrong with it.  Why was I bothered?   So, I painted [...]

Hello Everyone!  Last weekend, I got to paint on location at some new friend's farm, the Chicory Lane Farm.  I did 3 paintings the first day and one the next.  At the end of the first day, I set out to paint a row of wild flowers that my friend told me just lit up with the evening sun.  As I got to the location she had specified, I could see what she meant.  The sun was casting long shadows and lighting up the wildflowers brilliantly.  I was able to snap some quick photos, but as I was setting up, the [...]

Hello Everyone!  Ok, when you are looking at a view on location or at a photograph you would like to paint, how do you choose what is important?  When you are on location, there is so much to choose from it can be overwhelming.  When you are painting from a photograph, you might be compelled to add every detail which can in fact be a detriment.  I tell my plein air students that they should try to pick one thing or area that excites them and this becomes their area of focus.  Their center of interest, or focus of their painting.  I also do this when I [...]

Like I said before, this may seem like a lame finishing step, but if the previous steps were done than the painting should finish itself. Well, not totally.  We do still have to paint it.  However, if you have visualized your final painting there is nothing left to do but finish it...   I will explain how I generally finish a painting.  I can't give you an exact formula because I don't have one.  There isn't and shouldn't be a formula because than my paintings would get too cookie cutterish (yes I made that word up).   Sometimes I start with the back ground and work [...]

This step will be the most difficult to discuss but is also a very important step.  One of my favorite watercolor artists, Joseph Zbukvic has said, "if you can already see the painting in your mind's eye, then you have it."     Doing a value sketch and drawing the composition on my paper really helps with this visualization process.  However, the real key to understanding how to visualize your painting is to practice!  You have to paint!   The more you paint and the more experience you have, the easy it will be to visualize your final painting.  So, while the first wash is drying, I am [...]

Hello Everyone!  The first wash is probably my favorite step because it is so free and it is really hard to mess up this step.  Though of course it easy enough to mess up the painting later.  I am going to use the same image I did in the earlier blog because it is a good example of my first wash step.  I have my paper at a good enough angle for the paint and water to flow down.  I use a squirrel mop brush for this step because it holds a lot of water.  If your wash is not wet enough, it [...]

Hello Everyone!    So, in my earlier blog posts, I discussed how I choose a subject and make a value sketch while painting on location.  My third step is to lightly draw my composition on the watercolor paper.   I spend more time on this drawing than on the value sketch.  I make sure to get the angles and perspective correct and so depending on how complicated the scene is, this could take me anywhere from 5-15 minutes.  I still do not try to get every detail, i.e. every leaf on the tree.  My main goal is to lay out my composition.  If I am painting buildings and [...]

I am a big fan of sketching at anytime, but for the plein air watercolor artist, I think it is really crucial.  I know some master painters that don't do a pre sketch before plein air painting, but I think they can so clearly see the painting in their mind that they don't need to.  However, these masters I am speaking of still have sketchbooks and sketch often.  Drawing skills are so important for any artist, but especially for a watercolor artist.  The drawing is the foundation of your painting, if the foundation is not good it will be difficult to get [...]

So, how do you choose a subject to paint when you have 360 degree views to choose from?  This is difficult for a lot of painters.  There sometimes seems like too much to choose from and so you end up trying to fit everything in.  However, this can quickly lead to frustration and a failed painting.  I am going to share with you some tips on how I choose what to paint.  I would like to mention however, that some of it comes from experience.  The more experience I have gained, the easier it has gotten to choose what I like to [...]

Painting on location (en plein air) is so important for the landscape artist.  Just as painting from a live model or a still life set-up is important for portrait and still life artists, respectively.  Basically, I think it boils down to painting and drawing from life help artists learn how to see.  A couple of years ago, I was in a workshop taught by Roland Lee and he said, "If you want to improve your art, paint on location as often as you can."  I took him at his word and began painting more outside, being a landscape painter.  I have [...]