Monday, February 8, 2010

Mini studies-watercolour of Blueberry fields




Keeping with the thought of inspiration, I was given at book on watercolour journalling that gave me the urge to try watercolours! Yesterday I thought I would pull them out and see if I could paint anything that excited me, knowing that it will be necessary to pack lightly next week during the Olympics. I painted this little study of the blueberry fields yesterday and it was so much fun! The process is quite different than oil or acrylic. There are a couple of things I would do differently but on the whole it was exactly what I was looking for.

This is the book I was given in case you want to give it a try.

Sunday, February 7, 2010

Inspiration


5x7 Oil on Canvas
Curlew at Water's Edge
This is another of the quick studies we've been doing since our trip to Calgary in Dec. I am loving this process. It forces me to load my brush and commit to each stroke. I'm also keeping a little journal to jot down notes on what I learn with each study. We painters look for inspiration wherever we can find it!

Thursday, February 4, 2010

Quick Paintings


An early Christmas present was a road trip to Calgary to do a 2 hr. workshop with Doug Swinton and watch the Friday Night demo with Neil Patterson www.neilpatterson.com at Swintons Art Supply in Calgary www.swintonsart.com . The road conditions were crazy with cars in the ditch both ways but it was so worth it, thanks to Susan for driving! Neil's demo was amazing, he painted a 4x6 ft canvas fearlessly and beautifully.
Both Neil and Doug urged us to build a habit of doing a quick painting everyday focusing on visual editing, lots of paint, and strong values. This is one of the little ones I’ve done since coming home. I think this will prove to be one of the most important projects I have done. I'll post more on how I'm approaching it and what I'm learning over the next while. I'm moved into my new studio and soo happy to be there.