LAST CHALLENGE PAINTING FOR DECEMBER

This is the last one of the year! I used the same color combination: cobalt blue, cad red and chrome yellow. This is a bozzetto on Tyvek. I added some texture medium and it worked quite well on the Tyvek. If you have any December Challenge Images that haven't been sent, Monday is the final call.

I somehow erased the address book on my computer when I rebooted it. I know the information is lurking somewhere in the machine but I can't find it. My son tells me I don't have enough available memory so the computer is acting up. Could be the 9,000 plus photos I have stored in here. Anyway, I went out and bought an external hard drive today to back up everything and have extra storage for all the photos. If you would like me to have your e-mail address, phone number, mailing address, etc. please send me an e-mail with whatever information you would like me to have.

ANOTHER DECEMBER CHALLENGE PAINTING

Here is one I did on regular watercolor paper using the Hydrus liquid watercolors. I wanted to try Shirley Trevena's technique of adding texture medium to part of the painting for additional interest. I also drew into the the image with a dip pen and Hydrus full strength. I had used up all of my color combinations so instead of starting over with additonal ones, I decided to experiment with different primary triad combinations. This one is Cobalt, Cad Red and Chrome Yellow. I have another with this combination on Tyvek which I will post tomorrow. Have to save something as I am working on a painting in preparation for January's challenge. I have the challenge all worked out and I think it will be as stimulating and exciting as December.

It is such a blessing to be able to have an activity that totally engages you. Today was gloomy, foggy and generally unpleasant but I had the best time staying in and painting.

LAST CALL FOR DECEMBER CHALLENGE

Here are the latest contributions to the December Challenge. The month is quickly coming to an end. On New Years Eve, I will post a wonderful slide show of all the entries for the entire month including my own contributions. I have a few more that I haven't posted. If you have some paintings to share, e-mail them to me before Monday night so they will be included in the big slide show. I can always add to a slide show at any time but it would be nice to have them for the last day of December and 2007.

I am also working on the canvas with the absorbant ground on it. It lifts easily but I have to develop a little different strategy for applying the paint. It looks kind of dull but with a final varnish, I can put the sparkle back in it. I am using traditional watercolors but I may add some of the Hydrus line to the mix. Every new product takes some practice and experimenting. I really like the idea of having a nice deep gallery canvas as a watercolor, so it will be worth the trial and error effort to have the best of all worlds.

SECRET PAINTING REVEALED

This is the commissioned portrait I completed for a Christmas present. Now that Christmas is over, I can share it with you. This was my second try. The first wasn't a very good likeness. I painted on a half sheet of Tyvek. It makes a very nice size for a portrait. I used two reds, one yellow and two blues. By putting the photo through photoshop elements posterize I was able to create a much more interesting tie and shirt pattern which I painted loosely and had a more traditional handling of the face. It turned out to be a good likeness. I did darken the center line of the mouth after I took this photo and forgot to reshoot the painting. Overall, a satisfactory out come for all.

Today is the beginning of Aaron Brothers 2 for 1 canvas sale. I love the Gallery Wrapped canvas so I rushed over and stocked up for the year. I normally work on paper but I like to put the collage paper on canvas and paint with acrylics on top. I decided to see what would happen with absorbant ground applied to one of the canvases and then painted with watercolor. This is a way to increase the appeal of watercolor as many people don't like the idea of glass or plexi reflections on a framed watercolor. The canvases are quite a bit more expensive than a piece of watercolor paper but if you don't have to mat and frame them, they become a real bargain...especially at half price! I will post the results when I have finished the painting.

FULL SIZE DREADLOCKS DUDE!

Mia Culpa!! We had 4 artists participating in the slide show this week. In my cold medicine induced stuper, I inadvertantly left out Rhonda and Hilda. I made the correction this morning. If you did not see their paintings in the slide show, take another look. Some great work.


A big apology to both of you. I love when you send me your work, so please keep sharing.

Today I sat at the Gallery Concord so I took the opportunity to do a large painting (19" x 25") on Tyvek. I chose 3 warm colors: Ultramarine Red Violet, Quin. Magenta and Chrome Yellow. They made the most gorgeous mixtures. I drew the image on with a watercolor pencil first, then splashed about with the 3 colors over the sheet and created some textures in the paint. When that dried I had to decide which cool color to add to the mix. Decided on Paynes Gray (looks like Indigo in this set) After I had painted the features and it was almost dry, I took a fine point dip ink pen using the Paynes Gray and drew the final lines. I really enjoyed painting loosely today and am happy with the results. I think I will put a mat around this one.

FRIDAY SLIDE SHOW ON SATURDAY!

My apologies to Kathy, Nava, Rhonda and Hilda for failing to get the slide show up yesterday. My sweet husband gave me his cold and sore throat and I was under the weather. I thought I was going to escape the germ because I held out for so long, but tis the season... Anyway, these are some great images and I know you will enjoy them.

I did a few bozzettos with the last color combination and now I am ready to do a big painting. I am sitting at the Gallery Concord tomorrow so I will have time to do one then. I purchased my second Shirley Trevena book and it arrived yesterday. This woman combines all the elements that I love....Gorgeous, glorious color, texture, calligraphic lines, linked shapes, a strong sense of abstract design. Every inch of her paintings are fascinating to me. After reading most of the book, I decided to play with some of her "tools" so I worked with drawing with watercolor pencils and played around with "texture medium" which is made by Windsor Newton. I tried it on Tyvek with surprising success. I wasn't sure it would stick but it did. Having both books by Shirley gives me a clearer picture of how she works. Now, if I can just translate some of her ideas into figures and faces....

Just in case I am not the last person on earth to discover this, I am going to share a discovery I made the other day. I always always search the internet through Google but I never paid attention to Google Image search before. Wow, what a great way to find visual information. Now I can spend even more hours on the computer, roaming around the internet and being inspired by all the incredible talent out there.

AN EXCITING E-MAIL TODAY ALONG WITH 2 MORE FOR THE DECEMBER CHALLENGE

I woke up this morning to find this exciting e-mail on my computer.
"Congratulations on winning the 30-Minute Self-Portrait Paint-Off
competition. You may read the announcement on ArtistsMagazine.com at the
following URL: http://www.artistsmagazine.com/article.asp?id=3097

As a Paint-Off winner, you're entitled to a $50 gift certificate for North
Light Books."

There are lots of competitions on the internet and I enter some of them from time to time. Sometimes I win something, sometimes I don't, but it's lots of fun to play plus you don't have to pay anything and you don't have to mail a painting anywhere.

Here are two more bozzettos. I prepared the texture last night with the leftover paint. (I hate to waste paint! and Hydrus doesn't reconstitute very nicely once it has dried on the palette. Tonight I used walnut ink and India ink along with a dip pen and my sharpened wooden match to draw the image on. I think the less detailed image is more interesting. I am learning to be selective and not record everything I see. It's a struggle.