Ink Blossoms

This is an exercise from a book. It started out fairly well until I got to the actual flowers. After repeated attempts and too much color (these were meant to be "white" flowers), I ended up dashing it all and added ink outlines - sort of makes the flowers look like they are sitting on top of the rest of the painting.

Plein Air - Almaden Lake

Another nice day, albeit a little windy, spent painting with friends at Almaden Lake. My goal today was to do a bunch of quick, loose studies and just have fun.

Yupo Roses

This week I was trying my hand at a loose interpretation of some blossoms - Charles Reid style - but wasn't having any luck. For me, loose equates to sloppy. I guess I'm just not confident enough for minimal strokes. Anyway, after a couple of attempts, I remembered I had a brand new pad of Yupo that I'd been wanting to try out. Having no experience whatsoever I decided to just jump right in. I didn't know if you could draw directly on Yupo, or use liquid mask or create layers. So, of course, I tried all three! I am actually pleased with my results. I will confess that I did wipe the entire thing off once and sprayed down the center to remove excess paint twice - that's the beauty of Yupo! Now, just one question - is there anyway to "fix" the artwork so it doesn't melt during the next humid day?

Plein Air - Anna's Garden

I finally made it out to meet the plein air group today - it's been a while for me. Anna was gracious enough to invite us to paint her garden. Her garden extends around the entire house and it is stunning! She has murals and facades painted and built into exterior walls and fences, statues, a waterfall, potted plants galore. Even her driveway and side yards are magnificent! I started out in the driveway looking toward the house and planned to work my way to the backyard, but being a slow painter and having so much to look at I never ended up moving locations! I did take a tour of the back though and it is a painter and gardener's paradise! Thanks Anna!