Loosey-goosey roses (Jean Haine's style)

Practicing a little loose style painting, wet-on-dry roses with lots of 'bleeding out".

Rooster

Jeff got me a little pocket camera for Christmas so that I could take reference photos when I am out and about. I found this little guy in San Juan Bautista recently. After waiting patiently (on not so), he finally posed for me. I started off with the intent to paint loosely but it didn't end up that way, maybe next time.

Two Studies of Rachel

This is my niece Rachel.  In the first painting I was able to catch the essence and her  eyes worked but not the nose.  

 

In the second painting I tried got the nose and mouth a little closer but then didn't quite get the eyes.  I was happy that when I posted it on Facebook, without a title, Rachel's mom commented that it looked a bit like her daughter, Rachel.  I'm getting "close". :)  It feels really great to be painting again!

Pepper Jar

I forgot to post this painting of a pepper jar, done on November 14, 2012.

Baby Mollie

I woke up this morning with the idea of painting this picture of Mollie as a pup and to really make an effort to stay loose and to be imaginative with my colors.  Mollie is a red and white Border Collie mix. Her chest is totally white so that made it a little challenging.  Also, I never use gouache but decided that I needed just a little here and there to make the eyes pop and a few hairs stand out.  Overall I am very pleased with my first loosey-goosey painting. :)

Guglielmo Winery

Jeff and Liz and I stopped by the Guglielmo Winery near our home in Morgan Hill and enjoyed taking photos and browsing through their holiday boutique.  Jeff snapped some beautiful shots of the vineyard in gorgeous fall colors so I decided to paint it.  My goal is to try to practice painting looser but, as you can see, I fell back into my old habits and ended up adding a little pen and ink to finish it off.

Working on exercises from the book Mastering the Watercolor Wash, by Joe Garcia. Here is #1 flat wash barn, I didn't even bother to tape down the paper for this one.  Still having trouble scanning cobalt and cerulean blues.