Watercolor Painting; Bird On Aquabord

                                                                                Hello Everyone;
Today, I thought I would try something different with the aquabord I am working with.  I have done a couple of landscape paintings so I thought I would try a bird painting.  The colors do stand out well with this support.  My bird itself is by no means perfect, but it does stand out well.  The more I work with this aquabord, the more I like it.  The whole idea that my customers do not have to spend extra money on framing behind glass or framing at all appeals to me.  Another great advantage with the aquabord is the durability.  The masonite panel the clay adheres to is very solid.  Ampersand says these panels are archival as well.  I still have a ways to go before I am comfortable with this support, but on today's painting, I was able to layer without lifting the underlying colors.  On paper, that is not that difficult, on these panels, it gets a bit tricky.  I will continue to keep you posted on my progress with this support and share anything I learn.  In the mean time, have a great weekend.

Watercolor Painting; More Aquabord Practice

Hello Everyone;
Here is another new painting on aquabord by Ampersand.  No, your not seeing things, this composition is very similar to the other one.  When I am trying out something new, I find it beneficial to paint a very similar scene to gauge the progress or regression in the quality of work.  When you have something close to compare different paintings to, it seems to be more obvious of triumphs and failures.  Trust me when I say, failures are just as important and possibly more important then triumphs when learning something new.  Take your mistakes and learn from them and you will progress much quicker then ignoring them.  In my experiences with painting, I have met a lot of people expecting too much in the beginning of their learning process.  They seem to think that they can become experts in a few days and therefore, each mistake they make they look at as a set back and failure instead of a learning experience.  So many end up quitting art for that reason among others.  Always look at mistakes and failed paintings as an opportunity to progress in your journey of becoming an artist.  It is not a cop out or rationalization to make you feel better.  Over the years, my mistakes have been the reason I can sell my work.  My mistakes are the reason I can keep making that next step forward.  My mistakes are the reason I will, one day, be the artist I have always dreamed of being.  Embrace your mistakes and failures and become the artist you have always dreamed of being.  It will happen, just put everything you have into it.

Watercolor Painting; New Landscape Painting

Hello Everyone;
I hope everyone had a safe and joyous Holiday season.  As for me, it was wonderful.  Time with family and pretty decent weather considering I live in the western burbs of Chicago.  Even though the winter thus far has been pretty tolerable, once Christmas is over, I look to the spring time.  Warm temperatures and green grass.  Today, I put in a Jimmy Buffet cd and painted this spring time scene.  I used the Ampersand Aquabord I mentioned in my last post.  As I stated before, it is considered a cold press surface, but the paint reacts completely different then with paper.  I do love the way the colors pop out as opposed to paper.  Remember, when painting in watercolors on paper, the paint will lighten up approx 50% when it dries.  With the aquabord, that does not happen.  One difference in applying your paint is to use more paint then water.  I realize that goes against using watercolors to begin with, but the paint lifts very easily on this surface.  If you are used to layering colors, be very careful you don't disturb the underneath layers.

Right now, I am seriously considering using the aquabord exclusively for my paintings going forward.  I really like the results, but I need to still work out a few kinks.  My plan is to use the 1 1/2" cradle the aquabord comes in.  When a customer buys a painting on the aquabord with that cradle, they can hang it up as is.  No need for a frame, glass or matting.  The cradle would really save my customers a decent amount of money and best yet, it is a clean look on the wall.  Like I said, I still need to work some things out before I make the switch, but that is most definitely the plan.  If you have never tried this support, give it a whirl.  Blick has a 3 pack of 5" X 7" 1/8" panels for under $7.00.  Practice on it, use a wet rag to remove the paint and start over again.  You can almost go to complete white again so your investment will go a long way.  Let me know how you like it.

Watercolor Painting; Practice On A New Surface

Hello Everyone;
In the past, I have tried any number of different surfaces to paint my watercolors on.  I tried boards, paper, watercolor ground just to name a few.  I keep searching for that perfect support that will allow my work to shine, but also make it easy for my customers to display their purchase.  Traditional supports for watercolors is paper.  With paper, your painting needs to be matted, then framed behind glass to protect it.  Watercolor canvas is nice, because you just have to seal it, then frame without glass.  The problem with watercolor canvas is that the paint does not absorb anywhere.  It stays on top of the canvas.  The colors are bright, but it is very difficult to make the work look good (in my opinion).  Ideally, you would have something in between paper and canvas.  A support that absorbs paint and water similar to high end watercolor paper, but the colors still remain close to the surface for brilliance.  I am not sure yet if I have found that surface, but this Aquabord made by Ampersand is trying to fill that need.  Pictured here is a 5" X 7" piece of aquabord I am practicing different elements on.  It has some resemblance to cold press watercolor paper, but just a little.  This surface takes some getting used to, but so far, I like the way my work is looking.  You can find it anywhere online that sells fine art supplies, but I have found that Blick seems to have the best prices.  This is a 3 pack I paid approx $7.50 for US dollars.  Aquabord comes in many popular sizes and best of all, they have a 1" 1/2" cradle.  That means you can seal your work and your customers do not have to spend additional money on framing, just hang as is.  I do not know yet if I am going all in on this product, but I do know I will be doing much more experimenting.  So far, this definitely has possibilities.  Let me know if you have ever painted on this surface and what you found.  Have a blessed day everyone.

Watercolor Painting; New Finished Painting

Hello Everyone;
I usually do not paint winter scenes since I really do hate the cold weather.  However, since it was 20 degrees as a high today, I figured, why fight it.  Painting in and of itself is a challenging endeavor, but painting a winter scene in watercolors has its own separate challenges.  Convincing snow is the main issue.  Since most watercolor purists use only the white of the paper for snow, it requires some really good planning.  The shadows will create the illusion of snow in that instance.  For me, I use a little bit different of a technique.  First of is the wet into wet sky with dark mayan blue.  This is a very deep blue that has a slight resemblance to paynes gray, but obviously much more blue in it.  To me, this looks a lot like winter blues you see in landscapes.  For some reason, when I paint this color onto the paper, I need to get a sweater, it just gets colder in the studio.  That is an atmospheric part of the equation.  Show the viewer a sense of cold.  The last part is easy,  I use white gouache.  Yes, that sounds like cheating, but I don't care.  It gives me the look and feel I want.  I have tried using the white of the paper and for some things I keep it that way, but for winter scenes, I much prefer the white paint.  I just feel it gives a much more realistic feel to being snowy.  The fact of the matter is, you are the artist.  Use whatever tools at your disposal you need to convey whatever it is you want.

Watercolor Painting; ACEO Painting

Art Cards Editions and Originals.
Besides the long winded name these small paintings are a lot of fun to create.  For some reason, your mind does not worry about messing up the painting.  Maybe it's the small size, or maybe the little cards are just that much less intimidating.  Whatever the reason, I recommend you try some.  To be a real aceo, the painting surface needs to be 2.5" X 3.5"  Really, you do not have to paint only.  You can draw, stamp paint, do most anything you wish.  I use the Strathmore Watercolor ACEO paper I get from Dick Blick.  They are 140 lbs watercolor paper and already cut perfectly.  If you have a good paper cutter, buy watercolor paper and cut your own.  When I do these small pieces, I try my best on each one, but I do not labor over areas like I do on much larger pieces.  The old saying less is more really strikes a chord with these types of paintings.  For me, there are only two rules for aceo paintings.  First, make sure the size is correct, and second, have fun.  That's all you need.

Watercolor Painting; Sketchbook Work

Hello Everyone;
Here is another page from my sketchbook I have been working on.  I have been battling a bout of food poisoning and have not really had much energy.  It is so nice that sketching in watercolors does not require a lot of physical energy.  If you can hold your brush and a thought, you're in business.  If you noticed, I have been practicing people a lot more then in the past.  Most of you probably remember my post on my desires to start to do story telling with my paintings.  For me, it begins and ends with painting convincing figures.  Once again, I have no desires to make them photo realistic, but I do want them to be painterly and believable.  As I sketch these figures, my mind starts to wander about what types of situations these people are in.  Where are they going?  What are their intentions and so forth.  I am not sure, but once I get good enough and consistent enough with figures in my paintings, I believe I will add them to most of my future works.  I have always been drawn to art work with people in them and I think many people may feel the same as I do.  Like believe that paintings are not just about the aesthetic beauty of the piece, but of combination of the beauty coupled with the story of the painting as well.