The unadulterated chickadees

I decided to upload the chickadees that weren't tweeked in Photoshop.  Still not great, but it may be more pleasing to the eye.  The "real" colors are somewhere between this post and the last one.

Another experiment

I took a class on Saturday in which everyone was using the same reference to paint chickadees, so of course, I wanted to do something different.  I changed a photo of some chickadees and painted the birds in the style the instructor was teaching.  My little chickadees were HORRIBLE! 

When I get to that place that I give up on a painting, I figure, what the hell, and start "playing."  I pulled out the foam stamp we made in Myrna Wachnov's workshop, and imprinted my little chickadees with the block.  Interesting, yes.  But worth resurrecting, I don't think so.  Still, it was a fun way to "blot" out my mini-disaster.

I Photoshopped to sharpen the contrast, and tweeked the green a little, because my disaster IS greener than the photo turned out.  I know, not my best, but it was a fun!  Maybe I shouldn't have posted this one.  Oh well.

Azaleas

I took a photo of one of my clients' azalea bush the other morning, because it was just after a gentle rain, and the sun was shining, causing the raindrops to twinkle on the blossoms.  I love the photo as a photo, but I wanted to paint more the impression of the blossoms than a botanical image [frankly I haven't the patience to do much detail!].  I also wanted to practice with the lizard lick brush I bought for Myrna Wacknov's workshop in Portland [in April].  I haven't mastered the brush yet, but it was fun trying.  Back to the drawing board! 

Poppies live a short life but a bright one

I have a few wonderful random poppy plants in my garden, and love the virbrant reds and oranges when they bloom.  I rush to take photos of them, because the blooms fade and the petals fall so quickly.   Here's a photo "posterized" in Photoshop to help me see the larger value shapes.

After experiementing with some fluid acrylis on Tyvek, I created a dead dull mess of a poppy, so I just had to redeem myself a bit, and quickly did a couple of acrylic 8 x 10s to get my groove back.  The renderings aren't that great but the colors make me smile.

How time flies

It's been more than six weeks since I made an entry.  Although I'd rather be painting [!] I have been busy putting my house on the market, listing other properties, and teaching classes, all of which allow me to paint.

Aside from all of that, I "lost" my blog for a while as a result of email and connectivity issues, but am sort of back on track.  Hopefully, I can get back to making blog entries more regularly because, most of all, it will force me to paint more.

So, here is one of my most recent people paintings. Have been working different and unusual croppings and compositions in my classes, and liked the outcome of this one.

This is a little watercolor I did of Brian when Brian and Judy were sailing with me in the San Juans in 2008 ... on Brian's Birthday and Judy and his anniversary.  A toast to them both!

Below is another one I did of Brian in gouache for an earlier class. I obliterated a bad painting and painted over it with the gouache a la Alex Powers [inspired by lessons in his book, "Painting People in Watercolor"].