An Experiment Mixing Green...

 This weekend I played in the paint! I learned to mix greens. I am enjoying these studies and I believe they are making my paintings better each time I do it. I like the way the greens aren't a consistent color but vary in hue. It adds a depth to my work.  

The paintings below show when I used paint right from the tube. All the greens are flat. 

Now I have to figure out blues! How do you do the same thing with a primary color?

Thanks for peeking!

Camellias...

The camellias are in bloom in my yard. They are such heavy blooms that they pull the limbs down until they eventually pop off. I snipped some off to put by my bed. They are so pretty.

I put them in my studio first and composed a little painting. I sketched them a few times making contour drawings. 

I chose my palette. I've heard it is good to limit your palette to a few colors. From the experiments I did last night painting a page of camellias over and over again I came up with the following palette:

As I was finishing the painting I seemed to get the hang of this watercolor thing. The middle flower is the first one I did. I really "over-painted" it. I thought about trying to lift the color off and try again but decided to leave it. 

Here is the finished product. I may paint this one again and see if I've learned a few things!!!

Thanks for peeking!

A Day in the City...

I had my own little sketch crawl yesterday. I boarded the Marta train and rode the train into Atlanta.

I drew a few of the passengers as they were heading home from work, to the airport, or into the city for fun. I got off the train at Arts Center and walked to the High Museum of Art. On the way I saw the most interesting house Named Fort Peace or the Castle. It is interesting the way it is still standing in the midst of the skyscrapers.

 

I sketched for a few minutes while sitting on a wall by the street. The problem with going on a sketch crawl by yourself is that you are by yourself! Sitting on an empty street by yourself may not be very smart. So I took a picture and walked on to the museum.

 

On the lawn of the High there were a bunch of little girls having a birthday party. They were so cute running around a playing on the big lawn.

 

The High has a special exhibit Go West! Art of the American Frontier from the Buffalo Bill Center of the West. It was very interesting. They only had a few watercolors. Most of the paintings were oil on board.

 

I bought a few little things in the gift shop. Check them out!

 

 

I bought a pin (a High Museum pin), a pen (a High Museum pen, LOL!), and a brush. Funny thing is the brush is a pencil! imagine and brush and a pencil together, what a great idea! Afterwards, I went to Binders and picked up some supplies.

 

 

Here is my page in my sketchbook...

 

What a fun day. I enjoyed spending time in Atlanta!

 

Thank you for peeking inside my sketchbook.

 

Brenda Swenson Workshop

I had the wonderful opportunity to attend a workshop taught by the amazing Brenda Swenson. For this newbie, it was a humbling experience! She taught me so many new things and I will share them with you over the next few days. First, I had to get ready for the workshop. This required cleaning up all my tools and packing them in my cute new train case I re-purposed for my art supplies.

Sharpies (for labeling pans), Lamy Al-stars, Stilman and Birn Zeta Sketchbooks, Kremer Watercolor box, Platinum Carbon Black ink, Clips, Eraser, Flower Frog (for holding brushes), a Roll of Brushes, Apron, Paper Towels, Water Sprayer, Sweeper Brush

Look how pretty... It makes me so excited to see all my supplies cleaned up and ready to go! 

Here is my sketchbook page showing my prep work. 

Thanks for peeking inside my sketchbook!

More on the travel palette...

I posted a picture of my new little travel palette but Brenda Swenson made a suggestion to improve it. I have added a little cup for water. This cup is a Sea to Summit shot glass from REI. I put a magnet down in the bottom of the cup to keep it steady. Check it out!

How cute is this!!! Just a little note about the paint I used on my palette. I used an acrylic paint. I don't scrub my palette and rough it up so this will work just fine. (I'll get bored of this palette and create something new before I wear it out.) If you are concerned about scratching your palette, use automotive paint. 

One more thing...Brenda also suggested attaching a small ring to the bottom of the palette. I used a ring I had left over from a necklace I made. It is about the size of a quarter. Brenda used some sort of rubber gasket used as a car part. I attached mine with a small piece of silver duct tape. Brenda used the soft part of Velcro. Now I can stick my finger through the ring and it will stabilize the palette. LOVE IT!!!

A Nice Little Travel Palette...

Hello All!

Tonight I made myself the cutest little travel palette for my purse. I had been using a tin gift card box from Michaels but the top wasn't attached so their wasn't a way to mix my colors without putting something down. I had a very thin (5 inch x 5 inch) metal CD case I bought at Sam Flax (sorry, I don't see it offered on their website) I thought would be perfect for this. I had been storing my handmade stamps in it. 

Here is how I set this up...

Step #1

First, I prepared the lid to make a palette area to mix paint. I cleaned the lid with rubbing alcohol and used painter's tape to tape off the edges so I would get a nice sharp paint line. 

Step #2

Then I used some white acrylic paint and paint the inside of the lid.  All I had was an expensive tube of Golden. I usually have some regular acrylic white paint hanging around, but not today! Only the best for my little box. 

Step #3

I had to figure out something to do while I waited for the paint to dry!

Step #4 

I labeled my little 1/2 pans I bought from Daniel Smith and filled them with paint. Okay...for you paint nuts, here are the colors I chose:

Holbein Ivory Black

Daniel Smith Lunar Black

Daniel Smith Sepia (a fave!)

Holbein Burnt Umber

Holbein Peacock Blue (a fave!)

Holbein Ultramarine Blue Deep 

Holbein Terra Verde

Daniel Smith Hooker's Green

Holbein Antique Spring Green

Windsor Newton Quinacridone Gold (new fave!)

Holbein Yellow Ochre

Holbein Permanent Yellow

Holbein Antique Orange

Holbein Vermilion Hue

Holbein Crimson Lake

Holbein Opera

Holbein Titanium White

Step #5

I ran to Michael's with my 50% off coupon and bought a new brush and some magnet sheets with adhesive backing. I used Glue Dots in my last box but if the paints are left in the hot car in Georgia, the glue gets loose and the pans move around. I wanted to maintain the flexibility of changing out my pans but I want them to STAY PUT. We'll have to see if the magnets will work. I attached the magnets to the bottom of the pans and stuck them to the metal box.

Step #6

Note to the family: Buy me some beautiful travel brushes! Don't wait for my birthday...show me some love NOW! Binders in Atlanta has a beautiful set of travel brushes available for purchase in a display case right by the front door. Don't wait!

...

Well, since my plea didn't work I had to saw off the end of the beautiful new brush I bought so it would fit in the box. I put painter's tape on the brush to protect the paint and used my handy Dremel to saw that sucker off! (Note here: I probably could have used the money I spent on the Dremel a couple of months ago to buy the travel brushes but the thought didn't occur to me at the time). I dipped the end of the brush into some acrylic paint and hopefully the paint won't chip.

Step #7

I painted a little reference card to include inside the box. On the card I always put my phone number so if I leave my paints (sketchbox, shoes, coat, etc) in a rental car again, the Enterprise guys will call me to come get them. (Yes, this happens all the time.)

Ta Da...

A little travel palette all my own!