Joy To Your World!

With all the tragedy and negativity in the news lately,

I have been retreating into my own world more and more.

And it's a very GOOD world too!

I refuse to let circumstances that don't effect my world

and that are way beyond my control, get me down.

Continuing to look for the positive in life, I strive

to enjoy each day to the fullest.

The best way I know of doing this, is to count my blessings

and be truly THANKFUL as often as possible.

Please don't let senseless acts of insanity and negativity

in this world pollute your mind and hinder your resurrection

to a higher plane of love, happiness and spiritual evolution. 

Thanks to all of you for looking at my images,

reading my thoughts and offering your friendship here.

Wishing You Happiness and Appreciation for Your Blessings,

Now, During the Holiday Season

And Always,

X ♥  O

"Saying thank you is more than good manners.

It is good spirituality." 

~ Alfred Painter

Wishing You a Fabulous Full Moon Friday!

"You have to be able to appreciate these things.

How many people can say it was a full moon

last night and appreciate it?" ~ Sandy Miller  

"If you shoot for the stars and hit the moon, it's OK.

But you've got to shoot for something.

A lot of people don't even shoot." ~ Confucious

 "Aim for the moon. If you miss,

you may hit a star." ~ W. Clemont Stone

"Promises are like the full moon,

if they are not kept at once,

they diminish day by day. "

~ German Proverb

"May you have warm words on a cold evening,

a full moon on a dark night and a smooth road

all the way to your door."

~ Irish Blessing

Have an enjoyable evening and a great holiday weekend!

♥

"Summer ends, and Autumn comes,

and he who would have it otherwise

would have high tide always and a

full moon every night."

~ Hal Borland

Bluebird Bliss

"When nature made the bluebird she wished to propitiate both the sky and the earth, so she gave him the color of the one on his back and the hue of the other on his breast."  ~ John Burroughs

We have a half a dozen bird houses up on the property and over the past week I have seen the bluebird couples courting. Another sure sign of Spring! Around here, they make their nests out of pine needles. The male impresses his sweetheart with his nest building skills, taking needles into various homes. Once she settles on a spot, he lets her take over. It's no different than with most human couples, where it's usually the female that takes charge of the home and its' interior furnishings. He can offer his opinion and feedback, but the final decision is almost always hers. In this painting, a smitten Ms. Bluebird is dazzled by Mr. Blue's nuptial gift and amorous overtures.

 

"Bluebird Bliss"

Signs of Spring #5 - $45.00

5" x 7" Double Matted Original Watercolor Painting

This piece ships with a foam core backing in an acetate sleeve

and is ready to fit into a standard frame. 

 SOLD

Today's painting was done using the same three primary colors that I used in my last painting, "Spring Mare". All colors were mixed by using only Red Rose Deep and Gamboge by DaVinci and Turquoise by Lucas. Limiting your palette like this insures a harmonious color scheme. Here you can see the primaries with their shadowed primaries. You can read my previous post's comments if you would like more technical information.

Thanks again for reading, friends. I'd love to hear from you! Have a wonderful weekend and enjoy the beautiful (unseasonably warm here) Spring weather!

"My favorite weather is bird-chirping weather."  ~ Terri Guillemets

Spring Has Sprung!

Happy "official" FIRST DAY OF SPRING! 

"Spring has returned.The Earth is like a child that knows poems."  ~ Rainer Maria Rilke

 

"Spring Mare"

Signs of Spring #4 - $45.00

5" x 7" Double Matted Original Watercolor Painting

This piece ships with a foam core backing in an acetate sleeve

and is ready to fit into a standard frame.

I wanted to give this pony another workout using the glazing technique.  Starting with an under-painting of spring colors, yellow, red and blue, I first wet the paper on both sides, like my usual wet-in-wet approach. The background wash was done at the same time as the first glaze of pastel colors on the horse, as illustrated in step one of my previous post. I let the paper dry and then followed the advise of my friend and accomplished watercolorist, Carmella Tuliszewski. You can read her very thoughtful and informative comment on my last post. I mixed my primary color's compliments into the base color, using only the original three colors, for the shadow areas and eliminated the neutral grey wash entirely. This was actually done in only two steps. It is much closer to my vision for the piece and I am considerably happier with today's results.

"Science has never drummed up quite as effective a tranquilizing agent as a sunny spring day." ~ W. Earl Hall

Mare with Spring Colors Turns into Midnight Mare

I've been getting inspired by all the great artists and different techniques that people share here online. I decided to try a different technique today using glazing. This is totally different from my usual wet-in-wet direct approach. I decided to try to figure this out. I wanted to use an under-painting of spring colors for my "Signs of Spring" project this month.

Step 1

I admit that I am flying by the seat of my pants here. It started off OK with this somewhat random under painting of pastel colors in step one.

Step 2

In step two, I added some facial detailing and darker values using a neutral grey.  I think this is where I started to go wrong. Too dark too soon?

Step 3

In step 3, my background really got away from me. It is way darker than I had wanted. Then I started darkening the values of the horse more than planned. This didn't come out how I had envisioned, but I learned a lot today. Yes, I'm going to give it another go, Kathryn! As photographer, Mike Wallace said;  "You have to try to figure things out. You have to fail with a purpose."

Any critiques, suggestions, instructions or comments on this would be greatly appreciated, thank-you, friends!

Making Art Is Good For The Soul

And a lot of other things too - like hand-eye coordination, sense of accomplishment, growth, really seeing things and going into "the zone".  Woo, I am psyched! I've got some new and exciting ideas for this year's summer sketching series which started today. I hope a few of you will join me on my 3 month journey. Step up, speak out and share your input with me and our readers. Remember that in every aspect of our lives, what we get back, is in direct proportion to what we give out. This quick little watercolor painting was done today using the "2011 Horse Portrait Demo" as a starting point.

Spring is Coming!

Here comes Kokopelli, the hunch backed, flute playing, Native American cultural spirit of Spring! He chases away Winter with song and dance and ushers in Spring and fertility. ☺ YAY!

I'm currently putting together a collection of illustrated design elements for iStock. Isolated on white, these "spot illustrations" will be easily arranged by designers. Colorful and hand painted, my Kokopellis are intended to show off the granulation of pigments with the contrast of rough, hard and soft edges. In transparent watercolor, there is often magic in translucent color transitions. High resolution photos of them can really show that off. Here's a small area of the image above. The possibilities are endless.