Second Try

 

11 x 15” watercolor on Arches 100 % cotton cold press

Yeah. I’m getting over my superstition that second versions don’t work as well as first ones. It helps to have a “what if” mentality: what if I use warmer colors for more of the trees in the background? What if that shadow on the barn isn’t so dark? What if I only barely suggest the hay bales on the left? 

Snow Practice

 

No snow yet in Iowa—I’m just practicing from a reference photo supplied by my instructor, Andy Evansen, whose year-long online course is a gift that keeps on giving.  

Learning Curve Boost

 

I’m back in my home state of Iowa for a few weeks, hanging with my elderly mother and looking for beauty to paint. I found it at a nearby winery called Prairie Moon Winery, north of Ames, as the shadows lengthened one afternoon. 

My w/c learning curve is having a considerable boost, IMHO, with a year-long, online course I am taking from Minnesota artist Andy Evansen. What a fine course he has created in collaboration with Tucson Art Academy. I’ve been wanting to find a teacher to apprentice to, and viola—the opportunity for this course appeared rather magically.

For the course, Andy has posted well over 100 video demos and lectures for deep learning, plus he and my classmates are quite responsive with suggestions for paintings, via a private Facebook group. I am so grateful. 

Pink Dahlias

 

Pink Dahlias
5" x 5" gouache
on hot press paper

It's been such a delight to work with gouache all week. It's easier to fit these small paintings into a short time-frame, so it's easier to shift time for other important things, like time with precious grandsons.  

Watercolor takes more prolonged engagement, more focus, and definitely more planning so you don't make mistakes that are hard to correct. With gouache, you can paint over your mistakes much more easily because of its opacity.

That said, I'm also missing the pleasant surprises that can occur when transparent watercolor paints mix with water. 

Very nice to have both gouache and watercolor in my repertoire right now. Who says I have to choose? 

Flower Humility

 

Flower Humility
5 x 7" gouache
on hot press paper

Nature doesn't have to brag, or even humble brag. It just is. Such humility. Such beauty, shared for free. 

Orchid Party

 

Orchid Party
5" x 7" gouache
on hot press paper

I painted this today from a photo that I took seven years ago. Sometimes the muse is just a little pokey.

My recent foray into gouache helps me see new possibilities in old reference photos. Did I mention I am having fun? 

Joy Joy Joy

Orchid
5" x 5" Gouache
on hot press paper

         It brings me great joy to use these bright colors.