Beginner watercolor class day 2

I started in on the onions first off.  They were all sketched and ready to go.  As yesterday, I took a photo of my subject and the finished painting.  I’m sorry the subject picture is so out of focus, but unlike most of the time, I only took one shot so it is the best I have.  I’m mostly pleased with the onions.  It was a complicated composition and I left out a few of the onions in the back.  In the garden, this stalk was atop a thick stem growing in the center of each plant.  I’ve never seen quite an arrangement like this and it intrigued me.

I had some extra time to do another painting.  I chose some fall Maple leaves.  This one was really a learning experience.  Bill wanted me to choose a subject that was large so I could practice making the washes that form the basis for the details, hence the large leaves.  You can see that I was marginally successful and there is a definite progression to the leaves as I worked through them one at a time.  I’m not very happy with these leaves but I’ve learned something about using a larger brush and creating a wash.

Beginner watercolor class

Since I’ve been working more consistently in my sketch journal, I realize that I need some instruction and technical information about paint, water and paper.  I signed up for a beginner class with William Lambert of Massachusetts and today was the first of two classes.  One of the most valuable things he showed us today was how to mix many colors of gray – seems silly but it is very useful.  Also, I found  that it was very helpful to have good colors and the right paper.

We went outside to choose some subject matter.  I found an interesting sprig of milkweed and some onion bulbs.  The milkweed seemed a little simpler and I chose to start with that.  There are some things I like about my work today and plenty of places I could improve, but I’m learning lots of things by doing.  Here are photos of my subject and my painting.

Tomorrow I tackle the onions.

18 Acorns

Journal Entry

Things I picked up on my walk

Beech seed pods and seeds, an acorn and a turkey feather (probably from the batch that wandered through the other day):

Silly Fall Haiku

Little barking dog

What could it possibly be?

Oh, look, ten turkeys.

Gray Plus One challenge

My friend Norma has posted pictures of the Gray Plus One challenge.  If you’re interested, you can check out her blog post to see all the other entries including mine.

Fireweed revisited

Remember the fireweed I discovered back in early August growing along our road?  It is going to seed.  As the day time air temps gradually get cooler, the seeds attached to little bits of fluff are emerging from long, skinny pods to spread the promise of spring.  The seeds are tiny – the only way they could all pack into such a little space.  The lovely pink blush of the stems is still there along with a few late blooms.  What a pleasant find.

It’s arrived

A few weeks ago I responded to a free offer from Spoonflower.  They are a company who will print fabric using your own personal designs.  My friend Colleen alerted me to the offer and I chose two of my journal sketches (see them here and here) for printing.  Today, my free 8″ swatches came in the mail and I’m pleased with the results.  See for yourself.  How fun is that?!

Finally…. back in the studio

I have finally finished one of the pieces I started in my online class with Pamela Allen back in February.  I made it specifically for the Gray Plus One challenge for the Scrapbaggers’  Newtown, CT library show coming up on September 11th.  The show will hang about a month I think.  I’ve seen a few of the other pieces and it looks to be shaping up into a very nice exhibit.

I titled this piece “Solid Illusions” since it is a study depicting solid geometric shapes in a relatively flat medium to give the illusion of depth and dimension.  It is fabric collage of commercial cottons and tulle that has been raw-edge appliqued.  It measures about 15″ x 18″.

I’ve come to realize that I’ve been away from the studio too long.  My free motion quilting skills are very rusty and I’ve made better bindings, but because I am such a good procrastinator and way too motivated by looming deadlines, I’m in a time crunch to get the work done and I don’t have the time to practice  back up to my usual workmanship.