Sketching day?

I've been reading Kevin Macpherson's really awesome books, Fill Your Oil Paintings with Light & Color and Landscape Painting Inside & Out. These books are more helpful than anything else save actually trying to paint. I just love the author's style. He subtly repeats key notes in such a way that you only realize there is repetition when you really stop to think about it. Wonderful teaching!

I have some of Macpherson's mantras stuck in my head right now: "Paint shapes, not things;" "Paint colors, not things." I'm so eager to try the out and see whether there is any learning or improvement that happens.

But alas, I need to get the slideshow up from my last wedding. So my "treat" for today will be to go to the zoo with some pencils and gouache, and sketch the animals...IF I can get the slideshow finished and posted online by noon.

Wish me luck! I have a lot of photos to go through before I can even start!

Watercolor attempt #3

On Sunday I tried out the July challenge in the Watercolor forum at WetCanvas.com. I've learned a lot by combing through the posts there. This is a scene of a Canadian lake. This was my first shot at any kind of scenery, including mountains, trees, water, and sky. All previous attempts at painting have been simple studies of an animal's body or head.

I think the mountains turned out well but I'm not thrilled with the other aspects. Plus the light is coming from all kinds of crazy directions, something I didn't notice until I'd finished the painting! Oops. :) Live and learn - I'll do better next time!

Watercolor attempt #2

This might be a step backward from my heron! I tried to do this turkey vulture without looking at any reference, just from memory. I volunteer at the zoo's raptor center and really love the turkey vulture who lives there. I spend as much time as I can looking at him, but I sure got this watercolor all wrong! Not nearly enough of the fine black feathers on the head/around the eyes. But I'm happy that I got some color variation in the black feathers. I'll definitely try a turkey vulture again in the future. This time, I'll make some sketches from life first!

So I'm learning how to paint.

My dad and my grandpa were both really talented, professional artists. I'm 28 now and have never before felt the desire to develop some painting skills. However, just a few weeks ago the urge to learn how to paint and draw hit me quite strongly. Maybe it's a family calling. I don't know. Whatever it is, I'm heeding the call and throwing myself into learning.

I saved up a very large chunk of money to fund a writing workshop, but when I wasn't one of the few applicants selected to attend I decided to spend a bit of that money on art supplies and to work on developing that skill instead. With the help of one of Elizabeth Tolley's books on painting, I purchased warm and cool versions of each of the primaries plus warm and cool greens and a white in oil (water-miscible), acrylic, transparent watercolor, and gouache. Plus plenty of canvasses and canvas boards, a few tablets of watercolor paper, and a couple of nice sketch books. And, of course, pencils for sketching and drawing. I also got an inexpensive French easel so I can try some plein air painting when I get brave enough to make the attempt.

I tried this watercolor of a great blue heron first. I've painted only cartoony, "fun," silly pet portraits for family members before. I've only tried to use value and tone twice prior to this watercolor, and this was my first-ever use of watercolor. I think it turned out fairly well, but I have a long way to go until I'm where I want to be. With plenty of practice, I'll get there...eventually.