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Thursday, August 19, 2010

Photo of the Day, Drawing Lab and A New Watercolor

I love how lush everything is this time of year, but I can already see a change in the "feel" of the light. It is starting to look Fall-ish. There is a particular spot behind the house which includes steps down to the creek that is surrounded by ferns that catches my eye each time I walk by it. I don't know that it qualifies as a great picture, but I really like it and hope you do, too.



I didn't get as much playing time in my art room as I thought I was going to get yesterday. In the first place, it was a mess (I'll bet you can understand that), so I spent about an hour getting it back together. I do have a little bit of art to share with you.

These are the paint blobs from the other day. This was fun!

This lab is called Scribbly Drawings

These are One-Eyed Monsters

I have the girls tomorrow and there are a couple of Labs that are meant to be done with a child. I can't wait to try them out. And I am sure Miss 7 1/2 would love to make some one-eyed monsters.

This one is a watercolor I did yesterday. I wet my paper and then added bits of blue and let it dry. I then painted in the wispy background plants. After that I added the large tree and finally used a sea sponge to add some "leaves".


While I like it so far, I think it needs more. Here is what I think I need to do:
- add some roughness to the trunk of the large tree
- put a bit of deeper blue in the sky
- add more seeds onto the small wispy plants

I'm not sure how to achieve the adding roughness to the tree trunk of the large tree. I am thinking adding a bit of darker color here and there; or maybe roughing it up with my fingernail; or maybe dry brushing along it.

I'd sure appreciate some input as to what you think it needs - or even if you think it needs to be turned over and tried again (I hope not! because I really think it is not too bad so far).

I've been on the phone for more than an hour with hughes.net because of connectivity problems this morning. I started this post at 7:30 and am just finishing. I spent some of the down time outside with my camera getting some new pix and some of the time sweeping the entrance and kitchen, so I guess maybe it wasn't all that bad.

I have a math tutee coming at 10 and then would like to walk the treadmill, call DMV about enhanced drivers' licenses, and then work on some watercolor ideas.

Tomorrow I have the girls and am hoping to have a great day. That means that I will have to watch Molly Murrah in fits and starts from home, but I'm hoping to see something helpful.

That's all I have for now. Thanks so much for visiting.

xoxo


8 comments:

  1. I LOVE the fern shaded walk way photo! On water color tree--you might get more texture in the trunk by beginning with a lighter wash so you can add darker texture shapes on top--the wispys could be lighter as they fade into the distance and be a bit finer to push them back

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  2. I did leave a comment earlier ---hope it went through..winnajill

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  3. Aren't these labs great? I find I want to go back and do many of them over and over.
    I love the picture. so lush and peaceful

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  4. The one eyed monster is adorable ^^ and I like the tree drawing. My oh my...the photo of the day! So much depth in it, the green, the black and the lights...another excellent subject to draw really

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  5. Vicki: You need some sky/ground contrast. wet areas behind the limbs of the trees, drop in some blues...darken the foreground with some darks to help the weeds stand out.

    You could have started with a graded wash for the sky. If you don't want to alter this painting, do another using the graded wash...this is all play and learning...make notes of the paints, techniques you used. I guarantee that you won't recall when you go back to these...in fact, a little notebook is a great idea...wish I'd followed my own advice, but I didn't realize how helpful it would have been when I was just starting to paint. Clueless.

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  6. Love your ink splotch play. I do that all the time, but usually because I'll see something in it that I feel needs to come out. As for your painting, it may be too late for the trunk (not sure, I just don't know how it's done), but you could still add a shadow side to the branches and trunk to make it have more form. Then I'd add the ground. Wonderful start though!

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  7. The photo is stunning! The only additional suggestion regarding your painting is that if you add more foliage to the tree, you might use a darker green to give it more depth. You're making good progress - keep it up!! hugs, nancy

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