Monday, May 23, 2016

Outdoor Studio


What a heavenly spring day to work outdoors!  I needed to work on some Brusho pine trees for a demo I'm doing for an art guild this week. There are plenty of models to work from in the yard. Birds chirping, warm sun, glorious greens for inspiration, and even visits from the hummingbird made for a lovely morning to paint.  It was all play with no pressure to do a finished painting. I think the more hours you play the easier it is to make inspired paintings.  It doesn't look like my dog (Romeo) cares too much about the whole deal-he's just waiting for playtime with him. :)

Sunday, May 15, 2016

Spring birds


The goldfinches are back and they are voracious eaters!  I have about 5 feeders and they eat out of every one. This little girl bird had such a soft and gentle look about her, contrasting with the very bright yellow males.  I used Daniel Smith Hansa yellow, green gold, quinacridone gold and indigo for the bird.  It looked pretty bland without any background so I got out the Brusho. I covered her up and wet the area behind her,  sprinkled with Turquoise and squirted just a little bit.  It's always a bit of a gamble to see what happens but that makes it exciting!  Staying safe all the time is boring and you don't grow much as an artist.