I found a great little paint set that is fast becoming my favorite. I love it because it is small and yet holds twice as many paints as my old paint set. My old set is about 20 years old and it served me well. But I was able to add most of the paint from that old set to my new set and now I have a great many colors. The new paint box is made my Prima and I don't think it is artist quality, although it says it is. But even so, the colors are vibrant and rich, perfect for quick sketching. Easy to mix and I just love the bright colors.

The wonderful thing- this paint set cost 15.00. I would of paid 15.00 for the box alone, so the added paint is a bonus. Like I said, its not artist quality but it works just fine! I'll be taking this little gem to Italy this summer. I plan on doing as much sketching of the local area as possible. I can't wait!

painting fog in watercolor

fog

watercolor on 140# paper

I've always wanted to paint fog...and I just didn't know how to. I found a technique book that showed me how. Yay! This is my first attempt. I like the sky colors. I found a workbook by Zolton Szabo that has demos on techniques.

Urban Sketching

I've posted this on my crafting blog as well because I think of outdoor sketching as a craft and an art. Not sure why, but I do. Painting outside is not one of my favorite pastimes, but I am trying to get better at it. I prefer studio painting with all my creature comforts and air conditioning and no bugs...lol    But, I do love keeping travel journals- for years they have been written journal and I have filled several journals this way. I love looking back at them because they bring me right back to that place and time.  So, now I want to add images to my written travel journals.

And that gives me a GREAT IDEA!  I am going to make a few travel journals for me- with both writing and painting paper. More to come on that...
happy painting.

My take on Scapino from the Commedia dell'arte

Scapino

Acrylic on paper 

Scapino is a zanni (a character type) from the commedia dell'arte. Scapino is the one who tries to get out of things, mostly fights. As I thought about Scapino, I pictured him as a drunk, a lazy clown. That is what I portrayed here in my art journal. Drunkenness is a form of escape and that is what Scapino does, he escapes from fights, work and in general, life. He had fallen asleep by the tent, drunk and oblivious. I thought it would be a fun exercise to imagine some of the zanni, so here is my first one. 

Sketching in Ink and watercolor

sketches of Provence

ink and watercolor on 140# mixed media paper

These sketches are from a trip to France in 2013. These were done from photos after the trip. I have a trip to Italy this late summer and I will bring my sketch supplies to do plein air sketching. I want to do on-the-spot plein air sketching, not after the fact!  So this weekend I'll spend the weekend doing a group plein air sketch group through the Rehoboth Art League. I am very excited about it and have my supplies all ready. You can see a picture of my supplies here.

Watercolor of a Seahorse for my beach house

Seahorse

14" x 20"

watercolor on paper

This is a large painting I created before I even knew I would buy a beach house. (I think deep inside, I knew I was headed to the beach.)  My goal was to get bigger in my watercolor painting. I generally paint small in my watercolors, 8"x10" or less. So I went large, and it was great fun. I painted with abandon as I figured I could use the other side of the paper if things went badly.  I was actually pleased with the results.  This painting now hangs in my home. 

Painting with no expected outcome often creates the best pictures because I relax and just have fun. No expectations or pressure.

more alcohol ink and YUPO

I am pleased with this image I created using the alcohol ink and YUPO paper I mentioned in previous post. It looks moody and dark. I stamped the tress using archival ink over the dry alcohol inks. Go to previous post for a link to a YouTube video about this technique. I've had both the alcohol inks and the YUPO paper, so it was a no-brainer for me to try this. If you don't have YUPO, and it is expensive, try using glossy white cardstock. I believe it will work as well with the alcohol inks. Happy Crafting!