Thursday, March 26, 2015

simple watercolor

birch trees in the forest
3.25" x 5.25" on
300# watercolor paper

Even though it's autumn in this painting, it reminds me of warmer days. I really enjoyed painting this little watercolor; I found it calming and felt the warmth of it while laying in the layers. The winter here in NY was a real bear this year. I can't wait for warm days and sunshine. I used 300# paper- really thick and heavy- so it took a long time for each layer of paint to dry. 

I love birch trees. There are not as many as there was when I was a child, but they are still here and there. I used to peel the back off of the trees when I was a kid. We would use it as sort of a paper and draw on the back side. Poor trees- I cringe now to think that I actually did that to the trees!

Sunday, March 15, 2015

Cupcake painting

Marley's Cupcakes
watercolor on 140# paper
5" x 7"

My niece is quite the baker. She works full time as a computer guy at a college in her area. But in her spare time, she is a baker...she posts the most amazing cakes and cupcake creations. I used one of her photos as a reference for this painting. They are candied cranberries atop of orange butter cream icing. Can you imagine how good these must taste?!?  Oh, and most of her baking is gluten free!

Thursday, March 12, 2015

Watercolor of the beach

The Beach at Edisto Island
3.5" x 8"

I used a reference photo from Edisto Island to paint this. Trying to learn how to paint water, not easy! You would think 'water' with watercolors would be a natural and easy thing...but no, it's not, for me, at least. I bought a block of elongated Arches watercolor paper and it's perfect for landscapes and water images. The paper is rough, which gives the painting a lot of texture.