Demonstration at NWWS

8x10 Oil on Canvas
Plein Air painting from Lavender Hills Farm.

Typically, artists will make a watercolor field study, then take it to the studio to make a more finished oil painting from it.

In my demonstration for NWWS last night, I reversed the processs, showing how to interpret an oil painting in watercolor.

My topic was "Using Positive & Negative Space in Watercolor". If you would like a free copy of my handout, please request it by email to michelecooper@michelecooper.com

Presentation at NWWS tonight

Here is a section from a handout I am giving to the audience at Northwest Watercolor Society tonight. Click the link for times and location.

I am honored to have been invited to be the guest presenter and am looking forward to seeing friends, guests and colleagues. My program is on "Using Positive and Negative Space in Watercolor".

If you have an opportunity to attend, I would love to see you there.

Color with a little salt

8 x 10"
Still life demo


Another small demo from last week's classes.

We are SO ready for color here in the NW!

Orange and Blue

Small study of an orange.

This was a quick demonstration for one of my classes, in which the "direct" method of watercolor was used.
Charles Reid's work is typical of this technique.

Figures in Landscape

My classes last week were about using figures in the landscape. We studied Winslow Homer's simplified, yet perfectly proportioned figures and how they were used for various purposes in his work. (Click here for a link to a previous post on Homer at AIC)

This is a very small section in a large painting of mine. The artwork is in the permanent collection of Edmonds Community College. A limited edition print was made and copies were sent to the sister school in Kobe, Japan.

I was asked to choose a landmark in the vicinity of the college and make a painting. Since it was a commission, you can see that I used a more illustrative, yet still fine art, approach.

Tulip Field with Trees

I have resolved to do better at keeping up my "daily painting blog".

My reasons (or excuses) for the evidently sad neglect:

1. Life interrupts while trying to keep up these pages.

2. Autumn light is irresistible and I have been out there just taking it all in.

3. My weekly classes are now at the stage where I have a pretty good idea of the direction I want to take the individuals who attend. That takes a lot of extra thought and preparation.

So I found this photo of a painting I did on location during the tulip festival in Mt Vernon last April. All these colors are off the ground now and in the trees. But not for long.

Gotta go back out there and get another look before it all goes away!

The Bluffs at Ebey's Landing -- SOLD

So here's the final result. This is the painting that was sold the next day at the Plein Air Painters' US Open.

No matter what the weather, this location always has something to offer. I feel grateful for the circumstances that give me such beautiful scenery to view, contemplate and paint.

Sky and Shadows

I left the sky for last.....not the usual procedure in watercolor painting, but I needed to catch the shadows on the bluffs while I could.

Now it's fine tuning while adding texture, directional strokes in the waves and more light and shadow in the foreground.

The Adolescence of the Painting

I got caught up in the painting, trying to keep up with the shadows on the bluffs.
I had to watch for those shadows as the sun kept going in and out of the clouds.

This is typically where the running commentary fades away during my demonstrations, too. The adolescence of the painting. You need all your wits about you during the adolescence of anything!

Starting the foreground and water

Here's the next step, starting the foreground and water.