Snowing

Original Watercolor
5"x7"

This is pretty much what it looks like in my neighborhood this morning.

I painted this as a class demonstration Friday. Dave won the drawing for it and was kind enough to send me a photo.

Watercolor Greeting Cards

Here is a fun way to practice painting in watercolor. Make a series of greeting cards.

1.Divide a half sheet (15"x22") of 140# watercolor paper with 1" tape into 4 sections (7x10" each) as shown. When cut and folded, each one becomes a 5x7" card. For a horizontal card, position the paper so the deckel edge is down, making a nice border accent on the front of the card. Mark across the fold line 5" up with a light pencil line.

2. Paint the sky with a wash of Cobalt Blue and Cobalt Violet. Add a tiny bit of Raw Sienna if the color is too bright. Use a 1" flat brush for this to avoid too many small brushstrokes. While the sky wash dries, wet the entire snow field with clear water. Be careful to leave a verrrrry thin edge of dry paper between the ground and the sky so the first wash doesn't bleed into the foreground. As the sheen goes off the clear, wet paper, paint the vertical snow shadows under the areas where the barns and trees will be. The timing has to be just right. Use the same color mixture as the sky, but slightly thicker paint. The soft edge, wet in wet, gets the desired soft, blurred shadow edge that says "snow". While you allow this to dry, you can repeat these steps on all the other card sections of your paper. By the time you get back to the first one, it will probably be dry enough to paint the barns.

3. Use a 1/4" flat brush or #8 round brush and thicker paint to make the barn shapes on dry paper. A hair dryer can be used to ensure that the paper is completely dry before you do this. Mix Burnt Sienna and Alizarin Crimson for the barns. This should be about the thickness of heavy cream. Stroke this color from left to right about 2/3 of the way across each barn shape. Quickly rinse and reload your brush with the same thickness of Raw Sienna. Now paint from right to left, completing the barn shape. As this last brushload of Raw Sienna just arely touches the damp, red paint, they will merge. Repeat this step on all your other cards. Allow everything to dry before you start the trees.

4. Trees and more snow shadows.
Trees: Use a #3 rigger or script liner brush. Mix Fr. Ultramarine Blue or Cobalt Blue and Burnt Sienna for the dark base of the trees. Thicker paint creates darker tones. Dilute it with water for the lighter limbs and branches. Wet and squeeze out the water from a natural sponge. You need one with lots of texture to create the dead leaves and fine twigs in the canopy of the trees. Tap the sponge into the remaining trunk color in your palette, then tap in the tree tops. Create as much variety as you can without overdoing it. Work around the group of cards, allowing a bit of drying time between applications. You can make fine textured dots by spattering with a toothbrush, too. Make sure you protect the rest of the painting with paper towels where you don't want spatter.

More Snow Shadows: Make sure everything is dry. Use clear water and a 1" flat brush to carefully rewet all the snow. Use more of the sky mixture, plus a bit more Cobalt Blue to lay in the contour shadows of the hillside, wet in wet.

5. Cut and fold. Make sure everything is bone dry. Use scissors or a paper cutter to cut the cards out along the inside borders of the tape. Fold in half. There you have it: your own series of hand painted watercolor greeting cards!
Note: Each one will be slightly different as you move from one to the next, changing a little here, getting more confidence there.

New Snow on the Hills

Original Watercolor
5"x7"

The weather has turned colder this week and the snow level is beginning to move to the foothills nearby.

Winner of Class Drawing

Class Demonstration
Original Watercolor 5"x7"

Bonnie O. won this demonstration painting in class last night.

I had 4 examples of using the skills learned this fall quarter to make small 5x7" paintings or greeting cards. It's a fun way to practice and become more comfortable with the medium of watercolor.

Color Blobs and Silhouettes

Here's a fun exercise in learning the two common identifiers of any object: shape, or silhouette, and color.

First use your watercolors to paint a nice big juicy color blob. Use warm, cool, light and dark color. While that's drying, use a separate sheet of copy paper and draw and cut out single or multiple shapes of pears, apples, vases, people, etc.



Now, move your "template" over different areas of the color blob for surprisingly luscious watercolors of pears, or apples, vases, etc.

Both these "pears" are from the same color blob above. Cut a string of "paper dolls" out of a sheet of paper and use the empty template for a fiesta of figures!

You can trace the shapes you like with a pencil, then cut them out and paste them onto a blank greeting card. If you want to use the same color blob with various silhouettes, just scan or photograph each time you change the placement and use the photos for greeting card images.

Demo from France

Lavender in Provence
11"x15" Original Watercolor

A recent demonstration using my previous work for reference.

Going for Green

Going for Green  Original Watercolor en Plein Air Size of artwork 11"x15" Framed & matted 16"x20" 

Painted on location during the 5th Annual US Open Plein Air Event on Whidbey Island. If it hasn't sold yet, you may see it this weekend and other work from the event on display until September 15. They'll be closed on Monday for Labor Day, but open on Tuesday. For more information please go to http://www.pacificnorthwestartschool.com/events.html

See my post about this experience en plein air. https://michelecooper.blogspot.com/2010/08/perils-of-plein-air.html

The title has a double meaning.

1. It refers to the variations of color in the landscape.

2.“Going for Green” refers to the jersey won in cycling competitions.

The green jersey, or maillot vert, is worn by the rider that has accrued the most points during the race. Points are awarded based on the positions that riders finish each stage as well as their performance during intermediate sprints within stages.

Hollyhocks with a View

15"x11" Original Watercolor
Framed size: 20"x16"

Another plein air piece from Whidbey Island.

Out of the ordinary for me to return for a second day on plein air work, but I was coming down with a sore throat and feeling low on energy. After the second day, the weather changed and rain, cold wind, etc. put me indoors for the next morning. Got the framing done, though!

Perils of Plein Air

There is no such thing as the unhampered artist. I know, I've been there.....hundreds of times! Just when you think the light is perfect, the viewpoint solves most of your compositional problems and you're ready for the final 5 strokes.........the biggest, yellowest school bus comes and parks right in front of your easel!

I did have a memorable experience here though. Earlier in the day, I was about 2/3 finished with the painting when I became aware of someone standing behind me. A very polite voice said, "Your colors are so beautiful! May I take a photo of you and your work?"

 I thought I recognized her, asked her if her name was Anne and realized we had met the year before while I was painting "Down Holbrook". Anne is a poet who lives on Whidbey Island. I told her I needed help with a title and she came up with a great one: "Going for Green."

 I'll post a better photo of this painting for you later.

Update: Here’s the finished painting https://michelecooper.blogspot.com/2010/09/going-for-green.html

Artist a Day Demonstration

French Vineyard
Original Watercolor
20x16

Auction closes on Sept 25 at Bellevue Art & Frame (new store location)
This is the painting that I did in four hours in person on August 19.

It is available for purchase by silent auction and proceeds benefit Bellevue Schools Foundation. For more information and to see the other paintings in this exhibit, go to http://www.bellevueartandframe.com/events_4gallery.html