Independent Layering Technique

I painted this picture on yupo paper using the Independent Layering Technique.  Mary Jane Noe, who created this technique has published a book on this topic.  If you are interested in learning how to do this you may purchase this book from Blurb, on her website.  Go to maryjanenoe.blogspot.com and look in the right hand margin of her web page. The title of the book is YesYouCan!!!  There you will find the information on how to order this book.  It is a challenging but fun way to paint!!!

Ohio Watercolor Society

Last night I attended the Ohio Watercolor Society Banquet for this years show.  I submitted the above painting which was accepted into the show.  The show is being held at the Mansfield Arts Center, 700 Marion Avenue, Mansfield Oh. The exhibition will run through October 25.  This is the second year I have entered and had a painting accepted so with this I was able to apply for signature membership in the society.  I am happy to say I was honored with signature status last night!  This is a watercolor done in the tape batik method.

Summer Fun

Water has such an appeal for children!!  They don't care if their clothes get wet!  Watercolor is the perfect medium for painting water.  The natural flow of juicy color is what makes this painting so successful.  This is painted on Arches cold pressed paper.

Sunny Day

I painted this farm scene from a small painting I had done on site last fall.  I love the warm sunny feeling in this picture.  The corn stalks cast a beautiful shadow on the field.  This is a watercolor painted on cold pressed arches paper.

Voyageur's National Park

                                                        Sunset over one of the many islands

                                                                       Bald Eagle

 White Pelican

I just returned from a trip to Voyageurs National Park in Minnesota.  We took one of the park boat tours which took us to several of the Bald Eagle nests in the park.  Also, we were able to see the White Pelicans, which at one time had become extinct in the park.  This park is very unique due to the fact that the park is water, not a land mass.  There are four large lakes and twenty five small lakes, plus many rivers and streams that connect the bodies of water.  The large lakes have many small islands in them.

Michigan Watercolor Society

This painting, titled "Threads of Memory" was accepted into the Michigan Watercolor Society 2014 Juried Exhibit.  The show opens June 7, 2014 and closes July 7, 2014.  The exhibit is being held at the Greater Flint Arts Council, Saginaw, Michigan.  Painted on a gesso surface, this picture really glows with color.  I explained the process used to paint this picture under an earlier posting, "Sweet Dreams".  Painting on a gesso surface is one of my favorite ways to paint a picture.

McCullough-Hyde Memorial Hospital Exhibit

McCullough-Hyde Hospital in Oxford, Ohio sponsors a juried exhibit titled Healing Art Project.  I am happy to say this painting of waterlilies was chosen for the exhibit.  The opening reception is Friday ,May 2nd, and the art exhibit remains on display for one full year.

Looking for a good subject

I am always looking for interesting people to paint.  This gentlemen was kind enough to pose for me.  I love the intense look in his eyes, yet the overall feeling is one of softness.   This is a watercolor.

SPRING

After a LOONG cold winter spring has finally arrived!!!  I just returned from a week at Kanuga Watermedia Workshops, in Hendersonville, NC.  My workshop was with Keiko Tannabe, a wonderful watercolor painter.  Now that color has finally returned to the landscape I plan to do be outside painting as much as possible.

From The Forest Floor

Inspiration is all around us when it comes to painting.  During a walk in a national forest I came across a grouping of ferns that had felt the first frost.  Parts of the ferns were different colors than the usual green.  I loved the grouping and decided to try it as a batik painting.  This was my first attempt and I wasn't happy with the whole painting so I cropped it into a better picture.  After removing the wax I added more paint to get better values in the painting.  After that I was really happy with the painting.

Saving A Painting

These two paintings were actually part of one big painting.  I was not happy with the composition, so I cut the painting into two smaller pieces and worked on them separately.  These originally began from throwing fluid acrylic paint onto watercolor paper.  After completing the drawing over the acrylic paint, I applied miskit before painting in the picture.

 

Once I painted the picture with watercolor,  I removed the miskit.  This is what the paintings looked like at that stage.  I then added more paint, cropped the pictures and here is the result.

 

 

I am really happy with the result.  Notice the blossoms in the bottom of the last painting - blossoms in watercolor add a great element to a painting in the right spot.

A Cup Of Tea

 

 

 

This was painted from a photo I took of a collection of teacups.  I painted this on arches paper that had been covered with a layer of gesso, textured, color added.  Then I removed the white areas of the painting, and painted in the darker values.  This is one of my favorite ways to paint a picture.  The texture of the gesso adds a great deal of interest to the painting.

Clear Sailing for the New Year

Hoping everyone is moving into the New Year with calm seas.  I have been cleaning out my studio and sorting through my photo references and sketches so that I have a fresh start for 2014.