Sunflowers Watercolor

I started this watercolor a few days ago and finished it this morning. The sunflowers that are modeling for me are spectacular. I bought them last Thursday and the heads are still magnificent. So I better paint faster. I'm listing this over at Daily Painters Marketplace.

Guitar Man 5x7 Watercolor

I was so exhausted by the fanfare surrounding my award that I haven't been able to paint . Just kidding ;) Saturday evening I went to an outdoor party where a band was playing. This guitar man, caught my eye as a perfect painting and I took a bunch of snaps of him. The red spot lights set the mood. I included a detail from the initial sketch just for the heck of it.

Art y Pico

The bloggers are a generous lot, passing out compliments and awards to their bloggie friends. I don't know what else to say after getting the Art y Pico Award from both Kelley MacDonald and Jeffrey Boron, two of my fellow artist bloggers. Thank you! :::::::taking a bow:::::::::: This means I get to pass it on to five other bloggers and believe me, there is no shortage of terrific painters and artists out here in the blogosphere. I can't wait to share these blogs with you.

To quote the originator's intent in creating it, "The Arte y Pico Award has arisen from the daily visits that I make to many blogs which nourish and enrich me with creativity. In them, I see dedication, creativity, care, comradeship, but mainly, ART, much art. I want to share this prize with all those bloggers that entertain and enrich me day to day. Doubtlessly, there are many and it will be hard to pick just a few."

The Rules:

1. You have to pick 5 blogs that you consider deserve this award through creativity, design, interesting material, and also contributes to the blogger community, no matter of language.
2. Each award should have the name of the author with a link to their blog.
3. Award winners have to post the award with the name and link to the blog of the person who gave them the award.
4. Show these rules and the paragraph (above) explaining the awards origination. To quote her description of this award: The Arte y Pico Award has arisen from the daily visits that I make to many blogs which nourish and enrich me with creativity. In them, I see dedication, creativity, care, comradeship, but mainly, ART, much art. I want to share this prize with all those bloggers that entertain and enrich me day to day. Doubtlessly, there are many and it will be hard to pick just a few."

My Picks: Rob Ibjema's paintings are an exciting mix of abstract design and color that turn out to be cars. Frank Gardner is an American painter living in San Miguel, who shares lots of great info on his blog and his paintings are wonderful. Jennifer Bellinger paints the best lemons anywhere and her beautifully executed still lives, both large and small, are total eye candy. Liza Hirst is from Berlin and paints beautiful street scenes and still life. Jennifer McChristian, a California painter whose dramatic paintings say more with less.

Sunflower Study

I set up on the back deck yesterday afternoon and did a drawing of a pitcher of sunflowers right on the canvas. I managed to come up with a good sketch but the painting, not so much. I just couldn't get the colors right and it got a little muddy so, I wiped it off ;) Anyway, it was a great way to spend a glorious summer day. Our very short summer is slipping away so I'm beaching and reading and gardening here.

Sagamore Bridge pencil sketch 8x10

Just to stretch myself I did this drawing of the Sagamore Bridge, one of two identical bridges that span the Cape Cod Canal. I love bridges and would like to develop this into a painting. I'm going to step back (from the computer and the palette) and enjoy the beautiful weather we're having here on the coast of Massachusetts. It's all too fleeting.

Provincetown Kite Store 12x12

I've always wanted to paint the kite store but it was as scary as the mums ;) This was supposed to be my entry for the PAAM 12x12 auction but since it was still wet I opted for the Spider Mums. My new Princeton 6300 brights are just kickin' when it comes to putting paint in the stripes of the kites and such. I love them. Check out my other blog for some interesting and fun photos of Provincetown. There is no place like it. Trust me.

White Spider Mums 12x12

SOLD

Maybe another tweak on this but it's mostly finished. I think a subtle dark stroke beneath the lemons and plums to keep them from floating, This was another of my 'simple' still lives and I went through the valley of "this is not going to happen" before hitting the 'sweet spot' today, going for the finish. There's a mental moment in each painting where the struggle suddenly switches gears and you know you're on the right track. There are things I'd do differently here but over all I reached the goal. I used some great new brushes that Kelley gave me and I can see the difference from my usual bristle flats. Completely changed my edges. This is for Provincetown Art Association and Museum's 12x12 silent auction event which takes place August 1st through September 7th. Stop in if you happen to be visiting beautiful Provincetown, Massachusetts.

White Spider Mums 12x12

Just picked up the ole hammer and started hitting myself on the head again this morning. Here's my setup in front of what we call our bird window. Using natural light I am actually designing the painting as I go. It just happened that way but it's a good lesson. Had to make a run to the store for some more lemons and some plums and some cat food. Here are a few enticing 'details'. I always have a vase of white spider mums in the house. I've never painted them though. Too scary ;)

Crystal Vase Stripes 4x6

This study brings to mind that old joke about hitting yourself on the head with a hammer. It feels great when you stop. This was supposed to be a warm up for another painting I have due next week. A simple still life, as it were. You know what that means from me. Some needlessly(?) complicated set up. Yipes Stripes! Upon photographing this I can see how the values behind the glass of the vase are too light (the photo is not accurate in color no matter how many times I shot it) and the stripes are too static. I can only improve from here.

Parrsboro Pine Study 6x8

This is a late afternoon study of the trees outside the cottage window, from my trip to Parrsboro. I also included a detail. I'm feeling better about painting trees these days. I hope everyone is enjoying the summer. I am ;)

Hot and Hazy 8x16

This view of Boston Light and Graves Light was painted in Hull from the hilltop at Fort Revere, where there are 360 degree views of Boston and the harbor islands. I submitted it to a show at Oceanside 17 for a show called Heat which will run from July 18th through August 17th. Go visit if you are in Nantasket (Hull) and check out the wonderful display of painting, jewelry, glass and more. Hey, maybe even buy some art ;D

Out to Pasture WC 6x6

It seems that this little hatchback has taken its last ride. Now it's a painting subject. As usual, it was really buggy while I painted. My setup was on the hood of the car. If you like old cars as a subject visit Ron Morrison's blog and see his cool watercolors of really old abandoned cars.

Picnic Tables and Lupine W/C 7x9

I sat on a small bluff next to our cottage and painted this watercolor looking towards the Pier which would be just slightly to the right of this frame. I think of this as more of a study, to grab some color notes and some practice on the spot. The little cottage with the red shutters is just a doll house and looks out over a large patch of Lupine to the Lighthouse. The view from my previous post, which I shot from behind this Lupine, is behind me. Heaven.

Parrsboro

I'm in Parrsboro, Nova Scotia for two weeks. Got here late last Monday night and so far have done at least one painting each day. Yesterday I painted a couple of watercolors outside fighting the blackflies which bit me numerous times. Thank heaven for spray benadryl. If one must know why I would plan my Nova Scotia vacation for the last two weeks of June, when the weather's iffy and the blackflies are biting it's because of the lupine which blooms profusely this time of year only. Sunday I donned my bug jacket which completely covers my face and upper body and set up to do a painting at Two Islands. There are no serviceable photos of the paintings yet but I thought I'd share the lupine. An addendum to this post is that I have to come to the Fundy Geological Museum to connect and I didn't get this post up last Friday as I'd hoped. They were closing and I only had the draft prepared. Didn't feel like spending time indoors either Saturday or Sunday so today I had to come over and put up the post. If you want a quiet vacation, this is the place.

Irises Watercolor 6x6

Yesterday I had all the air conditioners on early which kept the temperature inside at a cool 70 degrees. 70 is freezing for most people so I took my watercolors outside for a painting session. Just a little doodle here. Practice makes perfect. By the time I finished this I was pouring sweat even though I was sitting in the shade. It was close to 100 degrees here.

The Yellow Caboose WIP

Some of us are reluctant to put up WIP's or works in progress. It's almost a given that one might not succeed in bringing it to completion without overworking or losing the initial magic. On my way past the Fairgrounds I glimpsed this fabulous caboose on display with the late evening sun on it and pulled a U-ey ( U turn in New England parlance) and set up to block this is. By the time I got this far it was getting dark and I had no memory stick in the camera (oops) to take a photo. However, I may be able to work this out with out one since I already have so much information. I'll probably wait for the sun to come out again (this IS New England) and go back in the evening to finish it. Wish me luck!

Del's Lemonade 8x10

This is Tuesday's painting done near Kelley's new studio in Warren, Rhode Island, where my wonderful GPS girlfriends surprised me with a Birthday party a couple of weeks early. It was fabulous. A complete surprise and they went all out making nice food and giving me lovely gifts. I wore the Birthday Hat too. I left my memory stick in the computer so I have to rely on one of the girls for photos of that. We all painted outside and after sketching out a truck that left to go on his route, I just couldn't lug my setup around the front of Del's lemonade paint the famous (in these parts) lemon sign. So here's the view of the loading dock.

North River 6x8

On the run this morning. Going out to paint with the girls.

North River 6x8

I did a little sketch of the river and the marsh looking toward Norwell from the new turnout in Scituate. I used the same strange' grab bag' palette that I used for the Stonington Bridge. It took some adjusting to get the colors. You'll have to wait until tomorrow for a good photo because I can't get one tonight. I enclosed a teaser detail. I love the way paint strokes look close up.

Yellow and Violet Bottles Watercolor

Just fooling around today with this set up of clear glass bottles against a neutral background. I'm going to do another one too. Just keeping it simple here ;) That's a joke.