Works in progress and "watercolor giraffe"

I've been working on several pieces lately in different media. Each medium has its unique properties which keeps me entertained and on my toes. For those artists who follow my blog, drop me a line and let me know what your favorite medium is. I'm curious to know whether you paint on a single medium for weeks or months at a time and then switch or if you are all over the place like me ;)

Last night I painted this giraffe in watercolor. It was exciting dropping the paint and letting it do its thing in the background, but painting this guy (or girl) was awesome. I used watercolor pencils for details for the first time in this piece. I have used WC pencils before for sketching but here I used it after the painting was almost done to add some details. I saw someone on youtube doing this and wanted to try it myself. Basically, if you dip the watercolor pencil tip on water before drawing with it and/or paint on top/next of a wet area, the ending result is more natural as you get broken pieces of pigment that merge with the watercolor. In other words, it looks less as something drawn and more like something painted.

I also worked some on laying in the basic colors for this oil pastel (OP) painting of mangoes, my favorite fruit. This is such an exciting piece due to all the bright colors. Next step would be to push the OP into the paper and blend the different colors together. After that I'll add more layers of OP to refine shapes and add detail.

This morning I spent a couple of hours working on my orchid in oil paints. Below is a picture of how it looked like before I made the latest changes. I will post those in a few days once the paint dries. I have glazed some phthalo blue and lamp black on top of the background and added details on the main bright pink/red leaf. But I still have a ways to go with it.

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Giraffe - watercolor on watercolor paper (9x12 inches)

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Work-in-progress - Mangoes - oil pastel on gessoed watercolor paper (14x21 inches)

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Work-in-progress - Pink orchid - oil paints on canvas (12x12 inches)

"To crop or not to crop?" and "watercolor poppies"

I've been working on this oil pastel of a lavender field for quite some time. It has been so much fun to do. There's something about painting landscapes that is sooo freeing. I think in part it is because I have a different mindset when painting them--I feel less constrained by the shapes and matching things exactly and I can let go. The piece is on a 15X20 inch illustration board which has been coated with clear gesso (to provide tooth so oil pastels can be layered better). Although I like it as a whole, I think the best part is the lavender and lonely tree in the bottom 2/3 of the painting, so I'm thinking about maybe cropping it as shown.  What do you all think? Crop or not? Leave me a comment and let me know your thoughts.

Today I also got my brushes wet and worked on a few watercolors for a while. It has been a long time since I've done anything with watercolor and although it was one of my main mediums for a while it is a high stress one, so I have been avoiding it. I have always loved poppies and so I painted a couple of poppy fields. The first one was a disaster because I overworked it. I spent about 1.5 hours on it and it ended up in the bin. I just spent about 30 minutes on the second one and I think it turned out a lot better, looser and more spontaneous. It is a record for me because I usually spend hours on paintings. 

Lavender field - oil pastel on illustration board (15x20 inches)

Lavender field - oil pastel on illustration board - cropped

Poppy field - watercolor on watercolor paper (9 x 12 inches)

Seascape in gouache

I have to say gouache is a delight to work with. It is basically opaque watercolor and is a very versatile medium that is under-appreciated. It can be thinned and used like watercolor or used opaquely with a similar look as oil paints (except it is matte and cannot be used too thickly due to risk of cracking). It is one of the preferred mediums for illustration due to its extremely fast drying times and matte finish which allows for easy reproduction.

I had this 10 tube gouache set from Daler Rowney which I bought about 7 years ago but never used. I got motivated to try it a few months ago after seeing some awesome work on the artist website wetcanvas.com. You can see some of my gouache work in the Gallery section.

Below is my latest gouache painting. It is based on my own picture which I took when I toured the coast of California with family back in 2007. I'm falling in love with seascapes and this one was so much fun to do. Even though I signed it, I still consider it a work in progress (WIP). I'll have to look at it for a few days before I call it done and move it to the Gallery.

Seagull - gouache on matboard (11 x 15 inches approx.)

Works-in-progress (WIPs) using water mixable oil paints

After years of not painting in oils due to the solvent smells, I decided to give water miscible oil paints (H2O) a try. These paints are made with linseed oil that has been modified to allow mixing with water. The big advantage is that brushes and other painting materials can be cleaned simply with soap and water. The paints themselves can be thinned with water for painting. However, I have been advised by other artists not to use water except for underpaintings since using water makes the paints gummy and don't behave quite right.

I am using the Weber woil water mixable oil paints, which I'm loving so far. Below are two paintings in progress both on 12" x 12" canvas. For the underpaintings, I did thin my paints with water to make a wash. Below is the next step where I am using just the paints and modified linseed oil as medium (Grumbacher Max brand). Basically, I worked on the fabric on the left painting and the background on the right painting.

I tried using the Grumbacher Max quick dry medium, which is advertised as non-toxic, but it gave me headaches. Upon further inquiry and inspection of its MSDS sheet, it contains an ingredient which can affect the central nervous system causing headachaches (so not sure why it's labeled non-toxic), so I'm staying away from it especially now that I am having some health issues. I am trying to paint as non-toxic as possible and therefore, I'm avoiding pigments like the cadmiums and cobalts. Instead I am relying hues of those colors, which are mixes of safer pigments. Not all artists like hues but so far they're working right for me. 

We'll see when I can find some time to work on these guys again. Gotta get used to the slow-drying time of oils again (although these H2O oils are supposed to become dry to the touch in a shorter period of time than regular oils).

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Brushstrokes of Hispanic Heritage

An exhibition of paintings presented by PBCC and the PROCER Organization

For the first time various Puerto Rican artists with residence in Florida exhibited their work together for the enjoyment of all South Florida. Along with paintings from Ana Noble, Elizabeth Erazo Báez, and Carlos Rivera, Michelle exhibited several of her pieces, including oils, acrylic and watercolors.

The exhibition was held at the Jan and Gary Dario Gallery in the Humanities Building of the Palm Beach Community College, Lake Worth Campus, from September 13 through October 18, 2007.

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Wellington Art Society Juried Spring Exhibit

The Wellington Art Society of Palm Beach County celebrated its Annual Juried Spring Exhibition March 15 - 18, 2007 at The Art of Life Gallery & Frame Shop, in The Mall at Wellington Green. Michelle's original watercolor, Capilla del Cristo II, won first prize in the Fine Art Under Glass category.

Over 30 pieces of art were on display during the exhibit, showcasing different mediums including oil, acrylic, watercolor, ceramic, and photography. Keeping it all in the familiy, Michelle's husband Vergentino also won first prize in the Photography & Digital Art category with his image Bridal Roses.

The juror of the exhibit was award-winning artist Mr. Patrick Archer.

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Feature article in La Palma newspaper

La Palma newspaper, Palm Beach Post's publication for the Hispanic market, included a feature article about Michelle in its weekly edition of December 8th, 2006.

Exhibition at the School District of Palm Beach County

Michelle with some of her paintings at the School District of Palm Beach County.

Some of Michelle's artwork was recently on display at the School District of Palm Beach County, as part of the celebration of the Hispanic Heritage Month, which was celebrated from September 15 thru October 15, 2006.

Participation in the First Arts Festival of the Village of Royal Palm Beach

Some of Michelle's art on display.

The Cultural Center of the Village of Royal Palm Beach celebrated its First Arts Festival, last Sunday, August 27, 2006 at the Veterans Park.

The event was splendid with numerous expositions from artists and artisans representing different cultural groups from Palm Beach County, in South Florida.

Michelle had the opportunity to showcase more than thirty different pieces of her original artwork, including watercolors, oils, and acrylic paintings.

Wellington Art Society Juried Spring Exhibit

Michelle with her painting at the Exhibit.

The original painting Capri Church (acrylic on canvas) was submitted to the 2006 Juried Spring Exhibition of the Wellington Art Society, held at the Art of Life Gallery at The Pointe, in The Mall at Wellington Green.

Over 45 pieces of art were on display during the exhibit, showcasing different mediums including oil, acrylic, watercolor, ceramic, and photography.

The juror of the exhibit was award-winning artist Mr. Patrick Archer.

Palm Beach Watercolor Society: 23rd Anniversary Open Juried Exhibition

Michelle with one of her paintings at the Museum.

Two selected watercolor paintings, Kissimmee Wetland and Capilla del Cristo, were submitted to the 23rd Open Juried Exhibition of the Palm Beach Watercolor Society, held at the Coral Springs Museum of Art.

Over 100 pieces of art were on display in the Lobby Gallery of the beautiful musem, located in the city of Coral Springs, Florida (Northwest of Fort Lauderdale). The exhibition ran from March 1-25, 2006.

The juror of this exhibition was Maria Bacinich, AAS, BFA.

The miriza.com website highlighted as Spot of Month

The miriza.com website was selected as Spot of the Month for the March, 2006 email newsletter of Escape to Puerto Rico (EPR), an excellent and comprehensive online guide to the island of Puerto Rico.

The editors of EPR say:

"Michelle M. Irrizarry's gallery feature original pieces in watercolor and oil. Her works show energetic, colorful, and vivid world. Her favorite themes are flowers and scenes from Puerto Rico and Europe. This gallery is simply breathtaking! Amazing! Brilliant!"