Various finished pieces

I finally got hubby to take pictures of several pieces I've finished a while ago. ​

First here are some of the steps to paint this beautiful pink and red orchid using water-soluble oils (12 x 12 inches on gallery-wrapped canvas):

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Here are the progress photos for this French landscape using oil pastels (approx. 15 x 20 inches on matboard):​

Here are some other pieces I've recently finished. From left to right, top to bottom:

  • ​Poppy study in watercolor (approx. 9 x 12 inches watercolor paper) - This was a study done for a large acrylic painting I completed a while back.
  • Poppy in oils on Ampersand Aquabord (6 x 6 inches) - Interesting surface to paint oils. It sucks the oil out of the paint and the paint dries VERY fast. The paint kept soaking into the support and I found myself using a lot of paint to get bright colors. The finished painting looks matte, more like a gouache than an oil.
  • Poppy in acrylics done on 12 x 12 inch gallery-wrapped canva
  • Field of Gold - oil pastel on matboard (approx. 7 x 10 inches)​
  • Toucan - watercolor on watercolor paper (approx. 9 x 12 inches)​
  • Echinacea flower - watercolor on watercolor paper (approx. 9 x 12 inches)​

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Another "Barn Owl" in watercolors

​Below is my latest watercolor of a "Barn Owl." It is 9 x 12 inches on Strathmore watercolor paper 140 lb. Not the best paper since it takes no scrubbing and very little water and it starts fluffing :( Can't wait to get my order of Arches paper in the mail.

​Barn Owl - watercolor on watercolor paper (9x12 inches)

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"Barn owl" in watercolor and more flowers in acrylics

Here's my latest watercolor painting of a "Barn owl." I painted it as part of the Watercolor monthly challenge on the site "Paint my Photo." I added a snail so the owl doesn't go hungry. I used watercolor pencils here for some of the details and texture and also a little white gouache for the light of the eyes.​  

Below you will also see my two latest acrylic paintings of flowers already on my wall. They're poppies on the left and lilies on the right. Both area on a 12x12 inch gallery-wrapped canvas.​

​Barn owl - watercolor on watercolor paper (9x12 inches approx.)

Latest acrylic paintings of flowers - 12x12 inch gallery-wrapped canvas

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Poppy paintings on my wall

So here's how my latest poppy paintings look on my wall. The one on the bottom left is my most recent.  Below is "Thing 1s" creativity center (aka our dining room table). I just loooove poppies!

Even though they're on my wall they're still for sale if anyone is interested ;) The smaller ones are 12 x 12 inches while the larger one is 28 x 22 inches.

Poppy paintings - acrylics on gallery-wrapped canvas

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Testing out the Derwent watercolor pencils and watercolor collection

I recently bought a 12 pack tin of Derwent watercolor pencils for doing the sketch before a watercolor painting and to add details to watercolor paintings as well. I've also acquired a 12 piece Derwent watercolor collection which includes watercolor pencils, Aquatone watercolor crayons, Inktense pencils and a paintbrush. The Inktense pencils are basically ink in pencil form and are permanent once dry (contrary to regular watercolor pencils that can be removed and blended to a certain extent).

So I got them out today and "Thing 1" and I tested them. As you can see on the pictures below "Thing 1" had fun painting her favorite subject, rainbows and flowers (and mom and herself). I on the other hand sketched a flower from memory. I have to say I enjoyed the Aquatone watercolor crayons (used in the blue background) and the Inktense pencils (magenta color in the flower) more than the regular watercolor pencils.

For people who want to start getting some exposure to art, I would highly recommend getting a small set of either the Aquatones or the Inktense. They are very convenient to store and use, don't take much space. All you need is some good watercolor paper (like Arches, Fabriano, Saunders Waterford), a paintbrush, and a container with water and you can start producing simple watercolor sketches and even good paintings.

For anyone interested, I am currently selling two Derwent sets on Ebay (one is a 12 piece watercolor pencil set and the other one is a 12 piece watercolor collection):

Ebay for sale: Brand NEW - Derwent 12 watercolor pencils

Ebay for sale: Brand NEW - Derwent 12 watercolor collection

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Oil pastel sketch of a ballerina

So here is a small (approx. 7.5X10 inches) sketch of a ballerina tying her slippers. It is in oil pastels on clear-gessoed matboard. I used to love ballet so I enjoyed sketching this ballerina. I really need to work on honing my figure and skin-tone painting skills. I don't do it often and to be honest I often avoid it.

Ballerina - oil pastel on matboard (approx. 7.5 x 10 inches)

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Work-in-progress: Italian landscape in oil pastels

Most people don't realize how much goes into creating a piece of art. Here is an example of a work-in-progress (WIP), an italian landscape in oil pastels (OP). 

I have been painting OPs on scrap pieces of acid-free matboard for a while and love it. But for the board to be really receptive to layering of OPs, it first has to be coated with clear-gesso and allowed to dry for 24 hours. Next comes an underpainting, which basically gets rid of the stark white color of the support and is useful in case there's not 100% coverage of the support by the OPs. An underpainting can be done in a single color like I've done here. I chose a red watercolor underpainting because the scene I'm painting has a lot of oranges and greens and little bits of the underpainting showing here and there will bring some vibrancy to the end result. I then sketched my scene with oil-based colored pencils. Another option for underpainting is to basically recreate all values and colors in the final painting using paint (watercolor, acrylics, gouache or even oils), which basically means that you're painting the scene twice.

WIP: Italian landscape - red underpainting and sketch

After the underpainting is done there's a blocking in of colors as can be seen below where I basically use the OPs on the side and establish the main colors and values (lights/darks).  Please note that this picture does not accurately capture the colors that I've used for the block-in, namely some greens look too yellow. There's something about photographying complementary colors--red and greens in this case--that confuses the camera and no Photoshop can fix it. But anyways, you get the idea about the block-in stage. So far, I've spent about 3 hours on the painting but there are many more to come as I keep layering the OPs and adding detail to complete this wonderful landscape scene. Keep tuned for the next stages.

WIP: Italian landscape - Block-in

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Latest work: Poppies - acrylics on canvas

Even in the flu I've managed to paint some these past few weeks. It's tough to hold a brush and paint with the constant cough but I think it makes for loser strokes (LOL!). Anyways here are my latest acrylic paintings on gallery-wrapped canvas. I'm in a poppy painting kind of mood. It's my favorite flower (in addition to tulips). I love all the shades or reds, oranges, yellows, pinks, etc. that they come in. They scream passion to me. Hope you like them too!

Red passion - acrylic on gallery-wrapped canvas (12x12 inches)

Sherbert shades - acrylic on gallery-wrapped canvas (12x12 inches)

Poppy and buddy - acrylic on gallery-wrapped canvas (28 x 22 inches)

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Elephant and sheep in watercolor

This is my latest painting of an elephant in watercolor (12 x 9 inches Strathmore watercolor paper). It is based on a reference image from the site Paint My Photo. It was fun painting this guy or girl.  Below you'll also find a painting of a sheep family. It's amazing how hard it is to depict a white/cream animal. I seem to be in an animal-painting phase lately.

Elephant - watercolor on watercolor paper (12 x 9 inches)

Sheep family - watercolor on watercolor paper (12 x 9 inches)

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