San Juan Capistrano Arches

"San Juan Capistrano Arches"
9" x 12"
ink and watercolor on paper

My husband and I went to this wonderful place in Sourthern California for a day trip honeymoon...and I never wanted to leave! I could have stayed there and painted for weeks...the history, the beauty, the ambiance of the ages...it really spoke to me!

It was the perfect day.

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MINI-DEMO

Ballpoint pens have a silvery, graphite-like quality that lends itself beautifully to capturing textures. Most of the newer ones are archival, though some of my 35-year-old ballpoint pen drawings have turned to a lovely, atmospheric sepia.




Here, you can see the texture possible with repeated lines and a lighter or heavier application...really, very much like a pencil drawing, but a bit stronger and easier to paint over with watercolor washes.

I've used glazes to suggest the textures and shadows, mostly with burnt sienna and ultramarine blue.

A bit of spatter suggests aged stonework and adobe, as does the drybrush work, below...I loaded my brush with ultramarine grayed with a little sienna and just allowed it to touch the texture of the paper, using the side of the brush rather than the tip.

I was very pleased with the resulting vignette...

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This painting will come to you unmatted and unframed for ease of shipping; I wrap with care and send via Priority Mail for most dependable shipping.


$125

Wren Sketch

"Wren Sketch"
4" x 6"
watercolor and ink on paper

This is a quick gesture sketch of a wren we saw near home, singing its bold little heart out! And sometimes ALL you have time for is a quick scribble, with a bit of color added later, from memory.

I found much more on the little wren--a Bewick's wren--in my bird books and online--and posted it in our Sketching in Nature blog, HERE.

If you love nature and enjoy learning about it, feel free to join us at Sketching in Nature--it's an international group blog of terrific artists, learning from the best teacher there is, Nature herself. It's here: http://naturesketchers.blogspot.com/

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Watch for our next mini-demo here, later in the week!

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This painting will come to you unmatted and unframed for ease of shipping; I wrap with care and send via Priority Mail for most dependable shipping.


$20


(Use the PayPal button below or contact me if you prefer to pay by check.)

"Desert Storm"

"Desert Storm"

original watercolor pencil on paper

9" x 11 1/2"

I updated this post, since I rediscovered a demo I did for it! People seem to enjoy them, so I added two new detail shots and put the demo below. It seemed especially appropriate since I'm in the middle of teaching my online class--on watercolor pencil.

I've done several workshops for the Nevada Watercolor Society, and a field trip into the desert with my sister and brother-in-law brought me to this beautiful redrock outcropping with the storm lowering over it near Mt. Charleston. The colors of the high desert landscape were intensified by the storm...rich blue shadows in the still-snowy mountains, the burnt sienna of the redrock, and the gray-green of sage and other desert plants. I love the scent of the desert, and the coming of rain intensified that too--fresh, spicy, wonderful.I wish I could share that with you as well...

This is an original work, using the versatility of watercolor pencils , done on cold pressed paper. It was a challenge, but all painting worth doing IS...

This was originally in my North Light book, Watercolor Pencil Magic--it's one of my favorites--so I put it on my new CD, Watercolor Pencil Workshop...it's part of Lesson 3.

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MINI-DEMO

Here, you can see the progression from dry pencil on paper to the first washes--you can do the pencil work in the field and not worry about carrying water with you, if you like. They're lightweight and versatile...

The careful application of clear water softens and blends the pigment on the paper...I was careful not to blur the edges where colors touch,where I preferred a crisp edge. I let this dry before adding the foreground layers.

I DID want a soft edge to suggest clouds--you can see I kept the application of blue pencil much lighter in that area, then was careful to blend softly.

Scribbled marks worked well to suggest the desert scrub...dots here and there suggested smaller plants. They blended just enough...

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$125

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This painting will come to you unmatted and unframed for ease of shipping; I wrap with care and send via Priority Mail for most dependable shipping.

"Window on the Past"--SOLD

"Window on the Past"
5" x 7"
original watercolor, marble dust and polymer medium
on archival cold-pressed paper
matted

(Click on the image to see it larger...)

There is something both inviting and mysterious about a window, particularly one that has looked out upon the world for so long. This is an adobe window in the American Southwest, set into the thick walls that help keep the intense desert heat at bay.

I did this small painting to explore some techniques for my upcoming revision of
my 20-year-old North Light book,
Watercolor Tricks & Techniques: 75 New and Classic Painting Secrets

I tried out some of the new texture mediums, and then decided it would be more challenging and interesting to invent my own--so I borrowed some marble dust from a friend who paints with pastels, and mixed it into matte polymer medium for a somewhat rough texture, then painted it onto the paper and allowed it to dry.

Rough strokes approximate the texture of my subject.

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MINI-DEMO

The polymer medium sits on the paper surface, and allowed me to lift color with a damp brush, blotting away the loosened watercolor easily as you see here on the edges of the window frame.

I lifted more color to suggest the glass in the broken window, then used an Exacto knife to scratch the sharp edge of the glass, below--I was delighted with the way this helped suggest the dark mystery beyond.

Here, I chose granulating paint--Ultramarine Blue--which settled unevenly into the marble dust-created texture. When all was dry, I scraped paint away from the surface here and there to show the weathered quality of the old building and used a bit of spatter to further add the sense of great age.

It is a very atmospheric little piece!

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Most of the paintings offered here are unframed, both to save on shipping charges and to allow you to suit your own taste and decor.

Doing so allows me to keep the prices down
and puts original art in the hands of more people!

$75


SOLD, thank you very much!

Changes...for the better!

Hi all...

I hope you like all the new changes on this blog...I wanted it cleaner and more open, and finally took time to resize the banner and simplify the sidebar information. I'll keep working on that for a bit till I get it where I want it, but I do hope it makes it easier to see the art and to navigate, as well!

I'd be delighted with your feedback on this, too...