My new book is out!

It got into the stores, onto Amazon, and into buyers' hands about a month earlier than expected, and the reviews have been really good! 

Above is one of my favorite step-by-step demos from the book, from a visit to  in the Blue Ridge Mountains, back before we were married..  Gorgeous area...we drove through clouds and watched that subtle, beautiful sunset over the mountains...
 You can order from my website and get a signed copy (click on the title of this post, above) and of course Amazon has it as well--click here for details, including the Search Inside option...Watercolor Tricks & Techniques: 75 New and Classic Painting Secrets

(Just remember to hit "surprise me," you can see a lot more of a book that way...)

I did animals and people, too, of course, and also some whimsical pieces like childhood toys and a goofy doll I designed years ago!

There are step-by-steps on both of these, too...my little friend Fiona and my beloved Merlin...

"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!

"Ravenflight"--watercolor on Yupo

9" x 12" ORIGINAL watercolor on Yupo surface Nevada's arid desert captures my imagination--each time I visit, I make time to go to Red Rock Canyon or the Valley of Fire--both are spectacular! In this alien landscape, any sign of life is a welcome one. Ravens thrive, as do coyotes, lizards, snakes and spiders... This watercolor was done for my latest North Light book, a revision of Watercolor Tricks & Techniques done 20 years ago. There have been many new materials and techniques in the intervening years, and I am enjoying the exploration. "Ravenflight" was done on Yupo, a plastic surface that allows some wonderful, fresh effects as well as ease of lifting. I was delighted with the effects here. $140 This painting is offered unmatted and unframed to keep costs down. It will come to you carefully wrapped via Priority Mail. Insurance included in the shipping cost

 

Give the gift of original art!