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...

Miss Lara and the Yatates-SOLD

"Lara and the Yatates"
8" x 10"
ink on Bristol vellum

Yatates are wonderful Japanese traveling paint kits--they have been in use for well over 400 years, and were part of a Samurai's basic equipment. Yatates come in many shapes and sizes--I have four in my collection, all thought to be Edo-era, 1603-1868. They are FUN to use in the field! Mine were all quite inexpensive, considering, and are made of brass and copper--virtually indestructible, though I DID panic when I left one of them in a restaurant in the next town! They had no idea what it was, but they kept it safe in the office till we could get back over and retrieve it.

There is ink-saturated cotton, silk or sponge in the bowl, and the hollow handle holds a brush for writing or drawing in the Sumi-e style.

Here's a photo of the same two yatates...lovely, aren't they?

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MINI-DEMO
detail from the ink painting above

It just seemed right somehow to use the Sumi-e brush and paint without preliminary drawing with pencil, as the Samurai might have done. I do find I tend to hold my breath a lot when I work that way, though!

Brushes of this sort often come to a lovely point so they are good for drawing, writing, or painting...I just paid close attention to shapes and relationships as I worked, using the tip of the brush for lines and details, and the body of it for Miss Lara and the soft gray shadows.

I diluted the ink with water for the halftone grays on the yatates, but left it full strength for our beautiful black cat, Lara. (She was named after the heroine in Dr. Zhivago, since she too was shot and thrown into a snowbank to die. My husband's daughter found her, rescued her and brought her back to health.)

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Most of the paintings offered here are unmatted and 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!

$100

SOLD, and thank you so much!

,

Mini-demo

Hi all...well, I'm amazed at your response already, so I thought I'd show you what I mean...I put it on this post http://cathyjohnsonart.blogspot.com/2009/06/waiting-for-first-snow.html, on the painting that sold already, but I had the detail shot of the upper right part of the painting...

This is what I had in mind, more or less. I hope the italic and ------- lines set it off a bit.

Suggestions welcome, for doing that, though!

Gallery blog idea--tell me what you think!

Hi all...I've been thinking I might try to include a mini-tip when I post a painting, just a bit telling how it came about, or what technique was used where. Would this be of interest to you?

Maybe I'll try to find a place to do a poll on Blogger, but meanwhile, please do leave a comment and tell me what you think!

Best--
Kate

Waiting for First Snow--SOLD

"Waiting for First Snow"
9" x 12" image size

original watercolor on archival cold pressed paper
framed and matted

I began this painting as a demo at one of the Art Crawls in Excelsior Springs, Missouri, and continued to develop and refine it later, at home. Everything seemed to fall together, as it sometimes does, and I had it matted and framed.

This will be on my new watercolor CD, since I took demo shots of it...

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MINI-DEMO:
detail from upper right on the painting above

When I want to make an area lacier and open up some light, as in these distant trees, I use a sharp blade or X-acto knife to scrape back to the white paper. I scraped the trunks and branches into the damp wash--bruising the paper makes darker lines.

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This one found a home quickly, THANK YOU!

$350
SOLD

Miss Rags

"Miss Rags" 9" x 12" original watercolor pencil on archival paper unmatted

Miss Rags is my oldest cat, almost 13 now; I hand raised her from a kitten and she is STILL a spooky little thing! She doesn't like you to reach for her, she'll come to YOU--and then she's just as loving as can be. I've sketched and painted her often over the years, and this is the latest--I'm teaching a watercolor pencil class online, and I wanted to experiment with loose, washy effects, drips, and spatters--I was very happy with the results. You can read about the creative process on my LiveJournal blog, if you like--just click on the subject line for this post, or visit me at http://katequicksilvr.livejournal.com/384153.html !

Most of the paintings offered here are unmatted and 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

Cyclamen

Cyclamen

8" x 9"
mineral-based watercolors on archival paper
unmatted

I enjoy painting wet-in-wet from time to time, and wanted to explore some of Daniel Smith's mineral-based Primatek paints--especially some of the more colorful ones!

I needed to experiment with these paints for the new North Light book I'm working on, a revision of my 1988 Watercolor Tricks and Techniques,
and I've just discovered you can pre-order the upcoming
Watercolor Tricks & Techniques: 75 New and Classic Painting Secrets
on Amazon! (Click on the link above to take you there, if you'd like to read more.)

This is the proposed cover...I'm pleased with it!


For the cyclamen painting, I obviously wanted to do something other than the earthy browns, blacks, grays and siennas of many of the mineral paints, and was pleasantly surprised by these. This used Rhondonite Genuine, Natural Amazonite, Serpentine Genuine, Sodalite Genuine, and Purpurite Genuine. It was an interesting experiment...

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SOLD, and thank you!

Most of the paintings offered here are unmatted and 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!

"Waiting for the Storm"-SOLD

Well, wow. I did this little painting for the current North Light book, the revision of Watercolor Tricks & Techniques that I've been working on for the past year. I plan to use it on a new CD of demos, when I get the chance, too--I shot step by step pictures of it all along the way.

You can read more about it on my original blog, the Quicksilver Workaholic, here: http://katequicksilvr.livejournal.com/377929.html

It's been ages since I got anything up here--I've been so busy with the book and the online classes--and it's SOLD already!
(Since it was bought by a friend for a gift, I'll keep the details private!)

Thank you! (Now I'll have to get MORE new things up! *G*)