Collage of My January 2016 Paintings

Collage of My January 2016 Paintings

It always gives me a great satisfaction to see my painting endeavors during the previous month in a collage like this.  Everyday I put in a few hours of work whether feeling inspired or not.  Then, at the end of month, I make one of these collages to realize that I have been working hard.  No growth without work!

"Red Zinnea II" (watercolor on Yupo; 8" x 10 1/2") sold

sold

I just started laying down paints on the line drawing for "Red Zinnea"; how do you like my mini, full-palette palette?

"Red Zinnea" in progress; it's almost time to paint the "air" and that is when all hell breaks loose!

Recently I sold "Red Zinnea" (see below) on Etsy.  On the day she received the painting in the mail, the buyer contacted me requesting if I could paint a little larger version for her mother who also loves zinneas.  How could I resist such a sweet request!  So the deal was made and she duly placed a commission order on Etsy.  Do you know what she did while she had a credit card out?  She bought another Yupo painting!  She told me that she couldn't help herself!

"Red Zinnea" (watercolor on Yupo, 6" x 8"; sold)

"Poppy Dreams" (watercolor on Yupo, 6" x 8"; sold)

"Pink Rose of Sharon" (oil on linen; 5" x 4") sold

sold

I painted flowers that looked just like the rose of sharon back in July and boldly titled the painting as such.  Guess what?  I was wrong.  A Faccbook friend corrected me; another friend confirmed my error.  Isn't that great?  By the way, the rose of sharon is the Korean national flower.  I don't know why my countrymen picked the flower, but there it is.

"Pink Hollyhocks" (watercolor on Yupo, 10" x 8"; 150)
click here to buy

On a personal note, I have been absent from my studio for the past three days on account of my daughter's marching band activities.  As my husband and I volunteer as the pit crew and in other capacities, we were busy helping the band for most of the weekend.  I am glad that the marching season is almost over, so that I can get back to my daily painting routine!

"Hydrangea Garden" (oil on linen; 10" x 8") sold

sold

"Hydrangea Garden" in the original state

Hydrangea and astilbe in a summer garden by a white picket fence.  Perfect! Unfortunately, my first try was so chalky that I almost scraped the painting off.  The chalkiness was caused by all the "grays" I used at the block-in stage.  That's the trouble with using too much white paint, because these muted, grayed colors are made with lots of white.

Do you remember my experience during Gregory Packard's workshop in May?  When one mixes primary, secondary and tertiary colors with white, colors become "duller," but also more nuanced.  I am still following his example, mixing big batches of "grays" before starting a painting, which I continue to use for the next painting or two.  As you can see in the above example, I have yet to master the fine line between "sophisticated" and "chalky".

I let "Hydrangea Garden" dry and went back with darks made without white paint.  I painted lighter leaves on top of the dark passage and punched out sun-lit petals and creamy astilbe.  Do you agree that I saved the painting from chalkiness?