janwc's photostream

janwc's photostream on Flickr.

Summer Lily

Summer Lily 11x15.

Every once in a while, a painting comes along that just paints itself. This one did. I was in my Monday afternoon painting class and had finished my project sooner than anticipated. I had about an hour left so I took a postage size photo my instructor had and started painting this without drawing. I wet the entire paper and painted in a few lily colors leaving the large white one alone. As the paper dried, I added the background with multiple greens. I dried it best I could. It was a very humid day and even the air conditioner did not allow the paper to dry. I put in color for the white lily and modeled the top one. I wanted to make sure I had enough done so that I could finish at home. The next morning I looked at the painting and decided It only needed a little dark to bring out the white flower. I called it done.

Forest

FOREST 2011

This painting was done in the Landscape Painting class I'm taking. My aim was to paint freely without drawing (except for the chipmunk that was added later). I wanted a limited palette to further my education in color and value.

Reference photo

A collection

Oriental Market

Oriental Market 12x16

This painting was done as an exercise in the Wet Canvas watercolor site for April. Following are the steps I took to create the painting.


1. I did a placement only drawing. I painted standing up with the paper flat on the table. The paint was juicy - a creamy consistency. I painted slow and precise, letting the pigments flow into each other. I sprinkled salt into the cherry blossom trees on the left.



2. I started to fill in the large areas of the market, again letting the colors flow and leaving white areas. An instructor once said, "Paint only what you are sure of, leaving the rest white until you can decide.



3. The final stage before finishing. I need quite a few dark areas inside the market. I do like the white price tags but toned down many of them. I want the white to flow through the painting.

Grasses

Grasses 11x15 2011

I've been working on painting grasses with a watercolor look to them. Either they come out looking like patchwork, or like little sticks, or are way overworked. I love negative painting and wanted to get some of the sparkle of leaving the white. I also don't use any masking. This painting is starting to come close to what I'm trying to accomplish. A note. The photo is not great. The light green background grass came out as white. The lavender in the grass looks garish. It's actually much paler. With all that said, I'm pleased with the grass.

Cows Coming Home

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Cows Coming Home 10x20. This watercolor was started in my weekly drawing class. It started with a photo of a man leading cows across a meadow. He had chains attached to the cows' necks. My teacher suggested I change him for a boy carrying a stick and perhaps having the cows coming up and over a hill. Of course, I listened. It took quite a while to draw everything. Luckily I was using a good quality watercolor paper as I erased a lot. When finished, I took my drawing to my watercolor class (same teacher). She made suggestions, but I did all the painting, except for some finishing touches in the background and boy. I'm pleased.