Limited Palette

One of the painters I follow on Facebook posts what he calls his "colors of the day." He picks two watercolor colors that he feels fits the mood of the day. I decided last night that I am going to try to take those two colors and create paintings with ONLY those colors. I figured it would be a good exercise to help me learn to work with a limited palette, rather than relying on an extensive one.

Todays two colors were Sap Green and Lavender. I think that is about as easy as I am going to get. I decided to revisit the lavender fields from Virginia that I talked about last month, and this is the result.

Working Bigger

This weekends project (well, Sunday and Monday) was to try and paint one of my dream travel destinations, and to once again go up in the size paper I painted on.

I have been fascinated with the thought of sailing the Caribbean or the Med since friends of mine took a Windjammer trip back in the late 90's. The stories of their nights sleeping on the deck while anchored exotic lagoons have stuck in my head ever since. I still have 16 year old brochures in a box in my closet somewhere.

I am even more enamored with the Mediterranean than I am the tropics. There is something about the French Riviera, the Ligurian Sea and the Amalfi Coast of Italy that gets me fired up. The amazing hue of the waters and the beautiful structures built into the seaside cliffs seem to leap out of the photographs and pull me in.

I cannot paint from imagination, I pretty much have to have a photo to guide me. I could not find a good shot of a clipper ship (sadly the Windjammer company is out of business) on the Med with a good background, but I did find an oil painting of a sailboat off the walls of Amalfi. So I figured what the heck, why not paint a painting!

I used a 12x16 watercolor block for this one. This is the biggest watercolor I have ever attempted, as well as the first time I have tried a boat. I used masking fluid to block out the space for the boat, but unfortunately misjudged the space needed for the reflection.

The buildings were HARD. I could not find a balance between being loose and detailed, or get the relationship between light and shadow that I wanted. Those are things I know I am going to continue to struggle with mightily, but I have to learn.

It was a good exercise. I learned a few things about using masking fluid and perspective, as well as developed a little further my interpretation of how light plays with the surface of water. The large size of the paper was a challenge as I expected, but at the same time more enjoyable than I thought it would be. I predict that I am always going to prefer smaller paintings, but I will not shy away from larger ones to the extent I have in the past.

But the best part of the exercise was putting myself in my mind, however briefly, on the deck of that sailboat in one of the most beautiful spots on the planet, feeling the warm breeze and the gentle rocking of the boat, breathing the salty air, while taking in the wonder of the awe-inspiring view.

Art is pretty cool!

Thoughts On Lavender Fields

“Just living is not enough…. One must have sunshine, freedom, and a little flower.” 
       – Hans Christian Andersen

I am not feeling 100% today. My sinuses feel like they are going to explode and the drainage has my throat raw. I’ve been hitting the burpees hard this week in anticipation of the Superhero Scramble coming up (I have vowed that none of my team will do burpees alone) – and that has my lower back screaming, something I am not used to. Stinks getting old!

So I decided at lunchtime I needed a distraction, something to get my mind off of the aches and pains. I ended up creating two painting today.

The first was a quick 5 minute brush painting. I try to make one or two of these flowers a week. I keep thinking eventually I get one “right.” I like to lose myself in the flow of the long leaves and the petals. I know that someday I will finally get myself in the zone and relax just right, and the leaves will take a life of their own and go onto the paper loose, flowing and natural rather than forced. There is so much joy contained in laying the pigments down on the paper and seeing the results, I can’t imagine how good it will feel when things finally click.

The second painting has been bouncing around in my head for awhile. At the end of last summer I ran the Spartan Super at Wintergreen Ski Resort in Virginia, one of the hardest things I have ever done in my life. On the way to the resort, we passed several lavender farms in full bloom. They were all neatly laid out in perfect symmetrical rows and formed a beautiful pattern. Then we passed an open field neighboring one of the farms.

Here the lavender had grown wild. There were no neat rows or patterns, it was chaos – a riot of purples and greens.

About 6 miles into the race I was climbing a mile long, black diamond ski slope. I was delirious with fatigue, hunger, and the knowledge that I still had two more miles, a log carry and a rope climb ahead of me. I finally laid down on the soft grass (along with about a hundred other people) and rested as I looked out over the valley below and up at the clear blue sky.

As I drifted in and out of a nap on the side of the hill, I kept thinking about those lavender fields. The perfectly groomed and laid out field on one side, and the chaotic field on the other. They were both amazing in their own way. So many times in life we try to bring order into every aspect of our lives, to make it as perfect and patterned as that lavender farm. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but I think we sometimes fail to see the beauty that can be contained in the chaos.

I know I am that way with my artwork. I want it to be perfect. Like I said earlier, I want it to be “right”, to follow the rules. But maybe I should remember that lavender field more often, and just let things stay loose and unbound by rules and order. Just enjoy the moment.

Anyway, I was finally able to pick myself and finish the climb, and eventually finish the race. I told myself that as soon as I got home I was going to paint that field. I got caught up in other things in it didn’t happen. While thinking about the race this weekend and feeling sorry for myself over the aches and pains, the memory of the field and my hillside thoughts came back, and I decided to give it a shot.

I was happy with the painting at first. I thought I was staying loose, and allowing the chaos of the lavender to take shape. Then I added the fence. Ugh. The “order” side of my brain kicked in, and I think it ruined the flow of the painting.

Oh well. I did get a tremendous amount of joy out of both remembering and painting that field, and I hope to visit it again this year. Maybe I will even take some paints and paper with me this time.

Meadows

"How does the Meadow flower its bloom unfold? Because the lovely little flower is free down to its root, and in that freedom bold." - William Wordworth

I was thinking today about how beautiful the meadows are along the Virginia Creeper Trail in the springtime, and about how much I would love to be riding on an a stunning day like today. Maybe I was a little bit jealous of those blooming flowers freedom to bask in the sunshine all day long, with no obligations or commitments to worry about.

Then I looked over at my little girl who has not felt well the past few days, and had to stay home from school with me today. She gave me a little smile and said "I love you Daddy." Jealousy gone. I wouldn't trade where I am for anything in the world.

Those amazing springtime meadows were still on my mind though, so I took a few minutes at lunchtime to practice painting once again on the bigger 9x12 paper. I found a photo of a meadow I liked, got out the watercolors, and this is the result. I will never be able to do those Creeper Trail meadows justice, but it sure is fun to try!

Sunday Morning Practice Painting

I'm slowly but surely trying to learn to work with bigger paper. The majority of my watercolor paintings have been done on 4x6 block paper. Late last year I started working with 6x8 blocks, and this month I have moved up to 9x12.

We drove through past English Mountain in Jefferson and Sevier County yesterday, so I was inspired to make this scene my practice painting this morning.

5 Minute Project - Another Redbud Tree

What can I say - I love this time of year, and I love blooming redbud trees. So for today's 5 minute project I decided to make an attempt at another redbud.

Watercolor on 9x12 paper. I have done a couple of paintings in a row now on bigger paper. Its not quite as big a nightmare as I thought it would be!

Lunchtime Stress Relief - Big Happy Tree

Decided to paint a little bigger today and broke out the 9x12 watercolor block. I also decided to incorporate the pen and ink as well. I love how painting drives all other thoughts out of my mind!

Pen, Ink and Watercolor Tree