Lian Quan Zhen Workshop

For the past 3 days I have been attending an excellent watercolor workshop with Lian Quan Zhen, an internationally known watercolor and Chinese Brush Painting artist in Yuma, Arizona.  This is one of several workshops I have attended with Lian and I learn more and more each time I take one of his classes.  I would highly recommend him if he is ever in your area!  The following is a painting using only 3 colors from which all of the tones and values in this painting are mixed.  Here is "Sunset Splendor."

Southwestern Themes

It's beginning to feel like fall here in Montana and my thoughts are turning to heading back to my winter home in Yuma, Arizona, and the kind of colors and textures I live with there in the winter season.  These paintings include themes from Utah (Cedar Breaks, north of St. George off I-15), Arizona (A Grand View, east end of the Grand Canyon), California (Garden Gate) and Mexico (Perspective).  These paintings are all watercolors, some using my typical bright intense palette pigments and one, the more subdued colors from the low intensity colors residing on the inner ring of the color wheel.  "Perspective" also includes pen and ink on the wrought iron gate, which is a typical thing one might see in Mexico.

Enjoy!

Back to Watercolors: Fun and Flowers

First, a bit of fun.  Our challenge for Paint My Photo in July was to choose a photo and put a caption with it.  The caption for this guy was "Hmmphf!"  He looked to me like he'd just plain had enough of whatever it was he was looking at and the word seemed to fit!

 Next is a little dragon made of zentangle designs in ink and watercolor added to enhance him.  Elaine Osborne is to blame for this one!  She said the zentangles were addictive and boy, was she right!

Now for the flowers!  A bouquet of azaleas which I particularly like and plan to frame, and last a loose watercolor design of various spring flowers. 

More Acrylic Fun

For the last couple of weeks, my focus has been to improve my skills with acrylic paints.  I have mostly been playing with flowers but included a landscape as well.  As my usual, bright, flashy colors dominate my work.  Both the single sunflower and the casita are miniatures done on a claybord surface and were an experiment.  I thought for the most part they worked well and I will be trying some more paintings using this smooth surface rather than canvas.  the old country churchyard is done with both brush and palette knife on 300 lb watercolor paper. 

Changing focus--playing with acrylics

For some variety, I've left the watercolors aside for a bit and am doing some acrylic painting.  There are lots of flowers in my yard right now and I have 3 old canvases that needed reworking.  Gessoed them out, let them dry and began playing.  First is one I'm not terribly happy with:  Shastas and Roses.  Not enough contrast.  Shastas are lacking in definition.  Second is a bit better, Shastas alone with a lot of palette knife work.  Last is from a photo sent to me by a friend (Thanks, Anna!).  I may work this one over a bit more:  Tea and Roses. 

Portrait Workings

For the past couple of weeks, I've been working on skin tones in portraits and while I don't have them quite right yet, I feel I've made some progress.  This group of Red Hatters game me permission to "shoot" them this past spring.  I told the "Queen," Irene that I wanted ATTITUDE and they gave it to me!  Absolutely fun group to work with!  I have two more portaits to go to get them all finished but wanted to post the ones I have finished now and see where I need to go next in my learning process.  The four ladies here are 1...Janine, 2.... Irene "the Queen"   3....Tanna and  4....Karen.  They were all great sports and I plan to give them the portaits I've done of them when we all get back down to Yuma this fall. 

Three Clowns - Finishing up

The remainder of the clownfish project shows detail and how it is added to the Chinese Brush Painting.  The finished painting will be shown first and following it, photos adding the detail in the coral, the clownfish and finally, the use of permanent black ink to emphasize the painting's features. 

In this photo of the painting, hardly any of the coral details have been added except around the two lower fish.  A few of the darker colors have been put on the coral between the fish to delineate ridges in the coral, but no more.  The leafy water plants behind the larger clownfish are also being more defined in this view.  Now the painting must be allowed to dry.

Detail continues to be added in this view.  I am still using only Phthalo Blue and Indigo to add shadows and define detail in the painting.  In the last step, permanent black ink will be added as well.

More detail has also been added to each fish and a thin wash of Phthalo blue has been painted over the fishes's fins to show their transparent look and blend them into the water. 

The final stage of the painting is adding the black in to emphasize shadow areas in the painting.  All that is left at this point is allowing the painting to dry very well and place my signature on it in Chinese script and adding my chop stamp seal!