Kathleen Alexander Watercolors

Arrival

2011-01-11T15:18:00.001-08:00

This is the first step of my painting. I use cobalt blue and winsor violet as an underpainting for all of the shadow shapes in the petals. I tend to use the violet in the center of the flowers where there will eventually be a yellow color. The violet makes a beautiful shadow under yellow, avoiding the brown you can sometimes get when trying to create yellow shadows.

This is a close-up of the painting. After all of my shadow shapes are in place, I added some of my "triad grey" (aureolin, perm. rose, cobalt blue) to some of the shadows to give them a little more depth. I wet one petal at a time with clear water before I begin painting. From there, I begin overpainting the petals with perm. rose, quin. magenta, quin. gold, new gamboge, and winsor orange (red shade). Tipping the paper helps smooth the transitions between colors, and the water I painted on the petals "floats" the paint, allowing more movement.

I've finished the petals, and underpaint the buds and stems with winsor violet. I've used indigo to underpaint veins in the leaves, then overpainted with sap green.
The stems and buds are painted with pereylene violet and permanent rose. The winsor violet underpainting shows through, creating depth. My final step is to glaze over some of the lower stems with the triad grey to push them into the background. When you first apply this glaze, it looks pretty bad-- just give it time. As the grey dries it disappears, creating a subtle shadow.
I titled this painting "Arrival" 36" x 15". It was my first painting done while living here in Maui.

News from Maui!

2010-11-25T15:37:00.000-08:00

My husband and I are spending the next six months in Maui. I'm planning on doing a LOT of painting, and have just joined Maui Hands, a wonderful art gallery. This is the view from my studio.

In February 2011, I will be participating in a brand new annual art event on Maui, called the Maui Open Studios. It is an exciting island-wide event of self-guided tours of artists studios and exhibitions taking place the first 3 weekends of February every year. I am one of over 100 artists who are participating in the inaugural event in 2011. The event includes a festive Opening Celebration and Preview Exhibition on Friday, February 4 at the Maui Tropical Plantation. There will be live music and a cash bar and artwork to preview from the participating artists. The Opening Celebration is followed by 3 weekends of artist open studios including mine. The event is entirely free for the public.

My event /show will be during Weekend #2 (Feb. 12-13) from 10am - 6pm on both days. Please check out my artist profile, samples of my work and my show details on the Maui Open Studios website at http://www.MauiOpenStudios.com Click on my name in the alphabetical listings in Weekend #2 to view my information.

I would appreciate it if you could share this information about my show with your friends and art lovers and I hope to see you then!

Aloha, Kathleen

North American Watercolor Artists- NAWA

2010-10-30T20:21:00.000-07:00

SIX AMERICAN ARTISTS TO REPRESENT THE U.S. IN THE NINTH INTERNATIONAL WATERCOLOR BIENNIAL IN MEXICO

Mark Mehaffey, Nicholas Simmons, Keiko Tanabe, Carol Carter, Thomas W. Schaller, and Kathleen Alexander have formed the North American Watercolor Artists, a group of six U.S. watercolor artists, to represent the United States in the IX International Watercolor Biennial in Mexico. The exhibition will be held at the National Museum of Watercolor in Mexico City, December 5, 2010 through February 13, 2011. Artists representing countries in five continents are participating in the Biennial, which is invitation-only. Begun in 1994, the purpose of the Biennial is to establish or enhance friendly relationships among watercolor artists and promote watercolor painting around the world.

I'm so honored to be included in this outstanding group of artists, and to be representing the United States. I've included the websites of all the members of the group, so please visit. Each artist has a unique style that represents a different facet of watercolor painting.

Web addresses:

Mark Mehaffey www.mehaffeygallery.com

Nicholas Simmons www.nicholassimmons.com

Keiko Tanabe http://ktanabefineart.com

Carol Carter www.carol-carter.com

Thomas W. Schaller www.twschaller.com

Kathleen Alexander www.kathleenalexanderwatercolors.com

The painting I sent to the exhibition is titled "Gratitude" 21x29".

Palo Alto Festival of the Arts

2010-08-25T07:07:00.000-07:00

I'll have a booth at the Palo Alto Festival of the Arts this weekend, August 28-29 on University Avenue in Palo Alto. It's a great festival (& the food is surprisingly good for a street fair!). We just moved, and life seems to be getting back to normal. I've been painting some new wine grapes and am trying to finish them for the Kings Mountain Art Fair, Labor Day weekend.

La Jolla Festival of the Arts

2010-06-16T14:03:00.000-07:00

I got late notice that I was accepted into the La Jolla Festival of the Arts. La Jolla is in the San Diego area, so this will be the farthest I've travelled for an art festival. I'm so excited! The festival is June 26-27, and is held on the UC San Diego Campus East. Here's their web address: www.lajollaartfestival.org. If you're in the area, please come by and say hi!

March Workshop: Painting Flowers

2010-04-14T09:05:00.001-07:00

Fabulous hibiscus paintings by the March workshop group!

February Sunflowers Workshop

2010-04-14T08:52:00.001-07:00

At the end of February I held a workshop on painting sunflowers. What a talented group of painters! Here are some of the photos from the workshop:

Watercolor Artist magazine April 2010 issue

2010-02-16T14:52:00.001-08:00

Plumeria Painting

2010-01-20T07:27:00.000-08:00

Okay, I've done another plumeria painting during the past week. I started this painting for a demonstration I did for the Los Altos Art Club on January 11. It's on a full sheet of watercolor paper. I never get tired of this subject.

Big Art- Lotus Pond

2010-01-20T07:21:00.001-08:00

Here is the finished painting. I was just able to get it into the back of my minivan yesterday. Once it's framed, I'm not sure how I'm going to be able to transport it. (Uh-oh). Framing is the next dilemma. I'm choosing between floating it with torn/deckled edges and no mat, and wrapping foamcore with white linen, overlapped in the corners. I'm leaning towards the first option.

Lotus Flowers 60x40" In Progress

2010-01-07T16:09:00.000-08:00

I'm getting closer to the end! I like painting big, but this is the painting that swallowed the studio. I think I'll need to take over my dining room next time I do a 40x60. I've been listening to David McCullough's "1776" for those of you who like audiobooks. It's great. Probably should be listening to the Dali Lama considering the subject matter. Oh well.

I'm giving a painting demonstration next Monday, January 11, 2010 at the Los Altos Art Club (7pm). It's free and non-club members are welcome.

Big Art- Lotus Pond

2009-12-19T21:06:00.000-08:00

I put in the darks using Shadow Green (Holbein). It took almost the whole tube of paint! Next, I used drafting tape to mask some of the stems, and masking fluid on some of the seed pods. These masks aren't just to keep the areas clean; the masks are really helping me keep track of the geography of this large painting. I'm painting pthalo blue in the darker area of the leaves and painting over it with green gold, sap green, and a green made of cobalt blue and aureolin.

Lotus Flowers 60x40" In Progress

2009-12-13T19:08:00.000-08:00

Big Art

2009-12-13T11:12:00.000-08:00

I've got a new project. I've had a roll of Arches 140lb cold press watercolor paper for some time, and have used it for some larger paintings. I've always wanted to paint larger watercolors, so I got a sheet of 40x60 1/2" foamcore and another piece of 40x60" fiberboard and glued them together as a support. I soaked & stapled on the watercolor paper, and waited for it to dry. It has bowed a little, but it seems like it will work. For my first project, I'm going to paint a pond of lotus flowers. It should be

interesting though; my studio is so small, I can't even fit the 40x60 on my desk. It's projecting out at a diagonal angle!

Goldfish-Bowl Blues

2009-11-27T14:28:00.000-08:00

I painted this a few weeks ago to prepare for the workshop I was giving on painting flowers & glass. There was really only one goldfish in the bowl, but I took the goldfish out of another photo using Adobe Photoshop, re-shaped it to look like it was in this bowl, and pasted it in. Then I printed the photo and used it as my reference. It turned out to be a good solution to the problem of having a photo with a poorly defined focal point.

Now it's time to pick something new to paint. I've got to do an abstract painting for a group show at Viewpoints Gallery in Los Altos, CA in January. That should be interesting considering how realistic I paint! Wish me luck.

Happy Thanksgiving!

October 2009 Workshop- Painting Flowers

2009-10-26T16:22:00.001-07:00

The workshop was held at Pedro Point Creative, in Pacifica, California. Pacifica is about 15 minutes south of San Francisco. Pedro Point Creative's web address is: www.ppcreative.com.

I chose white plumeria flowers with yellow centers as the subject matter. We focused on painting the shadows in the flowers first, creating depth. We used five different colors in the shadows to create interest. Next came the yellow centers of the flowers, followed by indigo in the background. After glazing over the indigo, the lush green foliage emerged. Here are some of the paintings of the participants:

This weekend's workshop was a huge success. We had a great time painting and the results were fantastic. Here are a few photos from the end of the last day.

I still have a few spaces available in my December 4-6, 2009 workshop. The subject will be "Painting Waterlilies and Lilyponds". If you are interested, please email or call me. Contact information is on my website.

Grapes Done!

2009-10-13T08:07:00.000-07:00

I ended up removing the little green plastic tape that was fluttering on the left side of the painting, and painted in one of my white highlighted leaves in the upper center of the painting, and it was much improved. Thank goodness for the Mr. Clean Magic Eraser! My lighting is bad in this photo; there are areas in the grapes in the original paintings that are more dark like the grapes in the right hand side. I'll be hanging this painting at Viewpoints Gallery in Los Altos on November 2, and will be having a reception on November 13, from 6-8pm.

Grapes

2009-10-12T13:22:00.000-07:00

Just added another coat to the dirt at the bottom of the painting and lots of little details in between grapes on the left.

Grapes

2009-10-12T09:00:00.000-07:00

Grapes seem like such a nice subject to paint until you realize you have to paint every single grape. Argh!

I'm using cobalt blue, indigo & perylene violet.

I do like all the interesting shapes in the leaves. When I paint them, I just try to paint the shapes I see in my reference photo and don't try to think of the shapes as leaves. It all seems to work out in the end.

Tropics on hold-- Going Grape!

2009-10-08T12:44:00.000-07:00

Hi, I've had to put my tropical paintings on hold temporarily. I'm having a show with another artist at Viewpoints Gallery in Los Altos, CA beginning November 2. The theme is "Fall Into Color", so I'm painting fall related subjects. Here's one of my new paintings:

I've begun a new painting of grapes on the vine from a photo I took at a winery in Kenwood, CA. It's very large, 38 x 25". I'm using a 40x30" sheet of 300lb Fabriano cold press. It's nice not to have to stretch the paper. The pressure is on. I've got to complete a lot of new paintings in time for the November 2 show because I don't have a bunch of fall themed work laying around. The reception for the show is November 13, from 6-8pm, 315 State Street, Los Altos, CA. Please come!

Kings Mountain Art Fair

2009-09-01T09:27:00.000-07:00

I've been getting ready for the Kings Mountain Art Fair which is held all three days of Labor Day weekend, so I haven't been painting. I've been updating my website, framing & putting together small prints & greeting cards to sell at the festival. I'm lucky that I live so close to Kings Mountain, which is in Woodside, CA-- artists come from all over the country to be in this art fair. It's just beautiful, up in the redwood trees in the coastal mountain range here in the SF Bay Area. If you're doing a "stay-cation" this weekend, please visit the art fair!

Here's a new painting from last month:

Working on Demo Piece

2009-08-16T15:12:00.000-07:00

I've been working on a demonstration for my Watercolor Artist Magazine article for the past couple days. The painting is going well, but I hope the photos come out okay. I had to use the grown-up settings on my camera. I have a nice Canon camera, but I usually just use the "mountains" or "flowers" or "man running" settings, and let the camera figure out the f-stops and aperture. I get surprisingly good photos this way. Here's another new lily painting from the past couple weeks. (This isn't the demo piece). I've been getting pretty productive with my festival season looming ahead. Next weekend I have an art festival in Palo Alto, Labor Day weekend (Sept 5,6,7) I have the Kings Mountain Art Fair in Woodside, CA; and the weekend of Sept. 12-13, I will be at the Capitola Art & Wine Festival. If I'm lucky maybe I'll lose 5 or 10 lbs. from the stress!

Julie & Julia at the Movies

2009-08-12T19:52:00.000-07:00

I went to see the "Julie & Julia" movie two nights ago. It was wonderful. It makes me want to be a dedicated blogger. And a better cook. I am a good cook. I have a Julia Child's cookbook. But cooking really good, inspired meals cuts into one's painting time...

I had good news yesterday. My paintings will be in the April issue of Watercolor Artist Magazine which comes out in February. I feel safe in saying this because there is an actual date assigned! A good friend of mine (you know who you are) waited until the magazine was practically on the stands before she told anyone, but I cannot keep a secret when it's about me and it's good news!

Here's an orchid painting I finished about two weeks ago.

Plumeria Painting

2009-08-10T14:05:00.000-07:00

This is a 40"x 18" piece of 300lb paper. I've already torn it using a sharp ruler so it has deckled edges & I can paint right up to the edges. I've been doing this so that I can float the finished piece in the frame. Sometimes, I've torn the paper after the painting is finished, but I'm always worried that I'll tear the finished painting!

I'm doing an underpainting of the shadows using a grey made of cobalt blue, permanent rose & aureolin, as well as cobalt blue + winsor violet. I've added a little mixture of aureolin + bright rose (Holbein) in some of the shadows where there is reflected light in my reference photo.

Facebook Page

2009-08-05T16:49:00.000-07:00

I set up a Facebook page today. I finally gave in. Now that everyone's switching to Twitter I'm finally getting on the bandwagon. Here's the link: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Kathleen-Alexander-Watercolors/110830963052

I really have no idea how to use Facebook yet.

I've been doing lot's of painting lately, just not very much photography while I'm at it. I'm about to start a new one today so I'll make a point of taking photos and putting them on here.

I'm working at Viewpoints Gallery in Los Altos on Friday. We have a new show up. It's artwork by Terri Hill and Carol Mead-- all inspired by the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. The reception is Saturday, August 8, 2-5pm. Please come by! Some of my new paintings are there as well.

Thanks

2009-07-25T09:50:00.000-07:00

Thank you to those of you who have been following my painting blog and sending the nice comments. If anyone has any good book-on-tape recommendations I would love to hear them. I listen to books on CD while I paint, and it makes the time fly by. For anyone who hasn't tried it, it allows you to be much more productive than when you have the TV on.

Here's some of my recommendations:

Janet Evanovich (Stephanie Plum stories)

David Baldacci (Camel Club series, & anything else)

Jonathan Stroud (Bartimaeus Trilogy)

Orson Scott Card (Ender series)

Elizabeth Gilbert (Eat Pray Love)

Here's a picture of my messy little studio.

Heliconia Painting Finished!

2009-07-25T09:15:00.000-07:00

Here's the finished painting. The new reds I used (mentioned in previous post) are fantastic. I will be adding them to my palette, and replacing some of the reds I've been using.

I started another heliconia painting yesterday. It's cold and drizzly here in Pacifica, CA, so I will be painting all day in my nice cozy studio. When the weather is like this I don't have to feel guilty for staying indoors all day! Maybe you can see why I'm so attracted to these tropical scenes-- I can pretend it's 80 degrees outside and I'm on vacation, having a mai tai.

Heliconia Painting In Progress

2009-07-23T08:47:00.000-07:00

I was awarded the entire set of Daniel Smith watercolor paints at the Northwest Watercolor Society exhibition this past spring. I have just been enjoying looking at all the tubes of paint since then, but decided to try some of the reds for this painting. WOW! These reds are fantastic. I'm using Perylene Violet for the darkest reds, Pyrrol Crimson for the middle value red, and Permanent Red (Holbein-- oops) for the lightest value red. The Permanent Red is great too. My reference photo is down in the "Inspiration" posting on this blog. You can see that I left out some of the stalks which ran right through the middle of the flowers. I love this stage of a painting-- everything seems to be coming together and you can see the end in sight. Only problem is you have to start with a big white sheet of paper again as soon as you're done!

Heliconia Painting In Progress

2009-07-23T08:45:00.000-07:00

Well, I've started putting in dioxazine (Winsor) voilet as an underpainting in the flowers.

Heliconia Painting In Progress

2009-07-21T20:28:00.000-07:00

I've added leaves, using turquoise, phalo blue and indigo as underpainting. Over that, I've used perm. sap green, green gold, and a new color for me, Van Gogh's "Perm. Yellowish Green". You can start to see the shapes of the heliconia flowers in the negative space between stalks & leaves. I'm waiting to paint in the flowers until the greens are all in place because I've found the red paint likes to "wake-up" and bleed into other areas if you come near it with a wet brush. It's really an excercise in delayed gratification-- it's hard to wait for the reds!

More Heliconia Painting

2009-07-21T20:15:00.000-07:00

I'm using an underpainting of Cotman's turquoise and phalo blue for the shadow sides of the stalks, as well as shadow areas of the leaves. I'm using indigo for some of the really dark shadows.

Heliconia Painting In Progress

2009-07-21T20:12:00.000-07:00

Here I'm using drafting tape as guides for my stalks. For those of you unfamiliar with drafting tape, it's by 3M, and it's less tacky than masking tape, so it doesn't pull up the surface of the watercolor paper (you hope).

Inspiration

2009-07-07T12:13:00.000-07:00

Here's a photo of Kokee (Ko Kay A)-- It has got to be one of the most beautiful places on the planet.

Just back from Kauai with lots of new photos to paint. Here are some I'm getting to work on:

I've come back from Kauai so inspired, but there are so many obstacles!

Flower Painting Workshop March 6-8, 2009

2009-03-09T14:11:00.000-07:00

For more information on my upcoming classes & workshops, check the classes section of my website. www.KathleenAlexanderWatercolors.com.

Flower painting Workshop March 6-8, 2009

2009-03-09T13:57:00.003-07:00

I used a grey mixture made up of cobalt blue, aureolin, and permanent rose to darken certain shadow shapes in the flowers. I used the same grey mixture, Holbeins' shadow green, sap green, cobalt blue, and perylene maroon in the background. The detail on the flower buds was done with a mixture of quinacridone magenta and winsor violet (dioxazine).

Flower painting Workshop March 6-8, 2009

2009-03-09T13:49:00.001-07:00

For the yellow centers

Start in the center with quinacridone gold.
Switch to new gamboge as you move out from the center.
Switch to clear water and drag clear water out towards end of petal so you don't get a hard line where the yellow ends.
Drop in a small amount of burnt sienna in the very center of flower to make it recede.

Flower painting Workshop March 6-8, 2009

2009-03-09T13:40:00.000-07:00

For flowers that are going to be primarily pink:

Center of flower: quinacridone gold
Switch to new gamboge.
Clear water.
Mixture of quinacridone magenta & dioxazine violet (light on the violet).
Drop in a touch of quinacridone gold mixed with dioxazine violet to the very center of the flower to make it recede.

Flower painting Workshop March 6-8, 2009

2009-03-09T13:36:00.000-07:00

The first stage of the plumeria painting was to do an underpainting of the shadows in the flowers using dioxazine violet and cobalt blue. I like to use the violet in areas that will be yellows in shadow later in the painting. The cobalt blue is used in the cooler shadows and turning edges of the petals.

Flower Painting Workshop March 6-8, 2009

2009-03-09T13:21:00.000-07:00

We had a great flower painting workshop. We began with a tulip painting, and then worked on my own personal favorite, plumeria. The class was held in a new building called Pedro Point Creative. It is actually a meeting/dining room and commercial kitchen facility, but as you can see from the photos it's perfect for a small workshop. There is even a large video monitor I was able to connect to my computer and play DVD's of watercolor exhibitions on all day.

Flower Painting Workshop March 6-8, 2009

2009-03-08T17:49:00.000-07:00

Koi Painting

2009-01-19T16:38:00.000-08:00

I think it's finished! I'm cropping about 4" off the bottom of the painting. I found that the big white fish at the bottom was too large and was attracting too much attention. Now he's yellow and smaller. I worked on this at a demonstration for the Sunnyvale Art Club last week, but finished it at home on Saturday.

Now I have to decide what to paint next!

Koi Painting

2009-01-11T12:51:00.000-08:00

I have a few problem areas to address. The orange section on the left side of the painting, the large white fish at the bottom, and the large white blob (fish!) on the right side all need work. I am considering cropping the painting about 3-4 inches at the bottom to reduce the size of the large white fish and focus more attention on the orange-faced fish at the bottom. I would like to create more water movement on the right side above the orange tail fin. My reference photos have taken me as far as they can, now I have to use imagination to complete the painting. Agh!!!

Koi Painting

2009-01-06T15:40:00.000-08:00

Koi Painting

2009-01-06T15:30:00.000-08:00

I've finished most of the light/wet values, so I can start with the deep oranges & reds. If you paint the oranges/reds too soon they could bleed into the light/wet values.

Koi Painting

2009-01-03T11:38:00.001-08:00

I've been using a gray mixture made of aureolin, cobalt blue, and permanent rose for the fish.

Here's the latest progress on the koi:

Koi Painting

2009-01-01T12:44:00.003-08:00

Here are some close-ups:

Koi Painting

2009-01-01T12:35:00.000-08:00

I'm giving a workshop on painting koi at the end of January, so I've started a new koi painting. I cut and pasted (literally) two photos together, so my reference photo is very long. I like the long format of the piece. I started by blocking out the darkest parts of the painting with indigo.

I'm using Fabriano Artistico 300lb cold press, 41 x 30" paper.

Finished Painting: Lawai Plumeria II

2009-01-01T12:25:00.000-08:00

Here's the finished painting:

New Plumeria Painting, step 2

2009-01-01T12:08:00.000-08:00

file:///Users/kalexart/Desktop/IMG_1407.JPG

The next steps show the addition of new gamboge, permanent rose & quinacridone gold layers.

New Plumeria Painting

2009-01-01T11:57:00.001-08:00

I started this painting to use as a demonstration for a group of painters in San Jose. I use dioxazine violet and cobalt blue underpainting where the flowers are going to be in shadow.

Pink Ginger Progress

2008-06-06T10:46:00.000-07:00

I've removed the friskit film and have most of the central flower painted. I've done an under-painting of the shadowed petals using cobalt blue. I've used quinacridone magenta, quinacridone red, dioxazine violet (WN) and bright rose (Holbein) for the petals. I really like this bright rose from Holbein. It's new for me and I like how bright the paint is--- almost neon. I've got the leaves started, and am hoping to finish the painting today.

Latest Painting In Progress

2008-05-30T11:29:00.001-07:00

I'm painting pink ginger in a jungle setting right now. I'm using friskit film sealed with masking fluid around the edges to preserve the center flower and folliage. This allows me to use a lot of wet washes without worrying about getting unwanted paint in my center flower. I want to make the background look fuzzy-- out of focus, and the center flower and folliage to be fully in focus to create the illusion of depth.