Plumeria Painting

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

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

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

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

Big Art

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

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!