Approaching storm

Approaching storm, acrylic 12" x 9"

 

The Lake

The Lake, acrylic 25 x 20 cm

Palette knife and three colors plus white. Used cobalt instead of ultramarine for a better water color and brighter greens.

The Sugar Maple

The Sugar Maple, acrylic 12" x 9"

I love how in the autumn some sugar maples have half of the rainbow of colors at the same time, from dark through chartreuse green, yellow, orange and bright red. Like a whole forest in just one tree.

This is another attempt with palette knife and reduced palette, though I did add cadmium red too. 

Mountain View

Mountain View, acrylic 25 x 20 cm

Initial stage

Stage 2

 An imagined view, based on a previous acrylic landscape. Done with a palette knife and three colors plus white.

A Palm

Coconut Palm, acrylic 12 x 9

 More fun with the palette knife and acrylics. Wish I were on that beach now...

The Orange Sail

The Orange Sail, acrylic 12" x 9"

Continuing with the maritime theme and the palette knife technique...

I quite like the freedom that comes with this technique. Though, I keep remembering a question from someone I know: "When are you going to move from watercolor to a more advanced media, like acrylic or oil?" It is baffling and quite sad that instead of learning about a subject, some people would rather put it in a rigid frame of simple rules, and keep quoting with authority stale beliefs from dusty books of centuries past. 

I'll play with acrylics as it gives me pleasure and do watercolors, when I miss the challenge. Each of them teaches me something. 

Seascape studies in acrylic

Sea study 4, acrylic 6" x 4.5"

I wanted to figure out how to paint the sea with only a palette knife. So, I split a canvas into four squares and did a small study in each. I could feel my strokes getting gradually more confident and the result less muddled. I'm still very far from where I want to get, but I feel I have some control over the paint and the knife. And also having fun.

Sea study 3, acrylic 6" x 4.5"

Sea study 2, acrylic 6" x 4.5"

Sea studies

Cliffview Park

Happy Holidays and Best Wishes to all!
Let there be sun and joy

Cliffview park, acrylic 12" X 9"

 Another attempt with a pallet knife, though I couldn't figure out how to do the water in that technique.

Reflections in the mountains (acrylic)

Mountain reflections, acrylic, 12" x 9"

Tried the same scene that I did in watercolor before. Ended up doing quite a lot of fiddling as there are more smaller details than in the two previous acrylics and I'm still using mostly a palette knife. Well, acrylic is much more forgiving than watercolor and the goal is to have fun.

Mountain views in acrylic

Rila mountain, acrylic 12" x 9"

Hillside shrubs, acrylic 12" x 9"
(based on Gerald Ashcroft's tutorial)

I want to thank my friend, Dina, for making me sign for a painting workshop last weekend. It was at the McMichael's gallery so we also saw the Tommy Thompson exhibition. That unlocked something in me and I couldn't stop thinking about painting. 

For courage, I went through a tutorial by an Australian artist Gerald Ashcroft, whose loose style attracted me. Following it, I did the second landscape with only four colors and a painting knife. Then I applied the same technique to the top view from the Rila mountains in Bulgaria. Each painting took me about two hours and I truly enjoyed doing them.

The River

The River 1, watercolor,  42 x 23 cm

source photo

Several interpretations of this photo that I took from the car while traveling in Cape Breton. I liked the directional clouds, but of course, didn't like the railings in the front. The beauty of painting, is that you can get rid of any unwanted objects and change things the way you like them.
Not having painted for a long time, it took me several attempts to get to the fresh look of the watercolor above.Then experimented with acrylics, with different colors, one with a palette knife only and the other with brushes.

The River 4, acrylic, 20 x 15 cm

The River 2, acrylic, 32, 24 cm

A pair of pears

Pear, watercolor sketch

Pear, acrylic sketch

Happy Halloween

Pumpkin, acrylic 15 x 22 cm 

Roses on the wall

Roses on the wall, acrylic on canvas 50 x 40 cm (n/a)

Painted from one of my photos from Tuscany last spring. I wanted to make a larger size painting, so I started with a sketch and a study a few weeks ago. Finally yesterday I gathered the courage to start it. And I couldn't stop until it was done.

charcoal sketch 25 x 18 cm

Acrylic study 23 x 15 cm

Green apple

Yellow and Green, acrylic 23 x 18 cm (n/a)

Red and Green, acrylic 23 x 18 cm

Yellow and Green, watercolor 30 x 23 cm

Strength in numbers

Strength in numbers, acrylic on canvas panel 22 x 18 cm (n/a)

Acrylics continue to be an interesting challenge for me. It is a bit of a battle with the cheaper paints I'm using. Mostly hues instead of the true pigments, so they are more transparent that they should be. My red is "cadmium red hue" and it is a cool color, so I had to mix it with orange to make it more red. on the other hand I find that if I use more expensive materials while learning, it makes me stiff and the results are not so good.

Red apple, acrylic study on cardboard 22 x 15 cm

Pear, acrylic study on cardboard 22 x 15 cm

Blue Campanula

Campanula pot, watrecolor 40 x 30 cm

I have never been a "long-stem-roses" kind of girl. A small bunch of violets or bellflower  are enough to make me happy. (someone please tell my husband...)
When I started painting this one, I found myself getting lost among the little bells, feeling tempted to see and depict each one of them. Then I thought how I could simplify the mass of little flowers and tried painting it a second time. I took photos at each stage, so here is the step-by-step:

Photo of my Campanula model

1. After a rough drawing, painted the background,
leaving hard edges on the side from where the light comes

2. After drying completely with a blow-dryer, painted
the cast shadows. Carried these also into the shaded part
of the objects and softened the edges there

3. Painted the flowers as a purple cloud of varying colors,
focusing on values - lighter  on the left and much darker
on the right and bottom. Tried to hint the shapes of
individual flowers at the edges. Also painted the pot.

Campanula pot 2, watercolor 30 x 22 cm

4. The last stage was details - green stems and leaves,
the ribbon, some details of the pot wrapping

And then I had to try it in Acrylic:

Blue Campanula, acrylic on canvas board, 23 x 18 cm (7" x 9 ") (n/a)

An apple a day

Apples and pear, watercolor 30 x 23 cm

As I am vary new to acrylics, I need to learn about some basic techniques. So, I got a couple of new books -  one is a very detailed guide in acrylics. The other, Carol Marine's "Daily Painting", an inspiring book with tons of loosely painted pictures and full of good advice. It reminded me of the 10-minute exercise, which I had tried before with watercolor. So, I quickly fixed up a light box, took a stop-watch and there you go...

Painting acrylic studies of an apple

10 minute apples, acrylic study

10 minute pears, acrylic study

Coffee time

Coffee time, watercolor 23 x 30 cm

Coffee time, acrylic on canvas board 30 x 23 cm

Still lifes

Black pepper, acrylic on canvas board  30 x 22 cm

I have been having fun, painting almost every day since Christmas. I've managed to find at least an hour daily, and this gives me so much satisfaction.
I decided to challenge myself with acrylics and quite liked the results. The opaque paints seem to make things much easier. Although I didn't do any pencil drawing, like I did for the watercolors, the objects came out pretty good. Maybe, just knowing that I can correct mistakes, gives me confidence, and there are no mistakes. Also, painting with acrylics seems much more intuitive. I can paint the objects, as they appear in space, starting from the furthest. Watercolors require a much more abstract view of the scene, in terms of areas of values and colors, instead of objects and planes.

Black pepper, watercolor 30 x 22 cm

Still life with onion, acrylic on canvas board 30 x 22 cm

Vases, watercolor 30 x 22 cm

Yellow jug, acrylic on canvas 25 x 20 cm