Snapping out of the blues....

Blue is neutralized with orange...
I started this as an exercise on the back of a discarded painting, but I like how it turned out, so here it is...

In expectation

This is by a photo I took a few years ago of a litter of stray puppies. They seemed quite in control and independent, lying around a pile of gravel near a building site in Sofia. Probably mom wasn't far too.

I wanted to use the opportunity to wish Merry Christmas and very happy holidays to everyone!

Still in Egypt...

Actually, it has been two years since that trip, but for some reason scenes from it keep popping in my mind...

Pharaoh head at Abu Simbel

This head is of one of the four gigantic sitting Pharaohs at the facade of the Abu Simbel temple The height of  this head is equivalent to about two human heights. It is actually a complex of two temples, which were carved directly into the rock of the river bank. To prevent loosing them forever under the waters of the Aswan dam, in 1968 the temples were cut into pieces, tens of tons each, and rebuilt on a higher ground. For me, this is a fascinating engineering achievement, almost as amazing as the archaeological monuments themselves.

The bank of the Nile

Another fascinating thing for me was to realize that the country is only a few meters wide, if you exclude the Nile delta of course. Yes, it is huge on the map, but in reality, the only inhabitable part is the fertile shores of the Nile, which vary in width from just a few meters to a few hundred meters. Beyond that is a desert without a single blade of grass.

Philae temple

Egyptian sunsets

Sun raises over Luxor

The other bank at sunset

Sunset on the Nile

I love painting sunsets, as they involve mostly wet-in-wet. This should help me get back on track with painting, after exhausting few weeks at work...

Camels

It is cold outside. We had the first snowfall already. But my mind is at warm places...

Berber woman grinding flour

A Berber woman making flour
Arches  30 x 40 cm (n/a)

This is based on photo that I took a couple of years ago in the small village of Matmata in Tunisia. While this particular village has become quite popular and a sort of ethnographic show for tourists, the rest of the population in the area still has a very traditional way of life for real. Their houses are a kind of troglodyte dwellings with artificially made cave-like rooms dug around the perimeter of a large pit in the ground. Some part of Star Wars was shot in these dwellings.
I was surprised how much fun it was to paint the draped fabric of the clothing. Watercolor is perfect for that.

A practical task...

December is approaching and soon we'll be sending Christmas cards. This time I decided to make my own cards, which proved quite a job. I'm almost done now, so should have time for less repetitive painting soon...

Learning from Cembranelli

I remember one blogger saying that painting roses is addictive. True! A few days ago I decided to try Fabio Cembranelli's way of painting roses. I cut a discarded painting into four pieces and started my tests on the backs. Then I cut another piece of paper. Then continued on a block. It was hard to stop.
What did I learn? That it is not as simple as Fabio's videos make it seem. I wanted to figure out how he manages to lift color, leaving practically white paper, and giving the flowers this cotton candy soft look. This proved quite difficult. The paint must be exactly the right consistency and wetness, the brush must be absolutely clean and you have to stop yourself from repeating the stroke before cleaning the brush. Yes, masters make the hardest things look easy!
There is also another reason for all these roses. Today is the one year anniversary of my blog. So I devote the roses to all of you, my visitors and blogging friends. Thank you, for your support, encouragement and advices! I feel that I have made much progress over the past year, and a good deal of my motivation comes from you. Thank you!!!

End of the flower season

Arches, 38 x 28 cm

These were the last roses from my yard still spared from the frost, so I seized the chance to paint them from live. This week a few relatives and friends had birthdays. I didn't have the chance to congratulate them, so let this bouquet be for them. Happy birthday!

Честит Рожден Ден!

 

Chrysanthemums

I cut these flowers from the garden, while still just buds, in order to save them from the morning frost. Now they are happily blooming in a vase.

I thought that the second one turned into a big mess, but hubby liked it, so I decided to post it regardless.