Watching you...

Portrait studies

Some times the studies turn out quite decent. Unlike other times, when.... oh well....

Celebrating color

Santa brought me several instructional watercolor DVDs. One of them by Jean Haines - a DVD bound to build up your enthusiasm and make you pick up the brushes. After watching the demonstration on painting cockerels, I had to try it myself. I understand now why Jean is so excited about this subject. It gives the opportunity to really enjoy color.

Arches 140lb, 28 x 19 cm

I found a couple of  photos of roosters that I have taken on my vacations.  The photo of this first handsome guy above was taken in the Swiss ethnographic village of Ballenberg.

Arches 140lb, 19 x 28 cm

And this cocky guy (pun intended) I saw pacing self-importantly on a sunny city square at Key West, Florida.

"To do" list

First I want to wish everybody a Very Happy New Year!

I don't make new-year resolutions, because I believe that the best time to change my life is today, whatever day it is. But I constantly make checklists, which sometimes annoys those living with me. Here is my list of things, related to painting, which I want to learn or improve in 2012: 

1.      do more portraits and figures;

2.      start painting larger sizes – half sheet (maybe full sheet);

3.      paint more from life and en plain air and overcome the fear of by-standers;

4.      paint faster, loosen up my style and focus on simplifying the subjects.

And, as today is the first day, here is my first portrait of the year ( approved by the subject )

Arches 140 lb cp, 19 x 28 cm (n/a)

Glass objects

 
I've been planning to examine painting transparent objects - glasses, bottles, etc, and now seemed like the perfect time to capture the "spirit" of the season. I was also inspired by Olivia's recent series of beautiful paintings of bottles. My results are far not as free and exciting as hers, but I believe that I have to get familiar with an object before I can simplify it and paint it loosely. So, it is a first step.
Cheers!

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...