Soft Sunset

There's a story with this one. I painted it quite boldly, with lots of really loud, glaring colors. It was just too...something. There's a place for bold, and you know I love bold, bright colors, but sometimes you have another goal in mind and this wasn't it. Here's a small peek at what it looked like before:

So I decided to be brave. I mean, it wasn't bad but it wasn't what I wanted. So, I wet a brush, just damp, not sopping, and lightly drew it across the sky. It transformed it! Gouache always lifts when re-wet, so some of the colors were drawn across with the brush. I didn't make a lot of passes, just a couple, softly and subtly. Suddenly there was this soft haze of atmosphere draped across the evening sky. I added a bit more bright yellow gold where the sun is peeking through, but left the rest alone. I love it's softness and the sense of depth now. Sometimes you try something and it really works!


Painted in gouache on Bristol Vellum, 2.5" x 3.5".

~Deborah

Sidelit Sunflower

Okay, the title is lame, but I like the painting. How can you miss with purple and orange? Well, at least for me. Favorite little bit: where the light *blings* on the petal at the middle left. Ya gotta love the small stuff, you know?


Painted in gouache, again on Bristol Vellum, 2.5" x 3.5".

~Deborah

Mountain Lake

This is from the Watercolor Challenge over at WetCanvas. I liked the original photo and thought I'd crop, spindle and mutilate it a little. Take a look and you'll see how different it is. I like the contrasts, the swooping composition, and the reflections. You know how every painting has a little something you really enjoy? In this one it's the way I got the top of the pine tree against the snowy bit on the mountain. *bling* Made me happy.


Painted in gouache, again on Bristol Vellum, 2.5" x 3.5".

~Deborah

Evening Arrival

This one was just an explosion of rich color, totally fun! I had in mind a goal to stay relatively loose and simply dash in the pigments, rather than trying to over-think or excessively control the marks. I've been inspired to return to more spontaneity in part by the paintings that Maggie Latham has put up on her Small Works blog. Beautiful stuff--take a look.



Painted in gouache, again on Bristol Vellum, 2.5" x 3.5".

~Deborah

Shining Sunflower

I've painted this sunflower multiple times but this time I was influenced by some paintings I saw on Nathan Fowkes' blog, where he used very dark, almost black, backgrounds for some flowers. (If you visit his blog you'll have to search through his posts for the flowers. He doesn't have titles and there are no labels.) I found this deep blue inspiring, and while it's not as dark as his grounds, it pleases me. You have to admit it has visual *pop*.


Back to my usual small size, 2.5" x 3.5", on Bristol Vellum.

~Deborah

Sketch Journal 1

I thought you might enjoy a quick peek into my gouache sketch journal. I love seeing other artist's sketches!

I'm working in a Handbook journal that's 5.5"x3.5". With the border the painting sizes are actually about 4.5" x 2.5" in size. I'm using the plain vanilla drawing journal, not watercolor paper. I do a very light pencil sketch, then paint in gouache, as always, and add some Sharpie marker lines to finish. The idea is to stay loose and fresh.

Periodically I plan share a batch for you to see. Here's the first, painted from photos, a lot of them near home:

1. My house.

2. San Francisco.

3. We call this THE tree.

4. Where we walk near the Rio Grande.

5. A two-track in the mountains.



















6. Near the escarpment behind our house.

7. My next door neighbor's front door.

8. My front door.

9. A soutwesternized version of a European photo from WetCanvas.

Honestly, they are all the same size, all are relatively squared off in shape, and all on the same color paper! It's just that at different times I shoot in different light, so things come out a bit varied. These aren't for sale, so I don't have to be as careful.

People often assume sketches are made as plans for finished paintings, but I look at these as simply a way to keep my brushes wet in a much more casual and quick way.

I hope to spend a bit of the fall painting outdoors, so I decided to use much more limited colors and experiment with an Alvin Water Color Palette I've had on hand that I think will work outside. I wanted to become familiar with using it inside first, to get some of the bugs out. I want to get a water brush soon, and I need to work out carrying water so I'll be looking for the right cup.

Speaking of bugs, I'm NOT using my beloved M. Graham gouache here, because the honey component draws bees! So the colors you see here are either L&B Linel, or Winsor-Newton gouache. (And yes, the bottom left-hand well has "white" in it. In theory.)

You see a few of my favorite brushes. I mostly use a 1/2" flat, a 3/8" angled shader, and my little #0 round for small details in color. The pens are ultra-fine point Sharpie markers.

I've realized I'm so "left-eyed" that I like having the photo or the view I'm painting off to my left. Oddly, my left eye is weaker. Maybe it's because with this eye I see shapes more than details. I'm not sure, but it works for me.

Let me know if you have any questions!

~Deborah

Jazz Bowl

I've been playing with this little mixing bowl and learning a lot about reflections. One night I set it up on my colorful tablecloth atop a box a little above eye level, turned a spot on it from above and painted what I saw. I tried to keep the reflections loose and painterly, while catching the pattern of the cloth (which was a challenge!) Lots of fun!!!

It's also 5x5" on Arches 300 lb. cold press.

~Deborah