Daniel Smith Color Dots

I have a full set of Daniel Smith color dots (sample colors) that have turned out to be an incredibly fun way to paint using colors I might never have chosen for my regular palette. I always seem to paint small, so the little dots of paint on the cards are ample for my needs.

In this one I explored using layers of transparent color washes, which is purely from imagination. I like the way the color washes layered and mingled in the cloud, particularly.

I wanted to retain the distilled, simplified shapes of the landscape, without over-detailing anything. That seems to give the paint strokes authority, respecting the paint itself, while expressing a beautiful landscape.

Watercolor, 2.5" x 3.5" on Arches 140 lb cold press paper.

West Texas

A west Texas sunset interpreted in gouache.

I took a snapshot from the window of our motel room one evening when we were on the road. It was so flat, with just those smashing colors to draw the eye, and the highway heading out into the distance pointing the way. Fun to paint this one!

Gouache, 2.5" x 3.5" on Strathmore 140 lb hot press paper.

River Sky

River Sky, 2.5" x 3.5"

Another view of the Niagara River, where the clouds seemed bigger than the river. 

Favorite part: the dark cloud at the middle top, containing so many colors. 

Anvil

We've had such beautiful anvil clouds forming around here lately that I just had to paint this one. The photograph was taken by my friend Geraldine Garcia, and I stayed fairly true to the cloud but changed the foreground design. I wanted the bushes to form an oval to carry your eye around and back to that spectacular cloud! Hope it worked.


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

~Deborah

Summer Desert

A friend shared this photo with me (thanks Geraldine!) I reinterpreted it a bit. I love the here-and-there subject matter, the soft cloud and sharp cactus reaching out in opposition to one another. It's so typical of New Mexico in July: hot and dry, with the promise of cool rain to come.

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

~Deborah

Peachy Sunset

At sunset a summer shower becomes a curtain of peachy pink! 

Painted in gouache on Bristol vellum paper, 2.5" x 3.5".

~Deborah

Winter Drama -- GIANT size (for me) 5"x7"

This is a painting done from a photo that I was graciously given permission to use. (Thank you, Gerald Parras!) It's got it all--a view of our mountains on a crisp winter day, sweeping vistas of the city, and a dramatic sky. I just loved painting that wind-whipped sky and the sunny range of snow covered mountains. The open spaces give a nice impression of the city receding away to the peaks, and the color contrasts are pleasing. How can you miss with blue and peach? It captures that warm-in-the-sunshine, cold-in-the-shadows kind of day we so often enjoy during winter here in New Mexico.

Yes, it's GIANT for me! You know I usually paint 2.5"x3.5" paintings, but this subject just called out for a bit larger (relatively speaking) format. It's on a piece of 5"x7" Fabriano Artistico 140 lb. cold press, a sample I had on hand. It's quite nice and if I have occasion I'll definitely invest in more. 

~Deborah

Stormy Contrasts

This one comes with memories, too, of the many times I drove along Highway 14 on the east side of Sandia, which is dubbed 'The Turquoise Trail', amid these blue and lavender storm clouds with the tawny grasses stretched out in colorful contrasts. Gorgeous!

This one is also on Bristol paper (100 lb. in case you want to know), and I'm learning to love how it behaves. I really soaked the paper to do the sky, yet the paint sits on top of the hard paper and mingles differently than it does on the Arches. I have a lot of Bristol ACEO cards, so for now I'm sticking to using it.

My favorite part of this one is the way the light clouds drip down over the blue sky on the right there... Hope you like it, too!

Tall Grass View

Another sky experiment where I let the blue and white pool and mix on the Bristol paper. I love how it worked out! It really caught that sweep of the sky over the river. But I think it's the sense of being amid the grasses along the Rio Grande that give this painting its authenticity. If I was brave I'd have put in the birds that flock everywhere along this flyway.

~Deborah

Summer Afternoon

These summer skies just thrill me! I love seeing the towering clouds as they build up during the afternoon, so often bringing a nice shower to cool things off. The shadows on the land are an extra bonus of contrast and color. 

Lofting Sky

I love playing with the way gouache works when it's re-wet. I picked up a lot of the purples from underneath, adding the greens and yellows to give it pizzazz, before finishing with more white. I think the big shadow on the ground pleased me almost as much as the cloud!

Hmmm, now that I'm getting into these larger paintings I guess I should edit the header that says all the paintings are 2.5" x 3.5"! This one is 7" x 5", on Arches 300 lb.cold press.

$150
Paypal or personal check

Mountain Morning Sky-- SOLD

Why is this one so big, you ask?

I've decided to do a few larger paintings and thought I would post this gigantic one (for me)! It's 5" x 7" and was done as a demonstration for a class I taught this week on Gouache Basics. I posted a plea for some sky photos on Facebook, and my buddy David Patterson came through with a gorgeous shot of an area not far from the old homestead in the mountains above Albuquerque. I suspect I could drive you right to that same place, I know Highway 14 so well. I really enjoyed catching the arching sky and clouds above the high mountains on a sunny spring day. Such a sweet place, and sweet memories for me.

Sky's the Limit

I've decided that I'll do a short series of maybe 9 or 10 paintings of the sky in which I plan to use the same kinds of brush strokes as you see in this one. I like the idea of letting them stand and when I do a series it usually challenges me to find out what works and what doesn't. For now I'm going to keep these back and not offer them for sale so that I can see how the idea progresses. I love the colors and transparency of this one, which is on Illustration Board.

Bid on this painting

Brilliance

This painting is on Pastelmat, which allows me to build up color in layers. I really enjoyed creating that punch of orange amid the gray, and developing the color of the middle distant red-violet clouds, but it was the tiny last touches of light in the dark landscape that did the trick. All of a sudden the painting seemed complete. I try to pay attention to that voice in my head that says 'enough!' I could easily go on to dibble and dabble and explain more, but usually it isn't needed. The statement has already been made.

$50.
Paypal or personal check

Fog on Tamales Bay

I used a photo from Robert at WetCanvas (aka skappy), of beautiful Tamales Bay in California. It's an area I always loved visiting and I found myself letting the fog roll in as I painted. It's on Illustration Board, so I could add water and let the fog pool on top of the paper.

$50.
Paypal or personal check

Sonoran Sunset

Painted on black Pastelmat, this piece was inspired by another of the excellent photos from the Gouache Corner over at WetCanvas. I love the almost magical sunset colors, turning what some might see as a bleak landscape into a romantic moment of peace.

One of my personal favorites.

$50.
Paypal or personal check

Sky Path

I loved the crazy shape of this cloud. I admit that the rest is mostly imaginary, designed from a real place but made my own. It's now northern New Mexico on a crisp, clear, blue, sunshiny summer day. I've seen these white flowers dotting the landscape, adding such delight to the walk, but it's the sky that's the path that leads me onward. Want to go for a hike?

On Illustration Board.

$50.
Paypal or personal check

High Plains

High Plains, 2.5" x 3.5", gouache

Last Saturday I did a demonstration for the New Mexico Watercolor Society and this is the result. At the point I stopped last week, this is how it looked:

It's on a piece of Arches 300 lb. cold-press paper and is a view I've painted before, drawn from the spectacular scene I often see as I drive down the hill from my house. I always wish I had time to compete a painting at a demo, but it seems the excitement and distraction keeps me from doing that.

I was delighted to paint and talk about gouache before this large, active group. They're busy finalizing plans for the Western Federation of Watercolor Societies Show, which they are hosting this year in Albuquerque, May 6-June 5. I'm sure it will be an excellent show!

Yellow Lane

I'd like to take this dusty little road out to the mountains and do some more exploring and painting! Last month I went to a monthly craft gathering at our church and while there I played around painting this one. Sometimes when I talk and paint simultaneously I find my hands doing the work almost independently. I was on a "new road" with the gals there--a good one, I think.

On Arches 300-lb cold press.

$50.00
PayPal or personal check.

Daytime Sky

Sunny days and warm clouds....mmmmmmmmmm! Feels so good after the below zero temperatures. Our skies are blue and the clouds are few.

On Pastelmat.

$25.00
PayPal or personal check.