Pinecone Trio — Day #15 of challenge

Pinecone Trio, soprano. Click image to view larger.

Having a bit of fun with the naming of these little guys!

Pinecone Trio, alto. Click image to view larger.

I was experimenting with better ways to express a pinecone, and these were the most successful. The key is to lay down color, warm (more yellow) for the lighted side, cool (more blueish)for the shadowed side. When it’s dry, life out the color of the tips of the cone and then added the darks to give it shape. That’s the hard part for me!

Pinecone Trio, tenor. Click on image to view larger

So who’s your favorite singer?  I’m partial to the soprano….

Christmas Nopales and Tuna

Prickly pear cactus pads/leaves called nopales and their fruit, the pinky maroon tuna.   5″ x 7″  Available.

I was intrigued by the Christmas colors of these fruit when I saw them in the produce aisle.  They are part of the prickly pear cactus plant, and in southwest/Mexican cooking the pads/nopales are used as a vegetable and the tuna as a fruit to make jellies and more.  They earn their name “prickly” because even if you can’t see them, there are tiny stickers as thin as hairs that get embedded into your skin.  Ask me how I know!  Here’s a study of these to try to show the texture and colors.  I will definitely try these again sometime soon.

In other art news, I’ve stumbled across a really great podcast on Blog talk radio called Artists Helping Artists and it has several years’ worth of weekly talks with artists on their work and on marketing, tips on painting and the like.  I heartily recommend it.  Check it out at AHA (Artists Helping Artists) 

A newer and also really helpful podcast is the Savvy Painter podcast hosted by Antrese Wood, which has almost fifty in depth interviews with artists.  I’ve learned a lot from both of these art shows.  Do you have any shows you find inspiring?

Thanks for stopping by and checking out my work!  I’d love to hear your comments.

Shell study

 

One problem watercolorists have, or at least I have, is learning when to stop painting.  Or the patience to wait while paint dries and does it magic.  So recently I decided to have more than one piece going, so while I was antsy about color drying on one work, I grabbed a shell, lit it and painted it.  here’s the resulting study.

Feeling blue?

I was initially, because the paint just wasn’t flowing…I wasn’t having any success, but then I persevered. That’s the most important lesson. Practice, practice, practice! Perseverance will win out. Here are a couple of studies all done in french ultramarine on Aquarelle. I decided to get grounded in values without worrying about mixing colors, etc. So, when my funny husband walked by, he said, they look ok but the squash is yellow, and the small pot is green, the salt shaker is orange. Do you need your eyes checked? And then he walked out. I think he has too much time on his hands!

Which is your favorite? Mine is the salt shaker.