Orange and Blue Girl

Orange and Blue Girl/ oil on board/ 7" x 5"/ $125

Following  the limited palette suggestions from the book "The Yin/Yang of Painting" this is the same girl previously painted red and green, now with blue and orange. This palette still allows for interesting flesh tones, but I think the red and green is better.

Missing my brushes while at a Master Quilt Class taught by Hollis Chatellain.hollisart.com. Check out her amazing work, though the web photos don't capture how fantastic her work truly is.

http://www.dailypaintworks.com/fineart/sue-churchgrant/girl-study-in-orange-and-blue/126203

Watercolor Wednesday: Watery Iris

Watery Iris/watercolor/ 5.75" x 5"/ Gifted

This small study was painted by wetting the area to be painted, then dropping individual thinned paint colors into the drying puddle.
The colors used were mostly transparents: aureolin yellow, permanent rose, cobalt blue, scarlet red and sap green. Some indanthrone blue was added for a deeper dark in the end.

Blood Oranges: Orange Blue Palette

Blood Oranges/ oil on board/ 4" x 4" /

This painting continues to explore the limited palettes described in the
book: "The Yin and Yang of Painting". This one is orange/ blue. In addition, I have been experimenting with different priming paints and this one was a yellow acrylic that was very slick. When I attempted to use Julie Ford Oliver's fracturing method (link) on this surface, it scraped clean as a whistle. Eventually, I decided to scratch the surface for texture.

Out Riding Again: Dog Study in Red and Green

Out Riding Again/ oil on board/ 4" x 4" /available at Low Country Gallery )(HH)

I love the vibrancy that the limited red and green palette creates in this little painting. Using only the two colors plus white and black also forces one to learn to mix colors.

Study in Red and Green

Study in Red and Green/oil on board/ 7" x 5"/available at Low Country Gallery )(HH)

This study again uses the red green palette described in the "Yin and Yang of Painting" book.  I was amazed at the beautiful flesh tones using these colors.

I plan to attempt to paint this same image with the other limited palettes.

Fractured Primroses

I asked Kat Coy, an excellent painter friend of mine (her blog), how she achieved her beautiful flesh tones. She recommended the book "The Yin Yang of Painting" by  Hongnian Zhang. This beautiful book uses complementary color palettes, illustrated by beautiful paintings. I decided to experiment with these limited colors. This painting is done in red and green (and a last bit of cad yellow (cinnabar green light was not enough for me)). In addition, I have been experimenting with edges and texture (scratching mostly). Julie Ford Oliver (link) recently published her "fracturing technique" as an art byte (found here). This is my first attempt that seemed to achieve what I wanted using this technique. It is a lot of fun, definitely worth trying!

http://www.dailypaintworks.com/fineart/sue-churchgrant/fractured-primroses/124112

Watercolor Wednesday: Curious Puppy

Curious Puppy/ watercolor/ 7.5" x 7.75"/ SOLD

The watercolor study today uses thin layers of color. The colors used were: cerulean blue, burst sienna, yellow ochre, rose madder genuine and a touch of cobalt blue, raw umber and ivory black. These colors were those used in the workshop give by Paul McCormack (link). 

In this study, the focal point will be the puppy's eye (and face). Therefore, that is where all the detail will eventually be.

Some of the process photos were shot wet, so the colors appear darker than they are when dried completely.

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One Banana

One Banana/ oil on board/ 4" x 4" /SOLD

This little study used scratching into the surface of wet paint to create texture and more interest. Scratching works best when there are under layers of wet paint.

Jam Jars: Reflections and Edges

I attended a wonderful three day workshop with Paul McCormack (link). Paul is an fantastic artist, as evidenced by the link here. He is also a remarkable teacher. He has well organized lessons, answers any and all questions and works tirelessly to help each student. He is planning on returning to Raleigh to the Art of the Carolina's this fall and may also teach a three day oil painting workshop. If you can, you should plan on attending one of his classes. You won't be disappointed.
Because of this workshop, I haven't painted in oils for several days. Therefore,  I decided to paint a familiar subject. I was thinking about lost edges and reflected color when I painted these old favorites. Warming up for a productive week.

Priming Experiments: Impressionistic Colt on Grey

Colt on Grey/ oil on board/ 4" x 4" /$75

I actually painted this yesterday while I was playing with testing different backgrounds. This background was quite slick and hard to make the paint "stick". I found the little rectangular strokes worked the best technically.  I thought it made an interesting painting. Today, I spent a FANTASTIC day in a workshop by Paul McCormack. If you want to be amazed, look here. Yes, these are watercolors!!!!

http://www.dailypaintworks.com/fineart/sue-churchgrant/colt-on-grey/122484

Priming Experiment: Rabbit on multiple colors

Rabbit on Multiple Colors/ oil on board/ 6" x 6"/ SOLD

Today, I tried priming areas yellow, blue and red. After the rabbit was painted, I decided to leave areas loosely painted and open.

Priming Experiments: #1: Girl on Orange

Girl on Orange/ oil on board/ 6" x 6"/ PENDING

I have been working on changing the ground color that I paint on. Karin Jurick (link) uses a flat black background for many of her paintings. I have struggled with this as I have tried to paint my Hilton Head mugs. I paint fairly thinly so my people always look "spotty" as the black peeks through. On white, the flesh is too sickly pink for my taste. This painting was painted over orange.  I liked the orange so much that I left a lot showing and I "cut out" other areas as well.  It definitely makes my flesh look more alive.

Watercolor Wednesday: Glazed Ball Jar

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Glazes on wet surface were built up layer by layer to paint the same jar in the same colors as last week's post (link). I find that glazing is especially useful for transparent flowers (see the white tulip from earlier this week (link)). I think that glazing gives a kind of dimension and glow that is unique to watercolor.

Dog at the Window

Dog at the Window/ oil on board/ 4" x 4"/ sold

This is the second time I painted this image. The first was a "wipe" as were two other paintings today. Persistence pays off.  The bright spots of red, orange and blue made this painting more interesting to me.

Polly's Dance

Polly's Dance/ watercolor/ 6" x 6"/ $75

We saw this parrot outside a minimart when we were traveling. The bird saw us watching him and proceeded to "dance" and strut, bob and shout "Hello, Hello". It is painted in wet washes of analogous colors: carmine, alizarin crimson, scarlet red, transparent orange, aureolin and then some horizon blue and sap green in the wing feathers

If you see some displaced spiders, they are probably ones moved during my studio cleaning. Probably this revised space will make for some great painting experiments!

http://www.dailypaintworks.com/fineart/sue-churchgrant/pollys-dance/121130

Valentine Bouquet

Valentine Bouquet/ oil on board/ 6" x 6"/ SOLD

This is painted in Dream Tolle Perry's style. The underpainting is thin transparent colors. Rich colors are overlaid next, pulling some of the color up and leaving some spots peeking through. Dreama is a wonderful teacher. If you have a chance to take a workshop with her, you would love it. Her 2014 schedule just went up. You can find it here.

Waiting for Spring

Waiting for Spring/ watercolor/ 8.5" x 6"/sold

I was interested in painting these tulips with dimension and clean, bright colors. The crispness of the white flower was achieved with layers of thin glazes of cobalt blue, aureolin yellow and permanent rose. The red tulip is scarlet red, purple magenta and permanent rose. Wet into wet background gives the soft edges.








Today was a first at achieving a watercolor effect in silk. I was afraid that the background would run into the poppy so I added a cold wax resist line which gave the white.Next time, I will omit this and the "stencil" effect will be gone and a painting will be achieved.

Apple Study and More Preparation for Watercolor Technique on Silk

Apple Study/ oil on board/ 4" x 4"/ $75

Most of today was spent exploring new silk dyes, resists, and color mixing. The lily seen below was painted with full strength dyes. They bled after steaming which  dulled down the colors. Never-the-less, I had a series of successful experiments painting without resists. I can't wait to work on this tomorrow. http://www.dailypaintworks.com/fineart/sue-churchgrant/apple-study/120376

Pansy Study

Pansy Study/ oil on canvas board/ 8" x 8"/ SOLD

The goal for this study was to paint pansies that were more abstract and less "cartoon-like". To accomplish this, I blocked in my large shapes. I then messed them all up, running the colors between the foreground and the background using the end of my brush. After I repainted the shapes of the flowers and the vase, it looked like the smaller version below. Finally, I added thick paint with a palette knife and cut into the shapes with the knife and my brush handle to add the texture and integrate the colors. Pansies will be another series, I can feel it!

Watercolor Wednesday: Painting using Water

Colors: Holbein cobalt turquoise light, Winsor Newton cobalt blue, Schmincke aureolin, Winsor Newton new gamboge, Holbein cad red light, da Vinci permanent rose.

This method uses water to model glass.1. Wet the paper and allow to bleed past the edge of the jar. Just as the shine disappears, drop liquid paint onto the surface.

Mop out areas of white highlights with a thirsty brush. Allow the paper to dry. 2. Paint the shadow areas of the lid onto paper that has been wet and just lost its sheen. This time, apply paint that is quite thick so it doesn't move much when it is applied to the moist paper. Because the paper is moist,  this will still create a soft edge.

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After drying, 3. the paint the lid in with the various neutrals made from the original colors.

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Paint the shadows of the letters are onto dry paper. Gently lift highlights.

Add a background of wet paint onto wet paper. 

Next week, the same jar will be painted in thin glazes to compare techniques.

Breaking Dawn Reflections

Breaking Dawn Reflections/ oil on board/ 4" x 4" /SOLD

I loved the contrasting red and blue of this boat and the sail. I wanted to paint something small to get warmed up again and I had not painted a boat before. I like this little painting as a start to the week.

Not Every Day, Despite Trying, Can Make a Painting

At the close of the Thirty Paintings in Thirty Day Challenge, there was a death in my family. A wonderful person that touched the lives of her family so that they arrived from great distances. I lost only two but two full days of painting. Today, I tried a warm up watercolor and felt like a beginner. I attempted to push along my silk painting project and still felt out of my element. So, I decided to modify an oil painting I wasn't fully happy with. That painting is now in the trash.

Here is the data on Muscle Loss in Sports:
An article by Ben Greenfield (link): "How Fast Do You Get Out of Shape?" reports that muscles can atrophy (muscles get smaller) and muscle fiber type conversion (change what they are made of) can occur in as little as 72 hours. The amount of change or loss depends on how often the muscle is used. The better the shape the muscle was in before being unused, the slower it will atrophy.

Anders Ericsson's (link) research is the basis for the 10,000 hour rule (or ten year rule) which suggests that proficiency in any field requires this amount of deliberate practice time. I imagine this 10,000 hour proficiency would be similar to a trained muscle in thinking about disuse atrophy.

The consensus of many of the participants in Leslie Saeta's challenge that daily painting practice improved their painting in as little as thirty days coupled with the disuse data suggests that my "out of sorts" painting day is to be expected. In sports, the better trained muscle bounces back more quickly than one that is less trained. We'll see whether that applies to my painting experience when I start again tomorrow.

Here is an older painting, "Pink Showers" that has yet to find its forever home.

Cross your fingers!

The Thirty in Thirty!!

This is some of this month's efforts!!!