Days 14 and 15 - Thirty Paintings in Thirty Days

Border Riot

4" X 6"

$40

Click here to purchase

So...tonight I am attempting to place catch up on the artwork front. While my teen daughter was in a voice lesson, I sketched the image above of zinnias from Photostream on my iPhone. Thank goodness for technology. It isn't my best work ever, but I got a new book on painting flowers in watercolor last weekend, so I wanted to do another flower painting. I didn't really follow any of what the book recommended except it talked about petals reflecting the sky, so I did add a little blue to some of the petals, which I really like. I was also a little more aware of the fact that flowers are three dimensional. I got a little bit bored with it at the end and started abstracting the background shapes, which I also like.

Yellow Belly

4" X 6"

$40

Click here to purchase

After I finished my flowers, I decided to finish one of my etched pieces. You would have to look REALLY closely at the turtle, but the line drawing he consists of is an etching on a piece of rice paper. I then gesso the back of the paper and watercolor the front. From there, I did things slightly differently than my normal mixed media process. I knew I wanted to include the turtle in some collage, but I feared that the watercolor would run when I applied matte medium, so for the first time, I sprayed the front of the turtle with varnish and let it dry before proceeding. I also applied him to a 300# scrap of watercolor paper instead of the printmaking paper that I normally use. (It was really wonderful to avoid the warping of paper!) I think he turned out well; I love lime green and bright blue together.