The Dot Project

I recently found these dot paintings and want to share them as an exercise in connecting paint and water with paper, using your finger as you would a paint brush. We worked on the dot project, based on the teachings of Kaji Aso, in my pure watercolor class as a means of feeling with our fingers' touch what it is to paint and really understand the pigment and water, how they react and mix together. I liked this process.

Cool as a watermelon

Love them! Wish it were summer already so I could enjoy a big juicy slice ....and paint one or two again. These were fun to experiment with and I didn't want to spend too much time on a preliminary sketch as I had on the other pieces I painted previously. These were more free form. Don't you wish you could have a slice right now?

Apples

Well, this certainly is the longest I've been away. I have since finished my last class at the SMFA in the illustration certificate program and am working on my portfolio (slowly, admittedly). The class and instructor were great and I would love to take another class with her since I feel I need much practice in this method of watercolor painting. I am going to explore mixed media and collage art over the coming months as I create a portfolio, and also rework my children's book concept/dummy that I started in last spring's children's book illustration class.

I am posting the pieces I worked on this summer in the pure watercolor class and will try to post all of them over the coming weeks. Here I selected a New Zealand apple that was very stripey (too much so). The task at hand: sketch in pencil your subject (always), paint the subject in a monotone color (in this case blue), and then paint the subject using the pure watercolor method (yellow-red-blue-green-etc ... one color at a time, as appropriate for the subject). This was a learning experience and I will go back to this striped subject again in the future and try to make it softer.

I am always looking for inspiration from established illustrators and recently discovered this children's book illustrator who has a beautiful hand at creating whimsical and interesting children's book art. Check him out: Rob Scotton. See you soon!

A Nectarine

It's been awhile since my last post I see and I'm happy to report that my first watercolor class (and last class in my illustration certificate program), Pure Watercolor Painting, started this past week. So I am showing the work from Wednesday's class here. The still life was fruit and I selected a nectarine to paint, mostly because I am very drawn to the colors in it -reds and yellows. We did a quick sketch first then later got into the painting. I did not do a sketch of the nectarine prior to painting it -I went straight into the painting. It received a positive review from the instructor, Katherine Finnegan, who by the way is just great -and I really like her painting style. She is possibly the best instructor so far from all the classes I've taken -yes, I can tell this by just one class. She is also connected to Kaji Aso Studio, which might be the next place I enroll for a painting class. Well, that's all for now. Enjoy!