Wednesday, December 20, 2017

Tree Frog

Here is a cute little tree frog that I did. I was using a new set of paints that I got. Its Prima Marketings Odyssey set of paints. They are really vibrant and wet very easily. As you can see, you can even paint great pictures witht them. I rather like them, and will use them agian really soon.


More updates soon

Monday, November 20, 2017

Lemons


Ahhh, well it has been quite a while since I made a blog post here. I know I always promise to do better but it really is hard with all the things I have going on. I’ve continued to paint, its just that not all the paintings have made it here.
This painting was done in Strathmore 400 series Multi Media paper. I will admit that I have used this paper befor and dont remember having such trouble. Perhaps that it was that I was much more the beginner. Right now, I have to say that if I never paint on this paper again, it will be too soon.
Having said that, I really enjoyed painting these lemons. I accepted the challenge of the paper and tried to make these look as great as possible. I think i really accomplished this.
The biggest drawback for me is the leaves. I don’t know if I had too much water or too little or maybe a bit of both, but I think they came out a bit wonky. Well, here they are anyway. I hope you enjoy them. I had a great time painting them. Hope you enjoy viewing them.

If you want to watch how I painted these, follow this link

Wednesday, August 23, 2017

Lake Erie Boat

Here is a cute little boat I painted.   This one came to me from the site pmp-art.com.  It's a little boat on the shore of Lake Erie (Sorry, I don't know if its the American or Canadian side).
I took a quick painting class on my lunch hour today.  30 minutes for a lesson, 30 minutes to paint.  I could have painted the picture supplied, or brought my own.  I chose to bring my own.  And knowing that I wouldn't have much time, I had to find a painting that I could do in a reasonable amount of time.

The lesson was about perspective and distance.  Notice the trees in the back are much bluer than the ones in the front.  That pushes them back.  Also notice that the sand on the beach in the front is much more red than the sand in the back.  That red helps to bring it forward.  All of a sudden, I've got depth in my painting.  Yay.

At any rate, for a 30 minute painting, I don't think its half bad.   I might even decide to do a video of this one.

Tuesday, April 25, 2017

A Few Flowers

 I haven't been making any videos lately, but that doesn't mean that I haven't been painting.  Here are  a few o f the paintings I've done over the past few weeks.  I know they aren't much, but I hope they help hold you over until I can get something better to post.


Thursday, March 23, 2017

In Honor Of April the Giraffe

Well, April the giraffe is still pregnant.  I started viewing her over a week ago, and my family has been watching every night just waiting for her to give birth.  I tune in every morning hoping that there is a new baby, but as of yet...nothing.

I'm amazed that each day another news outlet picks up the story.  Last time checked there were 128K viewers watching her, and the camera is now sponsored by toys-r-us.  hmmmm.  Just thinking, maybe that is why she hasn't given birth yet...  She's waiting for a little privacy.

Well, I given that she has given my entire family something else to do together and allowed for a little learning lesson for my children, I thought I should give back a little bit.

So, April, good luck, and know that my family and I will be watching and sending you good thoughts.

Wednesday, March 15, 2017

Seagull

Ahhh the humble seagull.  I don't know if I love them or hate them.  On one hand they remind me of the ocean and the soothing sounds of the crashing waves.  On the other, they are loud and really pester you if you want to eat something while at the beach.  Hmmm.

Well, I guess it doesn't matter, because I love painting them.  This one is standing on a bit of a piling, or other piece of old wood.

He was a lot of fun to paint, and I would encourage anyone who has an interest to go ahead and give it a shot.  If you need a tutorial on how to do it.... I've got you covered.

Enjoy, and thank you.

Monday, March 13, 2017

Monday Practice



A little Monday watercolor practice.  Fist is this nice little lighthouse.  I see this as just sitting on the edge of a quaint ocean inlet.  In this picture the lighthouse is on a concret jetty of some sort.  On the other side of the bay are lush green trees.

The second painting as you can see is painted on the same sheet of paper, but lower down.  This one looks to be kind of a high desert scene.  There is a tree that has fallen to the left and some scrubby little pine trees behind.  

I tried to work in a few more wet in wet steps with these paintings and I think it paid off though it may not be obvious at first glance.  The sky and the trees on the lighthouse painting were done all at once.  and the sky actually extends down into the trees.  If you look, there is just a tiny bit of green that bled into the blue (but just a bit).  Each time I went back for a different brush full of green paint, I altered the color of green.  I think the end result is fantastic.

In the desert painting the sky and distant trees were done at once.  (perhaps the mountains should have been just a bit bluer) If I could do this one over I think i would make the foreground value much stronger to really pull it forward.  I think it shows pretty good on the paper, but in this picture the foreground and midground are the same strength and I'd like to change that.  

Hope you enjoyed these.  Don't forget to check out my Youtube Channel - Watercolors With Michael and If you didn't know, I now have a gofundme campaign.

Thursday, March 9, 2017

Pink Rose

A Pink rose watercolor.  Maybe I could have used a few white highlights? What do you think?

Practice sailboats


 Feeling a little nautical this morning.  With the weather turning warm and my wanting to be outdoors I thought I might as well get in the mood for spring and summer. 
I hope you all like this.  I'll probably be doing more nautical paintings in the days and weeks to come. 

Wednesday, March 8, 2017

A Little Practice

Thought I would do a quick painting this morning.  This is what I came up with.  A cute little tree frog.

I guess I could do more to finish the painting, and I might go back and do more.  My intent for this was to get a quick painting done before starting work.  Since that is all this little guy is for, I'm totally happy with how he turned out.

I'm hoping to be able to do a few more 'before work' paintings in the future.