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.

Castle on a Lake

This one took me two lunch times to complete.  Well, it took one, plus about 15 minutes, but who's counting.  I think it turned out pretty well.  I really like the reflections in the water.  Maybe this will be the start of some really good paintings for me.

castle

Here is a castle up on a bluff.  A road runs along the fence up to the castle.  The castle itself is in ruins and casts a shadow on the ground to the left .

House in a field

Well, it's been a while since I posted a painting.  I hope you all enjoy this one.  The stone wall doesn't quite have the depth that I hoped it would, but I'll work on that and make it better.  The house looks good, the trees, not too bad, and the grasses have good colors.  Admittedly, it's not the most exciting picture in the world, but I wanted to give it a shot.

Tuesday Lunch - Dexter Patio

This is the second week I've gone outside to paint. This picture, while not all that good, probably, is miles ahead of what I did outside last week. It is such a learning experience to do this. Do I sit in the sun or shade? How fast is the paper drying? How come the colors in my travel pack don't look the same as the ones in my studio? Will I finish in time? Do I have the right brushes? Whew! I think the trees on the right turned out great, the trees on the left got a little muddled. The shrub infront of the window is supposed to be behind the tree on the left... and right for that matter, but its the look of it infront of the tree on the left that really throws the picture off.

Well, some good some bad in this one, but it was definitely an experience.

Hearst Castle Tower

Here is a quick work of one of the towers of Hearst Castle.  If you don't know, I am scared to death to paint buildings.  For some reason they cause me fits.  Well, I am bound and determined to be able to paint them reasonably well.  This is an effort to paint in a very loose style.  I was trying hard not to focus on the details like the gargoyles, the cross pattern in the windows, the molding, railings, or the joint of the granite, rather just to paint the essence of the building.  I guess its like trying to paint what you see if you were to look at the building through a piece of gauze or hosiery.  I think for a first attempt at it, and for being a bit afraid of building, I did a pretty good job.

A second attempt at that same vineyard.  I love the new tree method.  Painting them now really is fun.  I think I got a bit heavy handed with the colors in the foreground, but the building is much better than the previous one.  Hope you all enjoy.

Vinyard

Well, the lesson from this one is that Michael really needs to work on his buildings.  I like the pine trees, the grass is ok, I can even live with the vines, but  the building is hideous.  I guess I've got my work cut out for me.

I really like this technique for the pine trees though, i think they look great.

cows 2

Well, I thought I would be able to improve upon this picture if I were to simplify the foreground.  I think I was wrong.  On a bright side, I think I got the horns a lot better.  What do you think?  Please comment.

cows in a field

Here is the first picture I have ever done of cows. I like the field and like the cows and like the rocks, but I think that all of them together are a bit much. I think that I should have toned down the field a bit.

The long and winding road

Thought I would try something different with these. I totally wetted the paper and then painted one whole layer of paint. Then I went back and did some overtop. That is why there is color underneath everything on the paper. I tried a little different technique with the foreground pine trees. I think it worked out pretty good.

Olive trees in a field

This is a quick one from last night. Well, ok, so I was interrupted three times by small children needing my help, but it didn't take all that long. I like the shadows under the trees. The creek could use some help. What do you think?

house in a field (unfinished)

This one is not quite done, bu I think it is coming a long so well, that I wanted to post it. I think the mountains look spectacular, and my skies are really coming along. I'm going to put a road or a fence or some such thing in the foreground.

Quick Painting From Last Night

Am Working through a watercolor book and the artist works with a limited palette. I am trying to do the same thing. I can mix my own greens, but I think my coloring was off in this one. I needed greyer greens in the back and more vibrant greens in the front. Well, thats why they call it practice.

House on a River

Well, I think I'm getting the hang of some things. The trees in the background do give a nice fall theme. I could have mixed the colors a bit more, maybe thrown in a few reds, but in general I like how they turned out. The trees behind the house I obviously rushed a bit. I really think I got carried away with the reflection of the distant trees. I think it overpowers the water. And I wasn't exactly sure what to do with the reflection of the house. But all-in-all, a good step forward.

One BAD, One Good.

The first one is obviosly the bad one. It turned out carrots again. I loosened up a lot on the second one. It turned out much better. It did mean changing the picture a bit, but I think I kept true to what the inspiration picture is.

This is another picture where I feel like I've learned a lot by painting it. It was hard for me not to try to recreate the painting as I saw it, but once I changed the look of what I was doing, it made loosening up a lot easier.

Once more from the northern most state

This one I think I managed to get some depth into and I even think it kind of looks like the train is moving. Most of this picture was painted with a few flatbrushes. The only round brush used was a rigger to pint some shadow and the wheels. The flatbrush is quickly becoming a favorite. I can see why so many people like it.

Another from Alaska

Here's another one from Alaska. I got ran out of time an couldn't finish the foreground trees, but I don't really think it matters. (I do think Bob Ross would have me go back and finish them.) I think i got some nice layering of the pine trees and of the mountains in the background, but the picture is definitely lacking something. I think, though, that I am getting better.

Alaska

Well, I thought I had a great handle on this one. I was painting great, or thought so, until I got to the grass and plants in around the lake. At that point i think i got a little to literal for this painting. I had what I though was a really nice painting going. Some really nice mountains, some nice pine forrest in front of them then the train, and, blammo. I don't know what happened. I just got way to literal. Well, I still like this one. I't trying to push mysel to paint more loosely and just have to keep at it. Hope you all enjoy it.