Hollyhock

So I decided to branch out a bit.  Today's offering is a simple hollyhock plant.  I tried using watercolor pencil to draw lines on the petals, but I don't know how successful I was.  While I don't dislike the finished product, I don't truly love it either. I think that I rather like using a brush better, but I still want to give it a fair try, so I'll probably do this again.

Well, I had fun painting, hope you have fun viewing.

Another WIP

Another one with a lot of work to go.  I've also been kicking this one around for about 3 or 4 months.  Literally putting in a brushstroke or two a night.  Just while I'm waiting for other paintings to dry.  I think its about time to put in some serious work to finish this.

Just a quick posting to let you all know I haven't been slacking too much.  Thanks for taking a look, and remember to check back later to see how it ends up.

Motorcycle WIP

You knew it was gonna happen.  it was only gonna be a matter of time until I got back to painting cars and trucks and the like.

I put on a really loose layer to get some base color, and have been slowly adding to this painting.  I think I started a week ago, and while waiting for other paintings to dry, or while in between other projects, I put just a touch of paint here and there.    I don't know how much time I've got into this, And I don't know how much I have to go.  I'm gonna keep on pecking away at it and we'll see how it goes.  For now, it's still a work in progress.  enjoy.

Driftwood Christmas Tree Centerpiece

I had at one point in time, seen, on Etsy, these cool driftwood Christmas trees.  I thought to myself, I could make those.  I live near the ocean, and have an ample supply of driftwood.  All I need to do is collect the right pieces. and find a way to put them together.  How hard can it be.

Fast forward 2 years and I have my first one.  Its not that I couldn't have done it.  Having made this first one, I have found it to be just as I thought it would be.  I just hadn't had the time 2 years ago, and by the time I got back to it, I'd forgotten about this little project, and my stack of driftwood relegated to a back corner of the garage never to be seen again.

Well, this weekend I found the wood, and constructed my first Christmas Tree centerpiece.  Its just the right size to sit at the center of your holiday table, and looks nice enough it could sit out all season.  The biggest problem I had was trying to balance all the pieces so that the piece would be stable and sit flat.  Once I got that accomplished, all went smoothly.  

Event though it is only May, I might have to build a bunch of these, and have them ready for sale when the holiday season comes rolling around.  

Thanks for taking a look.  Hope you enjoyed seeing this little project.

Too Red Poppies

Two things I really like.  One, for some reason, painting poppies. 2 painting where I don't have to stay in the lines.  This painting checked both those boxes for me.

I did one thing a bit different with these poppies that I didn't do with all my other paintings of this style.  Normally i'll start by putting down some color in the general shape of the flower, making sure that all the color flows from the bottom of the petals, and gets lighter and less intense as it goes up.  then I redefine the shape of the petal on a second layer of paint.

On this particular one, I didn't worry so much about keeping the bottoms intense.  I really let the paint and water go where it wanted to on the first layer.  As a result I got a fairly uniform layer of paint.  Albeit a layer that still had not a lot of shape or definition to it.  As before, I went back with a second layer and defined the petal edges.  The only difference is that on this one, I tried to then go back to the base of the petal and put in some intense red and let it diffuse to the now defined petal edge.

Not entirely sure I was successful.  But from looking at the picture, I wasn't completely unsuccessful either.   Enjoy.

Some Kind of Red Flower

Just playing around last night.  I thought this turned out nice.  Some flowers of undetermined species.

Got the whole paper wet, and threw down some red, blue, yellow and green.  Then when it dried I put in a little red to bring the petals to the foreground.   After allowing those to dry, went back and drew in the stamen and leaf edges.  A little water to tone them down and voila.

It turned out to be exactly what I wanted.  A loose painting of some flowers.  Done quickly, but with enough interest that it's enjoyable to look at.

Hope you enjoy it.  

Splatter Splatter

I love a good splatter painting.  It can be very cathartic to literally throw some paint around.  You get to be messy and sloppy and it all works out in the end.

You can probably tell that I painted these in the same session.  They use the same colors, the same positioning, and generally the same feel.  Usually I will have included a few buds in the painting to allow for something a little more natural, or as natural as a splatter painting can get.   My head must not have quite been in the game when I did these, or I'd have included a few.

Well, anyway, they have nice colors in the, and aren't too hard on the eyes.  Enjoy