Digging Through the Past

A friend of mine wanted a couple of Valentine-theme paintings. I started looking through old photos. I found some really cute photos of her dogs when they were puppies that I worked into Valentine paintings for her. While I was looking through the old photos, I found one of her two sons when one was five and one was two. It was the two-year-old's birthday and his Aunt had given him a bike. It was really too big for him, but it WAS his. The older brother could hardly contain himself. He really wanted on that pretty new bike! I decided that would make a cute painting. So here it is. I call it "The New Bike."

My Version

Here is my watercolor version of the photo from my last post. It is on a surface I haven't really used much before - claybord smooth - masonite with smooth kaolin clay, no texture or india ink added to scratch off. The watercolor definitely moves around on the board as you are working, so I basically did a wash of various browns on the deer, let that dry, and then scratched some of that off. I alternated between adding and scratching off color. I basically did the same thing on the background, but didn't do nearly as much scratch off. I only scratched off where I needed light on dark. Interesting to work with and I'll probably try something else on it in the future.

We're Back from Colorado

We just got back from a short trip to Colorado........the Vail area, where there wasn't as much snow as I expected. There was plenty of snow up on the ski slopes, but the valley areas were patchy. While out driving, I did manage to take a few photos that might turn into paintings, or backgrounds for paintings in the future. We saw a small heard of deer next to the highway and here is one of the photos I took.

Well, that was different!

I just finished creating this little blog, but finally gave up on adding my photo to the upper corner! Artistic people shouldn't be expected to be analytical as well. Having said that, I am sure I will eventually figure out how to get that done. I will start by sharing one of my most ambitious projects. This is a claybord scratchwork with watercolor color added. I do this in layers, scratching and adding color as I go. The subject of this is Eddy Z. Two-Clouds who led in the grand entrance at the Red Earth Celebration in Oklahoma City. I will be posting my various art, as it is finished, and hope someone out there will enjoy my efforts. I might even throw in a photo or two, occasionally, since photography is another of my hobbies.