Tag: My Artwork

Yellow and Orange Tulips in Watercolor

yellow and orange tulips

This tulip painting looks deceptively simple but it was time consuming and challenging to paint. I found the giant tulip on the left to be particularly challenging since I had such a large area to cover. The orange areas on the tulips required several washes to create an intense color. I painted the yellow areas first and then washed the orange on top; however, the next time I will reverse the process and paint the dark orange first and then apply a yellow wash on top. Each painting is a learning process.

This painting is for my sister with much love.

Baby Mushroom Fairy

Watercolor painting of a baby fairy resting on a mushroom

I haven’t posted a painting in a while because I’ve been so busy with home maintenance and repair projects. I had an hour to spare this evening so I kept this painting sweet and simple.  This painting is based on tutorials in Linda Ravenscroft’s books, “How to Draw and Paint Fairyland” and “How to Draw and Paint Fairies.”

Rainbow Zebra in Watercolor

Picture of  a rainbow zebra in watercolor

How awesome is this watercolor painting? My daughter painted this rainbow zebra last night. She used a variety of different types of salt–table salt, sea salt, and kosher salt–to achieve the texture. Traditional table salt results in more subtle texture and coarse salt results in a larger, bolder texture. To create these textures, she sprinkled the wet paint with salt, which displaced the water and resulted in the texture you see above. I love how she encouraged the rainbow stripes to pool into the zebra’s mane and merge together randomly. She used a fan brush to create the texture in the mane and to spatter paint on top of the painting. Well done, my girl, well done!

The Love Note

I was searching through a box of artwork my daughter created when she was young looking for inspiration for my next painting when I came across this cute note she passed me when she was 8 years old. It was so typically girly that I just had to save it. I call this painting “The Love Note.”

My digital sketch:

My daughter’s sweet note:

My painting:

My daughter’s painting:

Good Afternoon!

For the past 20 years I’ve earned a living as a professional artist generating computer graphics for a variety of clients and corporations. I haven’t picked up a paintbrush in years. But recently I’ve felt a strong urge to get back to basics and create art the old fashioned way–with paints and a paintbrush. So here I am with my first post on my new art blog. I’ve chosen to focus on watercolors because I love their transparency and versatility and mostly because I’ve never used this medium before and wanted to try my hand at something new. I love a challenge.

But first I had to assemble my artist’s toolkit. So I visited my favorite art blogs and made a list of the tools of the trade and began to assemble my kit. It took me a while to acquire all the items on my list. There aren’t many brick and mortar art supply stores in my area. I wanted to be able to see and touch my art supplies, to hold them in my hands and try them out before I purchased them. I found most of what I needed at a local art supply store and two different craft stores, but had to purchase the remaining items online.

It wasn’t a cheap undertaking. At each store I spent about $150.00. That brings my total initial investment to about $500.00 spent over the course of several weeks. But enough of this babble. It’s time to jump in with both feet–or both hands in this case. So, sit back, grab a cup of coffee, and follow along as I explore this new medium. I hope you enjoy my work. I look forward to your feedback and comments.

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