Prepreparation for Painting in Tuscany

Today in the watercolor class we all painted a field of red poppies. We started off with a wash of raw sienna, added cobalt blue to the sky and floated in blobs of red and red orange for poppies. After that we added layers of darker colors to give the painting depth and detail. Everyones paintings were successful. We used a book by Susan Sareen that had a picture of poppies and a reference photo of real poppies.

I added some dark brown ink lines to my painting and threw in some analogous colors. Then I tried on my new raincoat and decided it was just right for Tuscany in late April. Now I am prepared for painting poppies and for rain in Tuscany. Ciao! Warning, I will be unbearably uttering ciao from now until I leave for Tuscany. Please excuse me, I just get this way, when I am excited about an impending trip to Italy.

Okay, okay, it's not pefect!

Just messing around with my paints in my studio and did a lukewarm painting of a cappucino I drank and photographed in Italy. As I studied the painting, I tried to remember the advice I give my students, your paintings don't have to be perfect. In fact if you are trying something new, they are rarely perfect. After giving myself this excellent advice, I turned out the lights and went to sleep. In the middle of the night, I woke up thinking that since this painting wasn't perfect I could mess it up and try some mixed-media stuff on it. I have been wanting to incorporate mixed media into my watercolors for a long time, but somehow couldn't seem to do it. Anyway, this is the result, it isn't perfect, but I have opened the door to mixed media for myself. Any suggestions for adding mixed media to a watercolor would be appreciated.

Have You Ever Seen a Purple Watercolor Cow?

Sometimes you just have to go back to your roots and paint. In my past I wrote and illustrated a book for children about a cow and her family. I was so immersed in painting cows that year that every gift I received for my birthday had something to do with cows. Last night I was seized by the desire to paint a cow and gave in. It is great fun to find a new way to treat an old subject and find you have improved. The cow you see above was painted with only 3 Daniel Smith colors, Phthalo Blue, Nickel Yellow Titanate and Quinacridone Rose.