Dog #2 - his favorite bowl

Beginning October 1st, SMAL (St Michaels Art League) will be hanging another exhibit in the gallery at our local library. We have 4-5 exhibits a year and try to make them interesting by using various themes. (Our last one was in July - "Red, White and Blue" - see blog of June 16, 2013)

This exhibit's theme is "Water, Water Everywhere." Yes, we live in an area where everyone is probably within 5 minutes of the Chesapeake Bay and/or one of its tributaries. There is indeed water, water everywhere! But, the suggestion in the exhibit write up was to be challenged by this theme and come up with some different ideas.  Suggestions were: someone jogging carrying a water bottle, a rainy day, children playing near a fountain or a dog lapping water from his favorite bowl.

Well, now that I knew I could paint a dog, this seemed the way to go - a dog drinking from his favorite bowl.

One of the art challenges I am working on is the combing of two (or more) pictures into one painting. It can be tricky to get the perspective, light and values correct so that it looks like it is really one picture - not several pasted toegther. I knew what I wanted to do for this dog painting . . .could it come together?

We all know what a dog's favorite bowl looks like, right? So, I am running around the house taking pictures of our toilets from many different angles - yes, and laughing at myself! Then I am looking at all the pictures on my computer and printing them out to see which ones will work with the dog picture. Don't you know I am also thinking, "What if I die right now before I have painted the picture and someone goes through my picture file and sees all those toilet pictures?"  Well, let's not go there!

My initial sketch wasn't right, but several sketches later I think I got it and began my painting.  A bit of tweaking here and there and voila . . .

"It's gotta be 5 o'clock somewhere"   9x12 pastel   $150 SOLD

Yeah, I know, it's probably NOT a painting you want hanging over your mantle, but it's fun and silly. Be sure to read the title.  Let's face it, it's bathroom art. You could hang it over your commode!

There is a reception for this exhibit at the St Michaels Library on Thursday, October 3rd at 5:30pm. Come and see what all the artists have done with this theme!

Alley - My first animal pastel

When we first moved to the Eastern Shore, my husband bought a riding lawn mower and seemed to enjoy getting out there and cutting the grass.  Then there was a proliferation of bumper stickers that seemed to appear everywhere that said things like "I'd rather be sailing".  I think he took those literally and soon we had hired someone else to mow (and we even gave our mower away!).

We have had our current lawn care guy for quite a while now and have gotten to know his family - and his dogs. I always look forward to Jason dropping by with his truck - usually with beautiful golden retrievers in the back seat. The dogs are always well behaved and adorable.  I admit it, I have a soft spot for goldens - particularly Alley and River.

This past summer we were given the sad news that Alley had died.  She was 13 years old and had been Jason's companion since she was a pup. A week or so after her death I got a phone call from Kellee, Jason's wife, asking if I would paint a picture of Alley. She wanted to give it to Jason for his birthday. I was very flattered, but was a little hesitant since I had never painted a dog before. (I had done a watercolor of a niece of Jason's and Kellee knew about that painting.)

I told her that I would give it a try and we would see how it went.  She sent me some pictures that she had of Alley and I also had taken some for another project.  I studied the photos for awhile and began the project wondering how I was ever going to be able to do this.

After working on the painting for a couple of days, I was amazed (and continue to be amazed) at how it turned out. It was one of those challenges that totally surprised me. I love it!

I have waited to post about this until Jason had the painting in hand. I am told that it now hangs in his house.  So Happy Birthday, Jason. We all miss Alley.

Nelson Pond sketches

Ahhhh, we have returned from a lovely 10 day vacation in Vermont.  The air was cool and crisp - a wonderful break from our Maryland summer (familiar local phrase . . ."It's not the temperature, it's the humidity!").

For the past few years we have been fortunate to rent a cabin (in Vermont they call this a 'camp') on Nelson Pond just down the mountain from my son's farm. It is delightfully rustic, with a large screened room that overlooks the pond. There is a great dock - access to the cool, clear water . . . great swimming!

We spend a lot of our time with the grandchildren, so I don't even bother to take painting supplies. However, I love to spend a quiet morning or two sitting in various places with my sketchbook. Each year there are flowers in new/used containers  - sap buckets, barrels, a coal skittle, the ripped out seat of an old chair and more.








Here is one of the barrels.  It's the end of summer and the delicate blossoms were doing a rather dainty dance routine.

On the short walk down to the dock there is a fire pit area.  It's set up with comfortable seating - Adirondack chairs and a bench. Here is the bench by the fire pit. . . it just called to me to be sketched.
















As I was sitting on the bench, a dragonfly paid a visit. S/he seemed very at ease and enjoyed the sunshine just inches away from my sketchbook.









Alas, summer is almost over and now it's back to the 'real' world. . . after I make a few notecards with these new sketches, that is.

The Escapee

The Bicentennial Celebration 1813-2013 Art Show is this weekend and I am almost ready. Yesterday I framed my last painting - the boy and the crab.

You may remember from my last post that I was working on this painting and had put it aside to just look at it for awhile. Well, I kept looking at it and finally figured out what was wrong - I needed something to connect the boy and the crab.  I had painted them from two different pictures and they still presented as two different pictures.

Aha, sometimes it takes longer for that light to come on . . . the missing ingredient was a crab net! For those of you who are not into crabbing, this is how it goes. You tie a chicken neck (yes, I am not kidding - a raw chicken neck) onto a piece of string and put it in the water.  The crab finds it - sometimes this takes a long time - and begins picking at it. He actually holds on (hopefully) as you slowly pull up the string and then you scoop him up in a net.

Thus the need for a net in the picture to connect the boy and the crab. When children are crabbing they get very excited about catching a crab and sometimes just want to watch the crab run around on the dock for a minute.  I would NEVER let a child wearing flip flops be this close to a crab (they are fast little critters who threateningly wave their claws in the air and run sideways), but I think it works in the picture. I am calling it "The Escapee" - as if the crab actually escaped from his captor.

Hope to see you at the art show - Saturday from 10:00-5:00 at the St Michaels Women's Club!

I will also have commemorative posters for sale - a bargain at $15 . . .

Sorry, it's not the best photo - just put the poster by the kitchen door and took the picture . . .it's a rainy day.

In the beginning . . .

Some people have asked me about my watercolor underpaintings and how I begin on a project - so, here is what I am working on right now.

I am going to be in an art show in St Michaels on Saturday, August 10.  This show is part of the BIG Bicentennial Celebration - Battle of St Michaels event.  It's sort of a themed show - St Michaels, War of 1812, Eastern Shore, local scenery, etc.  Since I seem to be in my 'children' period (who knew I would categorize my paintings into 'periods?'), I am working on "Children of the Eastern Shore."

Some time ago I had taken a picture of a cute little squatting boy who is looking at something on the ground.  I love this pose - it's so kidlike.  So, I am using his 'squat' and have put him on a dock. He is now looking at a crab.

I sketched it, put it on sanded pastel paper and then loosely painted the watercolor underpainting.  When I stood back and looked at it again, the dock looked strange.  (See the slanted vertical lines?) Often when you combine two photos the perspective or shadows are off.  To correct this, I scratched in some horizontal lines and added more of the blue/green water across the back. The great thing about an underpainting, I can get an idea . . . and then go over it and make further changes when I get to the pastel.

Well, I got this far and took it to my watercolor class for review. One of the suggestions was to make the crab bigger and move him more to the center . . .and closer to the little boy.  Now, if that were my grandchild on the dock he would NEVER be that close to a crab . . .especially wearing flip flops, but since I made up the whole thing, it may work.

I started with some pastel today and decided to experiment with changing the color of his clothes . . .I may end up going back to a blue shirt - will keep looking at it for awhile. I like to look at paintings from across the room for a few days. It will usually tell me what to do next.

The crab needs a lot more work. I am going to try to make him stand up more and wave his claws around. Those crazy crabs like to threaten small children! (and grown-ups, too)

So, this is what I have so far . . .  I'll post the finished painting at a later date!

House Drawings

HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY everyone!  In keeping with the holiday spirit, I am posting about a holiday today.  No, it's NOT about today's holiday.  I'm a bit out of sync, I fear.

I am thinking back to many years of summer camp in northern Wisconsin (Camp Osoha) and thinking of "Christmas in July" . . .a celebration that we had there with a decorated canoe parade and more . . .   And yes, we did also celebrate the 4th - we were always looking for excuses to have extra ice cream sundaes for dessert!

So, my artwork today is for Christmas - actually for Christmas in St Michaels which is correctly celebrated in December.  And the story is this . . .CISM is a weekend in December  - a fundraiser for local non profits - with a parade, Santa Breakfast, gala dinner dance and House Tour.  Members of the St Michaels Art League have volunteered for the past 30 years to make drawings of the houses which are on the tour.  Scanned images of the pictures are used in a booklet and the originals are framed and given to the homeowners who have generously offered to have their home on tour for the weekend.

I volunteered to do two drawings - they are due the first of August - and they are finished!  I am patting myself on the back to be done early.  Even though it was fun to draw them and I do appreciate all the work that goes into this event, it's wonderful to cross this off my list.

There are usually 'in town' and 'out of town' houses on the tour.  Here are two of the 'in town' homes.  Check the St Michaels website for info on this event and find out more.  Then when you come to town, see if you can find these houses!

  

Enjoy your holiday - whatever it is!

Thinking it Through

I've just finished another pastel - this one is more muted than I others have done lately.  I'm not really sure why I chose this particular picture to paint, except that I love the poses. . . and I guess that's what it's all about anyway.

I have discovered that when I take pictures of my paintings I can very often see what to do next - sometimes when I am right there on top of the painting, I can't 'see' it.  So, I tried to take pictures along the way to show myself what the camera sees - not what I am seeing.

It all began in my watercolor class - I was looking for something to paint that week, because there didn't seem to be anything blooming right then. (When there are flowers 'in season' the class usually paints a still life arrangement)

Here is the original sketch:

Next I drew it on the watercolor paper and painted it. When I got home, I looked at what I had done and I found myself putting pastel on it! So then I decided to just make it a pastel. I began again with a watercolor underpainting on pastel (sanded) paper.

I love doing the skin tones using the 'Margaret Dyer' method.  Forget about local (the 'real' color) and concentrate instead on value.  I begin with light values - blue, green, yellow, purple, pink, orange - and they magically blend themselves into beautiful skin. The same is true for the dark values - any color works as long as it is a dark.

I went back and forth between working on the skin tones and background - playing with the water and the splash. I also concentrated some on the clothes, faces and hair.

The girls were close to the water's edge so I had some foaming, wavy water across the bottom.  When I showed this to a friend (my trusted critic) she suggested that I get rid of the wave at the bottom - she thought it was distracting.  I think she is right, soooo . . .

Pastel  12x16     $300

Here it is!  I think I've finished tweaking and will go with this for now.  However, it's needs a title!  Any ideas? Suggestions?