The Highest Compliment an Artist Can Get

My eight-year-old grandson asked me to paint him a picture of a lion. When I presented it to him he said, "it's really good; it looks just like it's been made by machine." Is that an endorsement or what? My favorite critique.

Happy Holidays

Wishing everyone who visits my blog Happy Holidays and a prosperous new year. Thought I would add a pic of my Christmas table decoration. Clear glass bowls of cranberries with candles inserted and placed amongst the greenery. It worked quite well. I was pleased with it. Got the cranberry idea from a magazine. Liked the idea of using things from nature. To get a closer look click on the picture.

Richardson's Bay

Another perspective of Richardson's Bay. I like painting abstract watercolor seascapes and landscapes. It allows one to see something new each time you view the painting. I was pleased with the outcome of this attempt. The watercolor sold soon after I uploaded it to my etsy site .

Fall Landscape

I was inspired to paint this watercolor by the beautiful fall colors on the east coast. When I lived in Virginia I loved watching the leaves change color in fall from greens to golds and reds, and everything in between.

Watercolor Note Cards

I'm on a flower painting kick right now. Thought they would make great note cards, so ordered top quality Museo note cards, 5" X 7.5", 100% cotton with matching envelopes, and listed them on my etsy site. They come in a set of six with matching envelopes and packed in a cello sleeve. Nice stocking stuffer.

Bird in Flight

This was my first attempt at abstract watercolors. I didn't start out with any preconceived ideas. Just wanted to give it a try using the three primary colors to keep it simple. The green was a mixture of Windsor and Newton's payne's grey and aureolin yellow. After staring at the finished painting for a few minutes, trying to decide what title to give it, I realized the dark area resembled a bird in flight - hence the title. I would like to work more on abstract designs with watercolors.

A few of my favorite Etsy watercolorists

There are so many watercolor artists trying to sell their work on etsy these days that it's not only difficult to get your artwork noticed, but it's also difficult to find what you are looking for. I thought I would feature a few of my favorite etsy watercolorists.

Etsy

Rainy Winter's Day

This painting was done on the same day as "Storm Over the Bay," below. I love the intense muted colors of stormy winter days.

Stormy Sunset Over the Bay

I live in Sausalito, California, overlooking Richardson's Bay. I love painting the bay at sunset and sunrise because I love the muted colors of that time of day.

A really useful watercolor blog

I found this really good blog by Joe Cibere who shares his expertise with other watercolorists. As he states, "This site is for students and artists of all levels to share information and hopefully a little of themselves. Please feel free to ask questions, make comments and enjoy. The goal is “to achieve satisfaction, not perfection”.

Watercolor Supplies

My two favorite places to buy watercolor supplies online are dickblick.com and cheapjoes.com - usually much less expensive than buying at local art stores. If anyone has a favorite online store please comment and give your reasons.

I was doing a comparison of the two store's watercolor blocks and watercolor paper and paints today, and dickblick came out marginally less expensive on both blocks and paper. I only researched Arches paper and Windsor and Newton watercolor paints since these are the products I use.

My criteria for choosing dickblick.com over cheapjoes.com is simply faster service, rather than price comparison. They also have an easier search engine and easier to read page displays. On cheapjoes.com it took several searches to get to the Windsor and Newton individual artist's watercolors. Results kept coming up for watercolor sets when I searched for watercolor paints.

On dickblick.com all the paint colors and sizes are displayed on one page, making it easier to make your selections. Also wish cheapjoes.com would use priority mail, which is far less expensive, not to mention faster than ground services - especially when supplier and customer are on opposite coasts. This is crucial since I usually need supplies in a hurry. I do use both of these vendors depending on my needs.

Water color demonstrations on Youtube

I spent a few hours on Youtube because I was curious to see what they had on watercolor painting. Quite interestingly they had a number of how-to videos which were informative for anyone needing tips on technique. Here is a link to a demonstration on painting a floral spray. Nicely done.
Floral Spray

And a demonstration on painting sky and sea.
Painting Sky and Sea

Watercolorists I admire

I'm always trolling the web for good watercolors. Here are links to a list of watercolor painters whose work I admire.
Gabriella Fiabane
S. Georgieff
Edith Dora Rey
Miki´s Sketches