Rob’s Waterco☺ler

I completed my 1/2 sheet watercolor of this very interesting Americana type of scene.  Many things are out of place with this picture, but makes perfect sense with all the correct perspective and facts.  The boy is nobody in particular, placed in any town.  The toddler bike is not his and while there should be a motorcycle somewhere, it is not there.  The boy’s hands and head are protected  and mom is probably happy about that.  The rest will heal eventually and bandages are cheaper than leather.

15 x 22 on Winsor Newton 140lbs paper.  Of course the pigments are artist quality.

One of the most exciting and dramatic events in the underway Navy is replenishment at sea. In 1998 I shot a  picture of this scene from the USS Cape St. George CG-71 and have painted it into an impressionistic and dramatic sunset.  We were in waiting station (300-600 yards behind the CV) and the sea was a bit lively and catching the warm light.

15×22 300lbs Arches paper with 7 Winsor Newton watercolors: Permanent Yellow, Scarlet Lake, Antwerp Blue, Cobalt Blue, Terra Verde, Indigo and lots of Burnt Sienna.

I recently unearthed my Winsor Newton handheld watercolor sketchbox and started falling in love with it all over again.  I have been through several fits of getting the colors I like to use for “Field Sketching” and this is the current result:

Cadmium Yellow                     Scarlet Red             French UltraMarine
Transparent Yellow                Alizirin Crimson    Winsor Blue red Shade

Permanent Green                    Raw Sienna              Raw Umber
Winsor Green Blue Shade    Burnt Sienna           Indigo

And I really like  to have my Escoda travel kolinsky sable brushes size 10, 6 and 2.

Below is a picture of the set up along with a color study using Burnt Sienna as the interest color in the middle and seeing how the other colors react to it.  Notice Transparent Yellow is completely eaten up by it and the difference between how the two blues react.  Note: CR stands for Cadmium Red but is really Scarlet as I have been trying to get away from the Cadmium’s of late.  The dollar bill is for size reference.  No you cannot have it

Friday Night I participated in the Manassas Galley Walk in Old Town Manassas.  I met some wonderful people strolling through the old town on an unseasonably warm November evening.  Sold a nice watercolor/graphite sketch I had done of the old landmark Episcopal Church to the new owners.  They are going to open an international restaurant and cafe in a few months and we are all looking forward to its opening.

I also put together the above clay pot watercolor (12×16 on Arches) and graphite sketch as a demonstration painting.  Not sure I achieved the exact effect I was looking for, but it was fun.  No telling what will come out of these live demos   Well see if it warms up on me.

Rob

Been cooking this one up for over a year.  Sometime in the summer of 2007 I started this Goliath of a watercolor with a mess of hermit crabs all over the place.  I got burnt out on the crabs and it has been sitting unfinished, and taking up my very expensive 18 x 24 watercolor block.  Last weekend it came out of the closet and I saw a real direction to take it.  Sometimes these things just gotta sit for awhile.  Hopefully it does not take over a year on too many unfinished works or I will run into a storage problem sooner, rather than later

Saturday was the 3rd annual Manassas Art Guild Fine Arts Festival and I did a full sheet (22×30) watercolor demonstration (above).  I used my John Pike tray with tons of Winsor Newton, Maimeriblu and Lukas watercolor paint.  The two interest colors are the turquoise blue which I applied liberally to the background, and Scarlet Lake which I used to gradually deepen the intense orange of the fish (Lemon Yellow base).  The picture conveys a bunch of motion and hopefully brought a smile to many a spectator’s face.  I certainly enjoyed spreading the paint around!

Today was a absolutely beautiful day for the annual Manassas Fall Jubilee.  Vendors and entertainers lined the streets of Old Town Manassas and provided a wonderful back drop for this 16 x 20 watercolor looking down Center Street towards Battle Street.   A sign of the economy: big crowds, few sales.  People are really hanging onto their money and can’t say I blame them.  Guess it us a good thing that I enjoy the painting side of it much more than the business side.

Rob

Cassie Updated today (21 Sep 2008) and finished.  I washed some Burnt Sienna and Rose Madder Genuine in to get some red accents and signed it.  Hope I hit the mark.

Slight glare on it because I wrapped it in the acetone bag before taking picutres.  A bad habit….need th think…think…think…!

I started this watercolor today.  There is a story behind the dog, which I will not elaborate on other than she was a good dog, taken too early.  The painting will be a gift for a coworker who is retiring this month and has significant meaning to her.

I painted this on 100 lbs Lana paper.  I really like to sketch on the Lana paper, and it also makes a great substitute for hot pressed watercolor paper.  It is 100% cotton and archival with a surface somewhere between hot and cold pressed, and lightly brushed.  It holds the pigment VERY well and accepts light rework.  I would not push it too far though.  The best thing is it is very warm and inviting, unlike watercolor paper which can be cold.  Since I have a lot of white showing, and did not want a tinting wash, I used it for this painting.

The painting is in an interesting combination of Indian Red, Cadmium Yellow, French Ultramarine Blue, Burnt Sienna, and Rose Madder Genuine.  Tomorrow I will go back at it to add some minor details (leaving it rather loose), and then drop it in a 14 x 18 museum matt, already cut.

Today I was painting en plein air at the International Children’s Festival with the Northern Virginia Artist League.  We were invited in to be a back drop for the performing arts going on around the park.  We had a good deal of traffic come and go between the events, and the day was fabulous!  I found a nice spot next to a stream and composed a 15 x 22 loose watercolor.  I am happier with the base sketch than I am with the painting.  Might be a defeat snatched from the jaws of victory and end up in the hall of shame, or I might put it through.  Needs contrast and some color simplification…hmmmm.

Thought I would drop a quick post in to show what I am currently working on.  This is a 10×14 watercolor inspired from a larger, and incomplete, oil painting I have been working on for some time.  I really have not had much inspiration to work on the unfinished oils this summer.  Saving them for the winter when I am stuck inside is usually best.  Still this painting of a boy fishing on a river bank is inspiring and I did a quick sketch here.  The drawing was done in a hotel while on vacation over the Labor Day weekend, and I am almost finished dropping in the majority of the color.  Now I will let it sit for a few days and make adjustments, as needed.

Of note, is the colors I used.  Besides the standard 6 primaries (3 warms and 3 cools) I also used Burnt Sienna, Naples Yellow (a favorite) and English Red.  I usually don’t like to use the English Red, except on trees because it is very opaque, almost chalk like.   I think it helped bring out some dimension and contrast in the painting though.

Rob