The Thing About Books

#43 "The Thing About Books"  7x5 mixed media
Late night painting session last night... (I'd spent the day painting book shelves.. not quite a challenge painting, though if I could count it... I would.) :-)  The cute little tank top appeared after I had collaged random things onto the paper... And then I sort of went from there....

Look Ma, No Palette! Painting directly with the tube



I came across this idea in a book called "Watercolor Wisdom" by Jo Taylor. (See the book here.) It's a really fun way to start off a painting.
First, you might want to have some idea of where your light, medium and dark values will go... then squeeze and drag the pure gooey pigment along some of the edges... (or you could use a palette knife)
Gooey pigment right on top of watercolor paper


Next, load a big brush with just water, and stroke the drippy brush over the wet paint, mixing the colors on the paper. Keep adding clean water (rinse your brush) to the moist paint on the paper, pushing and mixing the colors in the direction you want them to go.

 I added some scraping too, in the example below. It's not quite finished... but is a good start to finish up later!



Next time you are scratching your head trying to decide what to paint... grab a couple of tubes of paint and draw with them directly onto the paper... Then all you need add is water!

Bathed in Books...


New books to peruse on a cold rainy day....

It's been a while since I've ordered from Amazon. I had quite a few titles in my cart, collected over the last few months. I decided last week, that I was in need of some inspiration, and for me, books are a great source. I'm a book fiend... especially and art book fiend.
So, yesterday the UPS man...(I LOVE him) delivered these beauties. Each one is a delight.

And then the gods delivered this cold, rainy day. Perfect for sitting with a cup of tea and a pile of new art books. mmmmmmmmm Sigh. Ain't life grand?


Here are the titles and authors....
Inside the Painter's Studio; by Joe Fig (I love that name)
Drawing for Mixed Media Artists; by Carla Sonheim (fun!)
Carlson's Guide to Landscape Painting; by John F. Carlson
Landscape Painting; by Mitchell Albala (droolingly beautiful book)