It's Raining, It's Pouring

watercolor in Moleskin

as always, click on image for larger view

The blessed rain keeps me from hauling anything new I've painted outdoors to photograph so it's back to the archives for something I can just pop down on the scanner. I sketched this during a family driving vacation to visit relatives. St. Louis is a terrific town, for kids and for tourists. Highly recommended! Fourth of July fireworks over the Mississippi River while sitting under the Gateway Arch is thrilling and not to be missed!

Bear with me if my posts for the next weeks are farther apart. I'm loving the two painting classes I'm taking this fall (!) but they take a chunk of time and neither are geared towards finished paintings. That coupled with ailing grands and greats, 2 schools, 2 sports... well, you get the idea. Please stay with me, gentle followers. You really can't imagine how much I value your support.

Face Painting

watercolor in Moleskin

Truth be told, I haven't painted anything in the last three days I'd want to share with anybody. It happens. Thinking about Laura Frankstone last week reminded me of a beautiful project she did a few years ago where she painted 100 faces. I draw or paint at least one face everyday - even if it's just the quickest scribble. I confess, sometimes when I'm talking to someone, I am so distracted by the shapes and lines in their face that it's hard to keep track of our conversation.

The Pride of Barbados: Differences Between Oil and Watercolor

I frequently read about a widely accepted/presumed bias existing in the art world that somehow watercolor is a "lesser" art than oil painting. Or has been thought so in the past. Let me say first: I love both, practice both, and master neither.

But to prefer one over the other would, for me, be like choosing peanut butter over jelly. Fall over spring. Red over black. Unthinkable. Oil painting is luxurious; watercolor is effervescent . Oil painting is certain; watercolor is serendipity. Oil painting is a deep, sensual laugh; watercolor is a giggle.

Practically speaking, you get do-overs when painting in oil. The pigment stays open longer and you can blend, reblend, adjust values, shift things around the canvas; in fact, you can (and I do... frequently!) just scrape the whole mess off and start anew. Infinite chances to work on a nose or a bloom. The artist is only limited by personal patience and tenacity. Leonardo da Vinci said, "Art is never finished, only abandoned." I think he was talking about oils.

Watercolor. Sigh. So sparkly. With watercolor you really have to work to get a second chance. Once pigment meets paper, it is resolute. Oh, there are the proverbial tricks of the trade but the artist always has to barter a bit of spontaneity to use them. When working with watercolors I have to plan, plan, plan and even then, there is such an element of surprise. A big plus for me: watercolor is so portable. I've always got a studio in my purse. That leads to spur-of-the-moment sketches like this Pride of Barbados.

Sunday Morning in the Garden

ink/watercolor in Moleskin

Episcopal Church of the Heavenly Rest, Abilene

Episcopal Church of the Heavenly Rest - Abilene, Texas
ink/watercolor in Moleskin

This weekend we are traveling to Abilene for our nephew’s wedding. He will marry in the beautiful church where I grew up. I know I won’t have time to sketch so I’m posting this one instead. I painted it while visiting there last summer.