It's not moving! Must be a still life...

WHITE SHINE
The February Challenge in our Watercolor group was fraught with opportunity - or - loaded with potential for personal growth. Lots of lovely choices but nevertheless, you had to paint a still life.

How hard can it be? Smack a pear and some flowers on a table, drape a tablecloth behind and paint away.

Several artists posted photos of still life set ups and I truly loved the clean look of one photo. It was pretty much white and red with a clear little vase. With watercolor, the white is the paper. How Sweet it that? Sign me up!

So I did a little outline drawing of the vase and flowers on my watercolor paper. It's my usual routine. Just outline the shape and confirm placement, then paint.
Not so much.

I started mapping the whites, marking subtle color changes in the vase and then marking the highlights and reflections in the shadows.

Then I took my dip pen and frisket out and spent a great deal of time applying little blobs and lines to preserve the whites.

For a mostly "white" watercolor, there were tons of pencil marks. Painting didn't take too long but then I felt the need to remove the pencil marks. I used my trusty plastic eraser and was successful getting the annoying marks removed. Some of the color changed/lightened so I did a little more painting.

This is where I ended up.

I want to Thank Lori Andrews for sharing the photo that helped me to create WHITE SHINE

Rare Portrait Sitting

Woody
It's a rare and unusual event when a duck sits for his portrait. Truth be told, this guy didn't sit.
First, he napped afloat with his head tucked.
Next, he woke and paddled around checking out the rest of the community.

Luckily, I snapped a couple photos to piece together his portrait.
It's up for sale because he wasn't interested in it, said it was his bad side.

Hold Over?

Safe Harbor

Haven't held a brush in such a long while, I'm hoping this will hold me over for just a few more days...
I was matting and framing some of my work to strew about locally and ran across this in the closet. It was already matted and sealed in a clear envelope - just like it was destined to be sent somewhere.

I was so pleased to find it - like a lost child.

It moved me to cut some full sheets to quarters so I can begin again when all my obligations are met.

SNOW - the other four letter word

SNOW
Let me tell you how I really feel...

Snow is so white and covers the decaying fallen leaves. It's crisp and clean and recalls to mind white linens. It's bitter cold and interferes with my travel plans, even when I haven't any. I am so done with snow. The romance is over. SNOW is just another 4 letter word.

...another "self portrait"

Just call me 'hard boiled' and fond of the BLUES.

Karjalan Piirakat - Watercolor mini

Karjalan Piirakat
Finnish Pastry ready to eat! Not so much, really a little painting measuring 2 1/2 by 3 1/2 inches.

Nothing like food to get the creative juices flowing.

Different Strokes ...

San Francisco Victorian

Painted in response to the week 21-22 challenge at Different Strokes for Different Folks blog hosted by Karin Jurick .

Image measures 4.5 x 6.5 and is done on a watercolor paper greeting card.