Snow Creek farm series

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For my homework for last Saturday’s watercolor class with Eric Wiegardt, I painted a farm I visited a couple of summers ago on Snow Creek near Discovery Bay. I wanted to show the hills behind the barn as misty, cloud-draped shapes, and keep the barn and silo as my center of interest. I wasn’t satisfied with my initial attempts, so I kept trying. I did a series of eight paintings all together. Here’s my best attempt and a photo of a bunch of the others.

Eric commented that this watercolor has good separation of values (light grass and dark trees), and he liked the lines showing the curve on the road. He liked the way the green tree color fades into the right side of the shed in the front, and he suggested that I add some color into the shadows of the barn. These gray shadows need to be warmed up with color from the grass.

My best attempt, 9 x 12 inches
Some of my many attempts to paint this scene

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Winter barn scene

In my last post, I showed three value studies I painted of a winter scene. I took the third one and developed it into a more complete painting. I used only three colors: ultramarine blue, burnt umber, and raw sienna. I think the composition as a whole works well.

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Value studies from Claude Croney

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I just bought a used copy of a book published in 1981 by the watercolor artist Claude Croney. In the book, he emphasizes using good abstract composition when creating a painting. In other words, the design should have a good composition regardless of the subject matter. I made three value studies based on his thumbnail sketches. These are small paintings, 5 1/2 x 7 1/2 inches.

In the first one, you can see that the dark line of trees and bushes leads the eye from the right side to the barn, the focal point. The slash of blue beneath it brings the eye back to the right side to start the path again.

First value study

In the second study, the eye is drawn upward to the barn by the strong vertical shape in the lower part of the painting. The dark shape to the left of the barn holds it in place, so that the painting has an inverted ‘L’ shape.

Second value study

In the third painting, The dark shape in the foreground (it might be a stump) starts the eye around a circle shape that leads the eye to the barn.

Third value study

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Colorado ranch scene

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I was in La Junta, Colorado, for my mother’s funeral last week. It was good to be with my whole family and celebrate my mother’s good and long life (she died a few days short of her 103rd birthday).

While I was there, I made a couple of paintings of a scene near La Junta. Last April I painted some ranch buildings located near the highway about five miles south of town. This time I took that plein air painting and tried to improve on it by lowering the horizon and painting a dramatic sky. My first painting is 7 x 11 inches. The second one is 11 x 15 inches. I like these paintings, although it seems like there’s an awful lot of raw sienna (tan) in them.

First attempt – 7 x 11 inches
Second attempt – 11 x 15 inches

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First Avenue street scene

When we were in Seattle in September for the Van Gogh Experience, I took a photo of First Avenue as we walked to the show. Today I made a painting from that photo. My first attempt was a bit clumsy, so I tried again.

For this painting, I stood at the easel so that I had a free sweep of my arm. I wet the back of the paper which helps keep the surface moist and allows he washes to blend for a longer period of time, and I used a big mop brush. That seemed to help.


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Oyster company dock

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In Eric Weigardt’s watercolor class last Saturday, he painted a demo painting of an oyster company’s dock. I painted a small copy (7 x 10 1/2 inches) yesterday, and painted two larger copies (11 x 15) today. Eric emphasized the single-point perspective that draws the eye to the figures, and the washes on the side of the buildings. These washes are made up of blue, yellow, and red to give a rainbow effect. I think my first, smaller painting was my best. I’m trying to use big washes and stay loose.

7 x 10 1/2 inches
Second attempt 11 x 15 inches
Third attempt 11 x 15 inches

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Abstract painting of marsh grass

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Our assignment in watercolor class this week is to paint an abstract image of marsh grass. Our instructor, Eric Weigardt, emailed the class a demonstration video, showing how to paint from a photo of marsh grass. He talked as he painted, explaining his thinking and his technique. He used a big mop brush, splaying out the bristles before picking up paint from his palette.

The idea is not to make a literal painting of marsh grass, but to show the pattern of values and colors that give the feel of marsh grass.

I’ve painted this image six times now. It’s a lot harder than it looks. My paintings tend to be muddy and I lose the overall pattern. Below is my best effort so far, with an earlier attempt below that.

My best effort
One of my earlier attempts

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Sketches at Margo’s house

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For Thanksgiving, we drove to Katy’s sister’s house near Stevenson, WA, in the Columbia River Gorge. Chad and Brittany came, too, so our whole family was together. We all shared the responsibility for cooking Thanksgiving dinner, and my job was to make the rolls. After I started the dough rising, I went outside and made a couple of sketches. The pencil sketch is of Margo’s house and the ink sketch is her neighbor’s shed. I’d like to make the shed sketch into a watercolor painting. Oh, and the rolls were delicious.

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Watercolors are hard

In preparation for my watercolor class with Eric Weigardt last Saturday, I painted a scene from a photo I took at the Petersburg, AK, harbor. The photo shows a fisherman’s warehouse on pilings, with the tide flats in front. In designing the painting, I thought it needed something of interest in the foreground, so I added a figure and a couple of boats. I painted the first version on Monday:

First version

What I like about this painting is the freshness of the brush strokes. The whole piece is painted loosely, which is a goal of mine. It tells a story with the figure and the boats, and it has interesting features to draw the eye, such as the partly obscured warehouse roof on the left and the vague forms on the upper right. But it’s muddy and the shadows seem too dark and prominent.

So I tried again. In fact, I tried again six more times. But none of my repeated attempts were better than the first one. In fact, they were worse. Poorer composition, less connectedness, awkward color choices. So for class, I just submitted the first one I painted. Eric’s suggestion was to bring more color into the shadows in the boats and under the warehouses. That’s a good suggestion. I think my shadows are “dead,” and they need more liveliness, more colors.

I think I tried to put to much into the painting. I could have left the boats out and focused on the warehouses. Or I could have painted the boats and left out the warehouses. Or maybe I should have just started a completely different painting rather than spending so much time on this scene. Here are some of my attempts:

Pencil sketch
Sunset

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Randy at life drawing

Our model at life drawing today was Randy. He’s well over seventy years old, but he keeps modeling, even after hip replacement surgery this spring. Randy has a long, rangy body and a face like an Old Testament prophet. I enjoy drawing him.

20 minute pose
20 minute pose
30 minute pose
5 minute pose. I’m pretty happy with this considering it was only five minutes.

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