Pink hydrangea

This was colored in Procreate on my ipad. Using the underpainting method has made it much easier to do digital art on my ipad. It's cool, but so clunky. I definitely prefer doing it on my computer with a tablet.

 I was hoping to finish this before September but that just did not happen. So here is some documentation of where I'm at. Because I'm coloring this on my ipad I only make progress when I'm in a waiting room or having a really slow day at work.

Oh, since this is in Procreate, that means I will get a timelapse video at the end! Yay!

Seated figure

Quilt update

I am very excited to start coloring in the squares. I was only planning to do a few squares, but got carried away.

I have no idea where this is headed, but I'm excited. It's more about the journey than the destination. This type of painting project is similar to my stained glass pieces. It is great work for listening to podcasts.

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Eighty Squares Ground Zero

Starting a new experimental painting. This one will be similar to my very first paintings when I took an oil painting class for college credit. 

First, I had to cover the entire canvas in a solid color. I'm going with blue instead of my go-to earthy tones and neons.

After covering the canvas in blue, I drew in the square grid. Then, I covered half of the canvas in purple. 

Start with the simplest composition as possible. Establish balance.

Because of the nature of my approach, I can easily change direction if needed. Right now, I am only committing as much as I need to, and the left will be improvised along the way. What if I treated it like a game of Tetris?

The fun part about this painting is that I won't design the whole thing at once. I'm going square by square. That way, I have room to change directions if needed. 

The first batch of squares for now. This is the underpainting. The neon pink and oranges neutralize the blue.

Rules:

• Create smaller compositions that adhere to the overall setup (the alternating blue and purple squares underneath)
• Stick to one quadrant at a time (I already failed this... oops)

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Mini rose painting

 Finished this third rose painting (for now) and enjoyed a banana strawberry smoothie.

Flower practice paintings

Some small practice paintings inspired by a visit to the Chicago Botanical Garden in 2018. I got a nice opaque pink paint (Cobra permanent red violet light) that would be perfect. 

The goal is to keep a limited palette. I wanted to stick to three colors if possible, and only introduce other colors if they are particularly necessary.

Once this dries I want to add another layer of color depth.

Colors used:

• Cobra red violet light
• Cobra Persian rose
• W&N Indian red
• W&N alizarin crimson
• Cobra yellowish green
• Cobra emerald green

I think this one is a dinner plate hibiscus flower.

• Cobra red violet light
• Cobra Persian rose
• Cobra titanium buff
• W&N yellow ochre
• W&N phthalo green (yellow shade)

Here's one I started last night. I primed the surface with yellow ochre acrylic paint and drew on top. Then I toned it with burnt umber and pale rose blush. 

Kamaole Beach Park I

I have started another Hawaii painting. It is the same size as the other picture. I chose the photo because of its composition. The arrangement of elements is simple but leaves room for interesting details and improvisation. 

I drew the picture first and toned the canvas after, since I used transparent paint. 

Applied gel gloss to the underpainting to add extra texture, but only to certain parts.

Just got a few tubes of paint from Blick. To my collection I have added Cobra water mixable paint colors, all of which were employed.

Yellowish green & Emerald green: Foliage

King's blue & Grayish blue: Sea and sky

Permanent red violet light: Tree

Random thoughts

The grayish blue is very, very oily in the tube. But I like it that way. I also recently learned that water-mixable paint just means you CLEAN it with water, but still use various painting mediums. I use linseed oil and painting medium, but for a long time I was thinning out my paints with plain old water. Now that I am learning more about how paint behaves, I can see why painting mediums are superior. Water is just for cleanup. 

A closeup of the waves and land. The textures make me so happy and I am so in love with these paint colors. The goal is to make a fantastic painting alla prima. But once this is dried, I will add a few smaller details to really bring her to life.