Singing the song of Fall

Our plein air group was meeting to paint. It was raining so I was waiting in my car for some of the other artists to arrive. The rain refused to stop so I sat in my car and couldn't help but notice how beautiful the surrounding brush was. The whole mountain side took on a burnt sienna glow with pockets of wonderful colors and textures. Here is my painting from the inside of my car, the process went something like this. Windshield wipers,defroster, paint some, windshield wipers, defroster, heater, paint some more, repeat! I did this for some time but with paint not drying and the rain not letting up I decided enough was enough! I heard the sun did end up coming out but I was long gone, curled up on my couch with the fire on and a warm blanket over me!

Christmas is almost here

I know Christmas comes so fast and all of a sudden I need to be ready.   Since I have been doing these watercolor classes, I decided to paint our Christmas Card this year.  Well, after countless of tries I was not happy with any of them. So, I cut them up and did a collage with the pieces.  From our last classes,  I played with the saran wrap, salt, stamping leaves, negative painting, and several washes. I think it has turned pretty neat.

I like working with the watercolor, but find controlling the water very difficult. I am seeing some practice paying off with my washes.  Drawing seems to be my most difficult part of it all.

Christmas Card Class- November 13, 2011

Hi everyone! I hope that you are rolling into fall and will be able to find some time to do some painting. I dont care what you paint, just paint something. Last week I did a challenge, to take just one object and divide a small piece of paper or canvas up into 4 sections. Now set you clock for 10 minutes and paint your one object, when the timer goes off stop! Then move on to the next one. It is harder with watercolor since we have a problem or challenge with the wet paint running but try it anyway. Its fun and fast. The key is to not get caught up in details but try to capture the darks of shadows, lights of highlights and paint shapes not objects! Remember lesson one!

 

One other thing, I am going to be teaching a Christmas card class. This class will be on November 13th and it will be an all day class. Whatever we dont finish in class will be finished immediately after since we are trying to get Christmas Cards printed. We will be painting using the negative painting method and doing berries and greenery for our cards. The card I posted is just an example, yours can look completely different. It will be lots of fun and you will have a beautiful painting at the end of the day. We will then scan your painting into the computer and add text if you like. Then we will go online and explore some to the possibilities of having cards printed so there will be a computer lesson too. Plan on all day and feel free to bring snacks and drinks. I will have some things here also. Let me know if you are going to take the class as I am only going to fill quickly. I will only have a few of you (4-6) so I can give a lot of attention to your cards and the computer part of it so that it is personalized and you leave with a finished card. I will be putting the information on my website so check it out. Happy Painting

Another fun day at class!

Well we had a great class, it was just so fun. There were four students that just learned new and different techniques with watercolor. We did salt, plastic wrap, torn paper, spatter, washes, sunset skies, webbing, even some resist and I didn't get to them all. We played and visited and just caught up on things since many were returning from being away for a few months. I wanted to let some of you know that there is an art expo coming at the end of the month to Pasadena. They will be offering some classes. If you are interested let me know and I will send you the link.  I think I might even take a class, they sound like such fun! I would love to see some of your techniques posted in our blog.

If you are interested in doing a Fall card exchange let me know, I would like to get it sent out soon. If I don't have enough interest we might try for Christmas. It can be any size, any thing, any technique. This is a bird/flower design I was playing with for fabric but it could be a cute card too.  The card exchange is  just to have some fun! Let me know. I also will be offering my "Paint your own Christmas card class" in the second week of November. Please let me know if you are interested, you can see all the details on my website under workshops. www.desireesdesigns.com, I will be updating the date shortly. Happy Painting!

Sketch Class

Hi everyone!! I know many of you have been really busy and haven't had time to post or paint but I wanted to remind everyone that this Saturday is the sketchclass. We will be working on some fun watercolor techniques. Bring your sketchbooks and paints for some fun, the weather should be perfect for us to be outside again.

I need to crop and clean this up but wanted to post one of the sketches I did at my moms house. These hydrandeas were amazing colors of blue and purple and pink and she doesn't add anything to the soil!

Another Rose Arbor

With the cooler nights the roses are blooming again with vengeance. This trellis is cover with Sally Holmes, a climbing rose and one of my families favorite varieties. Whether its at my brothers house or my house or the Kids houses, you can see my mom in just about everything. She has created an amazing legacy of love for her family. She is generous to a fault and thrives on helping transform the drab into the most beautiful!

Altissimo rose

I found this rose variety one year at the Huntington Gardens and fell in love with it, my mom followed when she saw it at my house and has planted a few at both her house and my brothers house. It's a beautiful single rose with dark foliage that is still a show stopper after all these years. Growing on a this light stucco wall with this pineapple finial the rose stands out and makes everyone come closer for a better look.