Time Flies When Having Fun With Watercolor!

I can't believe it has been almost a year since my last post to my blog! This last year has flown by and I have decided to make an early resolution to get back to adding a post to my blog at least once a month. I took time earlier this year to update my website, www.LWatryStudio.com, and I have been busy teaching classes, entering juried competitions, and taking workshops.

The following paintings started as my demo pieces for some of my classes:

Watercolor "Guarding the Gold" ©LWatry 2015

This painting was for my class - "Closeup on Trees and Rocks". I had taken this picture of a chipmunk among the gold aspen leaves. It fit perfectly for the tree and rock class with the rough textured stone that the chipmunk is standing on. The little tree and the aspen trunk in the background satisfied the tree part of the class. I love the dramatic lighting of the image and the warm glow of the gold leaves.

Sold

Watercolor "Blue Birds Fly" ©LWatry 2015

"Blue Birds Fly" was for my bird watercolor class, as you may have guessed. I took the picture of these blue birds several years ago and always wanted to paint it. It was a snowy, cold day and the birds were on their way through Colorado. Their bright blue colors and fluffy feathers were a nice contrast to the neutrals and hard angles of the fence.   Sold

Watercolor "Through the Ages" ©LWatry 2015

In June, I taught a pouring watercolors workshop and my demo painting was "Through the Ages". This image came from my photo of a sculptural piece on the side of a building in Paris. The photo was all in grays. For the pouring workshop we masked all of the layers, starting with white and then poured the watercolor. We kept  masking the next value and pouring color until only the darkest value was left unmasked to receive our darkest color. After removing all of the masking fluid, I went back and added some texture and value to some of the areas.

Watercolors "Show Stoppers", "Bufflehead Duck Reflections"
and "Spectacular Sunrise" ©LWatry 2015

I also taught an aspen class, a reflections in water class, and a dramatic skies class. My demo paintings for these classes are to the left.

I just finished my class listings for the winter/spring of 2016 and they are now available for viewing on my website at:
www.LWatryStudio.com/classes.html
If you live in the Colorado Springs area or will be in town, perhaps one of my classes will fit into your schedule. I am also available to give workshops in other locations.

 I hope you have a very Merry Christmas and a New Year filled with art!

30 Paintings in 30 Days - Day Twenty Six

Day 26 in the 30 Paintings in 30 Days challenge. Today's painting is inspired by the beautiful fall colors of the Colorado Aspen changing colors. The painting is titled "Apple, Aspen, and Album".

I decided to make the photos in the album soft focus or blurred so that they wouldn't distract from the foreground apple and aspen leaves. I started the painting by blocking off some of the leaves and painted in the photos using wet-in-wet washes of color.

When I was taking my picture I looked for the shadows of the leaves to add interest to the scene. I also changed some of the colors of the leaves to make sense of the jumble on the stem and give them fall coloring.

"Apple, Aspen, and Album" is a 6"x6" watercolor and it is available on Daily Paintworks for $150 (framed). Click here to purchase.

30 Paintings in 30 Days - Day Fifteen

"Compass, Columbine, and Colorado" LWatry©2014

Day 15 of the 30 paintings in 30 days and my alliterative title for my painting is "Compass, Columbine, and Colorado". My mom and dad moved back to Colorado when I was 3, so I concider myself a Colorado native. I love the beautiful landscape of Colorado and Columbine's are the state flower.

I enjoy painting columbines because of their unusual shape. I started this painting by putting a first layer of light paint on the petals of the flower and its stem so that I could tell where the flower was compared to the background map. Then after this dried, I painted the shadow on the map. I did this first so that the lines of the map wouldn't smear. I finished the columbine and then started on the compass.

The compass is a sun dial also and I like the retro or steam punk look it has. I used Quinacridone gold as the base color and a purple mixed with the gold to gray it down for the parts not hit by light. I wanted to put just enough detail on the compass, but not so much that it would take a long time to paint.

The map was finished after the compass and columbine were complete. I finished painting in the main lines of the Colorado highways and some of the other pertinent information. I used a #6 brush with a very fine tip to paint in all the small details on the map.

"Compass, Columbine, and Colorado" is a 6"x6" watercolor and it is available on Daily Paintworks for SOLD. Click here to purchase.

Watercolor Video of Longs Peak, Happy New Year!

On this day, the 31st of December - 2011, I want to wish everyone a very Happy New Year filled with family, friends, and art! I have spent part of the day painting a watercolor on canvas of Longs Peak. I plan on ringing in the New Year by painting again tomorrow. I hope this inspires me to re-focus on my art and be less distracted by other things. I have attached a small part of the video I am shooting for the Longs Peak painting. Happy Painting to All!

Watercolor Classes 2012

If you are in the Colorado Springs area and interested in taking a watercolor class, I have set up new classes for January to February. These classes range from beginner to intermediate/advanced. Please see the link to my website for class information. Watercolor Classes with Lorraine Watry.