Watercolor Painting of a Cyclist in Motion, Finish!

Shifting Gears ©LWatry 2016

I have finished my bicycle painting, Shifting Gears.

I still had parts of the bike to paint and some values to adjust at the end of the last post.

I again mixed, Pthalo blue and Permanent Alizeran Crimson to make a black for the bike. I painted the black in around the lettering without masking it because I knew I would eventually soften and blur the lettering edges to add to the feeling of motion.

I darkened the values on his left leg, the water bottle, and a few places on the bike. I decided to paint a little more orange along the stripe in the background to help pull the viewers eye toward the left. I softened a few edges here and there and cleaned up a few edges by painting around them.

I am happy with the painting over all. If I do another painting with bikes in motion, I might change the background process and instead of painting it in wet-on-wet, I might try letting the paint drip. I might also take the time to mask some of the lettering and parts of the bicycle to make the painting of the bike posts easier and quicker.

Thanks for following along.

Watercolor Painting of Baritones Part 3

I started a painting of my son playing the marching baritone with his high school band in May of this year, 2014. I finished the painting in July of this year. I realized, while looking through some of my blog posts, that I never showed the final steps of the painting. Part One and Part Two are available if you click on the following links: Watercolor Painting of Baritones Part 1 and Watercolor Painting of Baritones Part 2. 

Baritone Painting LWatry© 2014

In the first two images you can see that I have started working on the instruments to give them a shiny, metallic feeling. The way to do this is to paint the things that are reflected in the surface. So, I look for all the changes of color and value and I also include the places that look shiny white to help with the illusion. Since this is a marching band, they were warming up outside and so there is sky and trees and other things reflected in the metal surfaces.

I continued to work on each of the instruments. There were a lot of abstract pieces in them as well as distorted reflections. The painting is mostly a cool value painting with lots of blues and greens, so I wanted to highlight the oranges and skin tones that I found reflected in the horns and on the figures skin. I tried a variety of grays and ended up mixing small containers of my favorites. I found a new mix that I really liked - Italian burnt sienna and French ultramarine blue make a great gray.  

Even though I was working on the horns a lot at this stage, I kept going back to the skin tones in my sons face and those visible on the other musician's arm and neck. Because I now had a lot more values from dark to light in the painting, I could more accurately judge the skin tones to see if they needed adjustments.

"Fanfare" watercolor by LWatry©2014

Here is the final painting. I love the way the layering of the horns and gloved hands looks. I wanted the foreground horns to be less in focus, so I softened the edges with a damp brush after I finished them. I decided to title the painting "Fanfare" and I think it makes a great memory of my sons time in the Liberty High School marching band!

Winter Landscape Watercolor

"Where the Tree Tops Glisten" LWatry©2014

I have started my Christmas card early this year. I started creating a winter scene painting for our cards about 11 years ago. This year I am teaching a snow scene class and so I am using the opportunity to create our Christmas card at the same time.

I chose to do a painting from a photo that I took after a big snow storm in Colorado Springs. For my Christmas cards, I started adding an ornament or two to make it a little more festive, but still keep the look of a quiet snow scene.

"Where the Tree Tops Glisten" LWatry©2014

I started the painting by masking off the foreground branches, snow, and pine needles. I also masked off the little dots of white where the ice collected on the ends of the pine needles. I added 5 ornaments to the drawing to make it a Christmas scene. Then I started painting in the background snow and trees. I used some sponging and some direct painting with a brush. I did several layers and changes of value so that there would be depth in the back.

After the background snow and trees were to a place that was looking good, I started the foreground branch.The second image shows the progress with the snow shadowed and some of the needles and branches going in. I also painted in the 5 ornaments in red so that they would stand out against the cooler colors. I used a slightly warmer brown and gray brown on the branches so that they would look sunlit and closer than the cooler background trees. I still have some of the masking on the little sparkles of ice snow on the needles. I will continue with the foreground branch and post the final painting when it is complete.

Poured Watercolor

"Viewing Paris From The Orsay" LWatry©2014

"Viewing Paris From The Orsay" is my newest painting and it will be going to Arati Artists Gallery in Colorado Springs as part of my Featured Artist month in November.

This is not a typically poured painting where you use pure color and mix them together on the paper to create your final color. I did some pure color and one pre-mixed color to create the darks of the painting quickly.

The darks of this painting were poured watercolor. To pour the paint I first had to block all the lighter areas with masking fluid and some masking tape. I started masking by trying to use masking tape and cutting out the shapes, but it didn't work very well. I was having a hard time remembering which area I needed to take out and which to leave with tape protecting it. Also, some of the shapes were very small or detailed and hard to cut around.

So, I started again and used masking fluid to block off my light areas. Then I mixed up a dark with Prussian Blue and Pyrrol orange for the upper section of the painting. I also prepared some separate containers of pyrrol orange, peacock blue, and carbazole violet to mix with the dark and provide some changes of color in the dark shadow areas.

To start the pour, I wet the whole painting and began pouring the darks on at the top of the painting, I mixed in some of the other dark color and then lifted my board and tipped it to get the colors moving.

After I finished the pour, I let it dry completely and then removed all the masking. Some of the edges of the dark areas needed to be straightened out and cleaned up before I could continue painting. The light gray and the background city view were painted in next. I had  to make the left side of the foreground figures of my original pour darker because they weren't working and I painted this in directly with a brush.

I am pleased with the final painting and enjoyed using pouring as part of the process even though it was messy!

30 Paintings in 30 Days - Day Thirty

"Camera, Colors, Cup of Cocoa, Create, Clouds, Car, Complete"
LWatry©2014

Day 30 of the 30 Paintings in 30 Days challenge and I have "Completed" the challenge!

When I decided to do the challenge I chose to work with a theme to give myself some direction. The theme I ended up settling on was -Alliteration in the Titles. So, my paintings had to contain things that started with the same sound. I am glad I chose this theme because I ended up painting a lot of different things that I might not normally paint or paint together in the same painting.

The final painting is not really busy, but it ended up with 8 'C' words in the image - Camera, Colors, Cup, Cocoa, Create, Clouds, Car, and Complete.

I like how the camera strap feels like a road that the car is traveling on, the colored papers look like colorful fields, and the steam rising from the cup of cocoa could be creating the clouds in the background. I decided to ad an image in the lens of the camera for interest but also to show the Finish Line has been reached or Completed.

Thanks for following along on this painting journey! Today's painting "Camera, Colors, Cup of Cocoa, Create, Clouds, Car, and Complete" is a 6"x6" watercolor and it is available on Daily Paintworks for $90. Click here to purchase.

30 Paintings in 30 Days - Day Twenty NIne

"Toys, Tazo Tea, Toast, and Tic-Tac-Toe" LWatry©2014

Day 29 of the 30 Paintings in 30 Days challenge and my alliterative title begins with 'T' words - "Toys, Tazo Tea, Toast, and Tic-Tac-Toe".

I wanted to paint a few of the toys I had sitting around my studio, yes they are mine. But, I couldn't seem to figure out what to put with them. Then I hit upon the tea and toast. The tic-tac-toe came to me as I was headed to bed.

The toast was interesting to paint. I couldn't quite get the crumbly feel on the surface until I used a small sea sponge and got just the right texture. And of course after taking my photos for the painting, I drank the tea and ate the toast. Killing two birds with one stone, as they say.

This painting, "Toys, Tazo Tea, Toast, and Tic-Tac-Toe" is a 6"x6" watercolor and it is available on Daily Paintworks for $90. Click here to purchase.

30 Paintings in 30 Days - Day Twenty Eight

"Chickadees, Chess, Checkmate" LWatry©2014

Day 28 of the 30 Paintings in 30 Days challenge. I chose to tackle a painting that I thought would be a lot of work and time. But, after I got going on it, I found my process of painting the chess pieces and moved along fairly quickly.

The chess set is a huge human size set from a photo I took on vacation. So, I have shrunk it down to work with the chickadees. I decided to try Quinacridone Burnt Orange for the main color in the brown pieces and I loved working with it. It is a very vibrant color and I didn't have to do many layers because of that.

I chose to have the background be a bright blue and some of the blue reflects into the lighter areas of the chess pieces.

The chickadee that is flying adds a bit of motion to an otherwise static scene.


"Chickadees, Chess, Checkmate" is a 6"x6" watercolor and is available on Daily Paintworks for $150 (framed). Click here to purchase.

30 Paintings in 30 Days - Day Twenty Seven

"Lego, Limes, and Lamp Light" LWatry©2014

Day 27 of the 30 Paintings in 30 Days found me back playing with toys again! This time the painting is "Lego, Limes,and Lamp Light".

The Lego was from my sons childhood collection and the lamp is an old lamp base that came from my Grandma.

I had fun trying to create the feeling of light in the scene from the lamp. There is an upper light and a lower light on this lamp.

The Lego was actually pretty easy to paint. They are made of bright colors and only took a few strokes of paint to create the shapes and shadows.

"Lego, Limes, and Lamp Light" is a 6"x6" watercolor available for purchase on Daily Paintworks for $150 (framed). Click here to purchase.

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 Twenty Five

"Green Glass, Goldfinch, and Grapes" LWatry©2014

Day 25 of the 30 Paintings in 30 Days and I finished a few minutes before midnight! The title for this one begins with 'G' words - Green Glass, Goldfinch, and Grapes".

Once again this glass painting seemed to go faster than I though it would. It is all about painting the little abstract shapes and make sure there are good values. The glass is a few pieces that I have collected from depression era glass. I like the glow of the juicer.

I enjoyed painting the goldfinch and ended up getting a nice glow around his head.

The painting is not quite as intense in color as the image appears on my screen.

"Green Glass, Goldfinch, and Grapes" is a 6"x6" watercolor was juried into the 2014 Randy Higbee Gallery, 6" Squared Exhibition and Sale. The paintings are available through the gallery and online at: www.DailyBrushwork.com

30 Paintings in 30 Days - Day Twenty Four

"Monopoly, Marbles, and Mints" LWatry©2014

Day 24 of the 30 Paintings in 30 Days is done. It was a late night completion, but I persevered!
This painting is "Monopoly, Marbles, and Mints".

My husband loves to play Monopoly and hopes the games go on for hours. So, I enjoyed painting the Monopoly and I wanted to paint the marbles and mints again, so a marriage of M's transpired.

I started by once again using one of my new favorite colors, Ultramarine Turquoise. I used this color very thinned down for the surface of the Monopoly board.

The little game pieces and marbles were fun to paint. I just needed to make sure I used enough value changes to make them look dimensional. The highlight under some of the marbles gives them the feeling of being reflective.

I like the layout because the big letters in the word Monopoly along with the angled edges in the front looks like an arrow pointing at the viewer.

"Monopoly, Marbles, and Mints" is a 6"x6" watercolor and it is available for purchase on Daily Paintworks for SOLD. Click here to purchase.

30 Paintings in 30 Days - Day Twenty Three

"Kite, Kiwi, and Keys" LWatry©2014

Day 23 of the 30 Paintings in 30 Days challenge. Wow, I can't believe there is only one week left. I think my back will be happy to be done on the 30th. Way to much sitting for me!

Today's painting has the alliterative title "Kite, Kiwi, and Keys". I enjoyed painting the bright kite and the slightly more subdued kiwi and keys together. The kite fabric was enhanced by painting the thin lines of the square weave in parts of the image. The kite reminds me of flying a kite as a kid, but also Benjamin Franklin and the myth that he flew a kite with a key attached to it in a thunderstorm.

The kiwi was painted using olive green with a little New Gamboge mixed in to brighten it up a little.

"Kite, Kiwi, and Keys" is a 6"x6" watercolor and it is available for purchase on Daily Paintworks for $90. Click here to purchase.

30 Paintings in 30 Days - Day Twenty Two

"Chickadee and Chalk" LWatry©2014

Day 22 of the 30 Paintings in 30 Days is completed. The painting is "Chickadee and Chalk"

I decided to paint a little simpler image for this painting because I have been getting bogged down in detailed scenes that take up to 6 hours to complete.

The concept for this painting is large pieces of chalk are laying around where a little child has played and a Chickadee has landed on one. I channeled my inner child to write the word 'bird' in chalk on the sidewalk.

To write like I was using chalk, I painted the lines and letters roughly and had some edges that were softened.

"Chickadee and Chalk" is a 6"x6" watercolor and it is available for purchase on Daily Paintworks for $150 (framed). Click here to purchase.

30 Paintings in 30 Days - Day Twenty One

"Origami, Orange, and October" LWatry©2014

Day 21 of the 30 paintings in 30 days found me painting things that begin with the letter "O". I started with origami pieces and ended up adding the October calendar and an orange. I also thought the scene would look good with bright colors to go with the orange and oragami papers.

When setting up this scene, I kept trying many layouts and wasn't satisfied, they felt too static or boring. Then today I tried again and knew I had the setup I wanted when I saw the accidental creation of a flower in the scene. Can you see the flower? Check below for the answer if you can't.

This painting, "Origami, Orange, and October" is a 6"x6" watercolor and it is available on Daily Paintworks for $150 (framed). Click here to purchase.

Flower Answer: Look closely at the shadow under the origami pieces. Under the origami crane are the leaves and the stem points toward the left corner where the bloom is. The shadow is exactly as it appeared in the scene when I took the photo!

30 Paintings in 30 Days - Day Twenty

"Bells, Butterfly, and Blue Bird" LWatry©2014

Day 20 of the 30 Paintings in 30 Days and I decided to tackle some glass objects. These are some of the bells that I collected for a while and the blue bird is a statue that my grandmother had.

I am actually surprised that I was able to finish it in one day. Because of the time constraints I didn't get as picky with all the little shapes inside each bell. But, painted in more general shapes and worried more about the values.

I only masked a few little spots and that also saved some time. I just painted around the white areas using a brush with a very fine tip. The green bell was painted with one of my new favorite colors - Ultramarine Turquoise.

The photo was taken outside and I found some good shadows from a deck chair to give interest to the background.

"Bells, Butterfly, and Blue Bird" is a 6"x6" watercolorr was juried into the 2014 Randy Higbee Gallery, 6" Squared Exhibition and Sale. The paintings are available through the gallery and online at: www.DailyBrushwork.com

I have a new class list out on my website. Two of the classes still have room and will be starting in the next couple of weeks. For more information see my CLASS LINK.

30 Paintings in 30 Days - Day Nineteen

"Tickets, Taffy, Two Player" LWatry©2014

Day Nineteen of the 30 Paintings in 30 Days challenge and I have opted for bright and busy! This painting was inspired by a visit to a local arcade with vintage games that you can play for pennies, nickles, dimes, and quarters. The title is "Tickets, Taffy, Two Player".

I started the painting by masking the tickets and taffy and then started painting the very busy background. I liked the shadows the tickets created and the bright light on the other objects.

I added the far left, red, piece of taffy at the very end because I felt like that corner was too empty.

This fun scene, "Tickets, Taffy, Two Player" 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 Eighteen

"Cookie Cutters, Crayons, and Coffee" LWatry©2014

Day Eighteen's painting of the 30 Paintings in 30 Days actually was completed on Day 19. I had a busy day and didn't like how the painting was starting out. So, late in the evening of the 18th, I decided to start over. I then completed the painting on the 19th. I am much happier with the second version and realized I can only push so fast before I start to lose quality.

I started the painting by masking off the foreground elements of crayons and cookie cutters so that I could paint the counter top surface. I used a mouth atomizer to create the speckled texture.

The cookie cutters lend a story like quality to the scene because they are standing up. At first I had a lot of cookie cutters laying down and more crayons, but it really didn't grab me. So, by playing with the layout some more, I hit upon the final layout.

"Cookie Cutters, Crayons, and Coffee" is a 6"x6" watercolor and it is available at Daily Paintworks for $150 (framed). Click here to purchase.

30 Paintings in 30 Days - Day Seventeen

"Card, Candles, Coins, Canary" LWatry©2014

Day Seventeen of the 30 Paintings in 30 Days and today is my birthday. So, I decided to create a painting that celebrates birthdays. My mom and dad started a tradition when we were kids of giving us a dime for every year of that birthday. That's why I included the coins and they start with 'C'.

I used a card that I had stored away that my mom and dad gave me a couple of years back. I like how the colors on the card and the candles work together so nicely.

I found an image of a canary and added the notes coming out of it's mouth. I looked up the notes for "Happy Birthday". However, I don't think the final notes are correct. But, I like the added shape they create in that corner of the painting.
"Card, Candles, Coins, Canary" is not for sale.

30 Paintings in 30 Days - Day Sixteen

"Butterfly, Bee, and Baritone" LWatry©2014

Day Sixteen of the 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge. This painting is "Butterfly, Bee, and Baritone".

I masked the bee and butterfly and some of the shiny spots on the baritone. A baritone is like a small tuba. I decided to zoom into the baritone instead of showing a larger view so that you could see the bee and butterfly better.

I started by painting the baritone on the right side and then laying down the other various grays. I make my own gray mixes. One of my favorites mixes is cobalt blue, permanent rose, and aureolin yellow.

The bee and butterfly are a nice compliment to the shiny metal.

This painting, "Butterfly, Bee, and Baritone" is a 6"x6" watercolor and 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.