Pages

Wednesday, July 11, 2007

Serendipipaint



One Saturday morning not too long ago, when I had finished a painting in watercolor class and had about 30 minutes worth of time left, the instructor suggested that I take a small piece of watercolor paper (a little larger than postcard size) and make a "monoprint" of sorts, pressing the paper into the wet mess in the middle of my palette. I did that, spritzed some water from a spray bottle onto it all, dragged the edge of another stiff piece of paper though some paint and scraped it along the painting, ending up with a, well, mess. It kind of looked like a lighthouse on a cliff to me, so I refined it a little bit, tossed it into my bag, and forgot all about it.

Tonight, while doing a little cleaning I ran across it, and decided to play around with colored pencil on it. Oh yeah, the word of the evening is "EUREKA!!" I'd played with colored pencil over watercolor before on cold press paper and on 90# hot press, and was never all that impressed. This is on 300# hot press, which has just enough soft tooth to remind me of Stonehenge paper, so the pencil goes on just perfectly. And while it is not strictly lighthouse-ish to the seasoned lighthouse keeper or collector (unplanned and just out of my head), it strikes me as a mighty fun way to spend a couple of hours with art supplies! It scanned fairly dark, and I never could get the color to adjust properly, so lighten it up in your mind, and you'll be on the right track. I do wish I'd scanned it before I did the color pencil work, just to show the difference.

I've finally started working on the painting of Miss Vanilla Cupcake, feeling my way along with composition and color. Right now I seem to be having a color crisis -- I can't decide which I really prefer -- glazing or mixing the colors on the palette and NOTHING seems to be turning out right whichever way I go. So, I'm going s-l-o-w-l-y!! Must be tough to have such terrible problems, huh? Yep. I'll tell you folks, I'm grateful every single day for my problems, 'cause they are few and the ones I have are small ones.

And, actually, life is going pretty good right now. We took down the art show the other day, and I have three more pieces going into another show that opens Friday. (I'll post photos!) A local shop is carrying one of my paintings now ("Other People's Stuff") and has started out with two copies of my Gossip print on commission. There are FOUR paintings on the drawing board in my room, and another pastel workshop with Paul DeMarrais is in the very near future. It's an interesting time! We'll see what the future has in store!

P.S. The thing that appears to be a small flag flying off of the top of the lighthouse is just a blob of paint. It makes the whole thing look a bit like a castle on the cliffs, rather than a lighthouse, doesn't it!? Well, it's just whatever you want it to be. Isn't that nice?

;-)

13 comments:

Tami said...

I think this came out VERY COOL! The piece on the top looked like a weather vein to me...the whole thing has such great movment! Congratulations on having your work in shops and on your next show! BTW, I love the names you've chosen for your paintings : ) I looked at you blog the other day and loved your "4th" posting. Got sidetracked sending the link to the other artist off to friends and forgot to say "thanks for sharing"!

Teri said...

Oh very fun and so creative. You turned it into a wonderful painting and just from sloshing around in the paint! I absolutely love it!!!! It really appeals to my inner self.

Congrats on becoming an artist that sells :) it all sounds wonderful.

Bonny said...

What a lovely happy piece of luck that your lighthouse was created from just 'messing around'!!
You know, it DOES look like the outpost turret of some Arthurian Castle... You could writea great story to go with this painting!

Claudia said...

Linda, this is wonderful, and the story how you did it, as well!! I would like to try something like that, too!

Jan Allsopp said...

I really like this Linda. What a great idea. And it is good to hear everything is moving along well for you.

biteyourowntail said...

Linda, I don't think this needs lightening at all. Perfect exactly as it is. I love it, stormy and exciting.

caseytoussaint said...

This is really beautiful - full of interest and emotion. congratulations on your recent success too! It sounds as though you're on a roll.

Lin said...

WOW! What a neat neat painting! I LOVE the blends of it all!!! And can't wait to see your paintings from the show!

Laureline said...

LOVE IT!! So much energy and elan! Keep it up, girlfriend!

Anonymous said...

WOW!! I thought it looked like a lighthouse or a bit of ruined castle on a rocky cliff in a storm and I wondered how you got your water spray to look so magnificient....then I read the story! I have a whole bunch of those little watercolor postcards that I'm going to keep handy so I can take a print of my mixing pan before cleaning it up! This looks like a great project for kids........*sigh* I guess you can take the teacher out of the classroom but.......I love this...and your acrylic sky as well! deni.......;)

Crumpled Paperbirds said...

I had a period when I was mad about lighthouses...you reminded me why:)
Beautiful drama! The dark colors and white splash only add to it.

Margie said...

I realize I've been to your site before! The colors in "Other People's Stuff" are gorgeous - with a clarity I aspire to. But I love the messiness of the lighthouse picture, too. Clarity and messiness, my two goals for this year! Thanks for commenting on my new site!

Anonymous said...

Very beautiful, very intense. I think you've found a new style here. And more shows? A selling artist? Congrats!