What I do when I don't feel like painting....

Well...I paint...

I do what I call "block ins" and lots of them.  Here's a few from here in my RV.  

If it looks like they're done in chalk, that's because I do a lot of my block ins in black and white oil paint.  I love this process!  These are some small format paintings, but by putting things in black & white, I can see if I want to continue.  Because they are at such an early stage in the painting process...I don't stress about them.  It's very fun for me!

If you look in the middle of the above photo, you'll see the block in of this little ballerina I have up for auction on Daily Paintworks.

These small paintings are a nice & fun change for me.  Sometimes I feel like I'm always trying to come up with class paintings (for the painting classes I teach) and it feels good to just paint.  :-)

Happy Painting!!

Saving your brushes when using masking fluid or frisket

Masking fluid is a great tool for your watercolor paintings.  Most of the time when using it, I have a few old brushes that I save just for that purpose.  The photo shows one of them.  However, you can use your good brushes and still keep them in good shape by doing just one simple thing; putting your brush in some liquid soap.  Here’s what I do…

I just use whatever liquid hand soap I have at home.  BEFORE dipping my brush in the masking fluid, I dip the brush in the liquid soap and work it into the bristles all the way up to the metal,  then I just wipe it off with a clean dry paper towel.  No water. 

After that, I just dip the brush in the masking fluid and apply to my paper like normal.  When I’m finished, I clean the brush with soap and water and the masking fluid comes right out.  

I had been painting with watercolors for years before attending art school and had never heard of that before college.  Now I can use my old brushes like normal, but I can also use my good brushes for more refined detail work and don't have to worry about ruining them.  

I used masking fluid on the below painting to keep the lightest parts of the birds feathers.  

Happy Painting!!

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Blocking In....

I block in very roughly on most paintings.  Usually I go dull, then brighten up.  Sometimes though I put in colors that are brighter than the local color of a subject.  Case in point is this little portrait of a desert flower from Bryce Canyon.  The rocks there are amazing and this painting is about the ledge and the flower.  In the foreground, I put the pinks a little brighter and deeper than they read to me.  Then when I completed the painting, some of that brightness comes through.  Just enough to bring out the wonderful shades in the formations.

You can see the bright red of the rock underneath the plant.  It's more understated in reality, but when I put in my final darks and lights, enough of it shines though to intensify those cracks.

I knew I wanted that red banding and to ensure I didn't wash it out too much in the final painting, I push it in the block in.
Happy Painting!!!


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