Here is another watercolor I did recently. I was playing with abstraction. I love the way that watercolor gives interesting and unexpected results, like when areas of paint bleed into each other. I used a complimentary color scheme, and tried to have a unity of shape.
One difference of watercolor from oil, is that the white areas have to be planned in advance. It can be a little tricky. If you paint on the area, the white is gone, and can’t be brought back.
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Light conditions and weather can completely change a scene from boring to beautiful.
One day I was visiting my sister Christine, down at Snow College. I went with some friends to Palisade Lake, near Sterling, Utah. We hiked around the lake. The lake waters were a brilliant aqua, and the yellow orange rocks really looked brighter next to them. Looking out across the valley, we could see the indigo clouds hovering menacingly over the already whitening cliffs of the San Pitch range. It was gorgeous.
This painting is a watercolor of the scene looking across the valley. I have used a technique where the paper is sealed with a white glue and water solution. When it is dry, the paint goes on dark, and the lights are lifted off. It is different from most ways of working in watercolor, and is one of the coolest techniques I learned at Snow College.
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Have you ever been in a disagreement with someone, and it left you so frustrated and upset you couldn’t hardly see strait? It doesnt happen very often, but occasionally I feel that way. One day when I was feeling this way, I went to my studio, got out my paints, and just let my frustrations out on the canvas. Afterward, I felt much better. I also had an interesting peice of art.
A year or two after painting this painting, I got a job teaching middle school art, at a very troubled middle school. Fights were rampant, as was vandalism, and many more activities. I used this painting as an example for the kids on how to take those feelings of anger and frustration, and put them into something more positive. It was a way for them to express themselves, and stay out of trouble.
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I have been teaching a Watercolor class for the Academy of Fine Arts, here in Lynchburg. I hadn’t done a whole lot of watercolor painting in a long time, but I have been finding it quite fun. We are participating in an arts and crafts fair in Staunton, Virginia, this weekend, and so I have been looking for some less expensive options for those thrifty art buyers.
This is the street I lived on in Macon, GA, looking toward the cemetery and the river. I always enjoyed the view down the road, and the changes that light, and season, would make on this view. This is on a cool, humid, Georgia day in December. The atmospheric perspective, looking out across the hills and trees, is my favorite thing about this view, as well as the random pops of color from the traffic lights.
When looking for something interesting to paint, start with what is around you. Some of the most interesting views are those people take for granted, like looking down the street.
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I have only been to New York City twice. The first time was in 1999. I had just finished a summer job in Pennsylvania, and was touring the east coast on my way back to Utah State University. We did lots of fun things, like going to the Statue of Liberty and visiting the top of the World trade Center.
I returned in October 2001, and of course, all that was left of the World Trade Center was some still smoking rubble.
The one thing that remained the same about New York was the vibrancy of Times Square. It is the heart and soul of Manhattan, and a very colorful, fun place to be.
This is my representation of Times Square, as it appeared in August, 1999. I hope you enjoy it.
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As I have expressed before, I love water. I don’t know if that is because I grew up in a desert with a shortage of water, or what. Yesterday I hiked to a waterfall in the Blue Ridge mountains. It was fun following the stream. I especially liked seeing the trout dart under the rocks.
Some of my favorite memories with water have been on high mountain lakes with my dad at sunrise, or sunset. The water is so smooth, turning into a mirror. Usually there would be mist rising off of it.
Oceans are fun. I love swimming and body surfing in the waves. Dad and I saw dolphins at Tybee Island, the last time I was at the ocean.
This painting is about the different states of water, and the different ways that it moves.
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I really have enjoyed living in Virginia. It is the most beautiful place that I have lived, and I love all of the history that surrounds me. Within an hour of our apartment we have 3 president’s houses, as well as Patrick Henry’s estate. We have Appomattox Courthouse, where Lee surrendered to Grant, and many civil war sites. Lynchburg itself dates from colonial days, and we are only an hour from Charlottesville and the University of Virginia.
I have been to Monticello two times. It was Thomas Jefferson’s main home. (His vacation home is in Lynchburg.) It has been restored and is beautiful, and interesting. I really enjoy visiting there, and find the way Jefferson lived, and invented things, to be fascinating.
This is a dramatic picture of his home. The dark clouds emphasize the light reflecting off of the dome. What an interesting place!
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Sometimes I paint something, and it doesn’t turn out nice. Thankfully, it is not a waste of paint. Oft times I will paint over it and have my painting turn out well.
This is an example of a canvas that has 3 different things painted on it. I started out with a painting I don’t even remember. Later I had to do a color wheel for a class, and I just painted it over whatever the first painting was. Finally I painted this.
All of the layers add something to this painting. There is a richness to the quality of the paint, and to the different colors. The texture is exquisite. None of this would have happened without being willing to paint over a mediocre painting.
This painting is very bright. This happens because of the way I have used color and value. I am using a complimentary color scheme. Blue and Orange work together, strengthening each other. I also have some light and dark, and some neutral versions of the colors to help the bright colors read stronger.
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Georgia has lots of swamps and marshes. They are wild and beautiful. One of my favorite wetlands was at Ocmulgee Mounds National Monument. I used to hike there a lot.
One Christmas I was doing small oil paintings as gifts for guests at my Christmas party. I painted this painting as one of the gifts. I imagined what the wetlands at Ocmulgee Mounds would look like with snow, and this is what I came up with. I had never seen snow in Georgia at that time, but as the artist, I can make decisions to change reality in my artwork.
I teach art, and one of the things that I like to tell my students is that they are responsible for their artwork. They decide what goes in the picture, and don’t need to be dictated to by a still life, or a landscape. Make decisions to make interesting art!
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I love storms. I am awed by nature and it’s beauty. Storms are so powerful, and are truly sublime. Yesterday, driving home from Georgia, I drove through a supercell thunderstorm. It stretched from Columbia, South Carolina, to Charlotte, North Carolina. The winds whipped my truck, and caused the trees to dance before it. Lightning spread like spiderwebs across the sky. Rain pounded down. The clouds were in the most interesting shapes, like scallops, and castles, and all kinds of stuff, moving down. On the edges, the sun shining through made the world bright orange. It was beautiful, and scary.
This painting is large, to increase visual experience. It is about a strong storm, and the way it interacts with man made things. I love storms, and the power of nature, especially in wetter, humid climates.
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