Spiderwort Painting and Lukas Berlin WMOs

For the last week or so, I've been looking for a subject to paint.  Mostly, I've been wanting to try out my new easel.  I looked through my photos and photo albums and finally came up with something floral...a Spiderwort picture I took several years ago.

I wanted to give my Lukas Berlin WMO paints another try.  Give it a real good test.  I also wanted to try a different painting technique.  Paint the background first and the subject last.

Here is the results of my three hours of painting:

The Lukas Berlin WMO paints are lovely to mix and paint with.  It's creamy right out of the tube.  I used Ultramarine Blue and Lemon Yellow to create the green values (dark, medium, and light).  I did notice that the Lukas colors appear to be brighter than the other paints I've used so far.  

Once the colors were mixed, I did notice that the mixture was still creamy, but slightly thick.  When I applied the paint to the canvas paper, I could tell the consistency was different than the more expensive Holbiens I used in my previous painting.  The Holbien paint mixture glides over the canvas paper without too much effort.  When I used the Lukas, I have to load a bit more paint on the brush to get that "glide" feel over the canvas paper.  There's definitely a difference in the feel of the paint.  Personally, I don't consider to be an issue.  I'm just happy that I'm not working with stiff paints.  

In this first painting session, I did not use any mediums (e.g. linseed oil or thinner).  This gives you an idea of how good this paint really is to work with.  

My green values

Painted the dark value first

Painted in the light value next

Painted in the medium value and then blended the colors

For the next painting session, I will start painting the flower.  I plan on using a Magenta Red color mixed with white to create the Pink values.  

Another Painting in Progress...My Second Rose

I'm glad I took a short break from painting.  I was having a problem getting inspired.  My quick sketches and drawings kept me in practice (e.g. learning to look).  I was able to get some rest over this long weekend.  After I dropped my brother off at the airport, I came home to paint.  I thought I was going to paint one of my sketches, but decided at the last minute to paint another rose from one of my photographs. 

So, here is my work in progress: 

Quick sketch in Yellow Ochre thinned wash

Painted the dark value

Painted the mid value and started the light value

Values completed

Painted a bit more details and blended the values

Still a work in progress

I have to laugh at myself.  At one point during my painting session, I had three brushes and my palette in my left hand.  I ended up getting paint everywhere.  You can see on my canvas paper some mistakes where my brush and my hand got in the way.   Here's the result after 1-1/2 hours of painting:

Another Pencil Sketch...a Rose

I've been trying to do something creative when I have a moment.  Lately, I've been very tired and so attempting to paint is out of the question.  I created "mud" with the last painting as I didn't have any creative juices.  I won't be posting a picture of that any time soon.

Instead of sulking on wasted time, paint, and paper...I've decided to spend some quality time doing sketches.  This trains me to see the different "values" of the subject I'm drawing.  This will definitely help me when I'm painting.  I seem to be struggling with "values" when I'm painting with different colors.

So, this evening I had an hour and drew this ingle stem rose:

A Pencil Sketch...Spiderwort Flowers

This evening I had some time to do a quick pencil sketch.  This will eventually be used as a future reference for a painting.

Spiderwort sketch

Not a Rose-y Day

I've been trying to paint at least 2-3 hours a week...if I'm lucky.  If the week nights are busy, I wait to do the 2-3 hours on the weekend.  That's the goal I've set to become proficient at this new hobby.

Today, I allocated some hours to paint after I was done with teaching a knitting class.  I thought the class would take 2 to 2-1/2 hours the most.  It went for 4 hours.  I was one tired puppy.

It took an hour to put away all the knitting stuff and then collect myself in front of my canvas and arrange the paints, palette knives, and miscellaneous art stuff.  This blank canvas stared back at me:

I've been collecting pictures of stuff to paint (e.g. flowers, blueberries, our beloved beagle, some buildings, etc).  I pulled out a picture of a pink rose and thought it would be an interesting challenge for me.  So, here's my sketch in a thinned yellow ochre wash:  

I have to tell you, my heart was not in the mood to paint.  I could tell as I was mixing the colors for the pink rose and then for the green foilage (or lack of) and background, I just wasn't happy with the colors.  So, I trudged along and applied the paint to the canvas panel and this was the so-so results of my efforts:  

I decided not to touch the painting anymore and let it sit and dry for the next few days.  Was I trying to tackle a subject that was way over my head?  Not really.  I've done several pencil sketches of roses and other flowers...it's not a new subject for me.  Was it because I was using a cheap canvas panel?  That may have something to do with it...it was from Walmart.  Was I too tired to paint?  Yes!

Lessons learned:  (1) not to use cheap art materials.  I'm using good paint and great brushes.  What was that?  You get what you paid for?  I know, I know.  No more cheapie canvas panels.  (2) Not to attempt too many hobbies in one day.  (3) Stay on target and focus on the hobby (e.g. painting) that I want to work on.

Back to the drawing board....