Dessert Watercolor Demo

Loulou et Princesse by Frederic Cassel watercolor on Etsy

So people ask me all the time,

"How come you just paint desserts?"

In David Dewey's watercolor class once a year at Christmas we would have a dessert party. Everyone brought in something or other. Then we painted them. Then we ate them. Naturally they were all good geometric shapes like Cezanne preferred - cubes, sphere, pyramids etc.

Here's a couple of my early efforts from 2000.

Naturally I'd have liked the dessert party to occur more often. Like maybe every class.

Though I'm not a big fan of cake.

It's probably another reason I came to France besides all the pets, is the beautifully geometric shapes of the pastries. And for all the endless versions of tarte citron.

Moving along to today's demo which is not a tarte citron...hmm

That will come maybe later in the week...

I'm really loving doing these thumbnails.

The picture wouldn't work without them.

Some of the watercolor demos on Etsy like this one have paintings on the back by the way.

I'm happy to have found a new envelope that's supposed to be faster and cheaper than sending out the last batch, NO TRACKING with this so I can not use it. Dommage :(
at least for this smaller size (5.5 x 8.5").
Do take a look on Etsy if you'd like to own a demo of your own. Cheers Carolg

Blobbing Paris

 Continuing with the blobbing theme PBers. These are water puddles with color dropped in plus tilting the paper to get the color to run around and 'mingle'.

 I learned to mingle colors and make blobs from watercolor artist David Dewey.

 And from his book, The Watercolor Book.

 Here's a good exercise anyone can do if they have a few art postcards. Piero Della Francesco used a wonderfully harmonious color palette and you'll understand it better when you try to match the colors.

 Some color blob thumbnails jammed on a page.

 Several Tuscan blob buildings plus color swatches.

 Multiply color swatches with a landscape plopped in the middle.

 A color wash ground with a little Tuscan landscape laid on top.

 Another.

 There were plenty of color wash pages in my old sketchbook. These are 'color beginnings' as J.M.W.Turner called them - a big atmospheric wash of colors.

 Why not paint a Paris skyline on top with a little help from Google images?

 After mixing up (but not well-mixed) a biggish puddle of cobalt blue + French Ultramarine blue + Burnt Sienna + Burn Umber, I begin drawing the Arc de Triomphe with a brush loaded with unmixed 'organic color'.

 Extending the puddle of 'mingled' paint down and across, always keeping it wet and working fast I add the Eiffel Tower...

 Ever onward, tilting the paper a bit to help the wet paint/colors run and mingle across the page.

Et voila.

Now YOU do it!

Blobbing Sketchbook

 An old friend kindly lent me back some sketchbooks I'd given him a while back when I was clearing out a closet a few summers back.

 I was surprised

 By these

 I thought I'd give you a look.

 Throw down washes (wet color on wet paper).

Then once the washes are dry, drawing on top with with a brush.

 The underwash colors should be pale and warmish.

 For contrast.

 Sometimes I like to draw with a loaded brush, especially figures.

 Sometimes the layering is just abstract blobs.

 Layered blobs on top of blobs.

 With a bit of spatter

 Always put warm colors down 1st and cool colors on top. Not the other way around. To quote The Watercolor Book:

Applying cool over warm gives more luminous results, while applying warm over cool produces darker, more opaque effects.

A quote from British watercolor artist Brabazon Brabazon:

by Brabazon
"Broadly speaking, my mental processes which I attempt to express can be roughly summarized thus: (1) The creation of the nebulous atmosphere in harmony with the scene which will enable me to pass through and beyond the surface of the paper into a world of imagination in which I can breathe and look about me. This we will call depth. (2)Then I am able to observe the main forms and color masses which interest me: form."
 Are you inspired to paint blobs this weekend? I am.

BONNE WEEKEND!

DIY Painting Demo

We're having a 4-day heat wave, so my brain is cooked. What to post Monday morning? The first thing I do is look at my "Inspiration Board". Do you have an inspiration board?

Many of my inspirational pics come from DOMINO magazine like these two delightful setups. I choose the floral still life on the left to paint. The pile of books will come later.

Plus Stef in Chicago keeps me supplied with beautiful teapot shots and they inspire me to paint a new miniature blue and white teapot.

Next step I set up a matching still life with my minis. 

People ask, "What's with all the minis?" I can rearrange them anyway I like and play with the lighting in a way I can't, while sitting in Angelina or Mariage Freres. Plus no waiter is leaning over me, wondering when I'm going to give up my table.. It's just me and the minis.

Some people ask, "How can you paint from such itty biddy minis?" After I pick a setup I like, I put it on the desktop and it becomes my touchstone to check what is where.Next pencil doodles of the setup.

Mix up some colors for the first washes. Before I go to bed I lay in the warm shadow patterns, always checking the big picture. The clock says 11:48 PM = Bedtime The blue bird of happiness. First thing I do in the morning - lay in the cool shadow washes on top of the warm, at around 5ish am. I'm fairly unconscious at this point and that helps. Et Voila!Your assignment for tomorrow is bring in your finished watercolors, Class. And I don't want to hear the cat knocked over your alarm clock etc.

Ooops...just added a revised version after looking at the rough loose one and the finish...Is this better? Your vote is requested.

BONNE JOURNEE