Cat & dog prepare their picnic, poppies in Thomaston Maine, cedar waxwing in cherry blossoms, 6/30/18

Mad dash to maybe get those 30x30 paintings/pieces/works done for the challenge. It was supposed to be for developing some kind of practice in direct watercolor, i.e. no under drawing - go right to painting. Parameters to the challenge were very loosely defined.

I originally planned to use the challenge to paint or draw in such a way that I could not correct. I did quite a few. But then decided not to continue because it was seeming this challenge was really a kind of publicity event to help launch the publication of a particular artist's instruction book.

The other day a couple insights came to mind that prompted me to try a few more works for it. ...All too much to explain here now.

These works are fresh off the black colored pencil, opaque watercolors and brush, and transparent watercolors. The transparent watercolors palette is so in need of refilling, but I keep putting off doing it. I'm almost painting with wads of cat fur that have embedded in the dried leftover paint puddles.

I drew the picnic scene on Staples card stock. So are the poppies, but on a quarter sheet, (small). The cedar waxwing is painted on HP copy paper, on half the page. It mottles like blotter paper when you paint but is ok when it dries. Any thin paper buckles like this when wet. It is the mottling I don't like. Staples multi-purpose copy paper, on the other hand, takes paint very nicely. Of course it buckles, but it does not mottle.

I started this waxwing painting a couple weeks ago by laying down a warm variegated wash. I was to return once that dried to paint in the dark details of the bird, and then create the bird by using negative shapes to bring it out. It means to almost cut the bird out of the background by painting around it - without using outlines. The coloring of cedar waxwings make it a perfect subject for this method way of painting.

I ended up having done about 24 images/works..

#30x30DirectWatercolor2018

Let's have a picnic! Cat & Dog silhouette watercolor, 6/29/18

After drawing this idea as line drawing for a coloring page, I tried a silhouette version. It's all freehand direct painting. No under drawing. It can make me sweat whether it will work or not - whether my brush and hand will hit their intended marks!

#30x30DirectWatercolor2018

Let's have a picnic! Cat and dog coloring page, 6/29/18

Circle of friends 2018 reunion pics upload attempt

Trying again. If these get thru to my blog, they go with the previous
post.

Circle of friends, annual summer solstice picnic, friends who had worked together many years ago, some of whom may still do so(?),2018 edition. Even smaller size pics

My dear friends from this place have sent each other these pics. Some have yet to be opened and seen because they are so big and unaccessable right now. I thought maybe I could forward those extra large pics direct to here, but they seem to get stuck in the process, in any case, I'm hoping these can post, so that they will at least be in one place. And I'm hoping the phone will give me the option to send in a smaller size...
Amended - yes one can choose a smaller size. The post went through to my other email accounts but not to this blog. At least not yet. I'll try a smaller yet size.

Still would not post remotely tho pics are much smaller. Now I'm trying text first and pics later somehow!

Circle of friends, annual summer solstice picnic, friends who had worked together many years ago, some of whom may still do so(?),2018 edition. Even smaller size pics

My dear friends from this place have sent each other these pics. Some have yet to be opened and seen because they are so big and unaccessable right now. I thought maybe I could forward those extra large pics direct to here, but they seem to get stuck in the process, in any case, I'm hoping these can post, so that they will at least be in one place. And I'm hoping the phone will give me the option to send in a smaller size...
Amended - yes one can choose a smaller size. The post went through to my other email accounts but not to this blog. At least not yet. I'll try a smaller yet size.

Circle of friends, annual summer solstice picnic, friends who had worked together many years ago, some of whom may still do so(?),2018 edition

My dear friends from this place have sent each other these pics. Some have yet to be opened and seem because they are so big and unaccessable right now. I thought maybe I could forward those extra large pics direct to here, but they seem to get stuck in the process, in any case, I'm hoping these can post, so that they will at least be in one place. And I'm hoping the phone will give me the option to send in a smaller size...