Hazy Lazy Morning Light! (part 1)

A year ago, I was in Ireland on a business trip and took a side trip from Dublin through the Wicklow Mountains, on my way to Kilkenny. My intention was to see some sights and do some paintings on site.

I spent the first night in the beautiful village of Graiguenamanagh, in an Inn by the river Barrow. I woke up very early in the morning, and opened my third-floor window to a wonderful view of sunshine through the mist and boats lined along the river all the way to the old stone bridge. I don't know how long I spent bent over the window sill looking in every direction, snapping photos, taking it all in. By the time I did take notice, I was freezing in the March morning air, in my shorts only, I could not feel my ears, my fingers could hardly press the shutter button anymore. I had to make some hot tea and get back under the covers to warm up again. As they say: Beware of wonder... Later that morning, after breakfast, much warmer, I went out and completed a painting on site.

The reference for this painting was one of the many photos I took from the window that morning. My next post will include the step by step progression of the painting.

Hazy Lazy Morning Light, watercolor on paper, 16x12

Award at WAS-H 34th International Exhibit

I learned I received the Board of Directors award at the Watercolor Art Society - Houston 34th International Exhibit, which is currently being held in Houston. This is a great incentive, and even greater honor considering that the juror was John Salminen, whose work I hold in the highest regard. The awards ceremony was last Friday, unfortunately I could not attend in person. The list of winners is now posted in the WAS-H website. The show is open until April 15th.

CWS 2011 State Exhibit Opening Reception

My painting "Grattan Bridge" (detail on the left) will be featured in the Colorado Watercolor Society 20th State Watermedia Exhibit, which opens this Friday at the Foothills Art Center, at 809 Fifteenth Street, in Golden, Colorado.

The exhibit showcases 80 Colorado artists, selected by juror Soon Warren of Fort Worth, Texas.

The opening reception will start at 6:30 and is open to the public.
It is also my birthday... an extra reason for you to join us and celebrate!

Demo at the Colorado Watercolor Society, part 2

This is a detail of the finished stage of the painting I started in my demo at the CWS general meeting last week, as reported in my last post.

The detail shows the variety of the color, texture and brushwork that went into the piece. Some shapes have been refined, added, lifted, taking advantage of the characteristics of the Aquabord support, whereas other shapes remain as first placed during the demo.

Below is the image of the complete painting:
A Morning in Inistioge, Ireland. Watercolor on Aquabord, 16x20.

Demo at the Colorado Watercolor Society

This week I had the honor to be one of several artists invited to perform a live demo at the Colorado Watercolor Society, as part of the program for the February general meeting. There was great attendance and the responses were very positive.

I did my demo of a painting sketch on Aquabord, for the benefit of those who were unfamiliar with this support. My subject was the same street scene in Inistioge, Ireland, which I had portrayed in my sketchbook and posted on this blog before.

During the allowed time of one hour, I did my best to answer questions and narrate the thinking process behind the painting, while battling very dry conditions from the air-conditioning and paint runs on a near vertical board. I worked with my usual squirrel mops, sizes 6 and 8, and synthetic rounds, sizes 12 and 16, and used a limited palette of ultramarine finest, perylene maroon, quinacridone burnt orange and cobalt turquoise, with some touches of sepia, cadmium scarlet and neutral tint.

Despite the furious pace and loose approach, I did not complete the painting, but there was enough opportunity to discuss and show the characteristics of the materials, demonstrate some techniques and offer a glimpse at what the normal process would have been like. Below is an image of the study at the point where the demo ended, I will work on it further and later post the completed painting.

Sometimes Good Things Come in Pairs!

Supposedly, misery loves company, but sometimes good things also come in pairs. Even though I find guinea fowl curious creatures and decided to do this sketch of two of them, that is not really what I am talking about...

I just got good news of acceptance into two upcoming exhibits: The Rockies West 18th Annual National Exhibition, juried by Paul Jackson, and the Colorado Watercolor Society 20th State Watercolor Exhibition, juried by Soon Warren.

This is a good start towards my goal of exhibiting more often and more widely in 2011. Last year I was very busy being a new father and limited myself to only a few events. I will be posting more information about these two shows, which happen in March.

And since I did mention the guinea fowl, this is another page of my sketch book... I observed them at a farm during my trip to Brazil, and thought this would be a good subject for a "lineless" sketch, in which I try to paint directly, without pencil lines or any drawing, by observing and reproducing with the brush the shapes I see. This is a fun exercise to do and it helps loosen up from the rigidity of lines.

Happy New Year!

Happy 2011! I believe this will be a busy, eventful year for myself, and I wish you a lot of health, happiness and success as well.

I'm just back from a trip to spend Christmas with my family in Brazil. It was great to see everyone and they were particularly thrilled to spend time with our 14-month-old son. The image above is a study of my nephew Alexandre, based on a photo I took while he watched a movie. He is such a handsome boy, so full of character, I look forward to painting a full size portrait of him. This sketch is 6x9, painted with a size 12 synthetic round, with cadmium yellow, cadmium scarlet, burnt sienna, cobalt turquoise, sepia and light ochre.