Category Archives: Watercolor

EDM Returns to my Art Practice

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It has been four and a half years… yes YEARS… since I painted my last EDM challenge item.

EDM stands for Every Day Matters and is a list of 328 items to draw or paint. It was created by Karen Winters to help artists create a daily practice without mulling over the eternal question, What should I draw today? I’ve been oh so sloooowly working my way though the list but never have I gone this long since my last entry. I painted number 122- draw something where shade is a prominent part of the subject, back in March 2017. Ouch.

EDM 123 – Draw a bell.

Yes, it’s a bell… a Christmas ornament bell. I had to dig around in the closet to find it and now that it’s out early I guess I’ll have to find a safe spot for it to rest until it can take it’s rightful spot of honor on our holiday tree!

Meditation – 23 July 2021 – I Worried

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I Worried
by Mary Oliver

I worried a lot. Will the garden grow, will the rivers
flow in the right direction, will the earth turn
as it was taught, and if not how shall
I correct it?

Was I right, was I wrong, will I be forgiven,
can I do better?

Will I ever be able to sing, even the sparrows
can do it and I am, well,
hopeless.

Is my eyesight fading or am I just imagining it,
am I going to get rheumatism,
lockjaw, dementia?

Finally, I saw that worrying had come to nothing.
And gave it up. And took my old body
and went out into the morning,
and sang.

Earth Day 2021

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This was created in Laure Ferlita’s online Earth Day Heart ZOOM class which I took last week. Laure kindly provided us with the design and lettering along with detailed instructions so we could all be prepared to just jump in and paint along with her during our hour long class.

Although this class is no longer available, Laure has other upcoming ZOOM classes which might entice you. She also has many tempting on-demand courses ranging from the short project driven class to multi-week deeper dives.

Laure Ferlita
Painted Thoughts Blog
https://www.imaginarytrips.com
https://theimaginaryrealm.com

Thanks Laure! You’re so right… there is no plan(et) B.

Chickadee-dee-dee

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Chickadee


-6 degrees
Chickadee

One part heart
Three parts feather

How big is the spark
That beats in you

And doing so
Warms us both?

— Claudia Kern

You can find this poem and others along with some of Claudia Kern’s art at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of the Upper Valley website.

Also… tomorrow, 20 March 2021, at 5:37AM (0937 UTC) marks the Vernal Equinox.
Happy Spring!!!

The Eyes Have It

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These eyes are from the final image… notice the more rounded iris on the left… still a bit cross-eyed… but nowhere near as bad as in my first draft.

Over the summer I painted this fella from a photo in the Sktchy app on my phone. First I drew in a rough sketch in pencil and then painted a light base layer.

I’m using an Arteza Watercolor Journal – 9 in. X 12 in. This paper sucks up paint and I knew I needed layers to get the desired contrast and vibrancy.

Better. I even thought I was done. But no. I’m sure you can see it too… there’s something wrong with the eye on the left. His eyes aren’t tracking correctly… he’s cross-eyed in my journal but not in his photo. (I’m sorry I can’t show you the photo but he owns the copyright and I don’t have permission to post it. You can see it linked to my work in Sktchy.)

Anyway… it sat on my desk for months before I attempted the fix. It’s subtle, but I rounded the iris on the left hoping to separate the two irises and correct his focus. It seems to have helped… sort of… not entirely, but it’s time to move on, turn the page and select another victim.