September 2024 Water Media Challenge- Come join the fun!

[Sanlynn]

Wow, the poppies are popular and I can see why with the beautiful lighting in them. It’s so interesting to see the different versions of them. Christine, yours are very strong and dramatic. Anne your style shows through in this fresh approach. Kay, very creative and colourful. I wonder if this reflects something of your personalities?

 

[Jo Castillo]

Ann, lovely delicate poppies. I'm smiling.

Kay, your colorful poppies really pop!

 

[PaintBoss]

Wow, the poppies are popular and I can see why with the beautiful lighting in them. It’s so interesting to see the different versions of them. Christine, yours are very strong and dramatic. Anne your style shows through in this fresh approach. Kay, very creative and colourful. I wonder if this reflects something of your personalities?

My husband says I’m a very strong, passionate person. I add “spice” to his life. Lol My mother? She’s the “dramatic” one. The stories I could tell! Lol

 

[Donna T]

Such beautiful interpretations of the poppies! Christine, yours have a dramatic, graphic punch and I hope they’re going up on a wall for you to admire. Anne, yours are light, airy and delicate - very nice! Kay, I love how your poppies decided to dress up in different colors and the background is so beautiful as well!

 

[PaintBoss]

Thank you Donna. I had always wanted to repaint an antique dresser or cabinet black and do poppies on it.
I’m glad everyone really enjoyed that reference photo. That was just the actual lighting in my garden of a home we had 22 years ago. I did not have to play with it at all in a photo editor. I absolutely enjoy seeing so many variations in the approach to the poppies. It might be neat to do a challenge with one really excellent reference photo and just see all the different ways people can be creative and render the piece. Like… “20 ways to paint poppies”!

 

[KreativeK]

That is a clever challenge topic, Christine, to have only one ref then see the different ways to interpret it.

Thanks for the kind remarks on mine.

 

[PaintBoss]

Well, I’ll put that on the list of things to do!

 

[Sanlynn]

I slapped this one really quickly as you can probably tell! Pen with watercolour wash. 6x8” in my watercolour sketchbook.

 

[PaintBoss]

Looks great for slapping it together Sanlynn! You captured it!

 

[ams]

Sanlynn, you can "slap together" anytime! Very nice.

 

[Ellen Easton]

I had a terrible time trying to get a good picture with my little phone, but I did try hard. lol I decided to make the bottom of the picture into a cliff. And I didn't have my laptop set up to refer to the picture at the time I was painting, but here's my effort as I remember it. I may tweek it a bit if it strikes me later, but in the meantime I'll see if there's another one I can try.

 

[PaintBoss]

Oh, that is so dramatic Ellen! That sky looks amazing. It is jumping off my screen! I like the cliff idea too. So glad to see your painting. Frame this one.
Just a little mention here that over in the trading card section, I’ve put up a post about doing a Christmas card trade if you’re interested. Or anyone else! Looking to see how many say they are interested in the next week so we know how many participants there are to move forward. So if interested, please let me know on that thread within a week. Cards can be either the 2.5×3.5 inches up to 5 x 7“.

 

[Ellen Easton]

Thank you so very much, Christine! That's such a great compliment coming from you. I'm not an experienced artist and especially not when it comes to watercolors. I do like this one myself, to tell you the truth. It's more detailed in person than what I could get with my little phone, but my lighting was not that great.

I definitely want to join the Christmas card trade. I enjoyed the exchanges we did on Wet Canvas and I'll go sign up for this one right now.

 

[PaintBoss]

Oh now you are making me blush. Thank you Ellen. I see all of us as being on the same path and each of us are at a different points along the way. And you’ve come a long very well in your work. I have in some ways and in another way I’m out of practice. I am inspired daily by people on these forums! So we’re on the same boat. I’m so pleased that you’re very happy with your painting. It was very successful and you should be proud of it. Very glad to hear you’re going to be joining us in the Christmas trade!

 

[Ellen Easton]

What I've experienced on this art journey we're all on is that when I take an extended break it seems like rather than causing me to forget what I learned, instead I've gotten better at certain elements of it. I took a creativity class many years ago. Everyone agreed that our creativity needs that "simmering" time when our creative life sort of recharges. It's a time we feel as though we've lost our way and won't be able to create anymore, but that does pass and we come back all fresh and better than ever. Even though I did learn that I still feel that discouraging feeling at times and it still concerns me except that at this time of my life, when there's more of my life already lived than what I have left to live ahead of me, now it's more the insane feeling that I won't be able to live long enough to use my art supplies so I have to hurry. I have to re-think it and bring myself back to living in the moment instead of projecting into the future.

I haven't painted much except the Christmas cards for my neighbors since we did the exchange on Wet Canvas, but I was very sad that I couldn't do my cards for the neighbors here last Christmas. Then some of the neighbors told me, when I was moving in here at my larger place, that my paintings have been kept and are on the walls of people all over the park and it made me so happy. I didn't know so many of the people here liked my stuff well enough to keep it on their walls every year. So then I decided that this year I'm going to make all the "cards" on my Fuumuui 9X12" paper by way of an apology for not doing any last year. It will be a surprise for them to have an actual full size painting at Christmas..

 

[Donna T]

Sanlynn, your little painting is so good! Such clean, clear colors!

Ellen, Wow! Those sky colors are gorgeous and I love the quieter neutral part that sets them off! I’m glad you’re painting and I imagine that it felt good. What a boost to know that your Christmas cards are keepers!

 

[PaintBoss]

Ellen, you are so right that creativity can simmer. Or even learning. Then pops out later. It is like leaping ahead.
I also really understand your desire to get moving and get it all in while they’re still is time. That is a perfectly legitimate feeling, but you are right to balance it with living your life every day in the here and now. Otherwise, it would get overwhelming.
That is so wonderful to hear about your friends treasuring your cards. I treasure what has been sent to me too. Especially the beadwork. It was so tiny and exacting and precise and must’ve been awfully fiddly to do. So I know a lot of effort went into it and it is so unique. I feel very fortunate to have it. And my family knows the story of it too. You know it when someone puts such care and effort into their work just for you! It is special. We definitely do that in our trades.
I’m especially pleased you’re feeling up to doing all of this. It must mean you’re doing quite well and I’m always happy to know that. Having a bigger space is such a treat!

 

[PaintBoss]

Watercolour and gouache.
Approximately 5 x 7“
I did this tonight until the wee hours of the morning. I went too long. I had the eyes perfect and then they got away on me. I have to keep working on the one eye- it is too big. Too tired to do more now.

 

[Ellen Easton]

What a wonderful painting of that beautiful pooch! I painted a polar bear once and it isn't easy to paint a white animal on white paper. You've done it beautifully, though. I just love this. Those eyes are beautiful and what a cute little nose, too. I had thought of painting this one, too. That's such a good idea to paint the grey around the dog. I didn't think of something like that when I painted the polar bear. Live and learn. The dark outlining also works perfectly. My neighbor has a big stuffed polar bear in his house and that was his first trophy he said. So I gave the polar bear to him as a Christmas card one year. Maybe I'll paint him another, better polar bear this year using tips you've shown us on this little beauty that will work better.

 

[PaintBoss]

Oh thank you very much Ellen.