Keep Palm and Carry On!

Wishing you joy as deep as the ocean and worries as light as its' foam. We shore had fun in the studio today painting the sun, shore, and sand! These are the two paintings I demonstrated for my brilliant beach buddies. You can see our creative class collection here.

Day 63 ~ SE-63-25

😎 🏖 🌞

I Am Still Seeking

"I am seeking. I am striving. I am in it with all my heart." ~ Vincent van Gogh I added a background wash and beefed up some of my line work today. Sometimes you just have to try things out and not worry about 'ruining' your piece. There is no other way of learning. Which way do you like this watercolor sketch better, with or without a background?

Day 41 ~ SE-41-25

Keep Drawing

"The important thing is to keep on drawing when you start to paint. Never graduate from drawing." ~ John Sloan 

 Day 40 ~ SE-40-25

✍️🎨👩‍🎨

Little Opportunities

“Sometimes the little opportunities that fly at us each day can have the biggest impact.” ~ Danny Wallace I know this is true in my life, how about you?

 Day 37 ~ SE-37-25

A Magical World

“I can’t imagine anything better that might happen in a person’s life than for them to start paying attention to birds. To become aware of this magical world that exists all around us, unnoticed by many but totally captivating for those who know its secrets, has to be one of the greatest gifts of life on Earth.” ~ Kenn Kaufman

💖 Day 36 ~ SE-36-25 🥰

Technique And Skills Absorbed

"Technique and skills must be absorbed 

and wrapped up and put away to become 

such an integral part of yourself that they 

will be revealed in your work 

without your thought."

~ Shoji Hamada

Drawing With a Brush Exercise

"Skills can be found, like lost items 

that have always belonged to you. 

If the spirit of learning is there, 

the passion of creation 

will never die." 

~ Melissa Jean

Double Your Odds

"Every skill you acquire 

doubles your odds of success." 

~ Scott Adams

Drawing With A Brush - Control Exercise

"Artists get better by sharpening their skills 

or by acquiring new ones; they get better by learning to work, 

and by learning from their work." 

~ David Bayles,

Distracted But Committed

“Persistence. Perfection. Patience. 

Power. Prioritize your passion. 

It keeps you sane.”
  ~ Criss Jami

I'm really distracted from drawing at the moment, all wrapped up in 

getting ready for my fast approaching  one woman show.

 I do try to keep my commitments though, so here's today's 2 min. gesture attempt.

The Ugly Duckling

"The ugly duckling is a misunderstood universal myth. 

It's not about turning into a blonde Barbie doll or 

becoming what you dream of being; 

it's about self-revelation, 

becoming who you are. "

~ Baz Luhrmann

Almost every paining I do, goes through that awkward (ugly duckling) adolescent stage.

I have learned to just keep going however, because when you quit, you cease to grow and even if

the piece does not turn out well, the lessons learned are invaluable.

The ugly duckling is a misunderstood universal myth. It's not about turning into a blonde Barbie doll or becoming what you dream of being; it's about self-revelation, becoming who you are. Baz Luhrmann
Read more at: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/b/bazluhrman509247.html

The ugly duckling is a misunderstood universal myth. It's not about turning into a blonde Barbie doll or becoming what you dream of being; it's about self-revelation, becoming who you are. Baz Luhrmann
Read more at: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/b/bazluhrman509247.html

The ugly duckling is a misunderstood universal myth. It's not about turning into a blonde Barbie doll or becoming what you dream of being; it's about self-revelation, becoming who you are. Baz Luhrmann
Read more at: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/b/bazluhrman509247.html

Value Sketches

"Known by most of us as value sketches, 

most of us are too lazy to do them, yet

we know they can strengthen our work." 

~ Lorna Dockstader

 

"It's impossible to make a picture without values. 

Values are the basis of any 2D work of art." 

~ W. M. Hunt

On Teaching Drawing

"On teaching drawing...
Start lightly, then go dark." 

~ Peter William Brow

"Value (or the use of light) is our best ally as an artist. 

 Don't think for a minute this is not in your control." 

~ Steve Childs

Edges and Values

"Edges must be held by tone values, not lines." 

~ A. C. Leighton

"Make the mid-value shape the biggest one 

and make the light and dark shapes smaller, 

but never equally sized. 

One or the other should dominate." 

~ Ron Ranson

A Fun Game

"If you slightly squint your eyes, you will see 

that at least 2 and possibly 3 values of color 

make up any object in the natural world. 

Practice creating entire paintings with 

no more than 3 values on any object. 

Paint a few of those and you'll discern a rhythm 

between areas of 1, 2 and 3 values. It's a fun game." 

~ Cristina Acosta

Revisiting Some Friends

"Friendship isn't a big thing - it's a million little things."

 

This reference photo can be found in a July 2011 post. I decided to flip the bird and had another go at it. I had some fun with the color combo too! It was like visiting with an old friend. I vividly remember the countless hours of sitting out among the butterfly bushes with my camera, tripod and  flashes; trying to get that elusive, perfect hummingbird shot. I think I like this little color combination. What do you think?

Love Is All

"Ah, love is old,

love is new.
Love is all,

 love is you." 

~ John Lennon & Paul McCartney

"When you find something you love, feed and nurture that passion. 

Run after it, like it's the last train of the night

and it's already starting to leave the station."

~ Sandy

It Is Happiness To Wonder

“Wonder is the beginning of wisdom.”
  ~  Socrates

 

 

 

“The invariable mark of wisdom 

is to see the miraculous in the common.”
  ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Magic Things

“The world is full of magic things, 

patiently waiting for 

our senses to grow sharper.”
   ~ W.B. Yeats

 

It was a beautiful day to have lunch out in the yard among the hummingbirds and butterflies.

Relaxing and soaking in all the magic things, with friend and fellow artist, Irvane Spracklin.

Addicted to Art

"A frenzied passion for art 

is a canker that devours everything else." 

~ Charles Baudelaire 

 

"It's the addicts that stay with it. 

They're not necessarily the most talented, 

they're just the ones that just 

can't get it out of their systems." 

~ Harold Brown

Cultivate Patience

Cultivate patience in your heart and you will improve. 

Learn to see well and your hand will become sure." 

~ Charles Philip Brooks 

Today's model

2 minute gesture with watercolor wash

 "Growth is a spiral process, doubling back on itself, 

reassessing and regrouping."

 ~ Julia Cameron

Our Finest Moments

"Believe in your heart that you're meant to 

live a life full of passion, purpose, magic and miracles.” 
~  Roy T. Bennett

“Passion. It lies in all of us. Sleeping... waiting...  

and though unwanted, unbidden, it will stir... open its jaws and howl. 

It speaks to us... guides us. Passion rules us all. And we obey. 

What other choice do we have? Passion is the source of our finest moments."

 ~  Joss Whedon