Virtual Paintout - London, England

Westminster Abbey, view from Google Map Street View

12x16" watercolor on Kilamanjaro 140 lb. block.

This is my first submission the the Virtual Paintout blog. My wife told me about this a few days ago because I began doing the EDM challenges and said that I might like this too. She was on the money as usual. I absolutely love the concept the VPO team has come up with. I was already a huge fan of Google Street View - I've spent hours (really) strolling down my old neighborhood street, remembering who lived in that house, etc. It's a great way to spark memories that you wouldn't have come up with otherwise. I've searched for the cathedral my Grandfather was baptised in (Holic) Slovakia, etc. I plan a series of work based on screen shots of old blues and jazz musicians -images I will collect from You Tube and other video sources (altered enough to avoid copyright issues). So this month the Virtual Paintout subject (I'm squeaking this in) was London. This was a lot of fun to do and I would recommend this kind of activity to anyone: http://virtualpaintout.blogspot.com/

EDM 238

EDM 238 - Draw something you'd find in a first-aid kit.
- Graphite and some white acrylic in an 11x14 Aquabee sketchbook.

So far I've done just a few of these Every Day Matters weekly challenges. Each time it's been in this rendering sorta style with graphite. I want to return to a mixed media approach for the next ones, as lately in my painting I have concentrated on a traditional watercolor technique in an attempt to get somewhere with that medium. I think that I'm ready to return to my first love, mixed media - and I can see how these EDM challenges will give me that opportunity.

Edisto Fisherman

12x16" wc on Kilamanjaro 300lb. block.

This is my latest wc of a guy working for Edisto Seafood. He and his buddy were cleaning clams - right off the boat. That's what I like about this particular seafood place - it is always so fresh. One time I'm asking them about fish and the guy who runs it says, Oh! we just got in some Wahoo. I also made the mistake one time and asked him if the tuna was fresh (it looked like it could have been prepackaged and once frozen like so many seafood places even on the coast - I was looking for something fresher than that). He looked at me like I was an idiot, saying it's always fresh! When I got home I saw that it was packaged in baggies - they had portioned it themselves. I'll never make that mistake again.

Oh yeah, you can click on these images to see a larger version - how cool is that!?

Pink

22x30" Arches 300lb. hot press.

This is Pink of the famous George and Pink's vegetable stand on Edisto Island, SC. You drive down a non-paved sandy road which is a tunnel of overhanging live oak draped with Spanish moss. You are awakened from this marvelous dream by their wooden sign on the corner of their lot. It is a humble enough establishment with their house next door with a couple of very large lumbering non-distinguishable dogs hanging about. When you go inside you see photos, newspaper articles and plaques indicating that they have been recognized by Southern Living magazine and have been visited by state politicians and the like. I bought a baseball cap with their logo on it. As I was about to take this reference photo I asked Pink what her favorite saying was. After saying she did not have one she perked up immediately and said, I know...Have a blessed day. As she said it I took this shot.

I couldn't wait to make this painting and was disappointed to learn that I have issues with hot press smooth paper - I simply don't know how to paint on it. It doesn't have the same sizing as cold press or something, the paint absorbs immediately and doesn't do that stuff that I like so much that watercolor does so well (blending, bleeding, flowing, etc.) The paint seems to suck right into the paper like marker or something. So, daunted, I immediately did another painting - 22x30 on another piece of hot press of another scene I couldn't wait to do - an Edisto Island fishing trawler behind Edisto Seafood. I'm not improving...Have a blessed day yall.

Blue Ridge Sketchers first Outing

This is a watercolor done on a 12x16 Kilimanjaro wc block. I use the 140 lb. block as my sketchbook now and is quite suited for the purpose. I seldom finish a piece on location, as I add any finishing touches at home. Not a bad way to work, as I can really look the piece over and make a few decisions concerning its final appearance. This was a bit unexpected view just off the Bass Lake trail - what you don't see are my wife and child also painting, along with our other friends/members.

So Here's what I'm doing...

Ok, so here's what I'm doing. I'm adding right now a lot of older and some newer things to my Flickr account (new too). I will post new stuff here as I do it and go from there. If you are interested in seeing existing stuff from the past, then click on that slide show thingy on the right and then click on my photostream. If you want to make any comments you can do it here or on the images in Flickr.

Starters

A Coastal Carolina Still Life

I am just learning how to operate this blog by doing - so bare with me. I will probably use this blog to post new watercolors as they happen, maybe the first few will be what I consider to be current work in order to get this all going. This piece is transparent watercolor on 300 lb. Kilamanjaro cold press block (Cheap Joe's).