Ideas of the loquat and the loquat leaf are still in my head. Today I used my compass and ruler to construct the loquat leaf. In my other drawings of these leaves, I left out their scallopedness. Although my watercolor today is an abstract of two loquats and a leaf, it is more representational of the leaf than […]
This is probably my last warmup and exercise in the book from which I am learning: the Tate Watercolour Manual, Lessons from the Great Masters by Tony Smibert and Joyce Townsend. The last lesson is about observation with remarks from John Ruskin a writer, art critic and champion of J.M.W. Turner, on of the masters discussed in […]
It must have been post Thanksgiving guilt. One sees things depending on one’s mood, frequently. Or at least I do. I was on the way to the store for some slimming products when I noticed a leaf on the ground. It wasn’t so much the leaf that caught my attention, but it’s shadow. There it […]
My leaf painting of yesterday (Meditation) reminded me of a couple of other leaves I painted: Originally posted December 21, 2014 (Sidewalk Leaf): and, originally posted December 20, 2014 (Another Leaf):
When I have no dream images to figure out how to paint, when I have to change my subject matter to portray because it has become too emotionally difficult to handle (my autistic brother Mike), I don’t know to paint. I need to paint. I found a solution today. Today’s watercolor experiment: I am attracted to visually […]
Today’s watercolor experiment: I decided to continue following the advice of Leonardo DaVinci who said, “Those who are in love with practice without knowledge are like the sailor who gets into a ship without rudder or compass and who never can be certain [where] he is going. …” Yesterday the goal of my practice was to ‘glisten’. The subject […]
Observation I have been thinking about Paul Cézanne and his approach to art (Hajo Düchting, Cézanne, Nature into Art Taschen, 1999). Perhaps I am wrong, but I picture him wandering about Provence looking, not only at the vistas, but also at smaller objects of nature. He said, “This region is full of undiscovered treasures. There […]
Before the torrential rains that stripped all the leaves from the trees in the back yard, I took a snap of the fig tree next door. Most of the leaves had already dropped off, but there were several left. Although the photograph doesn’t portray what I saw very well, I used it as a template for my watercolor […]
Can anyone identify this leaf? I saw it along a trail on a hike in the Los Angeles area. Other information: It is on a bushy plant with brambles.
Yesterday’s experiment was to paint a simple pink flower. When I took the picture, I noticed that the leaf was equally as stunning in its almost black-and-white coloration. Today’s experiment I decided that I would like to add that leaf to the pink flower. Here is the photo of the entire leaf: But a second photo shows the […]
