Paint party Friday... owls and gratitude

Welcome to Paint Party Friday! ( paintpartyfriday.blogspot.com)
I love seeing color move on paper as well as fabric, well, I just love color!
My little owl is one of two paintings done this week... four if you count the backs!

I tear a sheet of watercolor paper in half, because I like to work small and am learning still.
There is so much to learn in this world isn't there? I love to learn!

My thought in the beginning as I looked at the white blank sheet was to do a foreground owl, with mountains and the moon. I met a painter last weekend at a craft show. Her work was colorful and mottled and just gorgeous. I laughingly asked what made her work so much better than mine, and she said something like, "well I really wet the background and drop in colors so they move and blend". I looked closer and yes, that was a big part of why I liked them. She teaches small groups in the area and I thought what a nice person she'd be to learn from, then lost her card.

I paint some, then walk away and come back and add a bit... DH saw it mid way and asked why the owl was so big compared to the pyramids. I said, well those are mountains in the background.
DH: "well, it needs something"

I like things about this little work, and acknowledge it needs something about the perspective. The above picture shows the iridescent white metallic KOI paint I added in as highlight. LOVE! I also dropped in some faint bluish purple to shadow them a bit and love it. Now understand... I have had no lessons and am just pushing paint around on paper hoping it looks okay. I like the effect myself.

I used Gansai paint on the rest, and thought I'd do some kind of tree around the owl... I like how the branches are different colors and transparencies. I added in some marker for lines and definition, and some staedler fineliner in dark green to make more piney looking branches. A white gel pen made snow.
It does need something... I will ask a retired art teacher friend what it needs. She has a way of being very encouraging while answering questions like that.

So for now it sits in front of the computer to remind me to paint and keep making art. Oh, and I did really wet the background and let colors mingle and I like it. The moon has iridescent paint too.

It's hard to photo but this is the back... I like it almost more than the front! My logo makes me smile each time, but the aqua and fuchia tree really makes me happy. Subtle, momentary with no dithering, it just appeared on the paper. Love the subtle color that is unrealistic but representational.

On to the Thanksgiving piece...

I spent some time reading quotes on gratitude, which was very healing by the way, I recommend it!
I liked this one, and thought it would be a source of meditation this week. I penned the words first with a Faber Castell brush pen...
it's messy looking. Ah well, next time more planning on lettering.

I sketched out an off center heart but didn't get it off center enough... still learning... and really wet the background. Dropped in yellow then pink to blur and blend. It really has a nice effect to me.
Then doing it the hard way, brushed some pink around the words... it's okay I kind of like the white bits showing around the lettering. I don't like solid color usually preferring shades.

After paint, I started with a pigma .05 pen and drew in flowers and leaves. I love the spiral for infinity and the tiny word love. It needed balance so I added in the words at the bottom and of course they are not even. I'm not much of a planner so things get done on a whim, sometimes they are right, sometimes they are wonky. The flowers seemed to need a bit of Staedtler fineliner in pink.
Then for the back... (rubbing hands together in glee)

another tree and my logo. Love. it. each. time.  This time the tree has a knothole in a heart shape, which I've seen many times in nature. I painted it in gold metallic and fuchia, both KOI. Just because I could, I added in tiny words, roots, grow, and reach.

LINKING TO
all seasons
 
http://www.rainfrances.com/