Not Afraid of Color

Friday, October 15, 2021

paint party Friday ... trees of gold

Welcome to paint party Friday where we celebrate all things painterly!

this week, I set myself a challenge to paint a portrait of the same tree in my yard, three days running and see how different they came out. Above was the first painting, done outside while looking at the actual tree

I wanted to learn how to create depth, and show leaves in front of the trunk, and this pic doesn't do it justice as it looked gilded with yellow on all leaf tips! This is how all three started... rough sketch with pitt black fine point pen on a torn mixed media paper

sketch, then dabs of colors...

the final picture

and then how do pens add shadows? how do dots of color affect it? I actually might like this one best in person, but then I've always been better at painting a real object. As you might tell from the photo, I took artistic license to remove the trees behind this one and other distracting items.

On the back of paintings I put my little symbol in a sort of cartouche of paint used

the following day I painted at my inside spot, while looking at the painting instead of the tree

this is the finished painting... different from day one but in series. I like the addition of leaves on the ground, the dark pen and white gel pen on the tree and the weeds. It's small and only we know there is a trunk in there in real life because we had to severely cut it back when it looked dying.

on the third day I had two paintings to go by, and wanted to change it a bit while keeping the gist

by this day the real tree had become more orange than yellow, but I got the paint mix a bit wrong. I made the best of it, trying to amend it as one does, with more paint and more ink! I liked the general painting, especially the fence shadows.

what did I learn?

>I like painting outside looking at the true object and light, really observing it

>each painting was good on it's own, without comparing it to the others

> each one was unique, allowing me to try different techniques while keeping others

> I need to stop saying my work looks like a 5 year old did it. Even if it does, it's apparently my style

> paintings have an element of magic to them, they show up

> I will overwork something if I'm not careful and aware... walk by and add more ink...

The other color work, besides sewing which will be covered in tomorrow's post, was coloring in my calendar

Joanna Basford weekly calendar has given me a wonderful reason to play with how colors blend, look together, how water affects them, what I like... etc. I keep it by the computer and add color as the days go by

the start to coloring

I enjoy using watercolors and brush, tombow markers, prismacolor watercolor pencils, staedtler fineliners, and all are water soluble.

sometimes I enjoy doing backgrounds by putting a wet brush on the edge of a painted thing, and pulling the color into the background. This means the background may end up different colors.

Okay

Now for fun...

Look what I found... a show with artist portrait challenges! Here's the finale...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oFaxdZ5YrR0

linking to

https://paintpartyfriday.blogspot.com/

Thursday, October 14, 2021

I Like Thursdays # 266

Welcome to this week's list of likes... I like pumpkins and we have one... just one this year as we had to order it to be delivered. I like mums too.

I love cooler weather and we finally got cool, er, below freezing at night actually causing some distress over the sprinkler system and the mums survival. We were nearly 80 last week, then a freeze warning Wednesday night. Colorado keeps you wondering...

the unfiltered sun hits our bedroom all day so it's always hotter than the outside despite open windows, so we're okay with cold weather. I like sleeping under a quilt or comforter and we couldn't for the last 4+ months. Now going from 80 to snow in one week is not optimum but we'll take it.

this little fellow was enjoying the stale bread and lettuce trimmings I put out this week...

We seldom see squirrels here so I was glad to serve him dinner... Milo never noticed him

we also had two close owl sightings this week. One last night came right toward us flying down the main street, very Harry Potter like! What a wingspan and dramatic view with the bright moon behind him. I doubt he's eating the stale bread or apple peelings I spread under the bushes!

speaking of food, I took advantage of the cool weather to bake

Molasses orange cookies rolled in crystal sugar

from April Harris @ https://apriljharris.com/orange-gingerbread-crinkle-cookies/

and since I had some apples that needed using, we made apple crumb topped muffins...

https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/apple-cinnamon-crumb-muffins/

really good, the yogurt makes them moist and tender. I used more apple than called for and they are just the best!. Milo gives them 4 paws up even though he doesn't like fruit

sewing finished something, to be shown on Saturday

coloring this little by little

calendar page from Joanna Basford

painting a series of three watercolors of the same tree, more tomorrow! just a teaser, the start to one that's finished...

Watching on TV

My Life is Murder, Dancing with the Stars (I like all of them), Survivor, The Good Doctor, New Amsterdam, Virgin River and here comes Project Runway! Thank you to Shannon for alerting us to The Great British Bake Show is back, and I like all the contestants... haven't seen all of the first episode yet. Call the Midwife is so so good this season, as usual, and back on PBS.

Reading:

hearing on audio

on youtube... so many good things but these two really were fun...

do you like fashion?? I DO and this is the Armani 2022 spring fashion show...I love the layers, the skirt lengths the flats with them, the sheer fabrics and the silhouettes. It makes me want to make clothing again...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0KhUSjbbDGQ

And....For all the designers spring lines in a nutshell.....

Armani takes it for me, except for this wedding dress... perfection...

zuhair Murad

Milo's Moment

Hi y'all... I like playing keep away from the Daddy and lead him around the yard as he tries to capture my ring... here's a video of me, the star of this group!

I forgot it's cooler now, and played flipping on my back games but I also love fetch but don't return it, keep away, chase me, and you can't have it. I love a full day of playing and sleeping on the big bed on my pillow at night. I put up with my kibble but prefer muffins and cookies.

now please visit these wonderful people to read their lists of things to like this week!

grammajudyb.blogspot.com

http://littlepenguinquilts

craftscaviescontras

http://imworkingonaproject.blogspot.com/

https://100sweets.blogspot.com/

https://canadianneedlenana.blogspot.com/

https://whataboutrheema.blogspot.com/

http://3poodlesandanana.blogspot.com

https://www.homesewnbyus.com/

https://100sweets.blogspot.com/

https://scrapatches.blogspot.com/

https://knittingquilter.blogspot.com/

the knitty quilter

http://www.piecefulthoughts.com

https://quiltschmilt.wordpress.com/blog-posts/

LINKING WITH

https://brianshomeblog.com/

http://itsasmalltownlife.blogspot.com/

http://goodrandomfun.blogspot.com

https://www.knitbygodshand.com/

http://floralfridayfoto.blogspot.com/

http://goodrandomfun.blogspot.com

rosie and the boys nature pics

friday smiles at a stitch in time

friday bliss

Saturday, October 9, 2021

sewing saturday... hexi blocks plus improv work

For sewing this week, I made the hexi kaleidoscope blocks in light/lime greens the color of the month at the RSC. I went ahead and took a pic of the ones already done, and noticed by setting them this way you see kind of a light shadow around the outside... I'll have to take care when I have finished all the blocks. I think it might be a possible twin size with the blocks from the next two months.

The newest blocks in light greens

I also spent some time with the scraps from making the Ricky Tims kaleidoscope. I haven't wanted to work on it yet, it's big and needs decisions made, but the scraps... I played with two sets til I liked the idea of doing these strips

sewn but not trimmed yet

don't know what they'll be but I like them and enjoyed the mental exercise to design them

I took these out and added to them but have no idea what will become of them either...

keep in mind all of this was left over after making the kaleidoscope... hence the angles... so there is a LOT of waste while making that quilt

I turned several scraps into 60 degree diamond blocks and thought I'd arrange them in the typical hexi setting but decided to do something a bit different with them...

and am considering adding in a strip in the center...it's about 44" long now

I hope to finish this one for Joy's table scraps challenge at the end of the month...

LINKING TO

off the wall Fridays
can I get a whoop whoop Fridays
tgiffriday finished or not

http://www.inquiringquilter.com/ Wednesday wait loss

Midweek makers wednesdays

https://scrapatches.blogspot.com/

myquiltinfatuation Thursdays

design wall Mondays at smallquiltsanddollquilts
lovelaughquilt.mondays

scrap happy Saturdays

Friday, October 8, 2021

Paint Party Friday summer still...

Welcome to paint party Friday, where we share our love of color...

I have three painted pieces and colored one calendar page to share with you today. The close up of the one on top was inspired by the recent mums purchase for our patio

I started with dabs of watercolor paint on a sketchbook, while sitting outside on the porch....

but I'm not one to leave well enough alone... so I began to add detail with ink.

we planted wildflower seeds in big patio pots in June and have enjoyed the display all summer. It's still summer temperature wise here... and though sparse now the wildflowers are still pretty.

the sketchbook I'm using for paint is made with 140 lb paper to stand up to watercolors.

These are my four offerings this week.

The calendar is by joanna basford and has taught me so much about shading while coloring in the line drawing.

This is how it started...

and finished... I really like the four shades of flowers on the top tree, and the layered color on the wooden planter. I start with ocher and then layer paint on over and over. The watering can was gray on the sides, then silver ink over that and water to blend

every time I walk by I admire how pretty it came out... nice to quiet the critic, right?

We have a teal, and a turquoise planter outside, and I love that color. The painting on the right started like this as my morning exercise...

tombow markers overlapping. When you dab with water brush it blends into those on the right.

overlapping color, blending with water... then starting to add detail with ink

add a background, with shadows under the pot...

the last thing to share is a very simple line drawing done with the Pitt artist brush pen that leaves a calligraphy like thick line. When I paint with the waterbrush, I wipe off color on the calendar page, and wondered how a simple line drawing would look over that. Good. I like the concept.

linking to: https://paintpartyfriday.blogspot.com/

Thursday, October 7, 2021

I Like Thursday # 265

Welcome to this week's list of likes... small likes add up, don't they?

I love this fellow... I have hung him up in October for years now, and the video at the end shows him dancing now in Colorado. Our tree is more colorful than last week, the video takes you on a small tour of our back yard...

we put out a few decorations

day

Night

and got some mums for the back porch.

This week we made chicken souvlaki's with greek potato salad for lunch and had enough for two days worth

I call it Greek potato salad (they put that in greek salads in Tampa) because I make it differently than our usual. Boiled potatoes, a mix of half mayo and half yogurt, S & P, oregano, basil, minced onion and bell peppers, a splash of lemon juice and a splash of apple cider vinegar. So good!

I make our souvlaki with chicken cooked with olive oil, spices, cooking sherry and lemon juice. I add in chopped onion, tomatoes, lettuce, kalamata olives, feta cheese in a tortilla wrap. Speaking of lettuce... we ordered living lettuce with roots this week, planted the roots and it's growing!

now that we wised up and took it out of the broiling sun so it gets less heat. Yep still hot for October, and the unfiltered sun bakes our house all day making the bedroom hot as heck every night. We try to cool it down by opening windows after the sun goes down earlier than it did, but the room never cools off.

I was wondering...

Heyyyyyy I've noticed the sun goes down earlier... I should get my chewing treat when the sun goes down.

Mama: you get that at 8 pm no matter when the sun goes down, because then you're about done and want to go to bed soon after and we don't want to go to bed at 9.

Some of my shows had finale's this week but some dramas returned like A million little things, New Amsterdam, The good doctor, Virgin River, My life is murder. Survivor is back!

I'm reading and listening to the same books as last week.

I am enjoying having my diamond dotz project on the kitchen table ready to add a few when I can...

I'm trying to paint and sew each day, and have those posts Friday and Saturday but this is my coloring page this week.

The calendar is by Joanna Basford and she sent out a newsletter this week with several podcasts and freebies... join her mailing list for her emails sent every 2 months or so

I have to be honest with you all... I'm not handling things particularly well this month. I'm hot, I'm isolated since covid is contagious even if you're vaxed and many MANY people in our area are not. I have health concerns that make me high risk so I've been isolated for a long time now. I love you all but haven't had the emotional energy to leave comments as often. Please forgive me and know it's not a sign of disinterest, just exhaustion. I need human contact, need to continue looking for the small blessings for "I Like" posts, cherish dh and Milo, and my weekly zoom with Joy. Phone conversations perk me up so if you have my number, please call!

I loved this puzzle online... all the colors plus black and white aspen tree... a real color study, click here: PuzzlePlanet

there are times, when you have a choice of actions... and we could be kind: