All done at once!

I've been busy with a few paintings and none of them were finished till now.

1) Persimmons on Yupo


2) 4th of July hulu dance - capture this cute girl at a 4th of July Chili cookoff dancing to Michael Jackson and hulu'ing.

3)Colorful elephants - Got this copyright/royality free photo from Wikipedia Common's. On the site there is a ton of reference photo's that the photographer gives full permission to use. (Not all are like that so check the photo details)

Yupo Cypress and Fantastic Lunch!

I was very fortunate to be invited to my good friend and fabulous chef Janice's house today to paint and have lunch. She prepared us the most scruptious meal of Gazpacho soup, Shrimp salad and a Blackberry Sorbet, everything we ate, we wanted the recipe! it was so delicious and fresh.

Okay, sorry to get side track about the food, but it was soooooo delicious!

Here's my second try at Yupo and I decided to do a cypress on a rock cliff. I learned that having a small spray mister, helps move and mix the paint into cool designs, (cover any area's you don't want water on, because it'll move the paint)

The more you mess around with it after laying down the initial paint, the more chances of messing it up! It doesn't like control freak artists like me who want it perfect! so it's a good teacher on loosening up and letting it flow.
I went outside to take a picture of it hoping to get better shot.
Here's a close up of it, although the bottom is cut off.

Yippee! for Yupo

This was my first attempt and experiment with Yupo paper and I have to say I'm Hooked!

My good friend Watercolor Wendy had did early experimentation with Yupo and it turned out really super, so I mentioned that I wanted to try it and she invited me over to try it out.

I was really lucky because before I even put paint to paper, Wendy gave me the run down on the paper and alot of good tips.
1. Since the material is like plastic, it doesn't absorb, it just sits on top. It felt alot like acrylics, where you pushed the paint around. If you use a juicy wash, it will move and move everywhere even where there isn't any water (unlike watercolor paper) So careful when picking up your paper if there is alot wet paint on it.
2. Thicker washes stuck better and you can get really darks fast, to get lights, i was easy to just lightly lift. Any mistakes are easy to correct, just wipe up, or soften with water and lift.
3. Dry time was pretty fast and faster with a hairdryer.
4. You can mix on the paper and it makes amazing swirls and textures. Also brush strokes are seen which gives it cool look.
5. Second washes need to be lightly applied or you will lift the bottom layer, so go dark first.
6. If planning to try it out, choose a simple shape to get the feel of it and have more success.

I'm sure there's more to be discovered, which is why I ordered a bunch of Yupo and cant wait for it to arrive.

Following the Masters Challenge

Yeah! I've got my painting of Maxfield's Parrish "Stars" done for the Following the Master's Challenge #4. just in time!

Sitting Bull Done!

I've finished up Sitting Bull for now, unless something else pulls me in and compels me to work on it. I darkened up the facial, shirt and lightened up some of the other highlights. I dont want to overwork it, which I feel that i've done already, so right now it's in the "No Touch" zone! only looky,lookey!

I've been taking small painting breaks to try to complete this and it's about done, I have some tweaking to do on the face and the fringe.





I haven't had much time for painting at all, since I've been coordinating my nephew's wedding that is happening this Sunday! Yikes! actually, I will be so relieved when it is done, since it has been a ongoing project that I've bee working on for the last six weeks.
Anyway... I was able to squeeze some painting time last night in and I've been wanting to do this painting of Sitting Bull, Lakota Sioux. I'm still working on it and hopefully I'll be able to get more time later to finish it.

Framed!

So excited that I got some of my artwork professionally framed. I found a person who does it inexpensively and I'm thrilled with his work. I finally can hang some of my own work on the walls.
Yeah! ( the white cardboard are corner protectors I haven't taken off yet)

Asia

This is my little niece Asia, she came over and happily posed for some shots in the front yard. She's a natural in front of the camera and super cute!
I've been discovering, I really like to paint people and their faces since it's so interesting to see a person's face come to life in the process and so satisfying when it's finished.