Watercolor Gift

I saw watercolor crayons by Staedtler awhile back - at the time, I only saw the 12 color set - this week, I saw a set of 24 so I bought them to try. I love their watercolor pencils - I have the set of 60 - I love using them to create watercolor paintings.

I’ve finished two watercolor paintings this week for an event - I did not take pictures of them for my Fine Art Print Gallery deliberately … They are to be given away in a drawing by my son-in-law at a business event on Friday and I wanted to give unique originals - no fine art prints available or in process - just the originals exist - the closest to having anything digital of them is the beginning background of Tree Fountain - I used it to illustrate a Seascape Artist post - you can read it at Planning for a Specific Frame Size & Mat Size and see the background (teaser - much of the background is hidden behind the tree and it changed from the beginning blocking in of the background as most paintings generally do.

The one I completed last night is quite lovely - I just dropped it off at my daughter’s house tonite - she already has the other one and the business cards and a few business card magnets to go with the paintings - my daughter and my son-in-law liked it very much and think it is even much prettier than the first one - lots of gorgeous blues - my daughter told me it looked like I had painted a turtle … I agree - the first thing I thought of when looking at the completed painting was that the object in the middle ground looks like a submerged turtle - perhaps it is … with my paintings, I just paint them … it is up to others to decide what is actually there in the hidden depths I may not have noticed.

Tree Fountain is a matted 16″ x 20″ and Turtle Rock is an unmatted 18″ x 24″ - I used a bit of the watercolor crayons on Turtle Rock last night but I think I will find out if I like them and if they are useful to me when I use them to create an entire painting with them. I may not get to use them before the coming week-end. I found 18″ x 24″ Clip-it Frames at Aaron Brothers - I was VERY excited - I had only ever seen 16″ x 20″ or smaller - I bought 5 of them - I have the two Palm Tree Ballet series paintings that I want to frame - I am hoping to work more on this watercolor series in the coming week-end - I have a plan of how I want to use the new watercolor crayons in the next Palm Tree Ballet painting - I may need a frame for it - we’ll see once I paint it.

I’m looking forward to #3 - as you can see by looking at them - each so far are very different from each other - I am doing a lot of experimentation with the Palm Tree Ballet series - on the first - I used new metallic watercolor paint (tubes) I found - it is quite lovely and makes a difference in the final painting effect. In the second, I was sponging - watercolor sponging is much different than oil paint sponging - I like the effect of the background quite well - it would not be right for every painting but this one turned out well. Next will be #3 using the new watercolor crayons - my daughter might even like those - she likes to color with my grandson so perhaps I can have a family dinner with watercolor crayons being the entertainment after I move - my grandson hasn’t found out about them yet since I just got them - we’ll see if he likes them too or not next time he comes over … IF I can get him away from the video games long enough to paint with me.

If you feel as if you are in a rut in your paintings … try new tools … try a drive in the country … try visiting a museum and looking at other’s art … being out & about in the world works wonders sometimes - it can take you away from your comfort zone where you might feel a bit stagnant and spur you into creating masterpieces. Tonite, as I drove home from my daughter’s subdivision … I saw a lovely palm tree that I had never noticed before - the shape was lovely - I was driving so I couldn’t sketch it - but I remember where the tree is at so I can go look at it again

Palm Tree Ballet #1 by Barbara Burns

Art featured regularly, courtesy of the artists at ImageKind.

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Palm Tree Ballet #2 by Barbara Burns

Art featured regularly, courtesy of the artists at ImageKind.

Tags: Barbara Burns, Palm Tree Ballet #1, Palm Tree Ballet #2,ImageKind

Last week-end, I painted Palm Tree Ballet #1 - I was inspired by a local palm tree in the wind as I drove to work. It grabbed my imagination because it reminded me of a ballet dancer who is so very graceful and flowing with the music … well … the palm tree was flowing with the wind and the two just kind of merged into this painting for me.

The very idea of trees dancing captivates me right now so I have begun a series of watercolor paintings. As expected, they will be the Palm Tree Ballet Series - they will not all be inspired by ballet dancers but by dancing in general … the first reminded me of a ballet dancer … but the word ballet covers dancers of all varieties as a grace of movement idea.

I painted Palm Tree Ballet #2 this week-end. I did not plan for a stormy look to the painting … though we have had a bunch of rain, thunder and lightning here this week-end …. (today, it was as dark at noon as if it were 8 PM at nite due to the pouring down rain - I was really glad when it quit but it re-started off & on all day - the puppy got me up at 6:30 AM to the rain) … I did not want to paint an actual sky and ocean behind the tree … the plan was to suggest it using sky & sea colors because the tree was my focal point and what I wanted to concentrate on capturing was the spirit of the tree dancing. This one reminds me of a tropical island hula dancer waving her long hair and positioning her hands while her grass skirt has not started moving much yet.

When you need to find new inspiration for your paintings to be fresh and fun … look at your surroundings and people in a new way … then portray your subject of choice in that new way … until I painted the first palm tree with flowing palm fronds (or leaves) if you will … which really is not exactly how they really look at all … I had never put dancing and trees together in the same thought before.

Yet … I remember learning to dance and not moving my feet at all at first while watching my sister & brother-in-law showing me the steps … I was just a teen-ager swaying with the music … trees are anchored to the earth … yet they sway in the wind softly while gentle breezes waft through their branches and leaves … or the branches and even sometimes the tree trunk … stand straight out like strung electric wires in gale force winds.

Watercolors are very well suited to experimenting with new ideas such as trees dancing, buildings developing faces, animals metamorphisising into people or prairie grasses becoming aliens from outer space. Open your mind to new ways of seeing and thinking … listen to the weather and how it sounds then translate it into pictures in your paintings.