Plein Air….Structure

My back porch is THE place that I gain Calmness!  Drew this for the July World Watercolor challenge.



I’m an inspiration “junkie”!  I’ve had this little Angel for more than 10 years! 



Since I wasn’t in Rome painting this weekend, I painted the next best thing.



My view from my desk chair, and just trying to keep things loose.



It’s really all about perspective…. and my entertainment center gave me lots of practice.



Headed out to a local park last Fall and drew this helicopter.  I’m trying to take advantage of those beautiful day, in a drawing kind of way! 



I’m on board to “Make America Great Again”!  But apparently I miscounted the stripes!

Plein Air….Birds-n-Bridges

Lets hear it for Friday!!!



I have a thing for Cardinals, so during the July World Watercolor Challenge, I drew this candle holder.



On another day in July, I drew this bluejay off of an image on the internet.



You got me!!! This is not a bird, but she’s a bit of a beast!  A lovely beast….Our City has many artistic horses throughout town in honor of Horse Country or Derby…not sure which?  The program is called Gallopalooza.  Life size horse statues are painted colorfully and are bought by individuals or cooperations.



Took myself out to dinner last winter and found the perfect spot!



Bridges can be intimidating….but…the trick is to “see the patterns”, cuz they are there.



That same bridge, but on the Indiana side!  Beautiful day for drawing too

Block Color Subjects

Saw this picture on Instagram and I immediately wanted to draw it.



First….I made a grid for the blocks of color….Then I drew the contour of the subject.



I adjusted a few things, and played with the watercolor.  A good simple exercise to get me back in line to draw people in watercolor.



On another day…I didn’t want to think about drawing, but I wanted to paint.  So I made a bunch of random squares and rectangles, then proceeded to color them in.





Zoned out to Adele….



This quote has stuck with me.  I know there’s One that wants me at my best… 

Plein Air…. Drink and Draw

This is my favorite Adult Beverage….but I was not drinking it when I drew this pic off of an image on my ipad.  This drawing was for the July World Watercolor Monthly Challenge.



And this one was at Starbucks….where it’s White Chocolate Mocha’s that I digest!  Yum!



And another Starbucks setting, where I wanted to capture the subjects in a bigger mode, as in, the people take up all the space in my moleskine….Ran out of time ….again!



This one is hard…College football games can be quite distracting…lots of movement, lots of Energy!  Love that Energy, unless it’s being directed to me in the form of  “Why aren’t you paying any attention to the game?”!  Gotta love the honesty of loved ones (offspring), but you also gotta do what you gotta do to survive a 4 hour event   .



During this football game….less energy than the seats in the middle of the “student/band crowd”….where I could actually capture some details….And to my chagrin, enjoy the game.



With my schedule…I’m usually ready for dinner at 4pm…so on the days that I’m not responsible for dinner at home….I’ll head out to a local restaurant where hopefully people have bellied up to the bar and I can practice my art!  And by the time I’ve consumed a beer or two….I’ve made some new friends out of the staff or the patrons.



The absolute hardest part about drawing people in public….is them spotting me!  Cuz sometimes they’ll totally change stance, or they keep looking my way….hard to notice details when I have to keep averting my eyes!   I swear the guy in green was on to me!



Pubs are a really good place to practice brick-painting.  As in copying the look of brick in watercolor.



I learn the best from my pieces after posting them somewhere.  Here is no exception….those table angles look like the back wall was not even.   I now know I’ve got to get that perspective right early on. 



This piece was done last week….I really tried to use the lesson from the last piece and keep those table angles in line!  I could do this every day!  I’d learn something new everyday too!

Plein Air….Florals

So for the July Watercolor Challenge….I thought I’d try florals in a still-life mode.  It was fun!



Then later that month, I thought I’d try a single rose.



In August….I tried this floral. Should’ve done more flowers…I think I was concentrating on the greenery.



And who amongst us does not like hanging florals?  Good July purchase which doubled as a Daily July watercolor challenge.



Another July watercolor daily challenge piece!  I believe in florals…bring them in to add to environmental beauty and health benefits!  All that Oxygen (O2)…gotta love it



One early summer day….I stayed in the car and painted these gorgeous hanging florals from an outdoor nursery…..then it started to rain!  Thankful for the cover.



And most recently….last week…my view from my studio!  My Christmas cactus is blooming…so I must doing something right

Plein Air….Beaches and Boats

Mid-February in the Ohio Valley has me daydreaming of warmer days!



Brought my moleskine out to the beach one day last summer!   Watercoloring in this environment is a lot harder than I thought it would be…..Sand is always shifting and winds are always blowing.



Had a nice meal at a beach-side pub one afternoon. Then I ran out of time to really get my watercolor on.



Hung out at a marina another morning before it got too hot.



On this outing, I stepped back to try and capture all the boats under a covered dock.



Apparently I only saw the left side of boats on this drawing day.



And last, the great lawn of a popular local restaurant with all these fun chairs.

Plein Air….Hands and Tools

Just like any other trade or skill….even artists use tools to help them perform their task. 
I used this compass to help me make even wedges for for the above color grid watercolor.



And the tools I used here were gray & black watercolor, a ruler and a black micron pen.



I bought these three hands a few years ago at Hobby Lobby and painted them white for my Gallery Wall.  I was looking for something to watercolor each day when I was participating in the July World Watercolor Month daily challenge.  So I picked these quirky hands.




When I was stuck on what to draw in the July daily challenge, I drew some of my Art Supplies…because who doesn’t love art supplies?  And I especially like drawings of art supplies!



And to close here is another oldie…. a collegiate swimmers hand.  She was a team-mate of my daughter’s…a very good backstroker.  This was how her hands entered the water…….So Graceful!