Thursday, July 12

We Didn't Get the Memo

"We Didn't Get the Memo"
16" x 20"
Watercolor on Arches 
Watercolor was my first passionate venture into art. I taught myself to paint by reading Sondra Freckleton's book, "Dynamic Still Lifes in Watercolor."  I'm revisiting  my passion today. I've missed it so.  I love these colorful, swirling balls!


Quality brushes, paints and paper can be the difference between "nice" and "fabulous."

Carol

Dailypaintworks.com
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12 comments:

  1. I like this. It's too late at night for me to articulate why ... it's very cool.

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    1. You think THIS is late? It's when I do most of my painting! How else would I get it done? AND write a novel too! Thanks Kat for your thoughtful comment. :-)

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  2. I don't think I could even draw an empty circle this good, let alone all the shapes and colors. Amazing!

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    1. I collect hand-blown marbles and faceted-glass gems. They're symbolic of my life — colorful, swirling and multi-faceted. So a few marbles on a piece of paper didn't seem that difficult! Thank you for commenting Vic. It was a fun piece to paint; kind of like a self portrait.

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  3. I give - what is, or are, "Arches"

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  4. D'Arches or Arches, in "art speak," is the benchmark watercolor paper. It's handmade, French paper consisting of 100% cotton, and made in three textures: rough, cold pressed (some tooth) or hot pressed (smooth). It also comes in different weights: 90#, 140#, 300# and 450#. Pound weight is based on the weight of 100 sheets of 22" x 30" paper. The thinner sheets weigh only 90 pounds, and so on.

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  5. So this paper( being so fine) does not wick too much? Allowing for sharp lines and color adjacent to color applications?

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    1. The paper is sized with a chemical to keep the paint where it belongs. The chemistry of the sizing agent was changed in the 90's and it smelled stinky when the paper was wet, or when the humidity was high and you opened a portfolio case with a client. YIKES! In time the formula changed and the stinky paper issue was eliminated. But other manufacturers utilized that flaw in their advertising campaigns... like showing a nose with a clothes pin pinching the end of it, in reference to D'Arches.

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  6. Love your paintings Carol. Thank you for the tip about Sondra's book...it obviously was a great teaching tool.

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  7. Lynn, I loved that book so much I managed to go be with Sondra and her husband, Jack Beal, for a week one summer. It was the most wonderful art experience of my life. Her book is out of print, but some libraries still hold it and I've seen it on Amazon, too.

    Thank you for writing tonight Lynn. It means a lot to read the words: "Love your paintings." Please make sure to enter my contest! Check July 8th's blog entry.

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  8. Carol, I have a dilemma...I love this painting AND I love your landscape before it too. Both so totally different and
    yet I respond to both. You are amazing and so talented!

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    1. Julie, it does not sound like a dilemma to me! It sounds like music to my ears! Thank you for being in a quandary! It pleases me. Sigh...

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