Memories - Acrylic on Canvas

A potential client called Tuesday. 

She wanted a painting of a horse 

for a staff member that was moving?

(Her) Can you paint a horse?

(Me) Yes! What's your budget? 

Acrylic or watercolor?

Canvas or Paper? What size?

What color horse? The head only or

standing, running, rearing up, bucking,..?

You want it when?

Thursday? Sure!

(Her) Can you add a windmill and water tank?

(Me) Sure!

"Memories" 11"x14" Acrylic on gallery wrapped canvas

SOLD!

Fishers of Men Commission

It has been a busy week! Thank you, Lord!

I have finished several commissions. Our good friend, Mike

asked me to paint one for his office. He wanted a stormy

sky, a stormy sea, a huge rock with a man hanging on to

it reaching out to someone in the waves and a sinking

boat in the background. Hmm!?! 

What should I use as a reference. We are in a drought. 

Our lake is at 2 percent-not 2percent low. 

That would be 98 percent low. 

So, no waves! Storm clouds have been scarce as 

hen's teeth. With the moral decline we have seen

a lot of shipwrecked lives. 

The waves behind the figure in the water

are dark and pulling. The wave in front of the figure

is light and figure on the the rock is holding 

on tightly with a strong right arm.

The precious thing about this painting is 

the model for the figure on the rock is Joe 

and the one in the water is our son, Stephen.

Jesus is our Rock! He is our Redeemer! He draws

us up from the deep! We ought also to reach out

to those who are overwhelmed and drowning in waves

of fear, depression, poverty, illness...

Make us Fishers of Men and Women!!!

3 Chilies in Watercolor Class

When I was in the produce section at the grocery store

I spotted these Anaheim Chilies. I picked these 3 that were

changing colors and I knew they would be fun to paint.

It was so fun that I taught in this weeks class

I am so loving teaching my watercolor classes.  I love

seeing their work, how they are progressing, 

and the friendships that are growing

Last week we had a special treat. 

We met at Laurie's house. She is such a gracious hostess.

She has a beautiful home and we enjoyed a yummy brunch

and then splashed around in the paint while 

Zach splashed around in her pool.

Squash Blossom Neacklace Watercolor

Watercolor on paper 8 X 10

My watercolor class students requested or suggested

that they would like to paint a squash blossom

necklace. One of the students had this lovely piece

I took a bunch of photos with an assortment

of backgrounds. This one was photographed on a 

turquoise painted table. I think I really like it on white.

Tomorrow I will make sure I get a good image of it.

With All My Art - Nathalie

My Website

Watercolor Class Geraniums

Here is the class finished pieces.

They did a good job, don't you think so?  

I am so proud of them. I have enjoyed teaching 

color blending, washes, which brushes, why wet in wet, etc.

But, my favorite part has been getting to know the

ladies that had been taking the classes.

Chatting over palettes of freshly mixed paints and a new piece

of paper is just as good as sharing over a cup of coffee.

We might have to paint this sometime.

Thanks for stopping by!

Teaching a Watercolor Class

"Geraniums and Clay Pots" 

This will be the watercolor class lesson today.

I started teaching a watercolor class in February of this year. 

It has been an amazing time. 

Them: Why do you mix those colors? 

Why does her green look different than my green? 

How did you do that? Oh my! I have a bloom! 

Now, what do I do? My painting doesn't look like your painting? 

 

Me: (Not the answers to the above questions) 

Wow! That turned out nice! I really like that effect!

Let's see if we can fix that. Hmm!?! 

What if you add a ...? Wait! Don't get ahead of me. 

You need more water. You need more pigment...

You know who has learned the most by teaching the class?

ME!!!

One of my favorite teaching quotes:
"Tell me and I will probably forget.
Show me and I might remember.
Involve me and I will never forget.."
That is the method that I try to use in my classes.
Check be later and I will show you what we did in class today.

More New Technique - Loose, Detailed Watercan

I really enjoyed the bright, colorful technique I
used on the San Miguel Mission watercolor.
So, here we go again.

I reserved my white areas with masking fluid.
Then, I brushed the entire surface with clear water.

I dropped in colors. The colors look randomly placed
but they are not. Burnt sienna was placed in the
flower pot area. Purple and turquoise in
the shadow and watercan vicinity.

I splattered in sap green, olive green, cad yellow,
and cad red. While the greens and reds were still wet,
I dropped in purple in the areas that will be
in shadow and a bit of burnt sienna just because.
After the painting was dry I began to add some
loose detail. This was the s-t-r-e-t-c-h for me,
since I love details
Hmm! If it's detailed,  how can it be loose and
if it's loose, how can it be detailed?

"Some Water, Some Plant..."

8x10 on Arches Paper
"So neither the one who plants, nor the one
who waters is anything, but only God,
who makes things grow."
1 Corinthians 3:7