5-29-16 ~ Sunday Sketches

Today is the day for Sunday Sketches. 

 Trying to put a happy face on Buster the Bear

 This little angel hangs in my kitchen.

I love my clothesline.

This is the wreath form Alexandra's Watercolor 101 class.

Trying to create fun borders.

5-22-16 ~ Sunday Sketches

"Don't let fear or insecurity stop you from trying new things. 

Believe in yourself. Do what you love. 

And most importantly, be kind to others, even if you do not like them."

~Stacy London

Alexandra McVene's Sunday Sketches

Taking Alexandra's course in watercolors ~ Watercolor 101 ~ has really been a treat and way more inspiring than I ever could have imagined. Yesterday I was finally able to complete the leaf exercise and also my first attempt at the peacock. It definitely needs lots of improvement with the blending of color in the feathers. That is what I plan to work on today. Thank you again and again Alexandra for helping me with the lessons. Everything is working just fine :-) If you are a beginner or even someone who has some experience painting using watercolors, I highly recommend Alexandra's courses. They are reasonably priced, her instructions are so nicely and clearly presented, and they end up being wonderful and inspiring classes for anyone taking them.

Love Life and Yourself

This was such fun to do even though you can see I am still having difficulty with the flow and blending of colors. I did finally realize I was dragging the water brush from the side instead of head on which helped a lot. After I completed the leaves I just played getting ideas from Alexandra's lesson and then adding my own little touches. I'm going to take her suggestion and will do this little exercise each day before I start to paint. This was the Watercolor 101 Leaf Lesson.

 This is my first attempt at the Watercolor 101 Peacock assignment. My green and yellow blends went askew, but I am so happy with what I was actually able to do. Now, we will see if I can improve upon this later on today. Peacocks are so pretty. Back years ago when I lived in Asheville, NC, and my husband was the landscape architect for the Vanderbilt Estate, we used to take the children over to the staff quarters to see the peacock up close and personal. When they spread those feathers, it is an unbelievable vision of beauty.

The following are a few of the pieces I have just completed.

 Always Focus on the Future

(I was not sure whether to show the eye at the scope or not.)

Weezie and Genie in the Creek at the House

Whenever you see two little girls together in any of my pictures, they represent my closest friend of over 50 years, Weezie, and me. We only met when our daughters were in preschool, but I LOVE to imagine us as children together. She is now in a nursing home after serious strokes, complications of RA, and heart problems. Buddy takes me to see her in Asheville as often as he can. We love each other so much, and it is so sad we cannot be together. She has been a sister to me all of these years.

I did not have an idea how to paint water flowing over the rocks and splashing over our Wellies. Finally, I decided to use my white gel pen to make the splashes at our feet.

Let Your Inner Child Live

Friendships Grow with LOVE
(I'm in the blue hat and Weezie is in the yellow and green checkered dress. I wanted the stems to be at different heights so was unable to put us exactly side by side.)

Smile and Be Happy ~ It Is So Easy

(Note the two girls at the bottom left...they represent Weezie and me.)

5-1-16 ~ Sunday Sketches ~ Painting is Just Another Way of Keeping a Diary

I am having a wonderful time working through Alexandra's first two online classes. I created journals especially for her Hello Courage" class and her Watercolor 101 class, and today I finally finished making the cover. I saw a tutorial on You Tube and decided to follow it but put my own touch to it. The tutorial is "Art Journal ~ Being Creative" by Vicky Papaioannou. The quote is one I love from Picasso, the jar with the brushes is a stock photo from the internet, and the palette is mine. I came up with the idea of painting with acrylics and Gesso, and I used Ranger Texture paste and stencils. 

Art Journal Cover

 Inside Cover (In reality, the pink is a very light pink.)
Watercolor is of my granddaughter hiking with me.

 These are the swatch sheets for my two Artist's Loft watercolor sets.


First Assignment ~ Make Swatch/Color Charts

My little Koi and Windsow and Newton boxes had space in their lids 

for me to place color swatches in the order of the little trays. It is sososo helpful.

Part 1 - The Sketching Assignment 

Part 2 - Painting with Watercolors

I just finished the English Robin assignment. I was not happy with my first one, so I decided to do it over listening again and again to Alexandra's directions and pausing and staring at the computer screen as I was sketching. Boy, do I have a long way to go to learn her blending technique before I start on the flower wreath and the peacock. Our wifi out here in the boonies is so SLOW that it takes what seems like hours of buffering and then on for a bit to get thru one exercise...but it is well worth the wait :-)

I am joining in this week with Alexandra's Sunday Sketches.