Charleston!

Painting a specific city, in this case Charleston, on a grid was a challenging experience. What do you need to give the feeling of this wonderful city? What do you need to change in order for the overall design to work? This was a fun painting, but in some ways agonizing. Enjoy.

Watercolor Clean and Simple

Here is my latest watercolor version of one of my favorite acrylic paintings. Watercolor looks so pure and refreshing after layers of acrylics. "No Chile Left Inside, II."

Risk Entering Shows

I just found out that this painting, "Risk Being Sorry," a 21 x 21 watercolor got into Watercolor USA. I thank the judge for taking a "risk."

Tendinitis and Orchids

When you move to the Blue Ridge Mountains, you begin to feel the need to fiddle or pick. Three months after you give into that urge, you get a roaring case of fiddler's tendinitis. And you need to return to watercolor where you can paint for a week and never open a jar. Here is the result of that week.

TWSA Mini Paintings and Mine

The Transparent Watercolor Society of America posted the mini paintings that it asked several of its signature members to do. Mine ("Eat Your Heart out Milton Bradley" above stands out like a sore thumb. Check them out. http://www.watercolors.org/special/2011/

Paint BOLDLY

Painting BOLDLY

I got a long letter from Linda in Nova Scotia yesterday thanking me for my book,Master Disaster(amazon.com. She said that it gave her permission to paint BOLDLY. I guess up there watercolor is "supposed to be" soft. Thank you, Linda, for your letter. Email me! I'd love to "talk."

Truth, Fiction and White Lies

I spent last week agonizing over this painting. I felt that I had set the bar too high with my last grid piece. A couple of days ago I printed out and early version of it and added black and white to the RYB piece, and bit the bullet and painted it in. What a difference.

Those of you who have studied with me know where I'm coming from when I impose a color strategy on a painting. This was a great lesson for myself. Hire me for a workshop and I'll give you the scoop--and many more, for that matter.