Small 5 x 7 inch two-hour watercolor. First hour I drew from an Ipad photo in pencil. For some reason, it was very difficult to get the looking-up part of the expression. Second hour, I erased most of the pencil and put down a thin all-over wash mostly concerned with color temperature. Then more layers… Continue reading Self Portrait
Tag: Painting
A Great Book on Color
Joe Paquette in his workshops talks about how it's important to do an inventory of the various skills it takes to be a good artist. To make a list, for example, of things like drawing, value, color, composition, etc., and decide which skills are the best-developed and which ones need more work. I've been… Continue reading A Great Book on Color
Studies
Unable to travel to Chicago this week, I've been doing copies like the ones on the sketchbook page above. They're from Jan Kunz's “Painting Watercolor Portraits that Glow.” The Strathmore 5.5 x 8 Visual Journal with 90# watercolor paper is cheap and, while not the best paper, adequate for fooling around. Plus I thought I'd… Continue reading Studies
Head Study
This is a small head study (8 x 8 inches) that I did at the end of a long open studio. Mary, who books the models and sets up the pose, does a fantastic job of finding a variety of models in great costumes. This model was dressed in a “peasant” costume, complete with… Continue reading Head Study
Plein Air Paintings
These are a few outdoor paintings I did at the end of May to get ready for a workshop I did with Joe Paquet in St. Paul the first week in June.
Watercolor Figure
Painted yesterday in P&C open studio. I got some 300 lb watercolor paper so I could scrub out unwanted color (thanks Scott Burdick for your little Walter Foster book, very helpful).
Color Squares
I’ve been painting pages and pages of colored squares, like these three samples. Since I often have a hard time sitting down to “make art”, this is an easy way to get something painted in an hour or less. It also helps me to see colors “out there”. Last night I saw a yellow house… Continue reading Color Squares
Train in Snow
Lesley likes train pictures, so every so often I try to do one. Besides, it was the only thing I could find with any color in the snow. Camera pic’s kinda washed out.
Behind the Orpheum
Another out door watercolor (from my car—temperature in the teens). I liked the way the buildings stacked up.
Corner Gas Station
Bad weather, so I had to cancel my usual Friday trip to the P&C. Following Mary Whyte’s advice that the best way to learn to paint is to paint plein air, I went out and painted an old gas station on a gray day instead.
Ken Crocker Artist 