From vine to wine

Well here it is, a painting completed entirely from wine. It was quite a challenge since this media is monochromatic, forsaking my watercolors, ink and colored pencils was difficult. I used a cabernet franc from a local winery, they were kind enough to allow me behind the scenes to take photos and the gracious host, the winery manager, printed photos she had already taken for me to use as reference. I used the wine directly from the bottle as a wash and reduced it once for a medium tone and twice for a richer darker tone. However, this second process in reducing does make the wine a little tacky due to the sugars. A matte spray should keep it in check. I did use some masking fluid to help create the grapes and accents on the leaves and stems, I hope I was somewhat successful and I am looking forward to doing another one. This is a long process however, as many layers of wine are needed to create the deep contrast and even some of the light areas have several layers. Thanks for looking and I appreciate you visiting.

STAG’S LEAP WINERY

I did this from a photo I took while touring Stag’s Leap property in California. The area is beautiful and buildings like this are scattered throughout the property with their vineyards gracing the front, for what feels like miles. Through the courtesy of my sister’s position with Beringer, we were able to take full advantage of tastings and sightseeing at many wineries all through Sonoma and the foothills. What a great day. This is watercolor and colored pencil, again, I tried to avoid using ink, but I miss it! My next piece will be an unexpected surprise, if I can do it that is, please check back!

Somewhere in Europe

After a very long hiatus from my blog, almost exactly 2 years!  I have finally picked up a brush again.  This work is from a black and white photo taken by a very talented photographer, who used to host the Love Mother Earth blog, which I find is no longer online.  I was sad to see it was gone, her photos were brilliant and thought provoking.  I was lucky enough to have asked her if I could re-produce one of her photos in paint quite a long time ago and she was gracious enough to tell me yes.  So, here it is, 2 years later, an expression of my interpretation of black and white to color from that photo.

Chainsaw Massacre-SOLD

Titled so, because a friend and I thought this was the type of place where that kind of horrific tragedy might have occurred.  We were only more convinced of our sick, twisted ideas of this old northern Indiana farmhouse, when the grinding roar of a vacuum started up inside the house, at least we told ourselves it was just a vacuum!  Ha…..certainly added good memories of painting this landscape, as we laughed quite hard at our crazy story.  This was done plein style from the end of the driveway, per the permission from the old lady that dwelled within.  It is watercolor, pen and ink and colored pencil.  I love the old barn in this scene, but it has since completely fell to the ground leaving nothing but old wooden boards and debris…..Good times…..

Great Neck-SOLD

So, I spent the day at Leslie’s house, host of what has become a  great “teaching” artwork  blog site called Lesliepaints .    I have had the good fortune of being friends with Leslie for over 12 years, a friendship that has definitely influenced my artwork, as well as  my ambition to continue to paint and she was the driving force for this blog site.   Leslie encouraged me to act upon my expressed interest in varying my work from primarily landscapes and architecture to adding animals to the mix.   When I wanted to start doing this, of course, I called her.  Painting with Leslie is like nothing you have experienced while painting alone.  While she enjoys watching another artist’s style at work,  her input is priceless, noteworthy, entertaining, useful and appreciated.  This giraffe is from the same photo Leslie used to compose her piece Giraffe Portrait.   It is always interesting to both of us to see the different colors and style that appears when we do the same piece, this mainly derived from our trips through the Indiana countryside painting landscapes plein air style together.   Our finished pieces were always a world apart and fabulous to see.   An artist’s style is definitely their signature, every artist has their own and all are definitely unique and wonderful.  This was a fun and informative day, thanks Leslie.  I may be on my way in the animal world.

CITYSCAPE

Cityscape in watercolor and conte.  This won first place in the landscape category at an art contest for me, the reward was a certificate for art supplies, which was nice to have, since supplies are certainly not cheap.   This is one of the looser pieces I have done, I think it worked for this piece and is a good example of watercolor, when I was in college, an art professor told us that “one in every 500 watercolors is a good example of the medium”, I completely disagree, and Leslie White , is a good example as to why, almost everything she posts is a good example of what this medium is about–thanks Leslie.  My sister hounded me for this one, so I gave her a copy, but eventually, I had to give in and give her the original.