spatial forms

Daily watercolor painting #212

3x4 on cold press

Today's goal appeared from imagining multiple overlapping planes projecting in space through use of gradations of one hue.

night lights

Daily watercolor painting #211

3x4 on coldpress

Today's painting goal was to take a leap at a nocturnal street setting.

close to suppertime

Daily watercolor painting #210

3x4 on coldpress

Today's painting goal was to use an interior setting as the backdrop for a narrative. The child creates the narrative of possibilities and the yellow hue lends a suggestion for night time.

foreign policy

Daily watercolor painting #209

3x4 on coldpress

Today's painting goal was to paint flags which were referenced from a photograph on the Foreign Policy page of the Senator Bob Casey, PA website.

march snow fall

Daily watercolor painting #208

3x4 on coldpress

Today's painting goal was to utilize the a design method, similar to yesterday's painting, of a foreground object projecting off the plane, and a landscape background. We got a MArch snow fall today.

swaying sunflower

Daily watercolor painting #207

3x4 on coldpress

Today's painting goal follows the same thread of endeavoring to "illustrate an idea" and today includes landscape and spatial elements and color theory for an illusion of depth.

snow plain

Daily watercolor painting #206

3x4 on cold press

Today's painting goal was to develop an idea on paper. 2 hues, burnt sienna and paynes grey to convey dusk towards the east, then inverted painting became a snow plain.

response to A second Chance Independent Lens film

DAily watercolor painting #205

3x4 on coldpress

TOday's painting goal was to use a leap of imagination to describe my response after viewing an Independent Lens film "A second Chance" a documentary about a faith -based, 2003 Bush government sponsored program operating in urban areas, designed to promote successful reentry into the community for ex convicts. This Independent Lens film documented the quiet perserverance of the participants in this program as they work with each other to overcome great obstacles.

red white blue black and brown

Daily watercolor painting #204

3x4 on cold press

Today's painting goal was to develop the ideas from the discussion of race and religion this past week. There are numerous enlightening blog articles related to religion. FOr today's painting I imagined a black or brown child and added the red white and blue to the composition.

a winter wood

Daily watercolor painting #203
3x4 on cold press
Today's painting goal was use minimal shapes and color to suggest a wooded area in winter.

portrait of Maxine

Daily watercolor painting #202

3x4 on cold press

Today's painting goal was to capture Maxine's expression as she enjoyed her toy.

tube of watercolor paint

I added this 2007 portrait of a WWII veteran today in support of the ideas contained in Sen. Obama's A More Perfect Union speech, MArch 18, that was given because of the heightened racial disturbances due to Sen. Obama's pastor's incendiary remarks. Let noone forget, African Americans who, despite hundreds of years of injustice at the hands of their countrymen, were willing to pay the ultimate sacrifice for their country and yet were only allowed to enlist for combat within segregated battalions.

Daily watercolor painting #201

3x4 on coldpress

Today's painting goal was to paint a still life object using one hue, payne's grey.

coloring book exercise

Daily watercolor painting #200

3x3 on a highly textured cold press

TOday's painting goal was to draw a picture and "color it in" It's a theme with potential if developed with architectural details and more attention to color relationships.

misty morning

Daily watercolor painting #199

3x3 on coldpress

TOday's painting goal was to describe a landscape view within mist.

a white with black race card

Daily watercolor painting #198

3x3 on cold press

TOday's painting goal was to combine the heightened feelings about race relations in the United States with a design.

croquet links IIII

Daily watercolor painting #197

3x3 on arches coldpress

Today's painting goal? Link yesterday's theme.

croquet links III

Daily watercolor painting #196

3x3 on arches coldpress

Today's painting goal was to add to the links theme.

croquet links II

Daily watercolor painting #195

4x3 on cold press

Today's painting goal was to continue the thread of the croquet links theme.

croquet links

Daily watercolor painting #194

3x7 watercolor on cold press

Today's painting goal surfaced from yesterday's "link" idea and developed to "croquet links" suggested with simple color and shapes.

primary links

Daily watercolor painting #193

4x10 on yupo

Today's painting goal is to develop a link idea and like so many millions with a heightened political awareness due to the primary season, hence the title!

yupo paper and colors

Daily Watercolor painting #192
7x8 on Yupo paper
Today's painting goal was to experiment with colors on yupo paper which has a gloss surface with a unique absorbtion style of the watercolors.

recalling march 7 photo of children of Baghdad

Daily watercolor painting #191
6x6 on cold press
TOday's painting goal was to recall a haunting image from a recent MArch 7 photograph of children of Doura, a neighborhood in Baghdad, Iraq. This photograph can be found at Andrew Sullivan's The Daily Dish political blog. Photo credits were Spencer Platt/Getty images.
Blog address is http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/

pine tree color exercise

Daily watercolor painting #190

TOday's painting goal was to suggest an image that was inspired by patterns and colors of a pine tree.

upside down imagery exercise

Daily watercolor painting #189
Here are two pictures from a 3x3 watercolor on arches cold press
Today's painting goal was to paint a landscape using simplified shapes. As the painting progressed it became apparent that making some adjustments could create an additional theme that could be viewed if the painting was turned upside down.!

rooftop view

Daily watercolor painting #188

approx 3x5 on arches cold press

Today's painting goal was to recall and use a recently observed image of a grassy slope bordered by a wooded area. THe additional figures as well as the aerial viewpoint were elements that were added to create a narrative.

early march in the Loess Hills

Daily watercolor painting #187

3x5 on arches cold press

Today's painting goal was to recall an image and use phthalo blue, burnt sienna, paynes grey and white for a simple landscape with grazing cattle.

woven pendant

Daily watercolor painting #186

4x5 on cold press

Today's painting goal was to use the colors blue and burnt sienna to create a design. I blocked out the positive high value shapes against the dark value background and then, for interest, added a high contrast linear element to " bring it together"

skyscraper reflections

Daily watercolor painting #185
Today's painting goal was to recall an image of reflection of sky from skyscraper windows.

school days

Daily watercolor painting #184

approx 3x3 on cold press

Today's painting goal was to think of something that would bring cheer while composing it. So here is a happy toddler on a late spring day near the old red school house.

March 2 Loess Hills thaw before a storm

Daily watercolor painting #183

approx 3 x 8 on arches coldpress

Today's painting goal began with the idea for an early MArch landscape using sienna brown, ultramarine and paynes grey. After painting the landscape I decided to add a sunrise which gave structure for an overall landscape narrative.

nocturnal beams

Daily watercolor painting #182

approx 3x4 on coldpress

Today's painting goal was to recall a recent image observed at night while driving over the Mormon Bridge in Omaha.