Florence - Going to the Duomo

"Florence - Going to the Duomo" original oil painting 18" x 24" x 1.5" from my own reference photo taken in Florence, Italy.
I was really scared to attempt painting this scene, especially in oil, but I am rather pleased with it. It brings back wonderful memories of my trips to that beautiful city!
I damaged my camera a few meters from that scene and the damaged lens currently blurs the top left of my photos.
I am falling in love with oils. So far, the only thing I don't like about them is that I have to wait a while before I can varnish them.

Now Sold

Judge's Pick Winner - May 2015- Daily Paintworks juried monthly contest

 

I have been a member of the international online gallery "Daily Paintworks" since it was created a few years ago. However, this month, for the first time, I entered one of their monthly juried contest. The work submitted was my  "Neptune's Sea Horses - Florence" a 15" x 31"  ( before framing) original watercolor....( see detail below) .....and I found out this morning that I was one of the Judge's pick winners!

Check out the winners and entries of the May competition and the previous ones :http://www.dailypaintworks.com/contests#previous

"Neptune's Sea Horses - Florence"- detail of watercolor by Christiane Kingsley

What a nice way to start the week!

Revisiting Neptune's Fountain in Florence

Very strange! My post seems to have disappeared.
Here is the painting I had shared:

"Neptune"- from Neptune's Fountain in Florence, Italy

It is my latest watercolor painting and measures approx. 14.5" x 21.5 inches before matting and framing. It is on Fabriano Artistico watercolor paper.
About a year and a half ago, I painted the lower part of that fountain, my " Neptune's Sea Horses" and wanted to paint the top of that fountain, Neptune's head.I fell in love with the details of this white marble face. I decided to add warm colors on the left hand side of the painting and cool colors on the right hand side. The photo was taken inside with a flash ( still too cold in Ottawa to take photos outside,I feel), so the colors are not entirely accurate.

It represents the head of a huge marble statue by Bartolomeo Ammannati (1563–1565) which was commissioned on the occasion of the wedding of Francesco I de' Medici with Johanna of Austria in 1565. The Neptune figure, whose face resembles that of Cosimo I de' Medici, was meant to be an allusion to the dominion of the Florentines over the sea. It stands in the middle of a beautiful fountain.(Wikipedia)
I hope you will like this painting!

WIP -Neptune's Sea Horses, Florence

I have temporarily put my large commission aside to work on another large piece. My "Neptune's Sea Horses" above is about 75% finished and it measures 15" X 31" on Artistico SP paper. It represents three of the 4 marble horses of Neptune's Fountain in Florence. I took several photos of it last fall and was just itching to paint it. Hum...not a very easy task:-) But, a fun task nevertheless. I have simplified the background on the left-hand side and have to decide how much detailing I will use at the top and between the two horses on the right. I still have the head of the horse on the right to finish.
My reference photos were taken on rather cloudy days, but I wanted a sunny and colorful effect. I hope that you won't think that I overdid this.

Tell me what you think.

I hope that you are all doing well and will have an early spring.

Golden Venetian Door on Red Bubble

When I finished Golden Venetian Door last weekend (see previous post), I really was not sure at first if I liked it or not. It was such a departure from what I usually paint. However, I have been looking at it all week and going back to it to add a touch of paint here, a shadow there...and I now really like it! And it's just been featured on Red Bubble.

I think that I will get this one framed professionally: at about 8". X 11", it should not be too expensive :-) I usually frame my paintings myself, with sectional metal frames and a plain mat, but I feel that in some cases a professional framer may be able to bring out more the best in a painting.

Any tips about framing watercolors?

Venetian shutters-Update 4

 Here is another update showing very little change, but taken without a flash, although still inside.

I need those shadows soon!!!!At this point, I really don't like these colors...too much dull brick color and yellows. It's just does not feel like "me":-)

Venetian Shutters - First pour

The only work I had time to do this week on my new painting is the initial pouring. The colors did not quite turn out the way I wanted to. You will notice that I will be painting a much sunnier version of this scene and that the colors will be more pastels.However, I don't want it to be too similar to my "Laundry Day in Venice" that started with the same colors.  I hope to put the focus on the reflected shadows of the shutters and the plants.

I hope to have the chance to spend a few hours working on this painting during the weekend. 

Another experiment with 300lb Hot Pressed Watercolor Paper

Two posts ago, I communicated the results of my first experiment with 300lb Hot Pressed Fabriano watercolor paper. I was not pleased at all with my experience - I felt that I had no control over the paint. However, many artists love this paper - I was obviously doing something wrong. Yesterday, I gave this paper another try. The results may not be too great, but this time I actually had fun painting on this paper. I used less water, I lifted paint with a tissue, I created texture with  paper towels, with salt. and with a sponge.
As inspiration, I used another of my photos from last year's trip to Venice.  Here is the photo:

I cropped the picture and painted only a part of it on a 11"X14" Fabriano HP. The paving stones did not come out the way I intended, but I am fairly happy with the two silhouettes.

I think I need a break from my experimenting and will go back to my old faithful, Arches 140 lb CP watercolor paper before I forget how to paint on it.

Have a great day.

Experiment #2- Arches 300 lb Cold Pressed Paper

Last week, I painted a quick sketch on Fabriano 300lb Hot Pressed paper that I was using for the first time. You can read in one of my previous posts that I was not totally enchanted by that paper. However, I will try it one of these days for a floral watercolor.

In my search for that perfect watercolor paper that would not need any taping or stapling and still would not buckle, I purchased some Arches 300 lb CP  paper. Today, I redid last week's sketch of a Venetian balcony:  I spent about the same amount of time on the painting and used very similar colors.

What is the verdict? Have I found the perfect paper for ME? Let's see...
The Arches 300 lb CP is very sturdy - I don't think I would have to stretch it even for my pours. It seems to be quite forgiving and allow some lifting of the wet paint without damage to the paper. I like that! This paper gives me more control over the flow of the paint than the 300 lb HP Fabriano. It reacted beautifully to the use of the salt technique....better than the Fabriano and better than the Arches 140lb CP. However, the paper is more heavily textured than the Arches 140lb...so much more that I went back and checked my bill to ensure that I had not bought Rough paper instead of the CP. This texture does have an impact on the application of the paint...drybrush effects are very easy to produce...even when that is not quite what you want to do:-)
The paint dries much lighter on this paper because of its blotting effect ....you have to use more paint.

Do I prefer this paper over my regular Arches 140lb CP? Certainly not...at least I am not used to it enough to prefer it over my old standby. I like the sturdiness of this paper, but I have not succeeded, at least in this first experiment, to achieve the luminous quality that I can sometimes get with the 140lb.

I still have over 3/4 of a sheet of this expensive 300 lb paper...I will certainly experiment some more with it. , but may not use it for my next larger painting.

Any comments about this paper and tips about the best ways to use it?

Throwing paint around for the first time in a month

I had not painted in over a month, but today I decided to finally get back to my art and throw some paint around. My, it felt so good even though I felt I had forgotten everything I knew about watercolor.
I want to thank all of you, my dear blogging friends,  who sent me such nice messages these last few weeks as I mended my shoulder, cured my cold and tried to repair my computer.
The following, inspired by the Venice picture in the previous post, is a quick painting on a half sheet of Arches 140 lb. cold pressed. "Spring is here!"

The paintings are so much more beautiful in my mind...

If only what I paint in my mind could instantly appear on my watercolor paper! When I wake up in the morning before getting up to go to work, I plan my next painting...or my next 10 painting:-). The colors are vivid, the brush strokes are perfect, the light and shadows offer the perfect contrast and some small detail becomes fascinating.  Then the images fade but I keep a vague memory of this beauty for the rest of the day. For me, a big part of painting, of creative expression, probably lies in these inner visions that give me the nner peace and harmony that carry me through my other activities.

 Today is Saturday of a long weekend. If I can put on paper even 1% of what I imagined in those early dawn mornings this week, then, as an artist, I will be content. The brushstrokes won't be as masterful s they were in my imagination, the light and shadows will be elusive, the details may be too blurred. But, for me,  the journey is to be appreciated as much as the destination or the finished painting.

Below is an original watercolor painting that I saw in my mind many times before it appeared on the  paper.
It is from my “Memories of Venice” series and is the timeless scene that greeted me every morning from my hotel window during my trip to Venice last spring. Venetian sunshine on crumbling roof tiles…an attic door with cracks that let the pigeons in…I simply had to paint it as a reminder of the many different, but all beautiful,  faces of this wonderful city.

Original watercolor painting by Christiane Kingsley.
Arches paper 140 lb;
W&N watercolor paints.

Happy long weekend to all!
Christiane

Art cards and prints available on my Red Bubble