New WIp- Fuschias and update on retirement

I have started a new floral: Fuschias, this time. It is approx. 8.5"X 10.5 on Arches 140lb CP. I have cut a full sheet this time instead of using the watercolor pad - as mentioned in my previous WIP, I do notice a difference between the two paper formats...The loose sheet format is more forgiving and I find that it has a smoother texture...strange, since they are supposed to be the same. Perhaps the watercolor pad I have had some defect...
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Here is the first progress photo: I have painted a dark background, a few of the leaves and am trying out the pinks in the left-hand side. Some of the highlight are being preserved by liquid masking. I am also trying to be patient and to use light layers of glazing on the petals.

As reference, I am using part of a beautiful photo made available to artists on WetCanvas.

Now, where is all that free time I was expecting from my recent retirement? My retirement started officially on Dec 1 and  since Dec 3, I have had to deal with a family emergency concerning an elderly relative - she was hospitalized and now I am doing all I can to find her some supported living facility...and keeping her in the hospital when the only thing she wants is to leave:-) I supposed that I should tell myself that if I were still working I would have the same responsibility, but no time to deal with it...Sigh....

I hope that you will follow this WIP - no guarantee how it will turn out, but, successful or not, I will treat this as another learning experience.

Have a great day and I hope that in this week before Xmas life and weather are being good to you!

Hydrangea update

My hydrangea painting is basically finished. I may tweak a few things before signing it. I prefer the right-hand side and wonder if I should not crop the painting this way, into a much smaller and square format:

Let me know what you prefer.

What have I learned from this painting?

-from the left to the right, I painted with a much lighter touch with clearer pigments to obtain a much better luminosity.

-my intuitive assessment of the level of wetness of this particular paper improved during the painting process.

 What do I like about this painting:

- the lower right-hand side was so much fun to paint and I like the hint of warm gold against the cool pinks and mauves.

- the highlights and the whites

What insights can I transfer to my next painting initiative?

-you really can't get into much trouble if you add thin layers at a time and if you are patient enough to let each one of these layers dry properly before the next ( I often get too impatient:-)

Hydrangea WIP-Part 2 and Artalee Feature

I have worked some more on the hydrangea although I did not get as much done as I had planned during the last few days : I am celebrating my first week of retirement with a really bad head cold:-)
The hydrangea is certainly more complex than I thought. You really have to focus on each little petal...at one point, I think I was painting mini Xmas poinsettias instead of hydrangea petals:-)
I am using Arches CP 140 lb as usual, but from a pad rather than from a single sheet - I am finding that the paper is not reacting quite like I am used to: it bruises very easily and does not allow much scrubbing to lift the lights...For my next painting, I will certainly return to the single sheets cut down to the proper size.
So, without further ado, here is Part 2 of this WIP. The photo was taken insides and it is very overcast hre today again. I rarely say this, but I think this painting looks better in real life than on this picture.

There is still a fair amount of work to do on this painting.Let me know what you think.

Please visit the Artalee site where I have just featured another of my favorite artists and bloggers, Mollie Jones.!

Celebrating a New Beginning! WIP - Hydrangea _Part I

 

Today is a most special day for me: it is the first day, officially, of my retirement and it is, officially, the first day of my new beginning as a full-time watercolor painter! To celebrate, I worked on a new painting, branches of hydrangea ( instead of working on my Venetian Pool Party started over a week ago). Here is part I of this WIP - hopefully the firstWIP of many for the month of December.

So far, I have only put in the dark background, the leaves, the stems and I have started on the darkest background petals. Overall, the flower clusters will be mostly light pink with a touch of mauve. The challenge will probably be to keep a unified look to the painting. It has been raining here all day and I took the picture indoors with a flash; consequently, the colors are probably a bit off.

As always, I love to hear from all of you!

Top Ten Challenge Winners

I was so pleased to find out a few minutes ago that my latest painting, Love that Lace, has just been voted in the top ten of over 80 entries in the Red Bubble Impressionism Cafe challenge for watercolor still life paintings.

Exciting News!

I am very excited to announce that I have been accepted in the Daily Painters International Art Gallery !
As many of you know, I am retiring on Nov 30th and want to devote my time to painting. I am very result-oriented and need goals: this new venture will ensure that I produce regularly and will keep me super motivated!

. Wish me luck in my new adventure:-)

Sunday Report and Venice Fountain WIP part 1

Only 2.5 weeks before I retire and can become a full-time artist! Wow!  I don't think that I quite realize it yet.

Of course, this has been another busy week with little time for actual painting; however, I did frame my "Love that Lace" and I took advantage of  the free weekend trial at ArtistNetworkTV to watch at least 6 art videos on watercolor and acrylic.

This afternoon, I finally sat down in front of my latest sketch: Venetian Pool Party or Venice Fountain. I really want to paint this quickly, spontaneously, rather than going for a labor-intensive realistic look...just to see what I can do quickly:-)Don't expect a masterpiece:-

)Here is the result of this first session:
Have a great Sunday evening!

Love That Lace ; new sketch etc.

I have finished my Love that Lace watercolor and I am rather pleased with it.

 For purchase information, click here.                                                 

It is approximately 7.5" X10.5 and I am matting it to fit a 12" X15" frame.

It has such a cheerful look - it reminds me of sunny Sunday afternoons! There is almost a 3-D effect caused by the warm oak wood peeking through the gorgeous lace.

I am looking for a better title. Any suggestions?

What to paint next? I really like one of my pictures of the Fish Market in Venice showing pigeons having a pool party in a bucket under one of those old Venetian fountains. There is a nice play of light and shadows and the rusty fountain is begging to be painted with lots of textures. Here is a small sketch I have just finished - it may be a study for a larger painting to be painted evenutally. This is my first time drawing/painting birds - I may be doing my usual trick of creating new species:-)

Yesterday, I added a new feature on ARTALEE: this time, of my fellow Canadian artist, Jeanette Jobson.  I focused on her very unique gyotaku project. Do visit her most interesting blog.

Have a great Sunday evening!

Love that lace wip 4

I have started the stems, although I still have a bit of work on the cherry tomatoes... Since I never know how much painting time I will get during the week ( at least until Dec 1st :-) I decided to post my Sunday night update. The picture was taken inside and the color is not quite true.

Do you think that they look more like cherry tomatoes now?

Have a great week!

Love that Lace WIP part 3

I took a deep breath, crossed my fingers, and added some red to my current work in progress:-) The cherry tomatoes look a bit like cherries....everything I paint lately looks like cherries!
I have a lot more work to do on the tomatoes themselves, but hope to start the stems tomorrow. I'd love to read your comments.

Meanwhile, this week, my Southern Belle is continuing its lucky streak on Red Bubbles and was featured again.

I still have difficulty believing that as of Dec. 1st, I will no longer be working full time and for the first time in my life will have time to do what I love...painting, of course:-)

Happy Saturday night to all.

Love that Lace WIP -part 2 and news

I have worked a bit more on the lace portion of this painting. I think I am trying to postpone the moment when I have to put some red paint on those tomatoes:-)

However, I soon will have a lot more time for painting....Here is my big news: I announced at work today that I was going to resign and retire as of 30th November... On Dec 1st, I can become a full-time watercolor artist:-)

Southern Belle - In top ten in Impressionism Cafe Group Challenge

My "Southern Belle" watercolor has just placed in the top ten in the Impressionism Cafe Group challenge on Red Bubble. Check out the 22 great entries.

Southern Belle - original watercolor by Christiane Kingsley  -

SOLD

Lace WIP, Artalee and Red Bubble

I am back from a beautiful  short trip to NYC to visit my daughter.

I have been neglecting my painting lately with my two recent holidays. I have also been spending a lot of my energy thinking about my life at work: my organization is going through a reorganization, and  I am trying to decide if I will resign from my full-time job and retire in December. These thoughts are not conducive to creativity:-)

To get my brushes wet again, I  have started a new painting with fruit and lace. The approach is a lot less realistic than my previous lace work. It will eventually represent 6 small cherry tomatoes from my garden on another beautiful lace piece that I have borrowed from my mother. I have tried  to increase the effect of shadows across the battenburg lace and those created by the tomatoes: I am not sure that it will work, but it's a nice way to get back into painting after the short hiatus.

On another note, my strawberry painting, "Let's Talk"was featured this week on Red Bubble:

Last, but not least, I have just added a new feature on ARTALEE: this one is about our blogging friend Deb Ward who, among other artistic achievements, is a true master at painting lace! I hope that Deb will approve of the paintings that I have selected for the post about her beautiful work.

As always, I am looking forward to your comments.

Update

In Canada, this is Thanksgiving weekend. I will be flying to NYC to spend a few days with our daughter who is on a one-year assignment there. I am bringing a small painting to work on...but , I'm not sure how much I will get done. However, admiring Kathy Wirth gorgeous posterized portraits of her grandchildren, reminded me that about three years ago I had done my first ( and only) posterized portrait: it is of my daughter ( she is much better looking IRL) and was done in poured monochrome watercolors. It would be fun to try this again.

I am slowly working down my blog roll to feature my great blogging friends and fellow artists on the Artalee site. Today, I invite you to have a look at the beautiful whimsical world of Ross Lynem: I think that one of his paintings would cheer me up any day!

Update: Maine, Red Bubble and Artalee

We returned home last night from a most relaxing week of vacation in Ogunquit, Maine. The weather did not cooperate very much: we had only one sunny day and came back in a downpour. Nevertheless, I had a great time: walking on the beach...in the fog, eating sea food and taking pictures. I find that the sound of the ocean is music for the soul and it simply washes away all tension. The only downside of our week is that somehow I did not paint very much and my laptop was too slow for any blogging.

I was pleased to find out that my watercolor "Southern Belle" had placed 3rd in a challenge on Red Bubble. This painting is already sold and I recently posted a new version of it which I probably prefer, although the background is less dramatic. 

In "Southern Belle II",  I really like the plum highlights in the dark background and the more detailed painting of the petals and the stem.  This painting is currently hanging in a group show at the Ottawa Little Theatre.

My slow laptop did not allow me during the week to post any new features on ARTALEE. This morning, I was so happy to return to my regular computer! I have just posted a feature of a watermedia artist we all know and love, Sandy Maudlin.  I hope that I have done justice to Sandy's versatility and talent.

Follow the Leader...Finished for now

I am spending a restful week in Maine, right on the ocean. Unfortunately, it has rained all day today and we are expecting more of the same tomorrow. Nevertheless, I am enjoying my vacation away from work.
I spent a few minutes this afternoon finishing my Cherry/Crab Apples painting.  It probably needs a few more finishin touches, but I will call it finished for now at least.
The picture was taken inside with my small camera - the colors may be quite off on your monitor.

If we have a sunny day before we go back home, I will try to get pictures of waves ans seagulls to share.

Discover Krista Hasson on ARTALEE

For my second feature as curator of ARTALEE, I have chosen a fellow Canadian artist blogger, Krista Hasson, whose work I find simply breathtaking. I have posted a few of my favorites by Krista so that those who don't already know her will have a idea of the range of her talent. I hope that you will go and have at the post then go see what Krista is painting now.

Exciting News!

I am very excited to announce that I have just become a curator of an new curated online gallery: ARTALEE started by Micah Condon, founder of the well-known  DailyPainters website. The objective of the gallery is to bring to the visitors a wide range of the best artists on the internet. ARTALEE will not be selling any artwork, simply featuring work of artists  that the curator-artists really like.

Mt responsibility will be to help users discover interesting artists and to help promote the work of these artists. What fun this is going to be! As a bonus, I will get to promote my own art at the same time. For each featured artist, I will posting up to 6 pictures of their artwork with a link to their website along with a brief description of what strikes me about their work. I can see this only as positive publicity...we artists sure need all the marketing help we can get.

I will try to feature a few different artists every week.I spend a lot of time reading artists' blogs, those on my blog roll and those on my blogger friends' blog roll. This seems as the logical place for me to start. If you really don't want me to post pictures and links to your blog  on ARTALEE, please email me at chris_kingsley@hotmail.com

For my first post, I have chosen the work of Fabio Cembranelli, a watercolor painter from Brazil who creates magic with his paintbrush.

Yikes!,,,No more cherries! Work in Progress

I was all set to base my entire future as an artist on paintings of lace and cherries....to discover that cherries have a short season! Last week, there was not a single cherry to be found in Canada's capital...believe me, I searched everywhere:-) My next step was to search for something that was not a cherry, but looked a bit like a cherry...at least from quite a distance. I ended up buying and taking pictures of ...humble crab apples! After all, they are a fruit, they are small, shaped a bit like cherries....

The work in progress below shows my feeble attempt at painting crab apples. You will see that these look like a hybrid...I think that I could not decide if I was painting cherries or apples :-(Consequently, theses little guys are probably much overworked. The lace part is only partially done, but I wanted your opinion before spending more time on this watercolor.

The picture was taken inside, so the colors may not be not entirely true.

Cherries and Lace I

Here is my first small painting of cherries and lace from the numerous photographs I took last week. I painted it yesterday and I kept  it very simple: no background, a small portion of lace only with a bit of my hardwood flooring peaking through.  It is about 8" X11" and matted at 12" X 15"; it could also be cropped for a square look of 8 X8", cutting out the white on either side of the lace.

 

For purchase information, please click here.

I enjoyed painting this and will definitely paint some more complex one with the same elements. 

What do you think?