Chadwick Park

Chadwick Park, 8x8" watercolor, ©Diane Mannion

Local Scene

Have painted at this local park many times.  Lots of boats, views, usually not too crowded, and, best part...  close to home.  

Used Arches watercolor block, great for small studies.  Have discovered Quinacridone Gold, warm and really strong, Winsor and Newton Artist quality. 

Palm Practice

Palm Practice, watercolor, 5x5" ©Diane Mannion

A Dailypaintworks Pick of the Day!

Watercolor Sketchbook Study

Set out to paint this morning but ended up exploring local painting sites and running errands.  Not every day is painting perfect.  Was going to drive to Sarasota to paint with the Light Chasers, but like a horse stopping before the jump, I balked at the drive... thinking of the two hours in the car instead of painting.   

So my humble offering for today is a small practice study in my sketchbook. 

Cassia Tree

CASSIA TREE, 6.5x6.5" watercolor, plein air, ©Diane Mannion

Backyard Plein Air

A friend gave me a six inch high cassia seedling about three years ago, it's now a huge tree in full bloom.  Attracts lots of yellow butterflies and perfect for hanging orchids in the shade.  Also difficult painting subject.  The plant on the lower left is a myers lemon tree growing in a flower pot and loaded with lemons beginning to ripen. 

Ollie's Pond

Ollie's Pond, October 2014, watercolor plein air, 6.5x6.5" ©Diane Mannion

What An Oil Painter Can Learn From Watercolors and Pastels

Painted in Port Charlotte with the Punta Gorda Plein Air group this morning.  Wonderful to see so many snowbirds and new members!  

This was painted on an Arches 140lb, 8" square watercolor block.  Taped the sides to get a neat edge but really prefer the shaky, scribbled edge like my previous posts.  Every painting's an experiment!  

 Didn't see any gators... but they were lurking just beneath the surface.  Carried my own water supply so I didn't have to dip into the pond.

 Location shot.

What An Oil Painter Can Learn From Watercolors and Pastels

Going through a learning stage, still totally obsessed with watercolor.  I'll be going back and forth to oils, but what I'm learning though watercolors is an education for oils!  It's healthy working in different mediums, learned a lot during my pastel obsession a few years ago.  

Watercolors... seeing the masses, making stuff up, and letting things happen, importance of thinking ahead and planning.  

Pastels.... seeing color in a totally different way, understanding stroke direction and energy!  

And with any medium... the importance of thumbnail sketches!

My sketchbook thumbnail for this painting.  Lots of decisions made before touching the brush.  A scribbled short-hand of my thinking... a map to approach the painting with.  It's not set in stone, many changes were made during the painting process, but it really helped me visualize the "design."

Now, if I can only get the watercolor to behave!

Sunday Morning

Sunday Morning, 5x5" watercolor, plein air sketch, ©Diane Mannion

Aqua Brush Practice

Walked Shadow then painted this with two aqua brushes.   Pentel Aquash large round, very good for this type of brush.  Has excellent point for detail work and washes larger areas when pressed and squeezed.  No need to carry any water except for what's in the handle (for an hour painting session, only used half).  

Also tried for the first time a large flat, Aquastroke Brush Pen... could cover larger areas than the Pentel, the brush seems too loose and floppy for my taste, but someone else might love it.  Both are handy to have for quick sketching but really prefer my regular brushes.

Drew the design first with the Pentel using yellow, instead of pencil lines.  Should also mention that it takes awhile to get used to not having a water jar.  Simply rub the paint off the brush on a paper towel and dip into the next color.  If more water is needed in the painting or paintbox well, squeeze the handle.  Fun!

San Casa Park

San Casa Park, watercolor, 5x5"plein air sketch, ©Diane Mannion

Sketchbook Study

Some days, there's not enough time to take the oil painting gear out and paint, watercolors are my solution.  Small kit with paintbox and sketchbook now goes everywhere with me.  

This is a local park with ponds and palms and... dog-friendly!  Plenty of places to park and do a quick auto-painting on the way home from Walmart.  Or take Shadow for a walk and do a quick study later.  Nothing like multi-tasking! 

Ringling's Grounds

Ringling's Grounds, 5x5" watercolor plein air sketch, ©Diane Mannion

Splash!

Found a shady spot on a bench after yesterday's Light Chaser demo (see previous post).  Let the watercolor flow, focusing on light and shadows.  This is a on the path towards the rose garden which was in full bloom but unfortunately, also in full sun with no shady spots to sit and paint.

The grounds at Ringling Museum are filled with incredible banyan trees.  Too bad the roots travel far and crack swimming pools and foundations... now on forbidden to plant list.  

Ringling's Banyan trees

Ringling's Ca d'Zan

Ringling's Ca d'Zan, watercolor, 5x5"plein air sketch, ©Diane Mannion

Light Chaser Demo in Sarasota

Artist and Light Chaser member, Vladislav Yeliseyev gave a demo this morning on the Ringling Museum grounds surrounded by admirers.  He talked about how important drawing, perspective, and proportions are and spent a lot of time doing a beautiful pencil sketch for his painting.  

Instead of doing a thumbnail by drawing the box first, he drew a large image and cropped it the way it would work best as a painting.  He carefully considered values at this stage, keeping his sketch as simple as possible.  He demonstrated how to enlarge the sketch my measuring proportions when drawing the image on the watercolor paper.

During the painting stage, he became the painter, instead of the designer.  He painted rapidly wet into wet, sky first, then broad washes elsewhere.  Careful planning, loose technique, and extraordinary skill produced a finished product worthy of the applause!

Afterwards, the artists scattered around the grounds producing their own masterpieces.  I painted two small sketches before heading home... a great day!  Will post second sketch tomorrow.

Hermitage, October

Hermitage, October, watercolor, 6x8" plein air sketch, ©Diane Mannion

Watercolor Obsession Continues!

Still trying to rest my injured eye... but can't stand not painting any longer!  Decided to allow  myself one quick sketch.  So packed my watercolors and joined the Punta Gorda VAC plein air artists at Blind Pass Beach, Manasota Key.   Fabulous morning!

 Me, happy as a clam!  Thanks for photo, Sharon!

 

 Tory and Andrea taking a break.

My lightweight watercolor equipment.  Sketchbook, camp stool, paintbox and brushes.

35+ year old Winsor and Newton paintbox!  W&N Series 7, #4 brush for details,  but almost everything painted with #10 Escoda Ultimo (a favorite brush!).  Stillman & Birn Sketchbook, 6x8," 180 lb smooth.

Hermitage Artist's Retreat which faces the Gulf.

Friendly Great Blue Heron

While waiting for my eye to heal, I've been watching videos online.  

Found these two by James Gurney last night... WONDERFUL!  Click to link.

Watercolor in the Wild Materials

Street Painting

White Cottage

White Cottage, 8x10" oil, Diane Mannion

Spanish Point

Started this last week during an off the easel event for the Light Chasers at Spanish Point in Osprey.  Took it home and scraped it down...   Reworked from memory and photo reference, that's my reflection in the window which was covered with plastic so I had to make stuff up.  

Have had an eye injury... scary thing for an artist.  Taking it easy for awhile.

Light Chasers

Light Chasers, 8x10" oil/linen, Diane Mannion

SOLD

Light Chasers!

Light Chasers plein air painters painting the South Jetty, Venice.

At first, I couldn't find a spot to set up my easel.  A lot depends on foreground/background arrangements for composition.  There were a lot of background subjects... the Gulf, the jetty, Intercoastal waterway, and boats, but not many spots where I could visualize a pattern exciting enough to paint.

Passed an artist standing in the sun (said she smeared herself with sunblock) who was doing a fabulous watercolor of the restroom building across the parking lot.  Another artist was sitting on a bench and had just sketched the above painters in pen and ink.  It was as though she did my thumbnail sketch for this painting.  Loved the composition.  Thanks, Donna.

Unfortunately, I had arrived late and these three painters were finishing up and left soon after.  Made color notes, blocked in the scene and finished a lot from memory... and had to make stuff up!  I was really excited about how the sun struck their work bags, doesn't take much.  And later on I added more details and "flattened" some of my color patterns, such as the light and shade on the ground.

My first photo of this painting made the shadow pattern look livid blue.  Shot it again in two ways:  Outside in the shade, first with painting on the ground facing up.  Then propped the painting on a shelf and had it face out towards the light... now I know this way matches the colors most correctly.  There was a dramatic difference in the blue color!  Perhaps, when shooting the painting facing up, it reflects the sky color, even though it was in the shade.  The painting positioned vertically reflected the warm light which was most correct.

Cloud Study #2

Cloud Study #2, 6.5x9" watercolor, ©Diane Mannion

More Cloud Practice

How do watercolors relate to my oil paintings?  

It's all the same pigments, even pastel, just different binders that hold them together.  Watercolors use the white of the paper as "white," so the transparency has to be maintained, a great challenge.  I consider watercolor the most difficult medium, but still love it.

A wonderful teacher once told me the medium doesn't matter... "a real artist can draw on a brick with a burnt stick." 

There's something spontaneous and addictive about watercolor.  It takes a lot less equipment, is far more portable for travel and sketchbooks, and... brushes are a lot easier to clean! 

These little studies are training my "eye" to see more clearly when I'm out in the field with oils.  I'm hoping to do quick watercolor sketches on location before hitting the canvas.  

For the next few days I'll be painting at the South Jetty in Venice and then, Spanish Point!  I'll be representing the Light Chasers Plein Air Artists for the first of the season Off-the Easel event...  30% of sales donated to Spanish Point on Friday and Saturday.

Cloudy Study #1

Cloud Study #1, watercolor, 5.5x9" ©Diane Mannion

Fear of Clouds

Overcoming fear of clouds here...

I'll be painting outside for the next few days, so thought I'd practice painting clouds in the comfort of my studio.  Clouds are often the most scary part of painting the landscape for me.   They can lend a lot to the composition, mood, and visual interest of a piece, so I'm determined to conquer their amorphous fluffiness.

After an intense cloud practice session,  painted at South Jetty Venice with the Light Chasers Plein Air Artists this morning.  Not a cloud in sight!  Nothing to practice my new skills and knowledge on.  The sky did have an interesting cool yellow glow though.  Will post the results in a couple of days.

Now back to cloud practice.  They're only red, yellow, and blue, nothing to fear!

JUICER

JUICER, watercolor, 8.5x11.5" ©Diane Mannion

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1001!

1001 blog posts archiving 1001 paintings! 

  Continuing with my watercolor obsession, learning and experimenting.  This painting didn't turn out the way I had hoped... had a mind of it's own.  So, lesson learned:

Don't be in a rush to paint a subject.  I was so excited to play with my new #10 Escoda Ultimo brush that I rushed into painting a subject that would have been more suitable for my old #3 Winsor and Newton Series 7.  

The Escoda brush has a fabulous, playful, loose feel that also comes to a nice point.  But the WN is more suitable to a subject that needs to be controlled or rendered more carefully.  Although I started this watercolor with the hope of painting loose, the subject finally called for tighter handling.  This was a battle between loose and tight.

Painted first layer with Ultramarine using the Escoda only. Really LOVE this brush.

 Second layer, permanent rose, Escoda only.  Allowed blooms, splashes, and bleeds happen.

 Third layer, aureolin.  Some spattering and tapping for drips.  Still trying to keep loose.

 And the final again... used the Winsor and Newton #3 series 7 for details.

And although I wanted to keep the triad of red, yellow, and blue, pulled in Payne's gray for the background and metal, sap green for the lime.

There's always a danger of overworking a watercolor, but who's to say when to stop?  What would have happened if someone had told John Stuart Ingle to loosen up?  Not that I want to paint as tight as he did. 

I have no idea where these watercolor experiments will lead me... but having a lot of fun on the journey.

Hairy Guy

Hairy Guy, watercolor, 12x9" ©Diane Mannion

Venice Portrait Studio

Painted from life at the Venice Portrait Studio.  This handsome model chose the title... Hairy Guy.  Told the story of a little girl who looked at him with her big, curious eyes said he was a hairy guy because he had hair on his head, on his face, and in his nose and ears!  HA!

Played with new brushes and paper here.  One of my self-induced treats for driving back and forth to Bradenton last week were pit-stops at Art and Frame in Sarasota to pet the brushes and indulge in purchasing art supplies.  I don't buy jewelry, take cruises, or play golf... art supplies are my vice.  

And lately, watercolor has been an obsession.  For over thirty years as an illustrator I only used the world's finest brushes, Winsor and Newton Series 7 Kolinsky red sables.  But lately, our country has banned the import of sable hairs... not that they kill baby sables to collect the hairs, I'm sure they're treated kindly to produce more hair!  Probably just trimmed now and then like poodles.   (So this country bans sable hairs but lets in ebola...  go figure.   Have always wanted to stay away from politics in this blog but couldn't resist.)

Back to brushes... purchased Escoda (made in Spain) synthetic sables, #10 and #14 Ultimo, and #12 Prado.  Love the look and feel of these fine quality brushes.  Have only tried the #10 Ultimo which I used on this painting and totally happy with it!  Holds lots of paint, works well loose and also comes to a fine point for more details.  Bravo.

Have always loved Arches and still do but tried a new 100% cotton brand for this painting... 9x12" block of cold press... FLUID 100.  Wow... made in the USA.  Wonderful paper!  Used it for this painting and happy with the texture and lift-ability.  Bravo, again.

And BRAVO for my 1000th blog post... 1000 paintings archived!!!

Cortez Fishing Boats

Cortez Fishing Boats, 9x12" oil on canvas, plein air, @Diane Mannion

HONORABLE MENTION!

Bradenton Paint the Town

Update: Received an Honorable Mention by Judge Bill Farnsworth!  Am honored!
(Wish I had taken a better photo of this painting, it was under studio lights, will replace later.)

The rest of the story:  The object on the left is a sunken boat and the black dots are cormorant fishing birds drying their feathers in the sun.

Even though I'm cranky about the 15 hours worth of driving this paintout will cost, it has been an interesting adventure.  I enjoyed the company of artists, but except for the Quick Draw, only came across a few.  And because I had to submit the paintings at 10am on the last day and the reception wasn't until 5... decided to head home.  Was tough decision! 

 Here's my setup and view from the dock.  And this is Maxie, a short legged pit bull who peed on my easel but didn't bite me.  His owner who lives in a nearby cabin told the story of how he had to get rid of all his furniture because of bedbugs (yikes!).  

Rebel and the Sexy Lady

Rebel and the Sexy Lady, 11x14" oil, plein air, @Diane Mannion

Bradenton Paint the Town 

 This view is from a dock in Cortez Village and it's the only place I painted during this paintout, except for the Quick Draw on the Riverwalk (RR Bridge).  Went back several times because of the ideal shade and parking.

Rebel... only painted the best part, the rest of the boat is mostly ruble.  And after my block in, it swung on the tide and wind and completely blocked my view.  Here's what is looks like, poor boat.  The bow, the part I painted with it's name, is the only thing left.  Maybe someone's restoring it?

 Met a few other artists on the dock the first time, but on other visits I only had the company of some friendly local fishermen and other creatures like my buddy, Mr Heron. 

 This is Zeke in his snappy white boots who had just saved a friend's boat from sinking.  I asked to take his photo, said I would paint him and he might become famous.  He said, "But I'm already famous!"

There had been a heavy downpour the night before and the bilge pump couldn't keep up with the water flooding his friend's boat.  Here's his friend and the sinking boat.  Maybe another restoration project?

 Will continue the rest of the story tomorrow.  Was only able to complete three paintings.  Cortez Village is an hour an a half from where I live, so I spent three hours driving (not including time getting lost!) each day I painted.  The paintout, including time driving at the end of the month to pick up the paintings... will total 15 HOURS driving!!! And I would rather paint than drive...
Updated this post to say... my sinking feeling about not doing another Bradenton Paintout has changed.  See the next post!

RR Bridge

 RR Bridge, 9x12" oil plein air, ©Diane Mannion

Bradenton Paint the Town

 Proud to say this painting of the railroad bridge placed third in the Quick Draw.  I was surprised... so many terrific paintings were produced in two hours!  Spending a few days painting in the Bradenton Paint the Town and will have a full report later.

Two artistic endeavors overlapping here... FINISHED Leslie Saeta's 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge!  Report is in previous post. 

 30 Watercolors in 30 Days, collage, ©Diane Mannion

 I've also noticed that I'm getting really close to 1000 blog posts which mean 1000 paintings archived here.

Contact Art Center Manatee in Bradenton for RR Bridge purchase infomation.