For the love of trees

"For the love of trees"

This watercolor is the simple sketch for a commissioned piece.

She loves the view from the front of her home that faces one lake and is backed by another. 

It will be on two custom canvases that are made to fit above the 

cabinetry in the kitchen for my clients home. 

One canvas measures 43.5 x 21 the other 55 x 21 making for a total length of 98.5 inches.

The design calls for the largest tree close to the mid way point to be the bridge between the two canvases. There is also a bit of lake on the right side not visible in the photo.She also wants it done in sepia color on the white background. 

I am so excited to begin work on this beautiful addition to her home!

"For the love of trees", watercolor 

Day 37 of the 100 days~100 paintings 2018

Painting with the "tweenagers" En Plein Aire!

" En Plein Aire" one of the classes I taught at the museum during the past three weeks, This class took the children, ages 12 & up on an outdoor adventure into the world of outdoor art. It is always interesting to see what the kids come out with in this class. In the beginning, a lot of I can'ts, by the end of the week, I can't believe I did thats! Always enjoyable, always changing, sometimes unpredictable. Outdoor painting is a challenge for adults and children alike. We battled heat, rain, bugs, and lawn maintenance!

A wide vaariety of sizes from 5x7's to 12 x 16's, these 6 paintings take care of days 16,17,18,19,
20 and 21 ! of the 100 Days~100 Paintings

A view from the Gazebo Thursday July 28

Finally, one that was actually completed on the proper day and posted to the blog. For those of you that are followers, I apologize for not being more prompt in posting. The paintings are being completed, just not the blogs that go with them!

This painting was done in the drawing class. We moved out to the gazebo in the rain and getting them out of the classroom. I love painting "en plein aire"! We laid down our pictures using a sketch and wash pencil and then wet them with our brushes to blend. The volunteer helpers have been the most fascinated with the watercolor pencils this week that I bought on sale at Michaels at 90 percent off! The children have used them as well, in watercolor class, drawing class, and in their journals.

I was quite pleased with this picture while I was doing it, and very happy with the results. One of the volunteers was enchanted with watching me work on it as were several of the children. They seemed as though they thought the picture from beneath my hand was almost magical in it's appearance on the paper. I am constantly explaining to them all that you have to keep drawing to get better at doing the best you possibly can. You can't just expect to pick up a pencil and have great art come from it! Art is a lot of work with only a few pieces completed that make you truly happy. I am delighted to encourage them all to be better at what they do, even if they don't think they are "good" at it! You only get "good" by practice, practice, practice and then practice some more!