Sue From My Plein Air Figure Drawing Group

I think it's about time I started posting sketches and paintings from my occasional trips to a plein-air figure drawing group. They meet every other Saturday and so far, I've only been able to attend four times. It's a drive for me..Over an hour drive, but it's worth it.

The group has all kinds of people in it: professional artists, amateurs, interior designers, graphic designers, students, an archeologist, an orthotics/prosthetics specialist, and, of course, architects. The sessions are usually three hours, without a whole lot of structure - other than the general idea that the shorter poses come first, the longer ones last. The models range from professionals to total first-timers (I still remember one of them doing a cart-wheel for a dynamic pose :)). The whole thing takes place outside, in the organizer's backyard. It's fun :)

These sketches are of Sue, a professional model who endured direct midday sun, ants, and an occasional lizard.

Half a Red Pepper Wet-into-wet

I think painting wet-into-wet is relaxing...This is pretty much what watercolor is all about :)

House on a Hill - Virtual Paintout August 2011

After a few months long break, I managed to create another painting for the Virtual Paintout project. It was one of those instant inspiration cases, which is a bit surprising given my reference image. Somehow, it really resonated with me - the high horizon, the birches, the grasses, the isolated little building...

Here is what it looks like on my living room wall:

The other news is that I'm 9.5 weeks pregnant and that I started teaching adult group watercolor classes. Being pregnant sucks, while teaching...I like it quite a lot so far :) I'm working on offering the basic class in other locations and I'm also developing an intermediate class.

Garden Scene with Blue Pot and Stairs - Watercolor on Aquabord Step by Step

Ampersand Aquabord is nice. 2" deep cradled Aquabord is even nicer! You don't need to mat it, just spray it with a fixative and varnish. You don't even need to frame it. Stain the sides any color you want and it's ready to be put on a wall. The painting above was born partly of the client's wish for a smaller size and partly out of my desire to try the cradled Aquabord.

blue pot with hydrangeas reference photo

Reference photo: their very attractive corner of the yard. I love the windmill but I also felt that it would compete for attention with the pot. And, since we decided on a square format Aquabord, I would have been difficult to squeeze it into the composition.

blue pot preliminary sketch 1

As in most of my commissions, I spent some time doing preliminary sketches.

blue pot preliminary sketch 2

We went with this one.

blue pot ip 1

I skipped the drawing - I typically don't feel the need for pencil lines unless the subject is complex. For the first time ever, I noticed that on the Aquabord packaging, they recommend washing it with clean water before painting. So I did. It bubbled a bit (which it is supposed to do) and behaved much more wet-into-wet than I expected. If this last phrase sounds odd to you, I just mean that the paint spread and mingled better.

blue pot on aquabord

That's what the 2" deep cradle looks like with a 6x6" board. I like it.

blue pot ip 2

Next layer: trying to keep the flow and spontaneity of the first wash while adding a lot of detail. Not easy!

blue pot

And the end result :) Like it? I do have prints and greeting cards :)

Wildflowers - Figure Painting in Watercolor

Here is another fruit of our trip to Lake Arrowhead. The model in this painting is yours truly and the the flowers are the same prickly mountain beauties that I painted in a vase. Originally, there was a window on the top left, but halfway through the painting, I decided I didn't like it there and just filled the space with darkish but colorful background to make the lights on the figure pop.

More on what's going on in my life in the next post. Meanwhile, hang in there and make art!

Oh yeah. If you are interested in buying this painting or a print of it, click on the image or go here! After all, this is a once-in-a-life time opportunity to own a nude version of me. :D

Athena the Dog - Watercolor Portrait

Remember my blirthday photo competition? Well, out of the four paintings I intended to make as a result of the competition, two are now done! Meet Athena:

I enjoyed working on this painting, even though it took me forever. I'm pretty pleased with myself for not overdoing and overdetailing it too much. I think I managed to keep the original exciting colors and amplify them a bit. Elza, the dog's owner, will be getting this original painting for free :) Read about how you can order your own custom portrait here.

Fontana Art Festival that I posted about last time apparently turned out well. We didn't make it there. Due to a number of little reasons, we left home running a bit late, stopped for food to save the starving husband from certain death, and then ran into a major traffic jam on the freeway. While wasting the precious time in traffic, we came to the conclusion that we wouldn't make it there in time to set up and turned around. We went for a dinner, movie, and even a 15-minute massage date instead. Beats working (which art fairs surprisingly are) but I feel bad about flaking out on the show organizers :(

Otherwise, I am feeling swamped...(insert a long rant about not having time to paint anything other than commissions, not having time to answer emails and comments, and in general not having time; being exhausted by my own kid and occasional marriage drama; not having a single soul to go have a cup of tea with; and an overall state of blues).  Yeah.

On a good note, I started giving private art lessons and it's been interesting so far. Tomorrow is our fourth lesson.

Fontana Art Festival is tomorrow!

I'm telling you about it because yes, I will be there, too, with all of my stuff and probably sitting painting something. And while you're there, go check out my show at the Fontana Senior Center! :)

Back From the Mountains - Still Life With Wildflowers

Here is an unusually logical continuation to my previous post about Lake Arrowhead! :) Remember those prickly flowers that my husband heroically picked for me (five years in the military have not been for nothing)? Well, I brought them home, of course, and painted a couple of still lives with them. This is the only one of them that I liked enough to show to the world.

As you can see, I used quite a few different watercolor painting techniques here:

hard edges, saving the whites.

Wet-into wet.

soft gradated washes.

The glorious backruns.

Scraping with pallete knife.

splatter, layers and layer of it.

Opaque manganese blue on top of transparent layers.

Andrea - Custom Portrait in Watercolor - and some thoughts on art fairs

Hi! Just so you are forewarned, this post has quite a few images. I have not been blogging very often but it was not due to the lack of content :)

I'm happy to share with you one of my latest custom works - the portrait of Andrea. The way that this painting came to existence is pretty sweet and romantic. Inspired by my painting of Brooke, Andrea's husband walked straight into my booth at the art & wine festival and told me about his idea for a painting of his wife for her birthday. That was during the Lake Arrowhead Rotary Art&Wine Festival at the end of June and her birthday was on July 12. So, a few days later I was already working on this painting. I fell in love with the reference photo. The light was perfect, the pose natural and beautiful. Since it is a generous 20x16" size, I could work in life size and not worry too much about insignificant details. I finished it in about a week, which is probably my record for commissions. Not having my son at the time (he was with grandparents in Sacramento) definitely helped with that.

lake arrowhead

As I promised in the last post, a few words (and pictures) about the Lake Arrowhead Art & Wine Festival. First of all, Lake Arrowhead is a jewel that I had no idea about and it is relatively close to where I live. It is hidden in the mountains, so you have to go through some winding roads and scenic vistas just to get there. Next time, we will take a motorcycle! :)

artist booth at lake arrowhead rotary art and wine festival

I was fairly pleased with the range and quality of art and high end craft that was represented at the festival and with the quality of the visitors. For such a tiny mountain community, the event drew quite a crowd.

Genia at Lake Arrowhead

At most festivals, I offer 30-minute portrait studies, and this time, someone even decided to get one. Here is the result:

crystal with a 30 minute portrait

It actually looks more colorful and the values are a bit darker in real life...Of course, I wished I had more time to work on it, especially since the model was doing such a good job sitting there.

On our way back from the festival, we stopped to take some pictures and I somehow succeeded in making my husband pick me some flowers. It was my idea and not a random romantic gesture on his part, but it was still cute. Especially when I learned that the flowers were very prickly...Love hurts, and there's nothing you can do about it :D

terry picking flowers

And then I posed for some pictures that were also supposed to be cute...I did my best, even though cuteness has never been my forte. Even in kindergarten, I wanted people to take me seriously :)

genia with flowers

On the 4th of July, we went to Ventura for the 4th of July Street Fair - which turned out to be a total waste of time and money. I'm not sure what happened, but it shouldn't have been advertised to artists as anything having to do with fine art. There was a lot of nice clothes and trinkets, which, I'm sure, sold quite well. There was good music and tasty food. However, it just wasn't made for fine art. So...I feel at best misinformed and overall very disappointed.

On a good note, my video interpretation of the Vase with Twelve Sunflowers has been featured on Watercolorpainting.com, which is a very informative website on, yes, watercolor painting. If you haven't been there before, go check it out!

A Portrait A Day 63 - Dream - and impressions from Sacramento 2nd Saturday Art Walk

The sleeping beauty here is, once again, from my life drawing session at the Sacramento Fine Art Center. It was a 15 or 20 minute pose and I decided to focus on her face instead of trying to capture the whole figure. It was a tradeoff, as the pose looked quite nice  - Sandra, who sat next to me, managed to get it all right in such a short time! See her version here.

I promise I didn't mean for Julie's arm to look amputated...Err...I think might have to go back and fix that.

The figure drawing was on Friday, and Saturday was my favorite Sacramento 2nd Saturday Art Walk. Where to begin...How about the Steampunk Arts & Crafts Show at the Brick Alley Art Studios (which is becoming one of my favorite places to visit during the art walks)? Fun, and lots of good art, like the regular Tracy Lewis and an occasional mechanical bug.

I was sad to see the 20th Street Art Gallery closed, as it used to be another one of my favorites.

Then the usual stop at the Alfa Romeo place to listen to the band I still don't know the name of...This time, I pulled out my sketchbook and did some doodling. It is challenging and engaging, to try to capture a person while they are constantly moving. The trick is, of course, to look for patters and repeating movements - but it is still pretty difficult. Here are some sketches from that night:

guitarist sketch

harmonica sketch

On monday the 4th, we are getting up disgustingly early and driving to Ventura for the 4th of July Street Fair. I'm really hoping it's going to be worth it. Or else! Right after that, if I am able, I am driving back to Sacramento to pick up the kid, who is currently enjoying a relaxing stay at the grandparents'.

Lake Arrowhead Art & Wine festival was a blast! I'll post some pictures next time :)

29th Annual Lake Arrowhead Art & Wine Festival is this weekend (meet me there :))

If you are anywhere close to the area, I would love to see you at the

Lake Arrowhead Rotary Art & Wine Festival

Tavern Bay, Lake Arrowhead, CA

Saturday & Sunday, June 25th and 26th, 2011

Saturday, June 25th 10AM - 6PM

Sunday, June 26th 11AM - 4PM

The weather will be perfect! (And I will be doing a raffle :)) Mention my blog to receive a discount on your purchase!

A Portrait A Day 62 - Julie (And Some Figures in Watercolor)

Julie is the beautiful model that I had the pleasure painting at the Sacramento Fine Arts Center during my trip to Sacramento. The watercolor above is a 15 or 20 minute painting. I did a very simple drawing with a yellow Nupastel and completed it with watercolor.

This one is a 5 minute pose. I wish I had more time and a steadier hand!

Julie sitting. Again, watercolor with Nupastel - this time, I did the drawing with light green. Unusual color as far as figure paintings go, but I like the way it softens the Quinacridone Red I used for the skin tones and in the background. 20 or 25 minute pose, which, on the whole, I'm pretty happy with.

That's all for now. In the next post, I'll share some of the sketches I did at the Sacramento Second Saturday Art Walk and the wonderful artists I've met there. Stay tuned :)

Mother's Day Lavender

Watercolor on Kilimanjaro cold press 140lb paper. Size: 9.5 x 12.5" Click on the image to buy.

Somehow, this painting is a very accurate representation of the little bunch of lavender flowers that my son gave me this Mother's Day (not without the careful guidance from my husband :)) Lavender tends to have somewhat muted color and it was the way I started the painting. However, I was not feeling muted at all. The flowers (and two extra hours of sleep that morning) made me happy - so I found myself splashing color and adding more intensity. Out of a few lavender flowers, it became an expression of a good day, of happiness, and of feeling special because you are a mom and your little boy just gave you flowers with a beautiful smile on his face...

This painting would also make a good reference chart with all kinds of watercolor techniques. See if you can find wet on wet, wet on dry, splatter, backruns, salt, glazing, scraping and water drops! :)

Artist awareness month givaway results! Woohoo!

The 8x10 print of her choice goes to my newsletter subscriber Angela Balliet and the choice of any print or $100 towards a custom painting - to Bridget Pacheco! Congratulations and thanks for your help in making my dreams come true! And not to leave a post without a painting, here is a little ACEO that I did a while ago with paint samples from Daniel Smith. I have quite a few of these little sample-paintings now, going through the 200+ sample dots!

$15 plus shipping, available at my Etsy shop.

Watercolor painting on Yupo video demo - "Sunflowers in D Major"

Watch my new watercolor on Yupo video demo! This one is my interpretation of the famous painting by Van Gogh, "Vase with Twelve Sunflowers." My husband was looking for art contests online and found one where you had to make your version of this painting. It probably doesn't mean a lot but it was fun to do! I was immediately inspired to make a Yupo painting and, since I haven't done a video in a very long while, I decided to record the process. If you're interested in buying this 26x20" painting, let me know!

Enjoy the video and please share it!

A Portrait A Day 61 - Wonder

12 x 9" Watercolor and watercolor sticks on Canson Montval cold press watercolor paper. I'll let you guess who this could be...

As it often happens with these quick portraits, the painting doesn't look exactly like the reference photo and it's completely fine with me. I feel that I've done my job when I captured the mood, the essence of the person at a particular moment. Beyond that, art can stand on its own, without being constantly compared to the "real thing." This applies to any other subject. Unless your goal is to copy the contour of an object exactly, it doesn't matter if it's not perfect. Once you create a piece of art, it becomes a thing in itself and begins its life independent of what inspired it or served as reference for its creation.

Did that sound smart or what? :) Now if only I could pull the same trick with my artist's statement...

Mississippi Blood Services - completed painting

14 x 11" watercolor on Fabriano 140lb cold press watercolor paper. Another commission finished! :) I have to say that I do prefer portraits to buildings. Not sure how I ended up in architecture school in the first place...

A Portrait A Day 60 - Audition for Shakespeare

12x9" watercolor on Canson Montval paper (which, it turns out, not only allows you to wash away paint very easily but can, with equal ease, get the paint smeared off during normal handling :/).

This one is based on one of the 600 or so photos I took at the Renaissance Pleasure Faire last weekend. The girl was auditioning for Shakespeare. Not sure what exactly she was reading - first of all, I couldn't hear her very well, and second, I read most of my Shakespeare in Russian.

We've been trying to be a bit more active last month. Went zip lining in Big Bear at the beginning of May (that was also our wedding anniversary)  and also to the Renaissance Faire last weekend. Both were quite fun, although I think I liked zip lining better... It was a rare kid-free outing and there were only two more people minus the guides with us. I'm all for less people = more fun!

Here's yours truly dressed up for the Faire and wearing one of the wonderful masks that were for sale there. I intensely wished I had more money to spend.

More pictures from the Ren Faire in my Facebook album.

A Portrait A Day 59 - K.C.

12x9" watercolor on Canson Montval 140lb watercolor paper. Painted from life during an art show. About 20-25 minutes.

Monterey, California

...the magic words :)

This 8x10" watercolor painting was based on a photo that I took while visiting my husband (who wasn't my husband at the time) in Monterey, CA. He was studying Arabic at the Defense Language Institute and I was enjoying my summer break and getting ready to begin two years at the College of Environmental Design in UC Berkeley. I brought a friend along and we stayed at a youth hostel (which was a new experience). I still remember the 3-minute shower tokens...I'm all for recycling and energy efficiency, but 3-minute showers are not my thing at all. Sorry, Berkeley. Maybe a few more years there and I'd get to that point.

The building in this painting is the Fish Hopper restaurant off of Cannery Row in Monterey. I could have named the painting "Fish Hopper" - but Cheeseburger in Paradise is still fresh in my memory :).

Purchase the painting here.