30 Artists to exhibit at the American Iris Society 2011 Convention

On May 30, by invitation, 30 artists will display their work at the Kipling Room at the Fairmont Empress in Victoria BC. The event is scheduled until June3rd, so there will be lots of opportunity to visit and revisit the venue. Many of the artists invited are world renowned, and this event should not be missed. I hope you will take a few hours out of your week to join us there.

I recently completed 2 new paintings to show at the event.

Watercolour Skies class II

This painting was completed starting with a light wash of a transparent yellow in areas where only the yellow is apparent; while the paint is still wet I added cobalt blue. Once completely dry I added more blue and some purple (cobalt & alizron or permanent rose). The horizon was left unpainted for the time being and the water had a similar approach to the sky for the first wash. The land was painted by stippling some burnt sienna over the blue background so it appears as though you can see the mountains in the background. The outcropping in the background on the right was done with varying colours to make quite a dark colour.

The horizon was a mixture of blues, cobalt and pthalo (only a touch of pthalo with water added to create the consistency of black coffee). The water was dry-brushed with purple, blue and a bit of pthalo. The rocks were done after the water was dry, they were painted wet-in-wet with Ultramarine Blue, burnt sienna, green (auriolin and ultramarine blue) Ensure you include the refection and the shadow. The shadow ensures the rocks will be grounded.
The tree on the right was painted with a #6 round brush with a very good pointy tip and a very light touch to create the twigs of the sapling. and finally the grassy-nole on the right was wet in wet with new gamboge mixed with burnt sienna, and then purple and blue dappled in lightly. be sure to vary the colour, size and spacing of the rocks in the background.
I think that should do it…if you have any questions please bring them to class next day or email me at sam

Watercolour Skies Class 1: completed Brentwood Sky

I painted the first washes upside down. This painting started with Auriolin, permanent rose and cobalt blue. A bit of new gamboge and permanent rose were combined and laid into the painting in one large stoke to create the coral coloured cloud. After drying completely, the next series of washes were applied using the same combination of colors. Once this dried, I added the shadow under the orange cloud and added some of the same purple(cobalt and permanent rose)to the top left corner(now looking right side up)to create the stormy look. The key to this painting is few strokes, not to much fussing; it will only result in a muddy look and you will not achieve a smooth look.

This is the first in the series of paintings for the class Watercolour Skies May 5th to June 23rd, 2011. These classes are being held at the Monterey Centre in Oak Bay, BC. For information call 250-370-7300.

Two new paintings for the American iris convention

Just completed 2 new iris'. The first is a bug's eye view of the center of the Iris. It is a hot pink and yellow delicious piece. I had so much fun creating this, and I hope you like it too. The second is a butterfly perched on an Iris from my Garden. Two years ago, we had a swallowtail butterfly visit our garden and this image of Mama swallowtail flitting from my Irises to my butterfly bush and I captured many photos of this little beauty. This one i was even able to see the probosis extended into the heart of the Iris.

Completed painting from Paul Jackson's Portrait Workshop

A painting of my niece Natasha, just completed from a workshop I attended a few weeks ago in Knoxville, Tennessee.
Paul Jackson AWS, NWS; the instructor, approaches portraits slightly differently than I do, with more hard edges softened with "unifying" washes. He uses a different palette, with more opaque colours thinly applied to keep them transparent. I learned a lot of different techniques and had so much fun.
One of the techniques was to use a spoon to apply frisket for the strands of hair over the face. This worked well in this piece, and I can see using it in the future.
Scooping a small amount of frisket into the spoon and angling the spoon to about a 35-45 angle touching it to the paper and letting the frisket glide off the edge.
The four day workshop ended with many of the 14 students completing their pieces. I had a few things to work on, and finally completed the piece this last week.
During my stay at Rarity Bay, I had so much fun, hospitality was unsurpassed, and I met some amazing artists.

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