Watercolor over crayon on the vases. Watercolor and pen for the blooms. Digital splatter on the 13th. The colors look more neon than they are in life. I am having too much fun with crayons. Warning of what’s to come. Haha.
I’m having too much fun with these. I worked ahead a bit. Which is great, because I lost another day I hadn’t planned on. But I am ready to try something different. Not sure what yet.
As I write, I am sitting here, looking at the empty space where my table should be. All of my supplies are crammed onto the bookcase. Had the carpets cleaned. They always say it will dry in two hours, but it is going on five, and things are still damp. Oyi.
I wasn’t thinking about 9/11 when I painted this next one. The colors after all are Buff, Cranberry and a sort of Prussian Blue. But it fits, and I decided to post it. The red is brighter in person. I tried to add some light to it in Photoshop, but it changed the color too much.
All these years later, and that day is still with me. As it is with many of us. I remember I had just finished drying my hair, and my aunt Loretta yelled from downstairs for me to turn my TV on. I did, and then quickly ran down to where she and my Grandmother were watching the news. They were still reporting it as an accident, and then the second plane hit. We were in shock.
We were in California. And we knew, at that time of day, the buildings would be full. My aunt left for work, and I had to finish getting ready to leave as well. At work that day, all anyone could manage was to listen to the news reports, read the papers, and pray.
I usually forget to acknowledge the date in the challenge. So busy just keeping up. But I remember, and say a prayer.
In remembrance of those who were lost. With prayer for families left behind. The survivors, and those whose lives were forever altered. With gratitude for the irreplaceable, who gave their lives in service of others. God grant you peace.
I enjoy painting these minimalist abstracts. I did not think of them with that term before. But it is a perfect description. Thank you Suzette! I am interested in the minimalist movement. But I am not sure I could ever follow it wholeheartedly. I am a collector of, a few things. LOL. I think most artists are in one way or another.
These start with color. For me. Mood. What feels right. I choose the colors, then think about arrangement and proportion. I tend to go bottom heavy. Weighted. Darker colors below, lighter on top. I think part of that is from my training as a framer. LOL.
For the center bands, I tape off the area to be painted. It ranks even with blending in ease. With blending you have less control. With taping, you are at the mercy of Murphy’s law. And your tape. Haha.
I place two pieces of tape together, so that there is very little actually sticking to the piece. One inch tape, offset slightly lengthwise. On day 7, the green side came out almost perfect. But I had a lot of teeny tiny touching up to do on the buff side. I had to pull out the magnifier. LOL. Day 8 was almost perfect, except for a big blob of buff on the blue.
