Category Archives: Abstract

#WorldWatercolorMonth – #10And #The100DayProject – #99

Mingus #99. 11.5 x 5.5 in. watercolor on Arches 140 lb. cold pressed paper. © 2018 Sheila Delgado.

Ninety-nine bottles of beer on the wall, ninety-nine bottles of beer. That has been in my head all week. I don’t even like beer. Today is the day. Day #100. This afternoon will find me working on Mingus number one hundred.

Today’s sky was a wreck. I managed to save it. There was a cloud on the right. A stripe really. I had gone in and removed paint with a clean brush. It didn’t work.

I let the paint dry. Not completely, but almost. I re-wet the ugly area, and put paint back in, and worked it back and forth until there was a more even wash there. If you look just right of center, you can see a hint of white left. Along the right edge, some of the paint stained, but luckily, it gives the effect of distant clouds forming.

I didn’t mean to leave white along the bottom edge. I wet the paper before I added paint to that hill. I don’t think that works on a landscape this size. It is more dramatic on a portrait orientation. I AM happy though, with how the paint edge uneven. I know I brushed water on in a straight line, and that would not have worked at all.

There is some nice granulation going on. Along the dark edges of the drips, and in the dark along the bottom. I did not use the granulating medium, so that was a nice surprise. It is subtle, but the texture adds interest.

#10 WWM. 5.5 x 8 in. watercolor on Strathmore 140 lb. cold pressed paper. © 2018 Sheila Delgado.

I watched a short video today, where the artist haphazardly added paint to his sky, leaving white areas for clouds. I often do that, but I plan the direction a little more. He made a lot of vertical stokes, and I use more horizontals. Well, on #10 I tried it his way. Not completely happy with it. I lost most of the hard edges, trying to make sense out of the negative, white, shapes.

I have also had a hard time getting the yellow to scan correctly. In the coneflowers, and in #9, it looks much lighter than it does in person. I warmed these (above) up by adding some Quin gold. Then some yellow ochre. I did not want to add orange, so I added a bit of magenta. Well, too many colors going on, they turned out a bit muddy. So lesson learned. Again. Ha ha ha ha.

Overall, happy with both. Happy with the practice. Happy with the chance to learn.

#100DaysOfMingus Gallery

A Year In The Life Of Mingus

#WorldWatercolorMonth

#WorldWatercolorMonth – #6 And #The100DayProject – #94, #95

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Mingus Day #95. 6 x 5.5 in. watercolor on Arches 140 lb. cold pressed paper. © 2018 Sheila Delgado.

Fifteen Blessed minutes of rain today. Hail, thunder, pouring rain. It started raining harder, and then stopped suddenly. As if someone had flipped a switch. Bizarre, and interesting.

Stayed muggy, no cool down. But the sweet, clean scent of rain was still appealing.

Both of these paintings are nearly all Indigo. The greys are what’s left after the paint ran off the page. I used granulating medium, and mixed indigo with a couple other colors, hoping they would separate on the paper. Well, it barely worked on #95. There is a hint of pure blue there. I need to do more experimenting with this. Looking forward to it!

Mingus Day #94. 6 x 5.5 in. watercolor on Arches 140 lb. cold pressed paper. © 2018 Sheila Delgado.

Sunset July 6, 2018, SMD

#100DaysOfMingus Gallery

A Year In The Life Of Mingus

#WorldWatercolorMonth

#6 WWM. 5.5 x 8 in. watercolor on Strathmore 140 lb. cold pressed paper. © 2018 Sheila Delgado.

I have shared this Yucca with you before. The real one.

Blooming Bright. May 25, 2018

Here it is now.

Yucca, July 6, 2018

And here it is, with company. I have an idea for this as a mixed media piece. I just wish I could have seen what kind of bird these are. The shadow had them incognito.

Yucca for two.

#The100DayProject – #79

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Mingus Day #79. 5 x 11.5 in. watercolor on Arches 140 lb. cold pressed paper. © 2018 Sheila Delgado.

She’ll be coming ’round the mountain when she comes. Sorry. Popped into my head.

I was ready to do more in the same palette, the “hot” rusty colors from the last post. Then I spent two hours cleaning, searching for a small ruler. (Late last night.) I found a new tube of Naples yellow. And that was the inspiration for today’s painting. THAT is the color of the front range on a clear sunny day. Some days.

Ridiculous that two hours could pass so quickly. Felt like 30 minutes. I emptied the top tier of my rolling cart. Reorganized, straightened. No ruler. I looked through the second tier of the cart. Nothing. I looked in the one other place it might be. A tub filled with art supplies. Art supplies and things I crammed in there before company came. I took everything out. And put it back in again. No ruler.

I moved the rolling cart and looked underneath. Nothing. I bent down to pick up a small bit of paper and put it in the trash can. I don’t remember looking, but suddenly, there it was. Just resting on the back of my scanner. How in the world?

Oh where, oh where can it be?

Wouldn’t I have heard it land? Drop? I keep the ruler in with the brushes. In a small divided box that sits in the cart. I don’t know when it went missing, but I have looked for it about a week now. When I use the scanner, I do it all by touch. I never look under the desk while I scan. Honestly, I usually forget to dust under there as well.

For a moment, all is right in the little micro-universe that is my workspace. Time to paint.

Hope your day reveals happy accidents and sunny surprises!