Category Archives: Mixed Media

September’s 30 in 30 Starts Soon

Leslie Saeta’s 30 paintings in 30 days challenge is back. There are still a few days to sign up if you’re interested. I love taking part in these. This will be my fifth challenge. Each one has been a learning experience, and my work has improved as a result. If you would like to take a look back, click on the links in the sidebar (below).

I am trying to get a few pieces painted ahead of time. Just in case. Backups, for when a days work just bombs. Here is a small peek…

Sunny peek

Here are two pieces I painted last week as gifts…

8 x 8 gallery wrapped acrylic.

Joyful Sunday to you!

Sunny Bouquet

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Sunflowers in a white vase. 6 x 9 watercolor on 140 lb. Arches cold pressed paper. © Sheila Delgado

I am having too much fun with these simple little flowers. And by that I mean, I am having fun keeping it simple while I paint these flowers. I completed another bouquet today that I will share with you soon. The vase looks better in person. There is a hint of light blue for shaping, and the yellow reflection does not look so choppy. I used some indigo (watery) for shadow under the petals, but here it looks green, I suppose that works too.

I am thinking I may crop this just a bit on the left and top, but that can be done with matting. I am very tempted to go back in and even out the background, The pink is dark in just that one area. But maybe this is a wall in an old Mexican cantina… and that stain is from someone throwing their beer against the wall on a rowdy Cinco De Mayo night!

Have a happy Friday muchachos!

Sunflowers On The Side

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Sunflowers on the side. 6 x 8 1/2 watercolor and ink. 2015 Sheila Delgado

This was a struggle. It was going smoothly, until the last step. And from there, I just could not get it right. I had planned on a background that would suggest foliage behind the stems. Something soft and lacking detail. Below is the first attempt. It looked a lot better in person, but still was not… pleasing. (Clicking on the image description will take you to an attachment page if the image is not loading here.)

For some reason, none of the scans were working for me. Usually I have to make minimal adjustments in Photoshop, to get the scanned image to look like the original. Even in the final image above, the colors are not a true representation.

The sky is richer, I used a glaze of ultramarine to add some variation and depth. The yellows look flat and cold, and in reality there are three different tones, and overall the blooms are much warmer. Only the leaves and stems look like the original.

First try

Sure I had destroyed this piece, I decided to go dark, and just cover up all that awfulness. Hide the evidence, right. I even considered covering the sky in darkness. Going straight for graphic. I wasn’t happy with the result, and thought about ripping it up.

2nd try

Next I washed off most of the Indigo.I didn’t have a clue what to do. But I realized I really liked the contrast of the blue with the blooms, and leaves. So I tried again with the indigo. But instead of adding the color to dry paper, I wet each section first, and dropped in color from a wet brush.

3rd try

Actually there at least three other attempts in between. The paper really got a work out. Still unhappy with my results, I digitally remove the cloud. I also digitally cropped almost an inch off the left side, and the top. I think that made all the difference. ( I have since edited the original.) So the name, Sunflowers On The Side no longer fits. Maybe I should name it Survivors.