Buckhorn Artists' Group Blog - Heather Grant

Today I posted Heather Grant's biography and a piece of her artwork to the Buckhorn Artists' Group blog.

Roses and Rose Cascade - Two Works in Progress

The roses had been masked out first to protect the whites.

Various mixtures of Antwerp blue and French ultramarine blue and greens made by using the two blues and raw sienna were set in small containers.

A dark was mixed of French ultramarine blue, burnt sienna and alizarin crimson and set aside.

Rose Cascade

The paper was wet and the blue mixtures and green mixtures were poured over the entire background and rolled around. As the paper started to dry and there is more control over the paint the dark mixture was poured mainly around the flowers and then splattered over some areas.

The paintings were then set aside to allow the background to dry completely before the masking fluid was removed.

Using a wash of alizarin the roses that were going to be either pink or red had the first layers of colour applied.

Raw sienna was used on the orange or yellow roses as a base layer.

On the white rose a pale wash of French ultramarine blue was used to indicate where the darkest shadow would fall across the petals of the rose.

Roses

Up to the first three layers of colour have been applied to some of the rose petals.

Tranquil Afternoon - A Work in Progress

While going through some boxes I came across a number of partially finished paintings.

This one had the sky, distant shoreline and water completed. The under painting on the rocks and the closer trees had been completed.

I finished the trees and added some dead tree trunks in among the trees on the island to complete that part of the painting.















Dark shadows and some definition were added to the rocks, giving them shape. Once the painting had dried I removed the masking fluid from the water lilies.

It is fitting that with the Art of the Turtle Show being held tonight that I work on a painting with water which would be an ideal habitat for turtles.

The show was well attended with all paintings meeting or exceeding the reserve price and the highest price paid in the live auction was $480.00.

Thank you for taking the time to visit my blog and look at the artwork.

Frozen Birches - A Work in Progress

This is an interesting exercise using a monochrome for the background and painting in the negative.

Using only Antwerp blue the entire background area with the exception of the center tree was painted with a light wash.

A little more pigment was added to the wash and the next layer was painted leaving the original tree as white paper and the next two closest trees with just the original wash.

Each layer was built up by adding a little more pigment to the wash to darken it and leaving a few more trees.

Each layer leaves the original trees untouched and leaving smaller and darker trees.

The painting was left to dry and using pure pigment with a small amount of water the "whip" marks were painted into the background birch trees as well as the smaller branches on the trees.

I will post this piece at a later date as more of it is completed.

Wary

This is a little watercolour plein air painting I did while watching my horses out in the field.

My Quarter horse mare, Sunsets L'il Eclipse kept approaching to see what I was doing. She would stand a short distance away watching me, then snort, turn and trot away with her tail bannered.

I will frame this painting later today. It is available for $65.00. SOLD

Windblown Poppies - A Work in Progress

Today was the last meeting of the Buckhorn Painters Group until September. This was one of the paintings I worked on while I was there.

The poppies had been drawn onto the paper and then masked out.

Once the masking fluid was dry the soft background was created by wetting the paper and then pouring in a medium mixture of raw sienna and rolling it around on the paper to cover the area behind the masked out poppies and leaving some areas of white showing.

While the paper was gradually drying a green of raw sienna and Antwerp blue was poured into the middle of the cluster of poppies. Using a flat brush it was moved outwards from the poppies to give the impression of foliage.

As the paper was drying French ultramarine blue was added to darken the green mix and a few more leaves were painted into the lighter green with a little more detail to give some definition to the poppy leaves. The background is now completed and the painting was set aside to dry completely before removing the masking fluid.

Each petal is painted in stages. The base colour is a wash of alizarin crimson and the areas where the bright white highlight will be is left completely without paint, allowing the paper to be my white.










A little more alizarin crimson is added to the wash to darken the colour slightly and the next layer of colour is applied leaving the palest areas with just the base wash of colour. To the third layer of paint a small amount of cadmium red is added to the alizarin crimson which seems to give a richer more vibrant colour. More cadmium red is added to the colour mix and another layer of colour is applied.

A little bit of the green mix is glazed over the red and is painted in the areas where the darkest colour will be located and to show some of the reflected greens from the background colour. Some of the highlights are painted in with cadmium yellow to give a soft golden glow.

A very dark purple mixture of French ultramarine blue, alizarin crimson and burnt sienna is used for the dark center of the poppy.

The stems and buds are painted using various greens made from mixtures of Antwerp blue, raw sienna and French ultramarine blue.

The poppies are in various stages of completion as layers of wash are gradually built up on each petal and stalk.

As I finish more of the flowers I will post this to the blog.

Thank you for taking the time to look at my artwork and I hope you will return often.

OSWOA - Experimenting with Templates

For this piece make a wash of raw sienna and another of alizarin crimson. Pour the colours onto the paper and roll it around to blend slightly in some areas. Then set the painting aside to dry.

While waiting for the paint to dry cut a template from a piece of paper in a ragged shape. Place it onto the dry painting and holding it in place paint around it using various shades of green and add some blues and reds for interest. Once the background has been finished set aside the template and it can be used again.

Mix together raw sienna and alizarin crimson, with a touch of burnt sienna. Gradually paint in the petals on the flower to give them shape.

Add a little more burnt sienna to the mixture and paint the shadow of the trumpet. Using pure burnt sienna paint in the pistol, and add a little of the greens to indicate the stamen around it.














Hibiscus

Using some of the green mixtures make two or three detailed leaves around the remaining yellow and peach shapes.

If you would like more information about OSWOA please go to my post on 12 March 2010.

Hibiscus is an original watercolour painting using Artist quality Winsor & Newton paint on 140lb. Arches 100% rag, acid free watercolour paper. It is available for $30.00 and sold unframed. SOLD