Owner: artEzan URL:http://artezan.blogspot.com/ Join Date: Mon, 20 Nov 2006 06:19:56 -0600 Rating:0 Site Description: The blog of a watercolor artist, with lots of paintings, sketches and musing about art and life in general. Some articles related to art or art materials and whatever I feel like writing about when I feel like writing I guess. Site statistics:Click here
Tea 1970-01-01 00:59:59 France lost the World Cup today. That was very sad to see. But I did manage to make this little beauty!
Terrace 1970-01-01 00:59:59 OK this one was tough to finish, but I am satisfied with it now. The photograph is off just a bit, but that's the best I can do now. If I manage to take a better shot I will change it.
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Self Portrait 1970-01-01 00:59:59 I have never done a self portrait before, but I decided to brave it and see how it goes. 3 colors are all I used for this painting: permanent alizarin crimson, french ultramarine blue and yellow ochre all W&N Artist paints. It is a small 10"x7" on W&N cold pressed Paper. I used a strange technique painting this. I placed the paint and blotted it off constantly throughout the process. I was careful not to lift any paint that had dried before, but I wanted a light effect throughout and a purple tinge to the whole painting. I think I succeeded. Don't really like the eyes too much, they came out too harsh, but I will live with it.
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, Self Portrait
Rainy Day 1970-01-01 00:59:59 One more for tonight. This is a small ACEO3.5 x 2.5. I like the feel of it!
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Lovely Day 1970-01-01 00:59:59 What is it about reading outdoors that makes it so wonderful? Is it the juxtaposition of the wide open space around you against the comparably wide open space inside the mind that is building the images from the narrative? Maybe. What ever it is, it is a lovely ritual that should never be done with newspapers. (ACEO 3.5 x 2.5)
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Maya's Sick Day 1970-01-01 00:59:59 Friday was Maya's "sick" day. She had a bad cough and just wanted to have the day off from pre-school so I stayed with her. She loved wearing her new pink robe and I just had to sketch her while she watched Dora.I used Sepia ink and a wash of Perm. Alz Crimson in my sketch book. When she noticed me doing it, I sketched this rose-water dripper and box. I find myself always sketching the kids from the back. I need to find a way to sketch them form the front without them getting self conscious and wanting to see what I have done so far. Have you ever tried photographing a kid with a digital camera? They know that as soon as you click the picture they can see it, so what do they do? come to see it even before you click the picture! :-D
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I took the bus the other day 1970-01-01 00:59:59 I never thought that public transportation would be so rich with sketching subjects, but here it is. I could spend days doing this!Of course you have to work fast and the bus does tend to want to participate in your strokes, but for the fare? I can live with that.
From the sketch book 1970-01-01 00:59:59 Winter is fast approaching and we are taking advantage of the cool weather to be outdoors and enjoy the parks before the snow comes. The girls love the swings the most, but Maya also loves being in the sand/mud!
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Pot and Apples 1970-01-01 00:59:59 Here is a failed attempt at a colorfull still life. I used the wrong blue and had to muddy it up trying to cover it with the right one! Ah well!
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Revamped Website 1970-01-01 00:59:59 I just updating my website today. My HD went belly-up a couple of weeks ago and I had to rescan and photograph all my paintings. Along the way I decided it was time to revamp the website that has been neglected and collecting dust. Well I hope it will not do that any more.Visit here please and let me know what you think. http://www.artezan.50g.com/index.htm
White Cow 1970-01-01 00:59:59 Cows are also a favorite topic. Here is another one. Hmmm last days of summer! (ACEO 3.5 x 2.5)
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Potted Tree 1970-01-01 00:59:59 Shadows are a topic that I love to handle in Watercolors. This is a test for a larger painting which I hope to finish soon! (ACEO 3.5 x 2.5)
Sunday Lunch 1970-01-01 00:59:59 Not entirely satisfied with the color scheme on this one but I will have to live with it... Unless I decide to spoil it by overworking it. I wanted it to be warmer, but alas the colors didn't comply. Sometimes I swear my pallet and brush have a mind of their own.
Read more:Sunday
, Lunch
Surfers 1970-01-01 00:59:59 I think this week is going to be good on the creative side. I really like this painting. I seem to be enjoying painting with a limited pallet much more than with a fuller one. Note to self, loose the extra colors. The paper gave me trouble a bit and I was rough with the razor on the waves, but I think it was well worth it.Something about the sea is so freeing to paint. I grew up within walking distance to the sea and I love thinking back to younger, freer times when we could spend days on end at the beach with no worries!
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Black Cow White Cow 1970-01-01 00:59:59 Just starting off my artEzan blog with today's miniature (4x3") painting of cows in the shade. I call this one Black
Cow White
Cow. If you have seen my art before, you can tell that I love the color purple and I love painting shadows. I believe that shadows give soul to paintings and bring them to life.I took a picture of these two cows on a trip to Orangeville Ontario. It was a hot and very bright day and those cows knew exactly what they needed to do to stay cool.
Color Swatches 1970-01-01 00:59:59 I wanted to try out some of my colors a bit this morning. I started by putting a bit of color in my pallets for mixing and then figured out that the better way to do this is to use two brushes. Put one color on each brush and then feed one brush from the other with every stroke. Works much better. Unfortunately, I only realized that 2/3 of the way through.Still trying to figure out the Quind. Magenta as a color. It is very beautiful, but now I need to throw a saddle on it and it is bucking!
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The Autumn leaves.... 1970-01-01 00:59:59 The Autumnleaves
, drift through my window...The autumn leaves, all red and gold. La la la laaaaaa. hm hm hm hmm hmmmm.If you have kids and you want to collect leave with them this season, there is a neat way to preserve the leaves from crumbling and fading away. Submerge the leaves in a solution of glycerin and water. Yes the regular glycerin you have in your medicine cabinet. Mix one part glycerin to two parts water and place it in a flat pan. Now submerge the leaves in a single layer in the mixture. Make sure the leaves stay submerged by weighing them down, but try to use something that is unobtrusive to weigh them down with. You want the leaves to absorb the liquid. Leave them submerged for a few days so that they absorb enough of the mixture and become soft and pliable. Remove them and wipe with a soft cloth. The leaves will remain soft and pliable for a very long time. Enjoy!
She Shells ... 1970-01-01 00:59:59 Why is it that we are never satisfied with the paintings we make. I look at this one and I love the feel of it. I like its brightness and its texture, but something keeps me from saying I am fully satisfied with it. Perhaps we are not meant to be satisfied with the things we create. We are not mean to sit back and say "Its a good thing"!More to come on the beach theme. I am still struggling with the water and this Fabriano paper!
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Grapes 1970-01-01 00:59:59 The Watercolor Workshop group has an "In A Bowl" theme for the month. This is my attempt at an entry for that month.The painting is 12 1/2" x 9" and is one of my favorites so far. I like how it turned out with the colors and the simple but fulfilling subject. I did the highlights but sanding the paper back to white and the texture of the paper worked well I think in giving the grapes a good feel.Well... What do you think?
Red Umbrella 1970-01-01 00:59:59 OK one more for today!Red Umbrella (ACEO 3.5 x 2.5)
Shopping 1970-01-01 00:59:59 2 small doodles just for fun today! (ACEO 3.5 x 2.5)
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Nile Dawn 1970-01-01 00:59:59 Glued to CNN, but still needed to doodle to take my mind off of the news. Family is still in Beirut, but hopefully they will be out soon. Meanwhile here is a moody doodle.
Argeeli 1970-01-01 00:59:59 Lebanon does not deserve to go through war again. After the people of that small country spent years working hard to rebuild their land, brick by brick, in less than 5 days it has been destroyed again and many have died. The sins of the few have been quenched by the tears and blood of the many. Such a sad sad thing to see. This painting reflects the better days of Lebanon. Tranquil afternoons and fog tipped mountains. Here is to you Lebanon, you will rise again.
In The Shade 1970-01-01 00:59:59 I wanted to make a small painting today. I was searching for idea when I ran across this image of a tree in a suburban setting. I loved the tree and it's colors, but I didn't care much for the suburban setting that it was in.I love cows. I think they are just wonderful subjects for painting and I never tire of using them in my painting. I had this stock photo of a cow that I felt would fit wonderfully under that tree.Here is the final painting. Nothing like the original source material is it? For me that is the perfect use of reference photos. Get the ideas flowing and then be creative and make your own scene. I hope you enjoy this one
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Watching TV 1970-01-01 00:59:59 I am really enjoying working with ink on paper. I used to think that India ink was more useful for art drawing. How wrong I was. Regular ink is so much more expressive. A touch of water and you have a wonderful effect that is sometimes spontaneous and uncontrollable. This is the case with the mouth and eyebrow in this drawing. Not exactly what I had in mind, but I still love this little drawing a lot.
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What next? (A rant) 1970-01-01 00:59:59 It seems that there is no end to the tasteless commercialization of art on the Internet. Site after site is springing up today urging artists and photographers (artists in their own right) to peddle their work not as art, but as mass produced mugs, t-shirts, buttons, baseball hats. You name it - they have it. And if they haven't thought of it yet, they will soon. Let's do a reality check: These sites or "services" are not venues for selling art. They are peddlers of cheap mugs, t-shirts, buttons and baseball hats. Your art is incidental to their business. Whether you decide to place your latest masterpiece on the mug or a mugshot of uncle Joe, is of no relevance to them. Their mission is to sell you the dollar-store mug at a $12.95 mark-up and give you the hope that someone will buy the same and earn you a $1.50 "commission" on your work.I admit to selling my work through Giclee reproductions. Giclees, unlike mugs, are high quality reproductions of artwork. Their purpose is to allow
10 minute sketches 1970-01-01 00:59:59 I have always focused on gesture and impressions in my sketches. Today I was challenged to draw the kids, so I did. I think for quick 10 minute sketches these are not bad at all.
Slobs Anonymous 1970-01-01 00:59:59 My name is Zan and I am a slob. I can't help it. I organize this desk on a weekly basis and on a weekly basis I have to go through it again like an archaeologist. Peeling off layer by layer of stuff.What can I do? I tried tidying up my stuff, finding place for it within reach. I even go through my stuff on a regular basis and brutally throw away anything that is not archaeologically related to a certain period. Nothing seems to work.I would love to hear from the readers of this blog what you do to stay neat. I am willing to try anything at this stage.
Value Mate 1970-01-01 00:59:59 I am sure I saw this or something like it in a book somewhere so I am not claiming it as an original idea, but I think it is a good idea and I want to share it with you. It is what I will call a Value
Mate. A tool used to help you determine the values in your desired painting subject.How to make a ValueMate:Go to your local hardware or home paint store. Once there, look for a color swatch with "black" as the darkest color on it. These usually come in five, six or seven gradations from the dark to a light value. I prefer to use a six graded swatch just to keep things simple. These swatches (or at least the ones I have found) don't have pure white in them. That is something you will have to keep in mind when you are using them. Anything that registers off the value swatch is simply white.Now take the swatch and use a hole puncher to punch a hole in each of the value grades. make the hole on the side of the swatch so you can locate the parts of the subject when you are using the ValueMate
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