Behind the scenes- The Four Seasons

This week I decided to paint four 5x7-inch watercolors to depict the four seasons. 

When I do art shows I have a few framed sets of four giclées that I offer, and people always ask me if I have one that has all four seasons in it. I'm very happy to say that I no longer have to tell them, "I'm sorry, but no." 

I decided to do the same landscape in each painting, but to make it appear to have been done from slightly different distances and angles, as if they were done at four different times. Today I'm not going to show you step-by-step painting steps for my watercolors, but I'm going to share with you some of the planning that went into these paintings. 

I started with this little value sketch that I did in Glen Ayre, NC last year. 

From this sketch I created four new value drawings depicting what the four seasons might look like in this location. These were to be used as plans for the four completed paintings, and were done slightly smaller than the completed paintings.

I also made a plan for the colors I would use in each scene.

I decided to make each painting 5x7 inches. I taped town four pieces of paper and drew in the outline of each scene. Two of them are upside down in the photo because I wanted to be able to work on each of them without leaning over the others.

And here are the completed paintings! I used American Journey paints from Cheap Joe's Art Stuff for the most part, as well as transparent oxide red and quinacridone gold from Daniel Smith.

Winter

Spring

Summer

Autumn

I will also make giclée prints of these paintings and offer them as framed sets in a vertical format. I hope you enjoyed seeing a little bit of the planning that went into my "Seasons" paintings! 

Once you leave your comments below please Like my Page on Facebook!!

You can also see more artwork on my website at www.LauraPoss.com 

Booth Upgrade Step One- Pro Panels!!

If you follow my facebook page, you may already be aware that my art show booth has undergone some major changes over the past few months. First I bought Pro Panels in February. That was enough to really improve the the appearance of my display, but I didn't stop there. Last week I also purchased a new canopy, and it feels like a new booth! It is a new booth! The difference it has made has been tremendous, and I'm so pleased with the choices that I made, that I wanted to share them with you.

The photo on the above shows my booth last October with my old grid walls.

I've wanted Pro Panels for a long time. As soon as my husband, John, and I started participating in art shows with my watercolors, we noticed that the really professional-looking artists had "those carpet-covered walls". If you don't already know, you can probably guess that they are not cheap. They're totally worth the price, if you ask me... but weren't in my budget yet. As a beginning artist I purchased black metal "grid walls", and I stuck with them for a couple of years. They work fine, and are sturdy, but not so attractive or lightweight as Pro Panels.


So... I was really excited when John found a large set of Pro Panels and accessories on eBay for an awesome price! They were all the way in Connecticut, 700 miles away, but we both felt like a road trip, and they were such an a great deal, so we decided to drive there and back quickly, with one overnight stay.

Here we go, and boy, am I glad John does all the driving! I get to look out the window and take pictures..

Since we found the panels online, we were a little worried on the way, that they wouldn't be in good shape, or some other problem would occur. But we worried for nothing... the panels were in excellent shape, were a fantastic value, and came with more pieces than we expected! Of course we didn't pay for them until we saw them. I wouldn't recommend anyone make such a purchase sight unseen. If the panels weren't what we expected, at least we would only be out a fun road trip!

Speaking of which... our trip took us through New York City and Philadelphia. We'd never been to either city before, so we took advantage of the situation. We stopped in Philly on the way, and got cheesesteaks from Campo's (oh, they were delicious!!), and we spent the night at the Day's Inn in Queens! (comfy, but we only stayed a few hours, so we would have time to see a few sights!)

We saw Times Square at night, and the next morning we drove around Manhattan, and saw ground zero, and the Empire State Building, and rode the Staten Island Ferry right past the Statue of Liberty, and basically had an awesome time! I even did a little sketch of Manhattan in my travel journal while we were on the ferry.


I've done a few shows since we replaced our grid walls with Pro Panels, and I think they look fantastic. I really think they were worth every penny and I bet that I will find that the improvement in the appearance of my booth will boost my sales, too. I've been getting a lot of compliments from my customers, so I think they agree! What do you think?

The photos below show my booth "before", with grid walls, and "after" with Pro Panels.



After you leave your comments below, check out my facebook page for more photos and info, or visit my website, LauraPoss.com. Thanks!

PS- If you want to see more photos from my trip, click here:I ♥ NY Photos
Click here to zoom into the future and read my post about making skirts for my Pro Panels.

Value Studies

A value study is a great way to prepare for a new painting, and helps ensure that you will get the result you want when you paint your final painting. A value study is a sketch using only one color. Usually it will be smaller than the final painting, and done far more quickly. The advantage of a value study is that you take the focus off of the colors, and put it on placement and values.

I read about value studies many times before I tried it myself. I did one for the first time while at a workshop with Joe Miller. Now I consider it an important step in my artistic process.

I almost always do a value study of some kind for every larger painting, even if it's only with a regular pencil and shading. They're not always pretty, and are usually done very quickly. Pencil value studies, I spend maybe 2-5 minutes. If I paint it, maybe 15-20 minutes.

*Tip- If you do value studies with paint, don't choose a light color on your palette! You won't be able to create values that are very dark with a light color! My favorite choices for value studies in watercolor are ultramarine, burnt umber, sap green, and quinacradone gold.

The pics I have here are some of my favorites I've done. (And least sloppy!) I hope you enjoy them, and find them useful to get you started practicing your own value studies! :)

As always, happy painting! Leave your comments or questions below... don't be shy! I want to hear from you!

If you like, please also visit my website at www.lauraposs.com.

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How to stretch watercolor paper

Stretching watercolor paper keeps it from buckling while you are painting on it. It is not necessary for 300-pound paper, but lighter papers will buckle when they get wet. 300 pound paper gets expensive, so many watercolor artists buy 140- pound paper and stretch it to a hard surface.

There are lots of ways to do this. Today I'm going to share with you how I do it. I drew some little doodles in my notebook to help you see what I mean.

You need a hard backing surface to stretch the paper to. I use gatorboard (aka. gatorfoam board). Gatorboard is similar to a super-thick piece of foam board, but it has a much stronger outer surface that will hold up a lot longer than foam board. It's lightweight, easy to staple (and remove staples from), and doesn't mind getting soaked, so it's perfect for this purpose. (You can find it at various art supply stores under different names, or you can order gatorboard from Cheap Joes Art Stuff, at http://www.cheapjoes.com- my favorite place!)

Other supplies: water, stapler and staples, masking tape or artist's tape, watercolor paper


Steps:

1. First I cut my paper to the size I need, and lay my gatorboard flat on a table or counter.

2. Next I hold the paper under cool, running water in the sink or bathtub, moving it around until it's thoroughly wet everywhere on both sides. I really let it run over it for a couple of minutes on both sides, so it gets nice and soaked. (Some artists choose to actually soak their paper in a tub of water.) After I've done this on both sides of the paper, I hold it up by one corner and let the water run off until it stops running and starts dripping. Then I hold the opposite corner up for a few seconds, so the excess water settles back onto the paper more evenly (vs. being pooled in one corner).

 

3. Then I lay the paper flat on top of the gatorboard and start to watch what happens. (Note- loose sheets of watercolor paper should be the same on both sides. Paper removed from a block or pad may have a front and back side.) As it buckles (ie. creates big wrinkles or waves), I tug gently on the sides to flatten it back out. If some areas (like corners) are drying to the point where they lose their sheen while other places are still very wet, I'll mist them with a spritz bottle to make them shiny again. Once most or all of the paper has absorbed the excess water and is no longer shiny, it's time to start stapling it down.

4. I start stapling the paper to the gatorboard along the outer edges of the paper. First I put a staple in the middle of one of the shorter sides of the paper. Then I turn the board around, pull on the opposite side until the paper is taut, and put a staple directly across the page from the first one. When pulling the paper tight, I tug on it just enough to see it strain against the staple. If you pull more, it will tear the staple out. Next, I repeat the process on the longer two sides of the paper, starting in the middle of one side, then pulling taut and doing the opposite staple. I do the corners next, using the same process of pulling the paper taut each time. It's a bit like stretching a canvas or even something like a drum.

If by the time I've stapled the centers of all four sides and corners, one of the first staples needs to be adjusted, I just pull it out with my fingernails, pull the page taut, and put another staple in. For a large piece of paper, I'll often do 3 staples in the middle of each side before moving onto the corners, such as in the drawing below.

Once the centers and corners are finished, I simply go around the rest of the paper edges with my stapler, placing staples about 1/2-inch apart al the way around the page. If I do them too far apart, sometimes wrinkles/buckles will pop up between staples as the paper is drying and that's frustrating.

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5. Next I just have to let the paper dry completely before it's ready to use. This can be sped up with a hair dryer, if desired. Don't try to draw on it until it's completely dried!

6. For a finishing touch, I tape the edges of my paper with masking or artist's tape, covering the edge of the paper and all the staples. This keeps water and paint from running under the paper while I'm painting, and also makes a nice clean edge all around my painting when I am done. When I finish painting, I simply remove the tape, pull the paper off the board, and remove the staples. (You can remove the staples first if it's easier. I have a tool that makes it easier to remove them after taking the paper off the board.)

Happy painting! Leave your comments or questions below... don't be shy! I want to hear from you!

My art: lauraposs.com

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Handprint

HANDPRINT: http://www.handprint.com/HP/WCL/water.html

If you enjoy watercolor painting, you have to check out this website. The main page claims " the world's finest guide to watercolor painting", and I cannot disagree. This site is created by Bruce MacEvoy. You can learn more about him by clicking on "FAQ" from the main page, and see his artwork by clicking "recent works" from the main page.

If you are new to the site, I suggest you hop on over there, (after you finish here, of course) and click on "intro" at the top of the list of links on the left side of the page. From there you can read a info about the site, and explore the site map.

The site map on this site is an extremely long list of all of the content within the site. You can click on anything on the list to see the page containing the information which interests you. This fabulously detailed list begins with links to a wealth of information about the tools and materials for watercolors. Paints, brushes, paper, pallattes- even including things like explanations of how the paints are made and guides to the many choices and brands available. There's also tons of instructional info like color theory and mixing, composition and design, drawing and watercolor technique, and lots more "how-to"s. Unbelieveably, that's just half of the list! They also offer an extensive directory of instructional books available, complete with full reviews, a directory of retailers for the watercolor artist, and one more incredible thing: a large online watercolor painting exhibit. Artists are chosen from the 18th century to today, and works and stories of their lives are there, on this amazing website, for you to study and enjoy.

Have fun!!

lauraposs.com