VIRTUALLY VISITING THE VIRGIN ISLANDS

Virtual Paintout re-opened with a tour of the U.S. Virgin Islands.  Who doesn't love sky-blue water and white sand? Even better, the Google Street View people took their cameras down for strolls along the beach and rides on the water.  Plus no dealing with crowds, or traffic, or crabby customs agents groping through the underwear in one's luggage. Only thing I missed was the flavor of tropical fruit and the scent of freshly grilled seafood.

Anyway.  After spending a whole evening virtually wandering about I chose three locations to capture on watercolor paper. 

The first painting I did was of a location along a long sandy stretch looking out over the water with sailboats in the foreground and an incoming storm.  No worrying about rain ruining my painting though.  Another advantage of the virtual experience.

The second spot looked like a place to get food and rent beach stuff at an area called Rainbow Beach.  I loved the mango and lime color of the building and the fun idea of cruising around the island in that open off-road auto with the big tires.  

The last location I chose was from a water tour into a bay full of boats and ships.  I was able to stop the ride right where I wanted to set up my painting tools and get to work.  Nobody complained about me making them wait in the hot sun while I captured the scene.

These paintings are posted at Virtual Paintout just one down from the top here--Virtual Paintout U.S. Virgin Islands  and they can be seen with a more of my paintings for sale at my Etsy site.  

September's location is Amsterdam!

PINT JARS

I sold a couple of paintings in the last two weeks so I had to get busy and replenish the inventory of my Etsy Shop.  I like the challenge of painting glass and reflections so I set up two of my old pint jars and filled them with some vintage marbles from my collection.

Canning jars were once very much a part of everyday life. They were filled with garden and orchard produce at the height of readiness to be processed and stored against the dark days of winter. Now some antique jars are used to hold other items.

After working out a composition and making a sketch or two I transferred a pencil drawing to watercolor paper and stretched it.  When it was ready I painted in a neutral background and began the shadows of the foreground

After that it was mostly just reproducing and enhancing what I'd selected from my reference photos.

It took several days and hours of work to finally work my way through all the details of the marbles and the glass of the jars.

So there it is, "Pint Jars" ready to be purchased as a gift for someone who likes antique glass or for a present for yourself; ready to be framed and displayed.  See it for sale here.

JARS AND BOTTLE

This painting is done using some of the bottles from my collection of antique glass.

Here is the final result.  It is 9 inches wide and 12 inches high and is painted on Arches 140 cold press paper with Winsor Newton and Daniel Smith professional pigments.  It reminds me of warm afternoons helping my grandma can apricots from the tree in her back yard.

After penciling in a sketch, I masked out some of the areas I wanted to remain the white of the paper and then floated in a wash of purples and greens for the background.

Then I went to work adding details to the big Mason jar.

It took several hours over several days to finish all the details of the glass and the reflections in the surface of the shelf.  This painting and many others are for sale at my Etsy site, Watercolors by Leenie.

CLOTHESLINE

My previous painting, "Special Delivery" would be a great Father's Day gift.  This one which I'm calling, "Clothesline," would be a nice one to give on Mother's Day.

I grew up long before most homes included an automatic dryer so I've done my share of hanging out clothes.  I even blogged about it here.  And this isn't my first painting on the subject of hanging out clothes.  Another one I posted about here.

And I'm well aware of the job becoming a miserable chore when the weather is freezing or rainy or when a big wind full of dirt comes up.  Still I persist in remembering the joy of white sheets against blue sky with birds singing, accompanied by happy baby babble.  

So I drew up a composition and went to work layering in colors of green for the trees and lawn, working around all the areas I wanted to retain the white of the paper.

I got to this point without much concern.  Trees and grass are pretty forgiving even when the artist gets a little sloppy.  The dog went okay with his happy smile and floppy tongue.  But I had to put the whole thing away and think about it overnight... 

...before I got brave enough to take on the faces of the mom and baby.  This and many more of my paintings are available for sale at my Etsy Site, Watercolors by Leenie.

SPECIAL DELIVERY

I've just finished another watercolor.  This one I'm calling, "Special Delivery."  It is available for purchase at my Etsy Site, Watercolors by Leenie.

Here is a fisherman enjoying a morning away from his daily duties.  He's delivering a lure across the water hoping to attract the attention of a big fish.

I used some of my photos as references, put together a composition and then made a line drawing to be transferred to 140cp Arches watercolor paper.

I used masking fluid to protect some whites I wanted to preserve and then put down a layer of bright yellow highlights.

When that wash was dry I added darker details to the trees.

The final details to the fisherman and the water I put in the next day.  The completed work is 11 inches high and 15 inches wide.  

I had to get busy painting after I sold six large works to a store in North Carolina and another to a repeat customer in California.   I'm guessing these people recognize the prices for these one-of-a-kind paintings are way below what they would cost in a gallery. 

IRONSTONE

I've finished and posted a new watercolor at my Etsy Site - Watercolors by Leenie.

It is of an antique pitcher and basin I saw on a table in the ghost town of Custer, Idaho. 

Late in the 1800's Custer, Idaho was a booming gold mining town. When the gold played out it was abandoned. Today Custer has been restored and preserved for history. Some of the items in the buildings were left behind by former inhabitants. Others are antiques from that era.

 

By a sunny window decorated with lace curtains, this pitcher and basin reflected the light. I tried to capture the pearlescent colors and the shine of the surfaces. All the time I was painting I was thinking of pioneer women who brought fine china to display in their houses as they worked to call this rustic place home.

"Ironstone" is my 11x15 inch ORIGINAL WATERCOLOR painted on Arches 140cp watercolor paper with Winsor Newton and Daniel Smith professional pigments. This is a one of a kind work of art.

OREGON COAST September 2017 – Part 4—Manzanita, Cannon Beach, Seaside

The watercolor artist retreat met at Manzanita, Oregon. Manzanita is a beach town located on The Pacific Coast Highway between Seaside and Tillamook.

It has a huge flat beach which has many moods depending on the weather and tides.

At the north end of the long beach is Neahkahnie Mountain. If you wander way up the beach from town you can even see where the ocean has worn a hole through the headland.

Here is my version of the arch. 

The town is a quiet place but with plenty going on in the way of food, arts and recreation.

If you sit on the hill just above the beach to sketch, you’ll find plenty of scenery plus a good measure of people watching.

 The sunsets are well worth waiting for.

Usually September on the Oregon coast is called “second summer” because of the mild sunny weather. But this time the wind was heavy and the seas rough on several days.

So we got opportunities for challenging seascapes.

I made a trip up the coast to visit Cannon Beach and Haystack Rock.

If you know where to look, you can see Tillamook Lighthouse built on a hunk of rock about a mile off shore. It has quite a history since the waves can be tumultuous and the fog heavy. Just building it cost several lives and many others followed trying to maintain the light to warn ships off the rocks. It was decommissioned in 1957.

It was a windy day when I visited Seaside South Beach to see if I could spot the gray whales reported in the water there.

These young Heermann’s gulls were hunkered down and waiting for better weather to go fishing. I didn’t see any whales.

So I went into town and had lunch at Norma’s. Great food.

If you’re in the mood for saltwater taffy, Seaside Candyman has 180 flavors. I picked out anything with chocolate plus some other kinds to share with the family at home.

For more of my watercolor paintings visit my Etsy Shop.  Or click on the Watercolors by Leenie button on the upper left of this blog page.

OREGON COAST September 2017 – Part 3—Barns, School, Beach

The final part of my drive to the Pacific took me past Newberg and on by scenic farms and vineyards then along Highway 6 through Tillamook State Forest. I stopped several times to take photos.

I later made a painting of this barn. I call this one “Transition.” The changes of time gives old barns so much character. Also you can see the transition from near to far by the shade of the hills in the background.

This huge building has a sign on it which says, “The Christmas Barn.”

Here is my portrait of the place. Both these paintings are for sale at my Etsy Site: Watercolors by Leenie. 

When I came through the forest into the valley near the town of Tillamook, Oregon I looked up the Maple Leaf School.

It has been restored from an empty building with blackberry bushes growing through the floors to what is now the Latimer Quilt and Textile Center.

In 1924-26 my father attended school there. This is a painting I made from old photos for him while he was still alive.

His mother saved most of his report cards. This is one from his second grade. He was a pretty good student!

Here is a photo of him in first grade. This was not at the Tillamook School but from farther north along the Oregon coast in Warrenton. Dad is third from the left in the middle row.

Now, on the stage where he may have sung in programs with his classmates, was a display of textile art.

And the room where my dad practiced arithmetic and spelling was filled with looms and spinning wheels.

That evening I reached my destination and was finally out of the heavy smoke from the surrounding wildfires. Air quality had gone from unhealthy to hazardous over Oregon as the huge fire just east of Portland spread causing evacuations of towns along the Columbia. Even with all the efforts of the fire fighters, the forests continued to burn for weeks. The month was dubbed, “Smoketember” by the Oregon news reporters.

ANTIQUE GLASS TWO - Another original by me

I've been working on more watercolor paintings of glass bottles.  I have a small collection of vintage bottles I've found in thrift shops and dusty basements which I sometimes set up for still life scenes.

This one I decided to do by switching around colors from those of the originals.  The gray color you see here is masking fluid I applied to make sure the white of the paper was preserved while I applied the background. 

Here I've started to add some pretty unconventional colors to the jars and bottles.

Then I pulled off the masking and continued to paint in the details.

The final piece I named "Antique Bottles Two"

 Because I'd already done a painting of this scene with more realistic colors.

They are both for sale along with many others at my Etsy Site:  Watercolors by Leenie.