Monday, December 24, 2018

Colorful, whimsical paintings that touch your heart! Year end posting.

Lobstah! Watercolor travel sketch
In 2018 I have focused on adding more colorful, whimsical oil and acrylic paintings to my work as well as Urban Sketching and watercolor travel sketching.

This past summer I was blessed to be able to travel to New England with my husband. We like to do long car trips together & we ended up in Portsmouth, NH. One of our favorite spots is Newick's Lobster House. It's always a fine, if messy dinner. I created a small watercolor sketch the next morning. I really liked the juiciness of the paint and the black ink lines. One of my goals for 2018 was to add more whimsy to my paintings and I think this captured it.

Lobstah II! 12x12" Acrylic
 Recently (December 2018) I decided to create a larger painting inspired by the small watercolor. It was fun to experiment with acrylics and use a stencil for the checkered tablecloth, moving a bit away from reality & towards that whimsy. I am continuing to develop this painting and will post another view soon.

Lobstah beginnings
 While in Portsmouth I was really inspired by the work of Ann Trainor Domingue. (click to see more of her works) She starts her paintings sometimes with a bold outline, so I decided to experiment too.


I started with an underpainting of yellows to create a glow. Golden has such a nice line of acrylic paint in heavy body, fluid and high flow consistencies.



Now it's Christmas Eve and I'm working on updating my blog. Just wanted to share a recent painting with you. 2018 was filled with travel for me & I expect more paintings to emerge from the hundreds of images I took. Stay tuned.

I hope 2019 is filled with beautiful moments, good health and prosperity for us all.

I am grateful for the many blessings of my life as it is today!

Start where you are
Love what you have
Do what you can