Watercolors By Marian

Dreams Grapes

2009-08-30T19:01:00.000-07:00

I did this painting this weekend using gel medium with watercolor. The gel medium allowed me to lift whites more easily.

Orange You Glad?

2009-06-28T07:58:00.000-07:00

After taking a class from Frank Webb last week, I decided to use one of his compositional techniques for this painting. It gradates from left to right -- darker to lighter. It is a rarely used, good compositional technique according to Frank. I found that I had to make the one flower on the right (seond one in on the bottom) a much darker red to balance the painting. Before I did that, it looked like two different paintings -- one soft on the right and one bold on the left.

These poppies were in a side yard of a house that I used to walk past on my daily walks in my neighborhood in Rochester, MN. I took the photo three years ago and decided it would work for this side gradation technique.

The title comes from that corny joke we used to say as kids -- "Orange you glad I didn't say banana?" Orange dominates and I think it is a happy painting.

My First Oil

2009-06-21T11:47:00.001-07:00

I took a class in water soluble oils from Cathy Futral this week. I painted this in class in less than 2 hours. (You can click to enlarge.)

I found it hard to get the fine detail lines with oil. It seemed kind of gloppy to me. I missed the flow of the water I guess. But the painting does look richer.

Also, it is going to take over a month to dry!! I would definitely need a studio if I used this medium. I don't have enough space in my apartment to have drying art laying all over the place. Right now it is taking up a seat on my porch and I'm hoping there are no major storms.

Richards 48th Birthday Cake

2009-05-29T18:42:00.001-07:00

My brother likes malted milk balls so I made this cake featuring them. I used my grandmother's "My Favorite and Best Cake" recipe.

He is now in St. Thomas on vacation with his family and I hope he is having fun!

Pinning, A New Beginning

2009-04-18T17:59:00.001-07:00

I painted this from a photo of Maureen's orchid. We bought it for her when we went to Miami for her pinning ceremony. I used a turquoise background because that is a color she likes and it contrasts well with the yellow/orange centers of the orchids.

Turtle In The Tank

2009-04-10T16:29:00.000-07:00

I painted a not too great watercolor this weekend at Autrey Mill Nature Center. While there I took this photo of a turtle (Red Eared Terrapin) in a tank inside the reptile section.

It was a pretty strange looking painting and you couldn't really tell what was going on until I decided to glaze the bottom with permanent green light. That helped distinquish the side of the tank from the rest of the painting. Adding some light lines in that section also helped.

Bird On A Limb -- Take 2

2009-03-03T17:10:00.000-08:00

My friend at Watercolors Wet N Wild (ning group) suggested I darken behind the bird and also the leaves below. I took her suggestions and I think it really made a difference. Don't you?

Bird On A Limb

2009-02-22T09:59:00.000-08:00

I painted this bird from a photo. Not sure what type of bird it is and I need a name for the painting. If you have any suggestions, please send them on.

Thank you very much,
Marian

My Napa Cabbage

2009-02-20T08:23:00.000-08:00

My friend Lorance showed me his book of Edward Weston's photography. I was struck by a photo of a cabbage leaf and decided that would be a good subject to paint -- good design. So I went to a few grocery stores but could not find the A shape I was looking for in any cabbage leaves.

I spent $4 for the most photographic cabbage and took the Napa cabbage home to photograph. Of all the photos I took, I liked two photos/designs and my mother helped me select this image to paint.

I used five colors sap green, lemon yellow, ultramarine purple, and indian red/brown madder (? not sure which) and the deep background was glazed with indigo.

This one took me a lot of painting sessions. All those curly queues got tedious!!

How I Steam My Hand Painted Scarves

2009-02-08T20:05:00.001-08:00

I created a page showing how I steam my silk scarves here.

Click to view my hand painted silk scarves.

La Boca Hand Painted Silk Scarf

2009-02-01T17:07:00.000-08:00

La Boca
$95.00

Size: 54x8 inches

I painted another scarf this weekend. This one is dark grey with the image of lady in red that I saw posing in La Boca -- Buenos Aires, Argentina. The lady is painted on either end of the scarf and umbrellas are in the middle.

The scarf was supposed to be black but I must not have steamed it long enough so it ended up grey. The charcoal color is softer than a stark black would have been. On both ladies, the mouth gave me the most trouble. The dye ran too much. I think it is funny because 'la boca' means 'mouth' and both mouths are too big. Appropriate??!:)

Note: The image shown is a small subset of the full scarf. > Click here
to go to my website where you can see the three painted sections of the scarf and purchase.

Birds, Roosters

2009-01-26T19:10:00.000-08:00

I have been painting more scarves. Just so happens they all have to do with birds! You can see these as full, longer hand painted silk scarves on my WatercolorsByMarian website.

I decided that I should attempt one of my more popular watercolor images on a scarf so did the birdhouse one.

Then my friend at work suggested I paint a rooster scarf because his sister likes roosters.

Silk Scarf - Redo of Lavender Fields

2009-01-20T17:40:00.000-08:00

I repainted this scene on a smaller silk scarf and this time I did not use any gutta/resist in the fields. So in this scarf the fields do not have any hard lines. They blend together and look more natural I think.

It is from a photo I took in the south of France near Gordes. You can see my first attempt in an earlier blog. I love the lavender in France:)

Silk Scarf Painting

2009-01-18T16:47:00.000-08:00

I painted this scarf from a photo of a statue in my neighborhood. It is painted on a silk scarf 27x27".

Havertys Bake Off Entry

2008-12-16T21:35:00.000-08:00

This won for presentation at the Havertys Bake Off contest.

Poinsettia is handmade using white chocolate.

Hand Painted Scarf

2008-12-14T14:44:00.001-08:00

Here is a scarf I hand painted this weekend. Some wrinkles/puckers in this image. It is of the lavender fields in France.

Shells for Christmas

2008-12-08T20:09:00.001-08:00

Painted these using acrylic for my Seaside Christmas tree. They also have glitter that you can't really see in the photo. I've done a few different designs but these are my favorite. White poinsettia from a photo on the internet. (For my personal use only.)

Atlantic Station

2008-10-07T20:45:00.001-07:00

This was painted on-site this weekend at Atlantic Station. I loved the orange reflections in the lake from the apartment buildings. The trees were starting to show the same orange. I pushed the colors and like how it turned out.

LuLu Prints

2008-07-16T19:03:00.000-07:00

I found out that the company I used to publish two books also does art prints so I submitted my daughter Colleen's favorite painting.

So now you can buy prints of it. If anyone does it, I'd like to know how they turn out so please let me know.

Here is the link in case you are interested --
Print of Georgia O'Shaughnessy

Marian

Which one do you like?

2008-07-09T04:29:00.000-07:00

I painted these two from a photo taken at Rosemary Beach. I could only peek through the doors of one home and caught a glimpse of the patio. I love the light shapes on the tiles.

Don Andrews Workshop

2008-06-11T17:06:00.000-07:00

I am going to be taking a Don Andrews workshop at Cheap Joes Boone in June. I have read his book a few times and recently decided to try some paintings using his techniques. Here are two recent attempts:

My Nephew - Patrick

My Brother - Bill

Georgia O'Shaughnessy

2008-05-18T16:34:00.000-07:00

I painted this from a photo taken at Callaway Gardens. I liked this part of the center of the flower. I am titling the series "Georgia O'Shaughnessy" because the flowers are from Georgia. Not because it is similar to works by Georgia O'Keefe;)

Order a print of this painting!

Marian

Dunwoody Nature Center

2008-05-18T16:33:00.000-07:00

I painted this on-site Saturday at the Dunwoody Nature Center which is really close to my house. Watercolor 1/4 sheet (11x14").

Marian

Sweetwater Creek

2008-05-12T18:42:00.001-07:00

I painted at Sweetwater Creek on Saturday. Two pretty different "looks". Both are 11x14" watercolors.

This one is of the ruins -- Sweetwater Manufacturing Company --

This vignette was trying to capture the Mountain Laurel in bloom --

It was pretty tough hauling both my mother's and my painting gear 1.5 miles through the rocky, hilly terrain to reach the ruins but it was a wonderful day.

Marian

Mountain Mama

2007-06-30T20:33:00.001-07:00

I painted this yesterday from a photo I took last weekend. My mother and I rented a log cabin for the weekend in the North Georgia Mountains in the Blue Ridge area. I was upstairs in the loft and took this photo of Mom having her morning coffee on the back deck. I loved the halo of light surrounding her hair.

I was worried that the photo was a bit confusing because you couldn't tell that there was a door on the left. I figured that might get lost even further in a painting. To my surprise it actually "reads" better in the painting. I think because I made the wall darker and the door a bit lighter so you can tell the difference.

Larger Return to Rome

2007-06-20T20:21:00.000-07:00

I decided to paint a larger version of my ACEO titled "Return to Rome". I'm hoping to enter it in some Atlanta competitions coming up soon. It is 18x22".

Tallahassee Jr Museum

2007-05-27T19:05:00.001-07:00

I painted this painting and loved it so decided to paint a larger one to enter it in a show. This is a painting from a photo at the Tallahassee Jr Museum. (They changed the name but I grew up with the old one so reserve the right to continue to use it:)

I've struggled with painting cypress swamps before and they haven't worked. I love how this one turned out. The blue color is my favorite.

Painting a larger version was hard because the white tailed deer in the photo was really small. Here is the larger painting which I titled "Bucks in the Cypress". I'm hoping it will bring big bucks!!:)

Fishing In Helen,GA

2007-05-26T18:28:00.000-07:00

Last weekend I visited Helen, GA and painted from the top of a hill. It was a very hot day and the town was crowded. My painting was only so-so but I took a great photo of two fishermen in the creek. They were having a great time tucked away in a cool spot away from the crowds. I painted this little ACEO on Thursday night very late and love their white caps and pink arms.

Trevi Fountain

2007-05-08T19:10:00.000-07:00

I was looking through my Splash watercolor book that I got for Christmas (and just now unpacked). I loved a painting someone did of Bernini's "Triumph".

I was inspired to paint something similar. Luckily my mother had some photos of the Trevi fountain from a trip she took years ago. I painted a small portion of her photo. Mine looks nothing like the inspiration but I am happy with how it turned out.

The photo had a pink cast in the background and an almost neon green color to the water below. I decided to use those colors and play them up. The Splash painting used yellow ochre for the stone color so I decided to use that also. These colors seemed to work!!

I'm selling this on ebay and have predicted that whoever buys this will return to Rome:)

Marian

(ebay id=meoshaugh)

Botanical Gardens - Lily Pond

2007-05-06T07:56:00.000-07:00

I painted this at the end of the day. The pink and yellow glow in the right catches everyone's eye. I used a background wash instead of painting the ugly fence behind the pond. The focal point was SUPPOSED to be the left pink floating lily but the background draws your eye. Sometimes these paintings take on a life of their own!!

The Yellow Door

2007-05-03T17:50:00.000-07:00

While driving around the Historical Center, I took some photos of some houses in the neighborhood. I was struck by the yellow door on this house and liked the droopy tree on the left. I really like how the limited pallette worked in this painting. Pretty much just yellows and greens.

It is an ACEO that I will put up for sale on my ebay site soon. I have to keep it for awhile though because I don't want to part with it just yet. The yellow makes me happy:)

Atlanta Botanical Gardens

2007-05-02T21:39:00.000-07:00

The next weekend I visited the Botanical Gardens in Atlanta. It is a wonderful place to paint so I got a yearly membership. My favorite painting is a miniature (ACEO) paintings from there.

It is of the Frog Man or Frog Boy (not sure which) pond. The statue of the boy is holding two frogs. The pond actually had frogs on lily pads. It was so neat!

Atlanta Swan House

2007-05-02T18:22:00.000-07:00

I am new to Atlanta and decided to paint at the Historical Society first. Unfortunately, the walk from the parking lot to the area we wanted to paint seemed pretty far for my mother -- especially with all our equipment. Also, the entrance fee seemed steep just to paint. So we drove around looking for other things to paint and happenned upon the Swan House, which was what we wanted to paint in the first place.

The Swan house can be seen from a side road -- behind an ornate gate. For painting, the view was perfect. The side road was quiet and no tourists bothered us while painting.

Here is the painting I did on-site. It is 1/4 sheet (11 x 14")