sketchbook :: more flowers

Even though we celebrated the first day of spring last week, our weather is under the impression that it is still winter. Longing for color and lightness, I picked up a bouquet of flowers at the grocery, because. . . well, I felt I deserved them.

sketchbook :: crocus

On an errand to the grocery, the Professor and Kiddo came home with these wonderfully cheerful crocus bulbs blooming in a Dutch styled ceramic clog. Just the thing for the icy, gray days we've had way too many of lately.

Sea and Sky III

Sea and Sky III

watercolor

8 x 8 inches

©Ann Thompson Nemcosky

available

I am finally calling this one finished. It's the sort of painting I could tinker with endlessly with all the little splashes and bubbles. It is a view captured when standing on a jetty at the beach, watching the waves splash upward against the rocks while catching the early morning sunlight.

Sea and Sky II

Sea and Sky

watercolor

8 x 8 inches

©Ann Thompson Nemcosky

available

Here is the second piece completed in  my Sea and Sky series. I am challenging myself with these by adding more complex details to the two elements of water and sky. I like the simplicity of the compositions, with one calm, flat horizon dividing the space.

I have already begun the third painting for this series. Here is a snippet of it in progress.

Lots more to do yet. The initial washes are in and I have begun working in those areas where the masking fluid was removed. I am slowly adding definition to the splashy and foamy bits. This will take a while.

sketchbook :: quinacridone sampler

This past Saturday I picked up a little sampler set of American Journey Quinacridone colors, selected from the four sampler sets available at Cheap Joe's. Eager to play I began by making a chart of the colors included in the sampler. Then I experimented with a few mixes. (The colors aren't exactly accurate in this photo, the reds appear a little more violet than they actually are.) Next I tried a few mixes with my trusty Ultramarine Blue. I love that gray in the top mix of Ultramarine and Quin Sienna, and the green mixed from Ultramarine and Quin Gold Deep is very nice too.

Having done that it was time to try them out in a sketch. The late afternoon light on the hillside across the way as viewed from my dining table was perfect for playing with those vibrant and earthy Quinacridone colors. Again, I only added Ultramarine Blue to the mix for the greens and blue sky.

I currently have only one quinacridone in my palette, Quin Gold, which you can see I checked off on the chart. Having tried these samples I would now like to add one or two more, perhaps to replace current colors in my palette. The violets and reds are lovely, but I really do like the Sienna and Gold Deep for the mixing possibilities.