Betta Splendens

I think I might be done with this.  Maybe.  Why is it so hard to tell?  This has iridescent effects in it that I can't capture in the photo... might try again tomorrow.

This is on 5x7 Aquabord  (I think I like the Aquabord....??), which means, unlike other watercolors, it can be framed without matting and glass.

So, yeah, B is for Betta!  I'm on to D!  Got any guesses?   :D

Back to B

So, it occurred to me that 16x20 is probably a little ambitious for the alphabet project, and while I intend to finish the barrel racer picture, I'd rather do small things for the alphabet paintings so that I can feel like I'm getting somewhere. :) 

And I had to take a break from C, which is actually 7 paintings, because I ran out of panels, so here's B again!  This is watercolor on Aquabord and B is for Betta (Siamese fighting fish, Betta splendens).

You might background first, and I really feel like I have no clue what I'm doing, but I suppose we'll see how it comes out and if it doesn't... well, I might try the same thing in oil, or I might just move on to D.  Unless my panels show up tomorrow.

Feeling grouchy.  I want stuff to be instantly amazing.  If you're reading this and you're an artist, please tell me you've had the same issues.  *sigh*

Anyway.  Here's layer 1 on Mr. Fish.

Oh, I almost forgot, I LOVE bettas.  I have one.  His name is Mo.  Get it?  Mo Betta?  I know.

What a Day

My refrigerator broke and I'm sure I'll lose most of the food in it. My cat is stuck in the crawl space under the house.

How do I de-stress?

Paint. But just a little.

I have no idea how to paint a white horse in watercolor. We'll see how this guy turns out.

For now I'm off to bed hoping tomorrow is a fresh start.

Her Sensual Curves

Well, I decided to work in the kitchen this morning with the sun pouring rainbows through the crystals in my window.  It was kind of nice.

I finally finished this piece, mostly... I played viola in high school and taught myself violin there towards the end of school.  I bought myself a beautiful black violin a couple of years ago but it's on that list of stuff I never seem to get to... maybe one of these days.

Anyway, this was sort of experimental, as it's watercolor on Aquabord.  The jury's still out on the Aquabord... I'll let you know after the next one ;)

Agua

Some progress on the violin. The Aquabord is a little weird in the way it takes up paint. I wet the violin surface but it doesn't seem to dry at the same rate, so I had some problems with blotchiness. I think it'll straighten out in subsequent layers though. I'd really like to like this painting surface.

In other news, last year was the first year we were members of a CSA. It stands for Community Supported Agriculture. Basically, you contract with a farmer and pay a fee at the beginning of the growing season. They then provide you with a certain amount of fresh produce weekly throughout the year, depending on what's in season. 

We adore this concept. It's an affordable way to have organic, responsibly grown, local food on your table all year.

Our farmers, Miracle Mountain Farm, asked me if I'd be willing to exchange services this year... I make them a logo and paint their sign, in exchange for a substantial discount on our fee this year. I'm excited for the opportunity to do this, and I can't wait for fresh produce!

Anyway here's the logo I came up with for them. It still needs coloring; I think I may attempt to do that on the computer.

Music of the Ainur

Major dry spell... I'm not sure why. Partly because I spent a week driving people around but that's been better this week. I had some jewelry orders to fill but if I'm honest, I could've painted.

Anyway, I'm back in the studio today and playing with watercolor on Aquabord. It behaves differently from paper, but I think I like it; when dry, the colors come out fairly vibrant.

I have a good bit more work to do on this, hopefully tomorrow.