Picking Up Pencil and Brush

Somehow, despite the chaos of the past few days,  I've managed to get my act together enough to enjoy some art time! (OK, let's be real -- much of this was done before the great ER visit!)

Out came the watercolors and some photos of some of my favorite scenes. I love this fabulous pink house in Martha's Vineyard, especially the wonderful chair on the porch.

I can do better. But I have to say that adding a mat to it really "tidies things up" and makes even my failures look a little better! (This is a great tip if you look at your painting and think, "What was I thinking?)

Ever since I took my "pet painting" class, I've been trying to perfect the intricacies of animals. Pickles, the cat of Randy and Elaine (Randy is Rick's brother) and Daisy both make great subjects!

And here's the one I'm most pleased with.



I also did this yin yang version. Here's the photo.

I need to redo the watercolor on that -- it just isn't quite right, but I'm on the right track.

(By the way, I'm getting ready to add notecards of the yin yang cat and several other images to the Gypsy Caravan link at the top of this page soon!)

Pickles' "sister" Daisy was a challenge too and I didn't like the way I did her first. So, I did it again. But now I think I like the first one better.

                                

Which do you think is best? Left or right version? (I kind of like the first layer of color, below! Unfinished but interesting.

Then there was my first version of a scene from Giverny. I started out with a sketch.

And then went on to add color.

I need to add here that I was so inspired by Vivian Swift's Giverny painting that I had to try one of my own. And I really wasn't happy with it (though it did look better with the mat!) So, again and again if need be. (That's another great lesson I've learned from Vivian -- do it till it's right.)

We may be doing a little experiment with this one, so stay tuned!

I've also been doing some sketching. My main focus is two-fold. Working on cats and working on drawing from life. I was pretty happy with this one!

And this works, too. Simple. Not great. But it looks like what it is!

So, stay tuned! More to come!

Sharing this week with Share Your Cup and Pink Saturday!