Well, a "Funny thing happened on the way to the easel!!!"
The water containers I use are about 14 years old - yes, I'm very FRUGAL!!!!
( OK ---CHEAP)
I use emptied - washed out large containers of Yogurt!!!! The containers I have now I brought from Maine 12 years ago and had used them in Maine for at least 2 - 3 years - used them in AZ for 7 years and thus far for 5 years here in New Mexico.
On the way to the easel - I filled them up with water - placed them on my table and started throwing paint around. Wellllllll I noticed the towel on top of my table was getting wet!!!! For those of you who do not know, water ALWAYS FINDS ME!!! WATER IS MY ENEMY!!!!!!! I actually have a "FEAR OF RAIN!!!!" Long story but there is such a syndrome and believe me it is REAL!!!
Anyhooooo I lifted up my ancient water buckets to find that one of them was leaking water from the bottom!!!! Of course it had to be my favorite one!!!! Not to mention I was hoping to get another year or two out of them!!! Somehow a hole had developed in the bottom!!! DAM!!!! Now I have to eat a large container of yogurt again!!! :>(
I'm down to one bucket now for water - good thing I'm packing up everything come Wednesday!!! :>)
I'm beginning to think all that built up CRUD over the past 14 or so years can not be very healthy to breath in!!!! Maybe that's what is causing my insomnia!!!! :>)
Well - since we are going to be moving away from this area and perhaps never return I'm starting to miss my Sangre' de Christo mountains. As I mentioned before, we love to go up into these mountains and they certainly will be one thing that I fondly remember.
So with that said - and I just said it - I've done a couple of recent pieces of my beloved mountains. The last one was "Remembering Autumn"
This piece will be 12 x 9 on heavy Linen paper done with my trusty palette knife
"MAC THE KNIFE"
Rough sketch of tree trunks
Aspen trees are not as white as birch trees, so I lay the base coat in with MAC and I use an off white color sort of a parchment tone.
Detail of palette knife work
Time to add more color and this needs to be done with "SOFTNESS OF STROKE"
as I'm working wet into wet and a heavy touch will result in MUD for color
Most of you folks know that I most always put the BG in last - most painters do not - they put it in first - let it dry and then paint the subject matter and the FG.
Well I'm self taught so all of my processes are not according to Hoyle - most of them I just developed myself and Hey it's ME!!
For the most part - painting around objects is not hard to do and I like to blend the BG into the subject matter in that way things do not look "pasted on."
Blending the BG around the trees
Well I'm going to finish this up post haste forth with as I'm getting ready for some lunch and if I don't eat on time I get CRANKIE!!!!
OK --- Now I need to put the finishing touches and tweaks on and this is where I go into hiding so my finishing secrets are not divulged!!!!
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BAM
WE HAVE COMPLETION!!!
:>)
Now for my ANAL WHOOPS ATTENTIVE Buddies
HOW HE DO DAT????
Well I hope y'all enjoyed this little demo - I had fun with it and enjoyed using MAC THE KNIFE again - he won't like being put away for 2 months but it is what it is!!!
Take care - have a great day and enjoy life!
JR :>)
