Hide and Seek III (I'm Back!!!......)

Hi everyone! I am finally back from China... It's been a long absence and I've done a bunch of landscape sketches that I am going to share on this blog in the coming days, but for now, I am stressed over two coming deadlines -- one for this Friday and the other one for the coming Saturday, both 11" x 14" bird of paradise paintings (large ones for me). I will post the progress shots along the way, I promise.

I have not been able to manage to paint much during my absence, and when I tried to get back at it -- it's almost like learning everything from start again! (The deadlines surely did not help either...) I found that I am having problems gauging the wetness of the brush, the exact mixture to use for a glaze, and the timing for large, wet-in-wet applications... I've messed up a couple of starts and finally decided to get back into my grooves by redoing "Hide and Seek" as an exercise -- and I do need some pieces for some art fairs and a gallery jurying process coming up in October (again, more details later). I made numerous mistakes painting this one, and was fortunate to be able to catch and correct most of them, and end up with the result that I am quite happy with:

Hide and Seek III

Watercolor on Winsor Netwon140# Cold Press Paper, 10"h x 14"w, 2012 #48

Sold!

I did this version on Winsor & Newton #140 Cold Press Watercolor Paper, and it is a good test for unfamiliar paper as well. I've found the Winsor & Newton paper has a handling quality close to that of the Arches', but slightly easier for lifting, although repeated glazing for too many times may cause paint to bleed on the edge of wet area more easily than Arches as well. The final resulted color on this paper seem to dull down quite a bit, even for high saturation transparent colors like Permanent Rose, which may present a challenge for flower paintings in particular. I will experiment with it more and report it here.

From the juried exhibition front, my painting, "Petal Light #1" was accepted into the Hawaii Watercolor Society's 2012 Open Exhibition. A Fellow DPW painter and blogger, Colleen Sanchez, has selflessly contributed her time and effort helping organizing this fabulous exhibition. Colleen paints amazing watercolor flowers and lately has taken the adventure of oil painting. If you haven't already, be sure to stop by her blog, and I promise you won't be disappointed!

Petal Light #1, Watercolor on Arches 140# Cold Press Paper, 10"h x 8"w, 2012 #40

I am trying to paint as fast as I can to catch up, and in the same time -- trying to catch up with all the fabulous works you have done during the time I have no access to blogger or facebook. Everyone seems to be really productive -- lots to catch up with...