Last One Standing (30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge: Day 8)

Last One Standing,

  Watercolor on Richeson Stephen Quiller 140# Rough Paper, 5"h x 7"w, 2013 #10

Bid at My DPW Auction (Starting Bid $25)

I took the reference photo for this painting on my road trip from San Francisco along the pacific coast up to Seattle. Passing the northern tip of Oregon, entering Washington state, suddenly there are lots and lots of drift wood washed up on the coast. I took my lunch break on one of the little beaches with such washed-ashore driftwood scattered everywhere, and there also happened to be this dead tree still standing, among the bleached driftwood, with its giant roots half exposed, seemingly going to tip at the first blow of strong winter storm. It was a grey day, chilly and cloudy. I stood there, looking at the giant tree, wondering when it was still a seedling, what it had seen upon this beach -- that would be... 300 years ago? 1000 years ago? When was that? It was still Tang Dynasty in China... And in North America, it was long before the first European explorers have landed. Only deer and native Indians were occasional visitors of this quiet beach, perhaps...

I stood there dreaming about what it was like being a tree, standing in the same place, for hundreds of years, then one day, tipping in a storm into the waves, drifting thousands of miles across strange lands.

Then I painted this image -- more from my imagination than literally from the photo. I couldn't say it has quite captured the spirit of the land or the tree, but at least, it is my homage to them.

I am also working on two 10" x 10" commission pieces -- a larger version of my paintings "Purple Hibiscus" and "Green Orchids". It has been a challenge to try to keep up with a painting a day, and work on these in the same time. But I am hanging on there...

Purple Hibiscus II,

  Watercolor on Richeson Stephen Quiller 140# Cold Press Paper, 10"h x 10"w, WIP 1

Green Orchids II

  Watercolor on Richeson Zoltan Szabo 300# Cold Press Paper, 10"h x 10"w, WIP 1

You can purchase my 2013 wall and desk calendars here:

Purple Hibiscus - Sold, and Something I Learned in My First Art Fair

After putting this one aside for a couple of days and work on minor adjustments here and there today, I decided that nothing I do would add to it further, and instead I am just "fiddling", which is a dangerous thing to do and may cause a painting to lose its freshness. So, I signed it, and pulled it from the gatorboard -- another one finished!

Purple Hibiscus, Watercolor on Arches 140# Cold Press Paper, 6"h x 6"w, 2012 #44

Sold!

I was hoping to get it done before the weekend, but was not able to because I had to do a lot of matting and wrapping for my first art fair event -- the "Meet the Artists Day" event held at the beautiful Filoli Garden. It turned out -- the event was totally worth all the effort! I had a blast meeting all the wonderful artists exhibiting in the same event, learned tons of tips and tricks regarding photographing, printing, making note cards and organizing my exhibition booth/table area. Everybody was very friendly and helpful, and I sold several small pieces of painting, including "Across the Bay"...

Across the Bay, Watercolor on Arches 140# Cold Press Paper , 5"h x 7"w, 2012 #38

Sold!

I made the interesting observation that most of things sold at such art fair events are items that are simple and "painterly" -- most of my paintings that got sold are very simple small landscape pieces. The more complicated flower paintings got lots of compliments, but not purchases. Is it the price? I did notice most of the items sold are below $40 - $50, and it seems anything beyond $100 tag is a hard sell. Or is it the style? Are people looking more at paintings that look more like "paintings" instead of photographs in an event where painters are exhibiting side by side with photographers like this? I am really intrigued. I have two other art fairs coming up in October this year, so I will keep on making my observations. What is your experience? Please share with me!...

Work in Progress: Orchids and Hibiscus

Despite of my best intentions, painting in thin layers of glazes is a process that cannot be hurried, and I am still not very dexterous with painting wet on dry using brush strokes instead of washes. Therefore, contrary to the promise I made on my facebook page, these two little 6" x 6" pieces are still not finished, although promisingly close...

Purple Hibiscus, Watercolor on Arches 140# Cold Press Paper, 6"h x 6"w, WIP 2

Green Orchids, Watercolor on Arches 140# Cold Press Paper, 6"h x 6"w, WIP 2

More for Sanchez 50-50...

Things at home are a little chaotic here and I am quite distracted from the progress of the Sanchez 50-50 project by some bad health news from family member. There are a few pieces for the show whirling around in the studio, but frankly speaking I am far from happy with them. This new effort started well and we'll see where it is going... In the mean while, how is everyone else enjoying their summer?

Purple Hibiscus, Watercolor on Arches 140# Cold Press Paper, 6"h x 6"w, WIP 1

Painting a variegated dark background around a light flower subject can be tricky -- I usually don't use any masking agent since my limited experiments with it always seem to roughen up the paper surface, and I don't quite like the hard edge it leaves all around the flowers. Since wetting a large area in the background with complicated edges can take a lot of time, it's hard to maintain the entire background equally wet for a successful application of wet-in-wet. What I have learned is to use the flower to break up the background space into unconnected pieces, thus giving each piece a chance to be able to be painted separately, buying time for myself in execution. For larger connected areas, I look for narrow passages as "stopping points", such as the narrow area left to the bud on the left on the flowers, and the area right to the right-most tip of leaves. I will wet the area on each side of this narrow "mouth" separately, let clear water run a little bit pass the mount and into the adjacent area, but not flowing paint beyond it. This way, the entire background seem to connect into a coherent flow without any discernible hard edge in its soft passages, and allow the viewer's eye travelling around without much effort. What is your trick? Please share!