Some of the pieces in my current show.

Youth and Beauty 14X18 Gouache and collage on paper. (sold)

30X24 Mixed Media on Yes Canvas

Red Muse 22X30 Mixed Media on Paper (sold)

Girl in the Window  30X22 Mixed Media on Paper (sold)

Watercolor Experiment, Floating Market Thailand

Watercolor Canvas (YES Brand) 24X30 Watercolor and Acrylic mat medium

I've worked on this new watercolor canvas called 'Yes' Canvas before, as you may remember but haven't actually used it as a "traditional watercolor" substructure before.  I usually do some abstract mixed media type stuff on them.  I have wanted to create a very large watercolor and have had a 45X45" piece of watercolor paper stretched out and ready to begin in my studio since July or August but every time I look at it the idea of framing it gives me cold feet and I go work on something else.  So I decided to experiment on a 'Yes' Canvas to see if I could get the look of traditional watercolor I want without having to deal with the size and weight of traditional framing afterword.   Of course I often make some big mistake by getting ahead of myself and this project was no different.  I actually painted this whole underpainting in watercolor instead of using acrylic as watercolor.  For those unfamiliar with the properties of watercolor this means that the paint is resoluble and will lift if you re wet it unlike acrylic.  On watercolor paper this isn't such a big problem as you usually have to agitate the surface quite a bit to lift the paint significantly and it has to get pretty wet as well.  On this 'Yes' Canvas the dry paint lifts instantly when touched with a wet brush!  I realized my mistake as I tried to begin my second layer with more wet watercolor.  I then realized that I should have used acrylic as watercolor instead which would have solved two problems. The lifting of each layer and how to protect the finished painting.  I didn't want to completely start over so I decided to see if I could lightly paint a coat of liquid gel mat medium over this layer without lifting the watercolor too badly.  It wasn't easy because the paint lifts so easily on this canvas surface but I finally managed even though it did blur the paint in some areas.  Now I am ready to continue but I will not make the mistake again and will go forth with thin layers of acrylic instead of using the traditional watercolors.  We'll see how it goes.  I thoroughly enjoyed working on this surface with the watercolor up to the point when I tried to add the second layer so am very encouraged that I my be able to create my very large watercolor on a Yes canvas.  I would love to hear if about any experience you have had working with this product.

Kyle finished

Don't know if you can see a difference but I did add quite a bit more as far as color and deepening the darks. Changed the background blue to a cooler shade to play off the warm lights in the face.  I also realized that the picture plane was divided almost exactly in half in the original version so I cropped it in the photograph.  Let me know your thoughts on that or anything else about it.  Again this is watercolor and gouache on 500 ply Bristol Plate and is  11X17 inches.

It's all good!

Well, I may not be finished but the panic is over!  I am back to loving the elements of this painting and there is a lot more depth and interest now.  The blue reads like a light on my monitor whereas in person it reads more as a dark.

This painting found a home

I've been gone for two weeks taking care of some family business so haven't gotten to post anything new.  I did sell this painting just as I got it back from the Pearl Museum show of award winning paintings from the Watercolor Society of Houston's International show.  I guess "everyone loves a winner" isn't just a saying!  It made me very happy considering that I wasn't able to work for two weeks.

More on the Landscape

This is so painful! I am really not liking this painting yet, ... not unusual but I'm always hopeful that I will have that totally painless painting experience some day. LOL!  Anyway this is all I got done in class and the next one is tomorrow so will work on it more then.
  This is on 22X30 140lb cold pressed Arches watercolor paper.

Landscape

It's been a while since I've attempted a landscape in Watercolor.  I've been working mostly with figures and portraits other than the experimental abstracts that I've really had fun with lately.
  This is a painting I started as a demonstration for the
watercolor students at the Art Center.  I will mostly be working on it in class and then will post the results as it progresses.
  This is looking off to the Mesa, sky and clouds in the distance with the rocks and brush and red dirt in the foreground.  I have used watercolor and also acrylic as watercolor in this so far.

Watercolor Art Society - Houston (WASH)

I am so honored that juror, Judy Morris, chose this painting for a Merit Award ($200) in the 32nd Annual International Exhibition of 2009!

  The Show will be up until April 3, 2009.  The Beautiful new WAS-H building is located at Alabama and Mendell.  Hope you get by to see it as it is wonderful show.

Jasper change

I decided to darken the background on the Jasper painting.

Been gone over the holidays visiting my son and daughter in law in Japan. What a great trip, we were treated like royalty.  Also got to see Boomer and Roxy again...you may remember the dog

video posted a while back.  

Here is the final version of Jasper (I think).  I took this photo before flattening out the paper though so may need to take another photo later.  It's in the press now getting flat.

More Jasper

Here is the latest version of the Jasper project.

Jasper

Update on Jasper. I did another one since I started this one.

Update on Jasper's portrait

Here is an update on the portrait as promised. Going a little slow. I am trying to keep the colors clean and bright. This is a little boy about a year and a half old standing in the shade but with bright sunlight streaming over his left side. Isn't he cute? His name is Jasper.

Starting new portrait

Here is a new portrait I am starting on I drew it out and applied some masking fluid. This is the first layer of washes to block in the colors. This is actually pretty big for a watercolor portrait...22x23. I have a really bad cold so am going a little slow this week.

This is the final painting for the Parkinson's Auction. I forgot to take a final photo before I put it in the frame.

Here is the second update on the Parkinsons painting,

This is a portrait in progress depicting three different views of a child to show how children have varying personality traits. This is a popular portrait style for me.

This is the painting in progress for the Houston Area Parkinson Society fund Raiser. The symbol they have adopted is the Red Tulip.

final version

Okay, enough fiddling with this painting! This is the final version.

What I did today

My little Aspen. Bad to the bone....but really sweet. She is half Chihuahua after all! I liked the photo so much that I decided to go back to my roots and do a painting from the photo. Painting in progress and the final version...maybe,...sometimes it's hard to finish. We'll see.

Actually I still have to remove the miskit from the dots and add color...now that I look at it...maybe her eyes could be bigger...