Sedona, AZ

The rich color in these rock formations of Sedona is a joy to capture with ink and watercolor! With a painting at every turn - how is an artist to choose just one?  Instead of finishing my lunch - I just had to get in a painting in before hiking in this beautiful place!  I definitely need more time here!  Painting number 2278 in 2278 days.  Who knew the desert could be so beautiful?

Sylvester Palm

purchase here

I found this amazing vintage Lucky Strike tin in an antique shop, and have repurposed it for my 6x8 Guerrilla Painter pochade.  Loading it with some oils, I will then pop it in the freezer when it gets back home.  I love the convenience of grabbing my palette at a moment's notice for those spontaneous painting windows!  Painting number 2277 in 2277 days.

Arizona Cactus Collection

purchase here

Today finds me painting the cactus collection in the front yard! There is an amazing variety of cactus here in Mesa, so this is a wonderful opportunity to practice painting cacti!  The saguaro looms large, towering over the house, and has a surprising amount of yellow green to its skin.  What looks like yellow woodpeckers sit atop this giant, creating holes to burrow into. The weather has been perfect, I think I could live in the 80 degree weather all year long!  Looking forward to a few more cactus studies this week!  Painting number 2276 in 2276 days.

Sedona

purchase here
What an amazing view I found on the main thoroughfare in Sedona!  THERE is a painting in every direction!  Getting in a quick painting between shopping and hiking Cathedral Rock trail!  Good thing I always have paint on board! Painting number 2275 in 2275 days.

Lemons!

purchase here

So fun to walk out and pick a lemon from the tree for my morning tea!  Yum!  As I sketch, Michaela picks lemons, oranges and grapefruit from the trees, getting them ready to ship to family.  Fresh fruit is super delicious!  Painting number 2274 in 2274 days.

Sylvester Palm

purchase here

The flora and fauna of the desert are so beautifully different than anywhere else!  This may be my first palm painting ever - and what a special palm!  Inking and painting until form and color align, I find there are some differences in this climate.  The paint truly dries as I work!  Wet paint does not stay wet for long!  The colors are grayed down with plenty of dusty reds involved. The birdsong is also very different, and the hummingbirds fly swiftly around my head as if I'm a flower!  They must not be used to the stillness of an artist at work!  Looking forward to mastering the desert!  Painting number 2273 in 2273 days.

Miniature Topiary

soldThis little gem is only 2.5 inches across, round, and requested for a very special sunburst frame.  Always up for a challenge, no subject seems to small when it comes to special requests!  I love that so many patrons return to me for their artistic needs!  Painting number 2272 in 2272 days.

JC Nichols Drama

purchase here

The plaza is my "go to" place for sketching fountains!  With over 400 to choose from, there is no end to the paintings I can do!  On this one, I've gone old school with my pen and ink, no fancy water and brush work here.  Just good old hatching and line work for shading.  Drawing is very therapeutic, like a balm to the soul.  Painting number 2271 in 2271 days.

Purple Tulips Miniature

Spring always has me checking the flowers to see which ones are emerging, looking for those delicate blooms to paint!  Only the crocus are busting forth, but the daffodils, tulips and paperwhites are not far behind.  A few beautiful days and they will be immortalized with paint!  Painting number 2270 in 2270 days.

Boulevard Brewery Batik

Oh, my, these urban watercolor batiks are fun!  With all those angles and edges, the line work sets the perfect stage for the loose and unpredictable batiking!  The watercolor flows at will on the delicate rice paper surface, often spreading all willy nilly!  Then comes the moment of truth when the wax is removed, and the brown paper lifted...... it is just like Christmas!  You never know what you have until the painting is unwrapped!  This one is a good present!  Painting number 2269 in 2269 days.

First Crocus of Spring

purchase here

I had other painting ideas for today, but when I saw these bright and shining crocus in the bed, I had to paint them!  This winter has lasted forever, and a little spring cheer is just what I needed after a grueling morning at the gym.  Art therapy comes is all sizes!  Painting number 2268 in 2268 days.

Hereford Pair

purchase here

A warm afternoon, birdsong, and cows - all beckoned me outside on this very busy day!  I've been prepping panels all week, and am very limited on small sizes.  So, I pulled out a pumpkin orange one from last year, and started painting cows!  I've been putting their forms in first, and then building in the background from there.  These guys make even the smallest painting window fun!  Painting number 2267 inn 2267 days.

Herefords on the Ridge

purchase here

Oh, spring is on the air and I simply must get outside!  Leaving a couple of large paintings unfinished and cabinets half cleaned out - I seize a little sanity time in the warm sun of the pasture!  The birdsong and gentle breezes are my company today, filling my soul as the paint flows of my brushes.  I will try to sneak away to a favorite creek tomorrow, as the time has already flown today!  Painting number 2266 in 2266 days.

Kansas City on Main Street

I'm finishing up a couple of large watercolor batik paintings, and the days are growing warmer.  It is SO hard to stick to it when the hills and streams are calling....!  Tonite I complete my work - tomorrow I'll be outdoors for sure!  Painting number 2265 in 2265 days.

Milk Barn Sunset

purchase here

Delicate rice paper is a tricky paper to work with.  For the batik effect, it is important to paint on the rough side.  I begin with an India ink drawing, filling in with watercolor.  The paper is extremely thin, and the paint spreads quickly, so one must stay on the tip of the loaded brush.  Use only the thickest, softest, finest watercolor round brush, because softness matters!  If the brush is anything less, it will abraid the surface, quickly wearing right through the paper!  I have seen this happen!!  When the paper is very wet, do not shift or move it AT ALL - or it will split into tears!  Once one navigates all these obstacles, the coolest, unpredictable effects can be attained.  All it takes is a light touch and a careful hand!  Painting number 2264 in 2264 days.

Purple Tulips

It has seemed that winter would never end, but it is beginning to feel like spring out there!  The only tulips blooming around here are the ones picked up at the store!  So, as I work on larger paintings, I slip in a miniature for today's post.  Painting number 2263 in 2263 days.

Sunflower Fields

In any given year, I paint many more than my posted 365.  I commit to one a day, but some days I may do two or three.  In busy times, I may forget to post a few I really like - which is what happened with this one!  I fully intended to get back out there, so I never took the photo.  Deciding I liked it as is, I forgot about the rest until tagging it for my showing at Burns and McDonnell.  So, now out is on the record, and if it does not sell, I'm going to hang it on my own wall!  I LOVE painting at Grinter farms!  Painting number 2262 in 2262 days.

Herefords Three

purchase here

My first unscheduled day since arriving home, and I had big plans for painting all day long!  After the gym, lunch out with my daughter, popping dinner in the crock pot, catching up on a few emails led me down the rabbit hole - and I barely surfaced with enough light to paint!  Oh why can't the paper work take care of itself?  I need a robot for that!  Painting number 2261 in 2261 days.

JC Fountain Drama

A return to old school pen and ink techniques - shading and hatching with lines, on perhaps the most iconic fountain in Kansas City.  Using my favorite paper in a square format, I simply begin to draw groom the focus area out. If I feel I need a little guidance for those lines, I drop a dot to mark beginnings or ends of a mass.  I don't ever use pencil first, because I feel it resists the ink.  No water added today - I'm using India ink!  This painting is the 2260 in 2260 days, and is hanging at Burns and McDonnell, 9400 building, straight back from the main entrance, along with 13 other paintings.

purchase here

Boulevard Brewing Company - retro

purchase here

I love those days when a painting is already swimming in my head, waiting to rush of the tip of my brush.  I'm working with a full piece of delicate rice paper, unsure if I could manage it without tearing the wet paper in process.  So, I worked smaller areas with paint, allowing them to dry, then taking the hot wax to those areas before moving across the paper.  It worked!  The unpredictable nature of the batik is exciting, only revealing your true painting as all of the hot wax is ironed from the surface.  The results only make me want to do it more!!  Painting number 2259 in 2259 days.

Marblehead Batik

purchase here

Surprise!  Watercolor Batik is on deck tonight!  I really love the depths of this difficult technique, but seldom let myself spend the time on it.  Requested to present this to Summit Art, I pull out my supplies to condense my half day workshop into 40 mintues!  So, I decided to demo each step of the process with an example to pass around.  Hopefully, the process will be more clear with examples lined up in order, one through eight.  I think it will be very helpful for the next workshop I teach as well.  And while I'm at it,  I jumped into the largest watercolor batik on delicate rice paper I've ever done - almost 16x20!  I do love a challenge!  Lol! Painting number 2258 in 2258 days.

Looking Down Grand

For this drawing I choose my favorite fountain pen with my favorite ink, and try out a new paper.  Still 100% cotton, I have had this Fabriono Artistico paper for years.  This is the first time I'm using it for ink.  Preferring 300lb rough paper for watercolor work, I tried this once and did not return to it.  I came upon it again while organizing frames, and decided to give it another chance.  Striving for accuracy, it took forever to draw this out!  Adding a little water was the fun part, and now I think I need to darken the shadows a bit in the background.  I'll think about that tomorrow!  Painting number 2257 in 2257 days.

Add caption

Back Path to the Scout

I refilled one of my favorite pens with my favorite ink, and drawing was sheer joy today.  I LOVE the velvety blackness of Levenger Raven Black ink, and the way it spreads with water is unmatched.  I have tried many, many inks, and none even come close.  My preference has so much to do with the paper I use.  I only use 100% cotton rag, rough finish normally.  It takes a very rich ink to lay down on a paper like that.  The combination is my drawing haven!  LOVE getting lost in my work!  Painting number 2256 in 2256 days.

purchase here

Winter Barn Herefords

purchase here

It seems I am always running out is panels and frames!  So,  I painted this scene on top of another previously painted in Augusta!  Fully intending to paint the background barn out, I ended up leaving it, though I may tweak it tomorrow.  It could be pushed back a little.  I'll take a look tomorrow with fresh eyes!  I thought I'd finish in time to run by a favorite creek, but alas, I did not!  Painting number 2255 in 2255 days.

Almost Ready to Ride

purchase here

Thinking ahead to a Kansas City Parks show at the Buttonwood, I am sketching out this horse team and wagon in ink, thinking of doing it in oils.  Refilling my favorite fountain pen with my favorite ink - Levenger Raven Black - it feels good to play in the ink.  A complicated scene, I also use Pitt pens for light sketching marks before committing to the deep dark ink.  I only do this when I feel the need to keep control of my lines.  I may return to this to wash out the background trees... maybe.  Painting number 2254 in 2254 days.

Hereford Trio in the Snow

This light has been so amazing the last few days!  I have missed this gorgeous Missouri winter light!  These Herefords are so good to pose for me - I see so many different paintings during the process!  In fact, the one I liked the most happened as I was packing up shop!  There is always tomorrow, but that snow is melting in a hurry!  Painting number 2253 in 2253 days.

Herefords in the Snow

Waiting for the day to warm up, afternoon offered the perfect opportunity to capture these darlings in oil!  I am still using my Richeson oil palette, and am enjoying the four different browns I have.  All these years I have only used one brown, or none at all, so pulling my brush through such a variety feels like a luxury!  Love the colors of this day, warm light, cold blue shadows on the snow, such a great combination for a painting.  Hope to paint many more like this!!  Painting number 2252 in 2252days.

sold

Boulevard Brewing Company Inked

Sold

The Boulevard Brewery is a favorite place to sketch and paint, and a wonderful place to gather with friends.  I had an Opening this weekend at The Buttonwood Art Space, where a drawing very much like this sold before I ever got there.  While looking it up on Daily Paintworks and my blog to mark it sold, I realized that I had already marked it so a year ago, instead of even posting this one, which is the original one that sold!  Lol!  So, I am correcting the error and getting this one on the books!  It has been a great weekend, with four paintings selling in 24 hours!  A great way to kick off March!  Painting number 2251 in 2251 days.

Red Head Truck

purchase here

This morning was Urban Sketchers KC day at Bass Pro in Independence, and I was grabbed by this gorgeous old red truck at sign in!  Today, I jumped between my India ink and my fountain pen through the whole process.  India ink is permanent while my fountain pen ink moves with water, so I push and pull until I get what I want. Then, I drop in the watercolor until the painting comes together.  The best part is visiting with artist friends while I work, catching up on local activities.  Urban Sketchers is a great way to connect to the art community, and all skill levels participate.  Painting number 2250 in 2250 days.

Three Cows

purchase here

Sometimes, I only have time for an ink sketch and a little watercolor.  So, I sneaked in a painting between lunch with my cousin, daughter and little Augustus, and an art reception at the Buttonwood tonight!  I love having these guys just over the back fence, friendly subjects for my artistic whims!  A quick ink sketch in India ink, followed by a little watercolor, and a few strokes with my fountain pen concludes the process and I'm off to the opening!  Painting number 2249 in 2249 days.