Hispanic Man – Karen Winters Daily Painting
Hispanic Man – 8 x 10″ oil on canvas
No, I am not putting landscape painting aside; I will continue with it as always, but I am interested in doing some portrait painting in oil, which has an entirely different feel and way of working than portraiture in watercolor. This was painted in one session, starting with a sketch and progressing until all of the canvas was covered with paint. I don’t know this man; he was listening to a speaker at an outdoor event and I liked the look of his face.
Warm Welcome – Glendale – Karen Winters Daily Painting
“Warm Welcome” Approx 13″ x 10″ watercolor
SOLD
This is another in the series of paintings I’m working on for the Artists of the Canyon show at the Chevy Chase Country Club, opening March 14. I don’t paint architecture too often, but I enjoy it when I do.
This time, my objective was to remember to put color in the shadowed areas and to walk the line between looseness and accuracy. This painting might be considered a “vignette” because not every inch of paper is painted. The area I left white is in fact a gray parking lot on a hot day. It is not attractive to look at; I like this better.
With some of these shows behind me, hopefully I’ll be able to get back in the daily painting groove pretty soon. These large pieces take a lot more time to paint than the little ones.
Beneath the Bridge – Pasadena – Arroyo Seco -Daily Painting
First Prize – “Beneath the Bridge” 5 x 7 inches oil on panel
SOLD to a collector from Pasadena
Yesterday I got the notification that this painting received First Prize in an annual Small Images show competition for the Verdugo Hills Art Association. The show is hanging until late March at the Pasadena Public Library in Pasadena California. It depicts one of the two bridges that span the Arroyo Seco.
Oak Byway – Pastel by Karen Winters
Oak Byway – 11.5″ x 9″ – pastel on paper
After working almost exclusively in oil for the past year (with a few sidetrips into watercolor,) I felt like taking out my pastels for a little experimentation. I’m going to be doing a larger pastel painting in the near future, so this is a bit of a warmup.
No matter what the medium, some things remain the same: color, shape, value, composition, edge definition, stroke, perspective and techniques like negative painting. It’s different holding a stick of pigment between one’s fingers rather than wielding a brush, but much of the experience is quite similar to oil painting. In this project I started with a coffee colored paper which you can see peeking through here and there. I selected the paper to provide a mid-tone starting point for the large tree mass.
Mountain Lake – Karen Winters Daily Painting
SOLD – “Spring Thaw at a Mountain Lake” 11 x 14 watercolor
Although it may seem that I’ve been missing in action, I’ve been busily working on many deadlines for different shows, and now some of that is behind me. Other deadlines loom, but they’re at a manageable distance. I took a little time tonight to work on this simple watercolor of a mountain scene, using a limited color palette of ultramarine blue, thalo blue, burnt sienna and sap green. I picked up an interesting tip from artist Al Setton, who I watched demonstrate a few nights ago. When he paints in watercolor or acrylic he keeps three rinse water containers. One for rinsing warm colors, one for cool and one clear water. When you’re painting in a hurry and don’t want to take the time to rinse twice (once in dirty water, once in clear) – if you consistently use the right rinse water before continuing with the same color, you won’t have much of a problem. It’s when you rinse in greenish water and then try to paint red that you can get in big trouble.
Hillside Dancers
“Hillside Dancers”
5 x 7 watercolor on paper
As spring approaches, the rain makes the colors all run together, wildly coursing down the hillside.
Thalo and gamboge, sap green and ochres … all rushing headlong in a vernal frenzy.
Eaton Canyon Trail – Pasadena – Karen Winters Plein Air Daily Painting
Eaton Canyon Trail
8 x 10 oil on canvasboard
A plein air adventure SOLD
Although I had a wonderful time enjoying the company of my art pal Wendee while painting out in nature, today, just about everything that could go wrong, did.
When we got to the location, I discovered that I had left my palette at home. I had brushes and paint but no palette. After rooting around in the trunk of the car I found an empty Fedex envelope that served the purpose.
When you absolutely, positively have to paint.
It was quite breezy out there. So breezy, in fact, that the panel kept flying off the easel and landing on the palette. Yuk. So I ended up holding the painting in one hand (like the palette I didn’t have) instead of on the easel. It worked out ok.
By the time I got this far, the light had changed too much to continue. So I took a picture and finished it at home, in studio. (As above.) Thus ends the tale of lemonade from lemons, and one woman’s determination to enjoy her paintout day, no matter what.
Sycamores and Sand
SOLD
Sycamores and Sand – 5 x 7 acrylic on canvas on board
Click for actual size painting
Colors are strongest at sunset and dawn. In this miniature painting of a winter sunrise, the dawn touches wildflowers and clinging sycamore leaves and makes them shimmer. The location is near Palm Springs in one of the canyons where water and plant life are abundant.
May 2008 American Art Collector Ad
Here’s the Daily Painters ad for May’s American Art Collector magazine –
My painting is the seascape in the upper right hand corner
I’m one of the juried artists at Daily Painters a collective of professional artists who paint and post daily. That particular 16 x 20 inch oil painting sold last year, but I have others (smile.)
In fact, I have a new landscape to post – which will be coming up soon …
Tulip Magnolia – Karen Winters Daily Painting
Tulip Magnolia – 7.25 x 7.25 inches – watercolor
SOLD
The magnolias have arrived in all their glory. A procession of bloom should follow for a month or so, so I’m going to make the most of it while I can. In some parts of town the trees are in full bloom, while in other microclimates the trees still have bare sticks with only the slightest hint of bud swelling. And although it’s confusing to me how that happens, it only means that the bloom will last longer. Perhaps it has to do with differences of species, I don’t know.
