This post about painting blooming grasses and trees has been waiting to be published for more than a month. I love painting, taking it slowly, going over layers. I definitely love it when I see something emerging from the blocked in color spots and fairly abstract shapes. It’s interesting to see where the painting takes me. I have little motivation for posting my art and showing it off on the internet.
The painting process is beautiful, it’s so rewarding, calming and uplifting. It’s also therapeutic and soothing, very beneficial to our brain flexibility and memory. Why do I believe that painting attractive landscapes, floral and still life paintings can cure us from daily troubles and upset moods? I have seen that happening thousands of times. AI painting can get you many likes, but the only type of art which benefits our brain is the one we create from scratch.
This particular painting was started in March 2024. I took it to some stage of completeness, but it wasn’t finished for the most part. The previous year was a bad one, therefore, I hardly did anything apart from reading in bed. I picked it up this February from where I had left it. There is actually nothing wrong with letting a painting or drawing rest. The only risk is we might not ne interested in it after a year.
Since I believed it had potential, I kept working. A beautiful landscape emerged, and it was sparkling with light. I doubt I’ve gotten this all on photos. I can get the picture yellow, blue or green, but not what the actual painting is. It still looks great. The size of this painting is 24 x 18” or 61 x 46 cm. The composition works well for this size and trees shadow the juicy front grasses.
Enjoy the mood of this painting while it’s still grey outside!
Art prints in numerous sizes and with huge selection of frames and surfaces
As you probably know, it isn’t easy to restart anything after a long absence. My health took a big blow, so I am just starting out again. This time, I decided to make my return with a flower painting on Arches cotton paper. As always, it’s quite large since I completely dislike painting tiny art. I have still some issues, therefore, I am limiting my painting activities to 2-3 hours a day. The flower painting took me about 6 days.
12 years in making
There’s no doubt, cotton paper is the easiest paper to paint on, yet, it has become extremely expensive. Many of my watercolor paintings are drawing-based. I don’t aim for copying the reality, but I want my subject to be recognizable and having some emotional impact. I had begun this particular painting with a drawing which I did some 12 years ago. The paper is good and why to waste it? While I had no other reference, but only the drawing, I still tried to figure out how to proceed progressing slowly and cautiously.
Painting in layers
I usually paint in layers, especially when it comes to complex subject with many parts. Since I don’t have a photo or the actual flowers, the first layers help me understand what and where to place and what colors to use. I make my drawing very light in order the graphite pencil wouldn’t shine through too much. Every subsequent layer will add more vibrance and increase the value intensity wherever necessary.
Color temperature and values
Not only flower painting in watercolor, but also any other complex subject we paint, benefits from coordination of color temperature and values. I certainly start out light, just because I don’t know exactly where what should be. In this case, I also leaved the background white for a while. The paper I am using isn’t the bright white, but somewhat off-white. Nevertheless, colors shine and make sense.
Choosing warm and cool colors
Beautiful soft colors for attractive flower painting. I used a few red tones and also quite a few yellow shades for the most important areas. The green colors are a combination of blue, Payne’s grey and different shades of yellow and green. I normally allow colors mixing on paper, but sometimes I need strong pure color to add the vibrancy. You probably won’t notice on photos much difference in warm and cold colors, and iPhone doesn’t like light colors making them practically white.
Flower painting that soothes
I intentionally kept everything rather calm and soft. I think the slight shades of background help. I am very satisfied with the finished painting and not that much with the photos of it. When viewing art online, you have to always remember that there are numerous devices and apps involved. Also, large painting online looks exactly like the small ones, but in reality, that makes all the difference. I hope this flower painting will make you feel good and calm just like it helped me to overcome pain and health issues.
Pastel is a unique medium. Using pastel sticks and pencils, we are applying pure pigment to the surface. I love pastel because it is the bridge between drawing and painting. I haven’t published many of my pastel paintings because they are difficult to photograph. This pastel still life paintings of vegetables and nature elements were done for my private art classes. Many people want to master drawing nowadays. Not trace and copy but learn being able to naturally draw.
The Giving hands of nature is a very large pastel painting: 24 x 20″ or 61 x 51 cm
Great start for good results
Drawing is very tough to teach since for the most part, people don’t see what’s important for drawing, as well are hesitant to put in efforts and practice. First step is to learn seeing, then we start developing our line work, after that we learn what’s important in painting, like recognizing values, applying contrast, shadows and so forth. Still life paintings in pastel are a fantastic starting point. I use pastel surface in dark grey and advise my students to do the same. That covers the darkest values already and is much friendlier surface than white. The same goes for acrylic painting.
Medium which doesn’t expire
Pastel still life paintings allow for many layers of pigments. That’s one more great feature: we build up the value and color as we go. I use Gallery and Faber Castell pencils and pastel sticks, as well as Conte pastel pencils. Each one has its application and suits for one or another step. I don’t have any specific tools and don’t use extra expensive pastel surfaces. All of this I had bought some 15 or more years ago. I love the pure colors of Conte pencils and subdued tones of my Faber Castell pencils. Gallery provides with pastel sticks in different sizes and numerous very attractive colors.
Layering for values and contrast
My process of using pastel pencils is exactly the same what for other medium. Dark surface, quick sketch, stronger values and darker tones first, after that I layer in lighter colors defining the shapes at the same time. The more layers, the more beautiful and saturated the pastel painting looks. Vegetable still life painting is a wonderful subject. Choose whatever you prefer and in whatever color or shape. We don’t have to limit ourselves with just peppers, tomatoes and cucumbers, there are lots of attractive shapes out there in the most wonderful colors.
Choice of subject
Still life paintings in pastel look gorgeous whatever items we use. The giving hands of nature was combined during the class since my student needed to paint hands and so we just filled them in with stuff from a magazine cover. Well, we just used it for inspiration, but added different colors and shapes. The herbal teacup was a nightmare to take picture of. iPhone camera changed the perspective so that it looked all wrong. The actual paintings are fantastic, and as you know no photo can ever compare to the original painting.
Summer subjects
Still life paintings in pastel are one the greatest summer subjects also. I cannot travel much because of the chronic pain which has worsened during the last year notably. Therefore, I use what I see around and paint in all kinds of combinations which are endless. I disagree that still life is boring. It’s the best way to teach about the multiple aspects and principles of painting also. These principles are all the same whether you paint buildings, faces, figures, flowers or landscapes.
Still life paintings which matter
I hope you will love my still life paintings, as well as the Giving hands of nature. It was almost impossible to take pictures of them. Well, at least the idea will be visible. Hands painting is huge, very hard to take pictures of. Each week I will feature one painting which goes for a lot less than usually. It will be available on Special offers page:
If you have been painting for a decade or longer as I am, it’s possible to see how all artworks fit into art collections. What are the criteria for creating art collections? There are many, and any large body of artworks can be sorted out by medium, style, certain color or particular subject. The best example is my Fine Art America art collections. I have put together art by medium, by subject, like floral art, still life, landscape and also by color. There will be black and white art collection available soon, as well. See link below or on Menu.
Painting from imagination
The spring as always is arriving slowly in Ontario. We see long periods of grey and earthy colors around us. The more grasses and trees wake up, the more patches of bright green are visible. Therefore, my grey and abstract watercolors were a good match for my surroundings. As I have mentioned many times, I prefer not to use any photos for my art. The spontaneous watercolors are simply watercolor washes at first, and I sort them out as I go and add definition. It is extremely easy to create art collections of abstracted art.
Getting composition right
Classic painting consists of background, middle ground and foreground. Plus, we need something to capture viewer’s attention with. It’s called a focal point in art. Everything including lines and colors of different values is organized in accordance with our composition. I believe that composition is difficult to implement when the artist doesn’t feel visual balance and natural flow of their image. I personally do not use any view finders or similar tools; I just adjust my composition as I feel it. Some of my art collections include highlights of compositional elements.
Simplicity versus complexity
Fragmented art can look better sometimes than very accomplished and compositionally perfect painting. Art collections can include simplicity or complexity of a particular subject, use of color and compositional elements. The blue period art collection displays exactly that – simplicity and strategically placed watercolor washes.
Art reflecting the season
Most of my art also goes by season, therefore, I have seasonal art collections, as well. Spring and summer landscapes, fall colors and snow paintings, they are all interesting on their own and placed in art collection. Floral art is a very big part of everything I have ever painted, I think it deserves a separate post. I know people who have painted a few artworks, some five or six paintings, and they try to immediately sell them and even teach painting. Well, it’s better to allow our skills to mature so that we are represented by what we do well, not by our first attempts at painting.
Buy original painting?
Original paintings have never been more affordable than they are now. I looked at my price charts from 2013, and my paintings sold for double the price I have listed now. That’s a horrible thing because everything has become at least 5 times more expensive. That includes watercolor paper, paints and I won’t even mention framing. There are inexpensive options, but I simply have too many paintings to frame each one. Therefore, I’m offering some framed art and some – unframed.
Available watercolor painting originals are posted on this page:
Watercolor is a medium we can use in hundreds of different ways. What we create and how it looks depends largely on technique we apply. While many of my watercolors look carefully worked out, I often start painting with just randomly washing some paint onto watercolor paper. I posted my spring palette colors in the previous article. For spring paintings, I am using a limited palette:
Payne’s grey
French ultramarine
Brilliant yellow
Burnt sienna
Burnt umber
Gold ochre
Leaf green
It’s possible, however, to create numerous color tones using these paints. They work well together and with decent application of water, there’s no mud. I will work on floral spontaneous watercolors next, and I am adding magenta and carmine for these.
Allowing paint and water to work
While the paint application is extremely loose, I still have some idea. Washes look great when painting treescapes and paintings with abstract water. This is a technique which perfectionists might not like. We simply allow colors to mix and flow as they please. It’s a myth that watercolor painting cannot be adjusted or changed. One just needs to know how to do that.
Lifting paint
I think many watercolor artists use too less of paint lifting technique. For paint lifting, large brush with pointy tip is very useful. My main brush is Luke number 14, round. Along with simple lifting, I implement one more step: lifting with very liquid other color. It’s a fantastic, but unpredictable process. It’s also fun, and I love this technique because it allows me adding definition to subject. Lifting paint is an essential technique for spontaneous watercolor my-style.
Non-cotton paper has its uses
Lifting automatically takes care of the negative space. When to lift and where to add paint depends on our personal preference and feel. For this technique, cotton paper is not the best option. Non-cotton watercolor paper makes lifting paint an easy step. In fact, it’s way easier to lift paint from some thick non-cotton papers than to add an extra layer. I am using for these paintings Strathmore 400 series paper. It requires flattening afterwards. All non-cotton watercolor papers must be weight-pressed after application of water and paint since they become uneven.
Multi-step process
While people ask when I will have online art classes, I must say, I probably won’t. Things I am writing about most often cannot be shown online. One must see the actual process in order to understand how we create loose, spontaneous watercolor painting and add the touch of reality to it. The process involves drying paper and restarting wet-on-wet, then adding dry paint, then lifting more and so on. It takes about 6-8 hours to paint one artwork. I have spent about 3 days in average on each painting.
Testing paints
Spontaneous watercolor works great for people who just want to explore what their paper and paints can do. Check compatibility of colors before you start painting. Water takes care of lot of things with loose watercolor painting, but there are colors which will destroy the flow and cause unpleasant muddy shades. To avoid that, learn what your paints do. My paints are rich in pigments, all artist grade. I never use white or black colors, as well as, I don’t even have masking fluid. These paintings consist only of watercolor paint on paper.
Give it a try
Want to try this approach? No better time than now. This means absolute freedom, you don’t need any photos to follow, but having an idea is helpful. I love using the earth colors togethers with blue and green. Burnt sienna adds a bit of red tint. Simplicity is beautiful; however, I’ve never been a minimalist in any regard. That goes for any of my paintings. Well, we can stop working whenever it feels right.
