Summer makes one a believer in better things ahead of us. The stage is set, nature unfolds all it has to offer. No doubt, we have to enjoy everything from short walks to distant trips, from simple garden chores to breathtaking adventures. My choices are not that many at the moment, but I make my garden a place where everything is as it should be in the real world: healthy, relaxing, soothing and rewarding.
I don’t mind having flowers between vegetables, roses next to zucchinis, green peas and marigolds friendly sharing their spot under the sun: they all make my place look more magic. I have to intentionally find time for painting because it’s always so much to do in the summer if you have a garden. July 1st is the first day of World watercolor month. I’m very sure I cannot get done a painting a day since my paintings usually take more like a week or two weeks each, but I will try to present more of my most recent watercolor paintings.
Drawing for garden rose
The garden rose sort of asked to be painted. After rain, every bloom was covered with shiny water pearls and I cut a few small branches and took inside. As I was sitting there and looking at the well-defined and artistic shapes of petals, I started to draw what I saw. For watercolor painting, I actually would need only outlines, but pencil just kept moving and I got a value drawing on my transfer paper.
I placed drawing and painting side by side
Next day, I transferred outline drawing onto watercolor paper which happened to be quite large in size: 24 x 18 inches, or 61 x 46 cm. If you have read my art blog, you probably know that whenever possible, I paint and draw large.
Painting steps of garden rose
This painting organically developed itself while my model flower stayed fresh and lovely. It changed shape slightly, but for adjustment, I could use my drawing.
Close-up and detail of pink garden rose
If you could ever see this watercolor painting of garden rose in person, you most likely would find that water drops feel like you can touch them and the size is such that the rose bloom literally takes one’s full attention not only with its colors, but also size and composition.
My pretty garden rose with rain drops
As soon as get the second dose of vaccine and 2 weeks pass, I could restart the live art classes. However, for materials and demo paintings, I will create more garden paintings. Subjects are right here, and they are all kinds of! Summer days are long, but, nevertheless, they simply disappear. I can say my garden provides me with everything: models for my art, opportunity to recharge, colorful dreams and it also is a rewarding experience for my soul. Small place with everything which my universe consists of.
Garden rose with rain drops, full size
For now, please, love, share and enjoy the pink garden rose painting! I wish you a happy and adventurous summer!!
This post has many pictures, make sure to check them out. I decided to devote a special article to my still life paintings since it has been an important genre for me for many decades.. In languages which I speak fluently (native Latvian, German, English and Russian), still life is called as follows:
Still life: English
Stilleben: German
Hатюрморт: Russian
Klusā daba: Latvian
Nature morte: French
Naturaleza muerta: Spanish
Natura morta: Italian
Wikipedia gives a brief historic overview of still life as a genre, and I don’t think I need to repeat it.
Etymology and direct meaning
Translating literally, still life means dead nature in French, Italian and Spanish and Italian and Spanish have presumably borrowed it from French. The direct meaning of English still life is “life which is not moving and making no sound”; not moving and silent life – in German. Russian uses a loanword from French; hence French was spoken in all higher educated circles in Russia for quite a while until the Socialist revolution in 1918. Still life in Latvian means “silent nature” referring to rather making no sound than not moving. I find this very amazing. I do stick in my still life paintings with “nature that isn’t moving, but is visibly alive”.
My still life
As a native Latvian, I have formed my understanding of still life based on classic Latvian art. I especially adored Latvian art which was created between 18th and 19th century and around the beginning of 20th century. Latvians used to go to France and Italy to study art, therefore, the influence is undeniable. The part I never liked and to which I developed internal opposition was the use of mainly cold raw umber and rather muddy earth and dirty blue color in still life art between the WWII and 60-s of the previous century. However, they worked well in combination with grey color since grey has many thousands of shades. When I was younger, I couldn’t stand such color combinations.
The beginning of my personal style
I initially was somewhat really naturalistic. I could sit for hours in the garden or in my room and draw leaves, plants and flowers between age 10 and 16. I drew also people and faces of my sister and other relatives, but for still life, I didn’t have to ask anybody to sit and stay there for a few hours. Back in 60s and 70s of 20th century while Latvia was still in the Soviet Union, I could mostly use what I got from our garden. Vegetables and fruit lasted longer than flowers, so, I developed a special love to them. I used just pencil and watercolor on a bad quality paper. I didn’t have lots of art supplies, often not even eraser. That taught me drawing so that I wouldn’t need eraser. I didn’t have obviously camera and printer, and nobody knew anything about the internet yet.
The subjectof still life
I have most often certain requirements when setting up a still life. I use something man-made, such as bowl, cup, jar or mug, box, books or similar items. I implement some flower or leaves, or the entire plant whenever I have it, and that establishes the living part of my still life. I also love adding either fruit or vegetables since they are always available. I sometimes cleaned out the fridge, and my husband used to joke that we didn’t eat for the entire month while I painted my still life. Big is definitely more impactful, and I go with full sheet watercolor paper (22 x 30 inches or 56 x 76 cm) when I have a good quality paper. The same about acrylic painting of still life. The small size is about 16 x 20 inches or 41 x 51 cm with just a very few exceptions that are even smaller. Painting big size art is much easier for me and I always prefer that assuming I have enough time and appropriate art supplies.
A very attractive genre
Over years, I have painted numerous still life paintings. Many have been sold as prints. I cannot include all still life paintings, but just a few in one post. These paintings are recently finalized, but started even 10 years ago. The “Spring tulips and cup” painting was done like that. Pictures I was taking years ago, do not look that good any longer, but I cannot get better ones from framed art which is under glass. For these paintings, I had only my sketch or drawing for reference.
I could finish this painting because I had created a value drawing in the same size what painting is: 20 x 24 inches or 51 x 61 cm, therefore, I had reference
Still life with blue, 25.5 x 20 in or 64 x 51 cm
It is usually difficult to get true pictures of paintings and how the viewer sees my paintings, depends on their device. I certainly tried. I have 4 monitors at 2 computers, and every image looks very different on each one of them. These paintings are available as art prints also. Thanks for reading!
More about my still life art, click on image for article:
Please, shop for art prints of all kinds and other art products:
Just like always, time passes swiftly. Whether it is bad or great spring, we go through it. I just couldn’t get myself to the point this time to post something new. I have started working on projects in downloadable format, and that is tough. My previous main computer crashed, and lots of software which I cannot get back went with it. While I had backups for most picture folders, it is sort of impossible to recreate everything which has been carefully put together over the course of 12 years. Every device has its limits, but crashes come always at a wrong moment. Therefore: spring mix!
Poor choices for realistic editing of picture
While there are numerous, I’d even say countless apps and software for manipulating photos and using all kinds of effects on photos, there is practically nothing anymore for simple editing which makes image of a drawing or painting look like it is in reality. The last great editing software was Microsoft Digital Image Editor, but that’s gone now. I still have it on laptop, but my laptop display is so poor that I cannot do any sensitive adjustments on it. My much loved watermark is gone, too. I bought another one which is kind of ok, but doesn’t do the same at the same speed as the previous one. I don’t have many things on this computer yet, so, putting up my content on the internet is problematic at the moment.
Projects with watercolor pencils
I would like to introduce the use and application of watercolor pencils for beginners in watercolor. It is easy and it is better for people, who are very good at drawing and not that good at watercolor wash control. I read in a Facebook group how people complained that they got horrible results using watercolor pencils. I would completely disagree with that. If you use watercolor pencils sensitively and you have an idea how to do that, the result is fantastic. I have great watercolor pencils which I bought maybe 13 or more years ago. They last long time. I actually use them only in classes. For my personal use, they are too slow. However, one can really learn well everything about painting principles, values, contrast, shadows, shapes, highlights and composition using good quality watercolor pencils which contain decent amount of pigment.
Now is the right time to learn
When else are we going to learn new things if not now when we have to stay at home? Drawing and painting has very good ability to consume all our thoughts. While we are creating, there is absolutely no space for being afraid, scared or depressed. There is no space for being worried and frustrated about the future. It is extremely calming and rewarding process when we let it to be that way.
Stay tuned for home projects!
I wish I could work out the home projects faster and put up them for download, so, that everybody can be creative and busy in a nice way. I know that drawing is the most difficult part for most beginning and even advanced artists. Therefore, I intend to allow tracing template drawings.
Stay safe and create! Have a bit of patience and you will be able to paint with me beautiful spring flowers, landscapes and more!
Floral watercolors are amazing. It is easy to get carried away by soft colors and gentle shapes of petals. It usually depends on season, weather and what I feel like doing, but I go for the opposites. When it is cold and dark, I love something sunny and full of light. We have been painting soft and lovely floral images also in classroom most often in December and January. These paintings and process of creation provide with the much needed contrast between the upsetting darkness outdoors and the light and brightness of such artworks.
Pink color
Pink color is easy to grade from dark and cold to soft and warm. It doesn’t take much adding some purples or washes of light red and ocher. Mainly, somewhat realistic watercolors are closely associated with quality of drawing. Therefore, I have decided for the remaining classes to offer my drawing templates for use. Sometimes, drawing is more than 50% of watercolor painting. If you do not understand values, you do not know where to apply paint.
2020 sets of art classes
It is hard to say when everything about art classes and painting lessons shifted towards only end result. The most important part is actually the process of creation and the journey of getting to the completed painting. We are recently facing the following: people want everything right away and immediately. That is a very limiting approach for those who start from zero skills and want to learn. That simply cannot happen. Nobody paints like a master in a few hours. Therefore, the next sets of art classes will start with basics of drawing and painting and progress toward more accomplished skills.
Roses on fence, 24 x 18″ or 61 x 46 cm watercolor
Pink floral watercolor, petunias
Watercolor painting of amaryllis
Enjoy the gallery, purchase art
I took new photos recently, and I hope these images will look better and more balanced. I am working on a new reference booklet which will facilitate start-ups in watercolor painting. It will be available for download everywhere. I’d love to invite the art lovers and art collectors from Greater Toronto Area, Pickering, Ajax, Whitby and Oshawa to simply stop by at my November 23 and December 14 art shows. I am selling original art at my studio. Prints are available from Fine Art America site.
We will be painting orchids and roses, large size. Link to floral painting class:
Copyright notice: Copyrights of displayed paintings, drawings, images of work in progress and images of finished paintings belong to artist Inese Poga.
Fine Art America, my art prints and artistic products with my painting images:
Since the new fall semester is starting soon at my studio and people are signing up for fall semester art classes, I would like to point out a few creative blocks that prevent us from unfolding our creative potential to full extent. We are all very different and we come with our good and bad habits. We have great and not that great qualities, but there are some things we need to leave at home when starting an art class.
Self-criticism
Students sometimes describe their first drawing and painting attempts as bad, unsuccessful or failure. This can mean a few things. There are people who apply strict critical attitude to themselves. They might not love themselves or they might be afraid that if they do not say that first, somebody else will. In other cases self-criticism can mean just asking for a compliment, to be certain that whatever you do is fine. When somebody is just starting out to explore what drawing or painting is, they have to relax and stop programming themselves for inability to do anything.
Programming oneself for failure
Saying that you cannot do one thing or another creates strong internal resistance to experiencing new abilities and skills. If you have come to an art class, stop criticizing yourself and what you do: most likely, you wanted to learn. That’s what learning process is: going from not that great result to achieving everything you wanted. We must devote time and do some work in order to see how much and how far we can go. Please, leave the strict inner critic at home; don’t allow it to follow you into the classroom!
Flower painting class for adults
Expecting immediate results
Learning anything is a process, a journey and a discovery. Learning is a gradual process. We go from simple to complex, from general to specific, from mediocre to outstanding. Sky is the limit or rather, the only limitations are these which we put ourselves within.
Have you ever heard that somebody learned playing an instrument within a few hours? It is unlikely, isn’t it? Have you ever seen an Olympic champion who just picked up their sport a few days ago? Do you know about any writer who won global attention with the first line they ever wrote?
Time, practice and effort
Any new skill takes time, work, practice and effort. When it comes to drawing and painting, for some unknown reason, many people are convinced that they just go to an art class and become skilled within 2 hours. It might be because watching YouTube videos has made an impression that it is extra easy and fast. That applies especially to time-lapse and speed videos. You see quite many hours of work squeezed in a few minutes.
Lack of confidence and insecurity
We can distinct 3 main types when it comes to confidence and insecurity: some people are way too confident that they know everything, some keep a healthy balance, but some others doubt every breath they take.
The value of an art class is that it teaches confidence and how to become confident and forget all insecurities what one had. That is a valuable quality for any person, not only for the creative type. Lack of confidence is easy to detect in art. Most often we get rid of this disturbing feature by courageously going with our feelings about the particular subject. We have to also stop worrying about mistakes. They happen; they are a normal part of any learning process and creativity.
Fear
I have been writing about this issue numerous times. It is your paper, it is your canvas. You can put on it anything you feel like. If you do not take small artistic risks, progress will be slow. There is no point in trying to avoid mistakes or errors. Don’t be quick to describe your learning process as a failure.
Paper, canvas, brushes and pencil do not bite. There are no known health threats when using good quality, safe paints.
Mastery doesn’t happen immediately
Nobody has ever become a master within a few hours, nobody. Fear usually arises from comparing oneself to either the best images on the internet or to other students. Students sometimes say they have no experience only to try looking better in the context of the group. It is not a competition. It is a class. Class is a learning process.
Fear paralyzes our creative resources. Drawing and painting is seeing at first and then allowing the signal from our brain to travel to the hand with brush or pencil.
Extreme sensitivity
Being emotionally very sensitive can frequently involve anxiety and unjustified stresses. You must understand that nobody comes to an art class to judge what you paint or draw because all students want to learn or develop their beginner skills more. Art class is not a show or competition. If you do not want others to see what you have painted, say so. I do sometimes wonder why somebody would want to compare unfinished project, color swaps or draft sketches? You have all rights to keep your work private. If you do not want the teacher or art instructor to correct any of your lines, colors or show brushstrokes, just say so. It is sometimes better to simply show some technique, but if it makes some person feel not right, that’s ok.
Watercolor painting class
Emotional barrier
All of the above can create an emotional barrier which prevents you from either improving your skills or getting started with the new activity. You might feel uncomfortable with new things; however, it is so much excitement once you get out of the box where you have put yourself in! There are so many options to pursue and so many ways to develop any of your abilities. Taking the first step and diving into the unknown shouldn’t stop you from trying. It is way worth it.
Quitting before you even started
Art class is no different from any other class: there are fast learners, slow learners, the ones who grasp everything immediately and these ones who always doubt whether they should be even doing this class.
If you are not giving yourself a chance to experience what the new pursuit is about, you most likely will not be satisfied with it.
The truth is that every art, drawing and painting project takes time to elaborate. It also requires practicing some certain techniques and approaches. Acrylic, for instance, is such a medium that it does not look great at early stages. It can even look like a mess and that is great because you have a good base to build the subject on. Some steps might take longer and some are quick. Details and highlights add a special flare to any art, but that comes at later stages. Quitting after the first class will prevent you from seeing what you could have achieved, and especially, after a longer time.
Rose painting workshop
Unrealistic expectations
If you know what your level at the current activity is, and most likely, you do, expect normal progress, not pure miracles. Miracles happen, but only to these who dare.
Going from zero skills to good skills will definitely take time and practice. You will enjoy faster progress if you repeat at home everything you learned at class, but this time on your own. That will indicate which are the weak aspects and you might want to find out more about them during the next class.
Any teacher or instructor may seem like a magician during a demo, but they cannot make you move your hand, make decisions and apply recommendations. You will have to focus, be attentive and observant and also courageous enough to apply what you just learned. Should you expect a masterwork from just the first lines and brushstrokes? You shouldn’t, but during the learning semester that might happen.
Teen students, watercolor painting class
Lack of commitment
Some students are surprised that drawing and painting take work, efforts, a lot of thinking, decision making and even physical strength. For instance, covering quite large canvas takes also physical effort because it needs to be done quite fast to prevent drying and blend some areas seamlessly. We have to act sometimes very fast with large watercolor washes, too.
Creating something requires our input. The drawing or painting will be exactly as you create it. There is no point in saying: “I don’t like it!” Instead, try saying: “What do I like about this and what needs to be changed or improved as I proceed?”
Learning as an ongoing process
Attending any classes takes commitment. Skipping one class might be fine, but you will need to still catch up with others because it is an ongoing process. People, who are convinced that good work pays off, always achieve more and better results. Learning is a serious process. It will require your focus and attention. It is a fantastic, pleasurable and rewarding process, but if you think that it is just play and fun, you might be disappointed. Artists, who want to achieve great results, spend many years learning and never stop doing so.
