"Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year."
Ralph Waldo Emerson

Monday, September 13, 2010

Rural Reflections

This watercolor started out with a poured underpainting in the 3 primary colors Antwerp Blue, Indian Yellow and Alizarin Crimson.  After the colors  mixed and blended the underpainting was allowed to dry and the drawing was created on top.  The drawing is drawn deep from memories and imagination - no reference photo was used in this painting.  Where-ever possible, I tried to use the glowing colors of the poured underpainting to show through.  The painting is 9" x 12" and is painted on 140 lb. Canson Tientes cold-pressed watercolor paper.

15 comments:

The Halters said...

Ooooooo...this is cool, Barb. Great choice of colors :)

Gretchen Bjornson ART said...

This may seem like a silly question, but what do you mean by a "poured" underpainting.....I'm curious. By the way....the colors glow.

Watercolors by Susan Roper said...

I can appreciate your going by the colors of the pour and they certainly work in this scene! Great work, as always, barb!

Christiane Kingsley said...

Barb, the glow of the poured watercolors is gorgeous! Beautiful painting!

Joan Sandford-Cook said...

Got my link to you via Christiane Kingsley's favourites roll. Good to see another artist using so many different media - with style and confidence I might add. Like some of your techniques. ... and I'll keep in touch with your new postings with pleasure.

Barb Sailor said...

Sharon...I love your enthusiasm for my work - that makes an artist sooooooooo happy! Luv Ya!

Barb Sailor said...

Gretchen...when I pour, I do my drawing on the w/c paper, mix my paint with water in little plastic souffle cups, spray or wet the paper with a sponge on both sides and then lay it on a piece of plexiglass.(Try to smooth it so there are no air bubbles underneath.) Most of the time I pour all colors at the same time in separate areas, allowing the colors to blend and mix by moving the plexiglass around. This part is always tricky and I do try to control where the colors go by pouring in certain areas. When finished pouring, peel the paper off the plexiglass and allow it to dry on newspaper. After it is dry, it can be finished with traditional watercolor techniques. I often do a lot of negative painting on top of poured underpaintings. I hope this answers your questions. If you have more, e-mail me at rabs38@embarqmail.com.

Barb Sailor said...

Susan - Thanks very much. I think it is usually safe to go by the primary colors - when I run into trouble is when I pour with unusual colors!

Barb Sailor said...

Christiane...Thank you so much for your generous comments! They mean a lot coming from such a good artist.

Barb Sailor said...

Joan...It is so nice to have you visiting my blog...I have admired your work for a long time. Yes - I love to experiment with media! I hope you do keep in touch and I will try not to disappoint you:)

Teuvo Vehkalahti said...

Excellent fine paintings and a nice blog to read and watch, I like it very much. Come take a look Teuvo images bligi www.ttvehkalahti.blogspot.com and leave a comment there. Have a nice autumn for you. Teuvo Vehkalahti Suomi Finland

irinasztukowski said...

It looks like rainbow just crashed in this village for the day.
I love it!
Thank you,
Irina

Barb Sailor said...

Teuvo...your blog paintings are beautiful -I enjoyed my visit ...Thank you for visiting my blog, I hope you drop by often.

Barb Sailor said...

Irina...it could be that a rainbow crashed in this village painting - all the colors of the rainbow are there, aren't they? :)
Thanks for visiting.

Unknown said...

Beautiful, beautiful!!!