Must think Spring.... Must think Spring.... I think I'll be able to hold on just a little longer, waiting for Winter to end!

In the meantime, I'm slowing getting back into the painting spirit.  Keep forging ahead, right?

P.S.: I guess I should have wet and flattened the paper before shooting a photo of it. The paper was a little curled, making the vertical lines appear curved as well.  It is not that way in the original.  Perhaps I'll take a better photo of it and replace it.

Boy was I surprised when Cathy (Kate) Johnson informed me that my blog was included on the Online Graphic Design Degree website in their list of Top Watercolor Painting Blogs.  I’m elated, estatic!!!

I also see friends like Steve Penberthy, Dan Kent, Jana Bouc are listed in the Watercolor category.  How fabulous is that?!!

At first I was confused because Kate initially thought I was listed on the Watercolor Artists’ 50 Best Blogs, also through another web school design and promoted through the Watercolor Artists' Magazine.  Those are the big time artist-types, not recent start-ups like me.  However, the Watercolor Artists Magazine Blog was listed as #1 on that site, so it was easy to see the confusion; but for a brief moment, I thought I’d been nationally discovered!  One day, perhaps....

To quote Steve Penberthy from his blog, since he put it so succinctly: “[The Online Graphic Design Degree] website is dedicated to helping those considering a career in graphic design, and the blog list provides readers with a resource to learn more about the art of sketching and painting in watercolor.”

If you scroll down the Online Graphic Design Degree website, you’ll see an Awards button with all the different categories for blog awards.  I didn’t look through all the categories, but I recognize many artists awarded in the Drawing & Sketching category, like Sarah (Curious Crow), Andrea Joseph and Liz Steele.  You may recognize more of them yourself.

Umm... but it looks like I better post more, as I’ve not painted in a month.  Life, blah, blah, blah... no real good excuse.

I encourage you to check out as many of these blogs and links as you can - they are gems to be sure.  Congratulations to all of you!

Here is another attempt of a painting of my son in dappled shade.  Some of you may have have seen an earlier version of this on my old blog where he looked like a burn victim.  I've struggled to get the skin tones to appear realistic, especially in the shade.  It is still a struggle.

I still don't think its finished.  The shadows on the blanket need to be darker.  The skin tones are perhaps a little too cool.  However, it is much better than the previous version, and I think I'm ready to give this one a break for now.  Perhaps in a few weeks I'll darken it up a bit.

In case you're wondering where Painting #54 is, it was also a portrait, but I didn't feel comfortable in posting it.  Not every painting in the 100 Paintings Project will be posted, only those that have made the "final cut".

I hope everyone is enjoying the beautiful Fall weather!

My previous post was Mead's Mills Ruins, done from a photograph over 20 years old.  I was not happy with the way the water was painted, so I called it a preliminary sketch and set out to do a bigger, more formal painting out of it.  Here is the result:

I took artistic license by adding in more rocks on the lower right as well as in the marshy areas.

After I finished the above painting, I had the opportunity to go back to Hines Park to see if the Mead's Mills Ruins were still there.  They were.... but a little more road weary.  Here are some current photos.  I was sad to see graffiti on this landmark.

You can see from the above photos the area of the waterfall I focused on.  Unfortunately, I was not able to access the exact angle of the area I'd previously photographed, which was off to the left more, coming in from the side.  There now existed a lot of foliage along the shoreline not there 25 years ago.  Funny how a landscape changes over time.  I only took the photos above by crawling through the trees downstream, trying to get a view not obscured by trees.

It was definitely worthwhile going back to visit.  Lots of memories and lots of reference photos for more Hines Park paintings.

Here is another scene from Hines Park in Northville, Michigan, at the Mead's Mill Ruins site.  This is a composite of several poor quality photos taken in the mid-1980's.

This was more of a sketch than a formal painting.  I fiddled around with the water a little too much, but I think if it was painted on a larger scale then it would not be a problem.  I do like the sunkissed glow on the rocks though.

I think I'm going to have to go back there and take some current photos of the ruins, and to see how much it has deteriorated since then.  Stay tuned for more photos and also a larger painting of this scene, which I'm working on now.

What shall this blog become?  What now?

As some of you know, I imposed "Summer Hours" upon myself because blogging 2-3 times a week seemed burdensome, what with the beautiful weather calling.  Who can resist the outdoors, sunshine and family togetherness?  Therefore, I've been posting only once a week or even every two weeks.

It felt good to enjoy Summer without too much computer time.  I may have not painted as much as I wanted, but I sketched a lot and came back refreshed.  We did some camping, took a mini-vacation, swam in the backyard, and spent nights on the back patio swing with the fire pit smoldering.

I thought hard what I wanted to accomplish from this point forward.  Before Summer, the computer was stealing my life away.  What was missing was the PAINTING part.  I'm more of a painter than a writer or blogger, and decided the focus needs to be on art.  Painting comes first.

Soooo..... what this means is..... 
Everything remains as it is.


I will still continue to blog about once a week, probably mid-week.  I don't want to go back to the hectic schedule I had a few months ago.


That's also why I moved this blog here from Typepad.  As I mentioned previously, I wasn't using it to its full potential and decided to stop paying a monthly fee for the service.  I'm satisfied with the blogging capabilities here and I'm looking forward to settling into my new home here.

Now....  time to wet the brushes!