Watercolors: Time to Rake
I never know where my next painting subject will come from. Once, I was visiting a friend in October and the leaves still hadnt’ been raked. On the spur of the moment, I got my camera out, walked around the neighborhood and snapped pictures of the ground.
No doubt I looked a bit strange, with my head down, shuffling through the leaves while clicking away. My buddy laughed and said I reminded him of “Rain Man”.
Rain Man or not, the photos ended up giving me one of my favorite paintings.
Tags: art, autum, leaves, watercolor
You can comment below, or link to this permanent URL from your own site.
May 10, 2008 at 3:59 pm
Ha! I’m the first to comment! Comment! Comment! I have this EXACT picture, Friar! Well, very similiar. It amazes me how your watercolors look so vivid and true to life. Bravo my friend. How much is this picture going for anyway?
May 10, 2008 at 4:20 pm
Hooray, Ellen, you got Firsties! You win!
So you have the same picture? Kewl! We obviosly think alike. This is probably why we have so much fun blogging each other.
This one sold, actually. It was about 9 x 12″. I think it went for $225 (unframed, as is). Though I do have another very similar one (based on the same set of photos) that’s still available.
May 10, 2008 at 6:14 pm
Friar,
Doggone it, that’s amazing. When I used to paint more regularly (*sigh*) it would take me ages and ages to get three leaves (or whatevers) I loved. I liked the process, loved the results, but I always agonized. This looks so fluid… no agony.
The whole piece is just super, and there’s one leaf in the lower right I can’t take my eyes off. Love it!
I get thirdies. Hehehe.
Regards,
Kelly
May 10, 2008 at 6:43 pm
Um, when this page loaded, I thought that was a photo! This is incredible. It’s one thing to be able to draw but when artists can paint something that looks like a photo, I am always astounded.
May 10, 2008 at 7:03 pm
@Kelly
Hey, I didnt know you painted…? What did you do? Oils? Watercolors? You should try and get back to it!
Dont’ get fooled, though. This might look fluid, but I sweated blood when I painted it. It was extremely agonizing. I can only do so many of these in a given year.
@Melissa
Thanks. Every artist needs a bit of Angst to inspire them. I was under a lot of Angst when I painted this (Unemployed, 40 years old, living at home with my folks). I think that’s what inspired me.
PS. Fortunately I”m gainfully employed now!
May 10, 2008 at 9:57 pm
Friar,
Mainly acrylics, some watercolors. I do watercolors still for client presentations sometimes, it gets a big wow factor. I’m not patient enough for oil. I think I was born drawing and painting. My mother paints on occasion, though she never makes enough time for it anymore. My grandmother was a really interesting painter, too. She would have loved your watercolors.
(I’m just a bit glad to hear you sweated blood. I don’t have to be quite as jealous, though knowing how tricky watercolors are, I’m still pretty jealous.)
With sculpture, I discovered I could dive in and really let my subconscious get out. (Angst and then some!) As an arTEESTe that’s where my head is at. In college I was lucky enough to have a big space for doing installations; for a designer who’s also an artist that’s a dream. With painting I tend to want to get practical. I don’t let myself go with it as easily, but oh, I do appreciate it.
Until later,
Kelly
May 11, 2008 at 1:57 am
Friar how long did it take you to paint that? It looks so cool and true to nature! I also paint. I do acrylics only. Been working on a massive project for some time. Will be cool once it is finished but at the rate I’m going it will take years. LOL
May 11, 2008 at 2:05 am
@Kelly
Hey, that sounds great. You sound pretty serious, not just someone who does this for a hobby. Why don’t you add some of your work on your Blog? Even a small Thumbnail…you could even have a small caption (Original artwork by Kelly). I think that would be good marketing. Prospective clients would see both sides of Kelly.
@Monika
Wow! Another artist! All you lady painters are popping out of the wordwork. Dosen’t surprise me, we all seem to thing with the Right (Wrong?) side of our brain.
I toyed around with oils. I prefer watercolor. Much cleaner (you dont’ wreck your clothing). And it’s so easy to clean up. I just put down my brush, and pour the water down the sink. Plus I’ve invested so much time in watercolors, I’d rather just continue to get better at it rather than learn another medium.
May 11, 2008 at 7:22 pm
@Monika
I like recent post about balance. I tried several times today to leave a comment on your blog, but it didnt’ get through.
Dunno what’s going on…?? Mabye there are gremlins in the blogosphere. I’ll keep trying.
May 13, 2008 at 9:57 am
@ Friar: gremlins, LOL. My bad. I had Internet trouble and therefore wasn’t online as much as usual, plus my comment police catches the first two. You are good to go and your comment is up and live. Sorry about the hassles.
I promise not to do it again *holds up two fingers and smiles
May 21, 2008 at 11:38 pm
wow! that’s great! geez, you know I fished your comment on my blog out of my (old) spam pile because you spelled your website wrong. Glad I finally traced you back to here!!
May 22, 2008 at 12:05 am
@Darren
Hey, glad you found me again. Welcome back!