The Birth of Venus- My Life as an Artist

Chilean Wine Country, part 1

2011-10-25T20:52:00.000-04:00

So when I said I was back to painting regularly, I guess I really meant "I paint regularly but it takes me forever to finish a painting now". And so it goes with a baby. No big deal though, I just finished this painting in my new basement art studio which I happen to like much more than I expected! It's possibly the only place in our house where it's acceptable to make a mess. This is painting is of a vineyard in Chile. The photo was taken on an amazingly clear and perfect October day, and I remember taking a deep breath in hoping to never forget how I was feeling at that very moment- blissfully content with life. Vineyards are my happy place (aren't they everyones?) and this one was amazing. If you ever see this wine in the store- buy it! Casa del Bosque is the name of the winery ("house of the forest").

But back to the painting. I should seriously consider renaming my blog "painting with purple", because every painting has it. Lots of it. And this painting is no exception. It started out as a pretty straightforward translation of the photo (boring!) So I warmed up the scene and added a bunch more colors in similar value that were deeply saturated. The result is a rich warm painting with wine barrels that look like they are on fire and heavy vines ready for the harvest.

So I'm on to my next painting. I'm really into painting people, and I'm taking another stab at this in watercolor. Then after that I will get started on the first painting feature my sweet baby girl :-)

Testing the Waters

2011-07-31T14:45:00.000-04:00

I'm back! Painting is a part of my routine again after having a baby in June. My daughter seems to like watching me paint, we would sit in the sunroom in the afternoon and listen to music while I worked on this painting. I'm still working my way through my South America pictures from last fall. This photograph was taken in Chile. I realized I had never painted rocks or water in pastel and it was a lot of fun! It's much easier that watercolor in my opinion.

Buenos Aires

2011-05-31T14:11:00.000-04:00

How is that for commitment to a goal? Yesterday I sat down and finished this painting in about an hour. See, most of my unfinished paintings are literally 80% done. This is a city scene of Buenos Aires from our hotel window last fall. The color scheme is a little unusual, but I was trying to copy the same colors in another painting I have that it will be hanging near. These colors make me happy though :-)

Stuck

2011-05-29T19:43:00.000-04:00

So I haven't posted any paintings in while, and it's not for lack of trying. I just can't seem to finish any. The past 3 watercolors I have worked on have ended up in my UFO pile or in the garbage. I have hit a roadblock and I just need a break from them. So, I switching back to pastels. And aaam picking up where I left on another unfinished painting. Notice a trend? Quitting halfway is probably my worst habit, one I work hard to overcome. My studio is "in transition" right now so that also is making things more difficult. Anyway, by the end of the week, I am setting a goal to complete my half finished pastel, and to have my next painting sketched in charcoal and ready to go. Everything in my pastel pipeline is from photos of South America last fall. Adios for now!

Napa Revisited

2011-04-20T20:54:00.000-04:00

Painting California Wine Country never gets old to me. Maybe it's because I always use a lot of purples in my palette. You may recall I painted the picture on the left maybe a year ago. I decided it needed a mate so I just finished the one on the right.This is one of my most favorite wineries in the world, Peju. (And in case you were wondering, the winery on the left is Chateau St. Jean, also in Napa). Both paintings are headed to my parents house to grace the walls of their new dining room which is painted a rich shade of terracotta. I think they will look good there. Cheers!

Baby's Garden #4 & #5

2011-03-21T21:26:00.000-04:00

Whew! My brush is smokin' from all the painting I've been doing. All of a sudden I've been hit with a sense of urgency to get this done and get these framed, because I have other "craft" projects taking up space that I need to start.

Baby's Garden #4- A colorful cottage with an equally colorful resident :-) This is my art teacher Terry's house (yes it really is purple in real life). He brought in pictures of his garden months ago and I've been waiting for the right chance to paint it. If I had done this in pastels I likely would have taken a completely different approach, but the watercolor keeps with my bright color scheme for this series. I still get frustated working on watercolors though. It just doesn't look the way it did in my head and I can't figure out what it is. The value patterns are ok, the drawing is ok, the colors are harmonious. I think it is the brush application and technique that bothers me. Translation: my painting skills are the problem. Oh well I think it will look good framed.

Baby's Garden #5
The more I paint, the looser it gets. I love loose paintings. I can never quite get them to the level I want where it looks like organized chaos. Anyway, this painting was whipped up in literally 2 hours and it is by far my favorite in the series so far. Only 1 or 2 paintings to go, I haven't decided yet.

Baby's Garden #3

2011-03-13T21:56:00.000-04:00

The latest installment of Baby's Garden.

Baby's Garden

2011-02-27T21:24:00.000-05:00

So it turns out we're having a girl which means I'm rethinking all of my paintings now for the nusery obviously. Boats for boys was, well, masculine. So instead, I've decided to do a series of flower and garden paintings called "Baby's Garden" to go with the English Cottage Shabby Chic nursery I'm planning. Finally, I get to paint lots of flowers! I used to love painting florals until *someone* asked if I could paint anything else? Since then, I have been in somewhat of a landscape/cityscape rut, at least with watercolors. For Baby's Garden, my plan is to do about 8 paintings total, with 3 "main pieces" that will 16x20 (framed) and 5 others in either 8x10 or 11x14 supporting the larger pieces. These 2 here are both supporting pieces. I've had this photograph of wisteria forever, and I always wondered if there would ever be an occasion to paint it since it's sort of a boring composition on it's own. The photo was shot at a vineyard in Napa, CA.

The next one here's a Magnolia, obviously. I figure if Baby Girl is going to be born and raised in Georgia, she most certainly needs a magnolia in her garden!

Boats for Boys

2011-02-04T18:07:00.000-05:00

So I have a new project I'm working on- art for a baby's room! We don't know yet if we are having a boy or girl but just in case I will be prepared with paintings for both :-). This is the first "boy" painting that I just finished. The photo was taken on our trip to Nags Head over the summer, and I knew as soon as I saw it that it must be painted in pastel. The painting is large (for my work anyway)- 18x24. I really like the composition with its diagonal lines and interesting patterns- almost like a puzzle. And the colors are great- rich and saturated.

Sketch group

2011-01-26T17:09:00.000-05:00

I went to the open sketch group this week with a live model. I spent about 45 minutes on this pose and am pretty pleased with the results! At first the hair was difficult and I kept reminding myself to look for masses of shapes which makes it easier to simplify the form. If you click on the image to see the full size drawing, you can see I made some color notes at the top. The lighting was just perfect and the model was sitting on these brilliant colored cushions and fabrics so I'm planning on working this into a full size painting. Now the only question is, pastel or watercolor? I'm leaning towards doing a small color study in pastel (9x12) and then doing a full size watercolor (18x24). Thoughts? I rarely paint nudes so it would be a venture into the unknown for me...

A recent commission...

2011-01-15T12:52:00.000-05:00

This painting presented a challenge, since the reference photo was taken in the middle of winter, and my client wanted it to be spring. So, I picked a few of my favorite colors for a spring palette and went from there. I used a sanded paper with a light blue/gray background which I think was a good choice. This paper in particular is a little coarse for my taste, which is great if you need to put endless layers on. This subject was fairly straightforward though so I didn't feel the need for as many layers. Still, I'm happy with the result!

Family Pet Portraits

2011-01-02T12:41:00.000-05:00

Here's the most recent addition to the family pet portrait series. Miss Hattie is featured here in pastel. I'm very pleased with the painting overall, and I like that it looks like the photo wasn't staged.

The Enchanted Forest

2010-12-19T22:47:00.000-05:00

I decided to do 2 pastel paintings to hang vertically over my bed that are larger than I normally work (18x24). The first one I did over the summer, and I wanted to title it The Enchanted Forest, but then it ended up looking more like The Haunted Forest due to poor color selection for the trees. So this painting here is actally the 2nd one, and I am much happier with the color choices. I really need to assess the painting in daylight though before I make a final decision, but I thought I would post it anyway. This painting took me about 2 hours to complete. Sometimes it is a welcome break to have a loose composition and painting to work on for a change.

Buenos Aires, take 2

2010-12-06T19:22:00.000-05:00

So I have 2 paintings to post this week. I have to admit, I really am not crazy about the watercolor of the tango dancers. I think it is the skin tones. I just feel like everytime I paint watercolors it never turns out they way I want. But this painting was good practice nonetheless. I have a similar photo of tango dancers that I plan to try in pastel and see how it turns out.

My second Buenos Aires painting is of an assuming couple in the hotel lounge. I discretely whipped out my camera and zoomed in on them because the lighting was just so perfect. I really like this painting!

Before and After

2010-11-14T21:15:00.000-05:00

Watercolor

Pastel

So in class this week Terry had me work on a fun exercise. I brought in an old watercolor of mine and painted it in pastel, using the original painting as my reference. I thought I would see more of a difference than I actually did, but I think that is because I did not have the actual photo reference. That being said, I still really like the pastel painting a lot because the colors are so rich. This scene is from a (rare) sunny day when we were living in England and took a day trip to the country.

Buenos Aires!

2010-10-30T17:29:00.000-04:00

I'm really excited to start painting from the photos I took in South America a few weeks ago. This first one here is from a cafe in Buenos Aires in the San Telmo neighborhood, which has this cool artsy-bohemian vibe. Needless to say I felt right at home. And so begins my Buenos Aires series. I'm also in the process of working on a watercolor right now of 2 tango dancers but it will take me awhile to finish. This pastel here took me about 7 hours total. I'm very please with the finished product. Hope you like it!

Tuscany, take 50....

2010-10-17T20:59:00.000-04:00

So one way to get over the neverending longing to go on vacation to Italy is to paint the same town- over, and over, and over again. I can't even come up with a constructive comment to make so will just post the painting :-)

First Place!

2010-10-14T15:47:00.000-04:00

This is a big moment for lil old me and my venture into the art world. My painting "Vienna Dawn" (left, pastel, 22"x28") won 1st place at the Atlanta Artists Center's October exhibit titled "Autumn Hues". I'm truly honored- I am in the company of some amazing artists at this group. Thank you AAC friends for your support and inspiration!

http://www.atlantaartistscenter.org/

Farmer's Market Series, Painting #1

2010-10-04T21:59:00.000-04:00

So I've been frequenting the local farmer's market and photographing both the produce and the people to find subjects for paintings. I go around 9 or 10 am and the lighting is just perfect. I arranged this still life after scoring some fresh fruits and veggies from a friend's mom who has a local farm, which was the initial inspiration for my farmer's market series. So many of the pastels I've done recently came easy to me but I must admit I really stuggled with this one. I think it is because it's a still life which is not my strength. It's the background that threw me off with this one. I guess I've found something to practice. Funny though, everytime I see this on the wall I won't think about the struggle to paint it, but how delcious that cantaloupe was! For the ATL locals, this is hanging up for sale in Basil's restaurant in Buckhead for the month of October.

Happy Fall!

2010-09-28T18:07:00.000-04:00

I suppose the easiest way to describe how pastels have helped me progress is that I see the color and value more clearly when working from a photograph. There's still some guess work involved, but certainly more than one right answer. Color harmonies used to drive me crazy. The beautiful thing about pastels is that a color will only look a certain hue until you place a different color next to it. For me the most gratifying moment when painting is when the color all of sudden pops. That happened in the painting above as soon as I put in those rusty orange colors and the light cream color.

Have you seen this man, part 2.

2010-09-25T16:18:00.000-04:00

When I decided to do this painting, I wasn't really aiming for a likeness with the person, but it ended up kinda looking like someone I know. So, I've decided to keep the "have you seen this person" series going. I have some great pics of friends and family from the summer that would make great paintings. So if you see me and my camera then consider this your warning :-)

Another pastel from class this week...

2010-09-19T17:13:00.003-04:00

Just listed for sale in my etsy shop- "Sunset Over St. John" 12x16. Completed on La Carte Sanded Paper.

Back to Watercolors

2010-09-16T22:34:00.000-04:00

So this is the first watercolor I've completed in 3 months. I don't think artists realize the benefit of working in different mediums. You can learn so much and in turn it will make your primary one even better. Pastels have helped to loosen up my style a lot which was one of my goals all along. I have to admit I was stumped at first when I sat down with my watercolor block. I had the drawing done, but then what? What emerged surprised me. I slapped all kinds of colors in the sky in big wet washes. 3 months ago I would have done one solid wash in a shade of light blue. But no more. The sky here has blues, yellows, pinks, browns, and purples! Same with the washes in the buildings. I set out to capture the colors of Sweden (this pic was taken in Stockholm) and I think it turned out ok. Just as a side note I want to add I'm still loving my transparent palette, and I think my Escoda #12 brush is the best money I've ever spent.

I will post a pastel I just finished this weekend. I really am torn between which medium I love more!

Summer Pastel Series

2010-09-10T15:19:00.000-04:00

So here's the latest in my summer pastel series. Some people have questioned my choice of subject, but I really like this painting because it is all about contrasts. The photo was taken at a country fair type event near my grandparents house. Moving on.... I'm working on a sunset picture now in pastel and a watercolor of a church in Sweden. This is my first watercolor since June and it felt so good to pick up my brush again. I am really excited to see the finished product. Whenever I take a hiatus it seems to change my work. Stay tuned....

Have you seen this man?

2010-08-29T19:22:00.000-04:00

I've decided to focus on paintings with people in them next. Terry helped me get started on this one in class on Wednesday, then I spent about 8 hours on it this weekend to finish it up. That really is a lot of time for me to spend on such a small painting (9x12) but the person that is the subject happens to be one of my toughest critics. He's asked to remain anonymous. Do you recognize him?

Sir Dudley

2010-08-20T21:13:00.000-04:00

This one is by request, for my Mama, of her dog Dudley. He looks quite regal in this pose, no? Pastels are becoming a lot of fun and I am enjoying the process more than I think I ever did with watercolors. I'm still taking classes at Chastain from Terry Powers and have seen huge progress in my work. I'm not sure if it is showing in the finished product, but I certainly can tell a difference in the process. Off to the beach now, I plan to take lots of pictures for paintings!

Randy, take 2

2010-08-14T10:46:00.000-04:00

There was some concern the original Randy painting for my sis was lost in the mail so here's my attempt to recreate the same painting. Of course this was finished the day before the orginal was returned to me in the mail due to insufficient shipping payment. Anyway, he still looks like a sweet puppy. And this one was whipped up in half the time of the original, partly because it in on sanded paper. Also, my Etsy shop is finally up. I just started listing pieces for sale so if there's a painting you want to buy send me an email and I'll be sure to list it. http://www.etsy.com/shop/msaulsbury

Mini-Series

2010-08-09T20:16:00.000-04:00

So a few weeks back I bought a pad of Wallis sanded paper for pastels which comes in 2 random sizes- 9x12 or 12x18. My watercolors were usually either 11x14 or 16x20. I bought the 9x12 and it's a great size for practice paintings although it does feel weird working so small. Anyway, here's last week's painting of Tuscany from class. Another one of Italy, I know... It never gets old!

Around the world, a triple play!

2010-08-02T21:30:00.000-04:00

I'm going to go ahead and warn you now that this is a long post. One of the best things about pastels is that you can achieve a decent painting in about half the time of watercolors. So basically, 1 Saturday afternoon= 1 finished painting! Which is perfect for time challenged individuals like myself. And that is why I am posting so many paintings now. A brief commentary on each follows.

This is a painting from our trip to Vienna circa 2007. It's rare that I will paint something for a specific room, but I had this empty wall in my dining room glaring at me. And since I'd found a big, beautiful frame for only $15 at the flea market, I felt I owed it a great painting. This is the largest painting I've done to date in pastels- about 22x28, and I have to say it was liberating (although I'm STILL cleaning up pastel dust in my studio from it). One last note- I ended up lightening the foliage in the trees with a dusty rose shade so they weren't so dark, but forgot to take another picture before it was behind glass :-(

This one is a little miniature 9x12 from class last week. I've had the travel bug lately since I've been sitting home while my husband globetrots for work. Voila- I've transported myself to San Francisco after only 3 hours on this painting. I chose the photograph, converted it to black and white on my computer, then chose the colors that I felt like using (purple!), testing out Terry's advice that "It doesn't matter the color, only the value". And that is why my trees are fuschia and cobalt. I rarely say things like this, but, I LOVE this painting. I'm tempted to do another much larger version. Maybe...

And just like that I left San Francisco and arrive at a garden in Tokyo. This subject was a spur of the moment decision, a random "I don't know what to paint" moment from art class when I just randomly picked up this photo with zero planning and just jumped in. There's no underpainting, crappy paper, and zero creativity with the colors. But it makes me smile anyway. It could still use a little work on the the center to create more depth. Until it's framed, it's not finished! Till next time....

From pastel class

2010-07-24T08:58:00.000-04:00

I have a great new teacher for pastels named Terry Powers. I'm posting the next 2 paintings (which are from class the past few weeks) to benchmark my progress throughout the summer. Hope you like!

Still life from class, 9x12

Church in Montesquieu, 9x12

Supplies, paper, and empty pockets

2010-07-21T10:09:00.000-04:00

Ok so switching my medium to pastel is proving to be an expensive endeavor. First there's obviously the pastel investment, which at $4+ each adds up. I'm a Sennelier junkie, which are the pastels invented for Degas. Oh how the glorious colors just glow when you put them on the paper! And speaking of paper, I've tried a bunch of different types but prefer wallis sanded. It grabs just the right amount of pastel and it doesn't fall off. I felt the same with watercolors, the quality of your supplies can make a big difference in the execution of a painting. Anyway, I swore to myself this painting here is the last time I will use inferior paper. This one here is on Canson Mi Teintes. I sent this to my sister for her birthday- hope she likes it!!

Summer Pastel Series and... Big News!!

2010-07-11T22:52:00.000-04:00

Big news first- One of my recent watercolors won 3rd place at the Artist's Center this month! Ernie (the dog in the painting) was very excited about his ribbon. Read about it here and see the painting. I have to admit that the first thing I did was breathe a sigh of relief- turns out it's worth the work after all!

So I am now on my watercolor hiatus, and pastels are starting to make more sense. I've officially read every book in the library. They are more about just getting in there and laying in the right color the first time. There is a lot of layering with watercolors typically. So thinking in terms of "1 color" to define a shape takes some getting used to- it's almost like retraining your brain. All the way around, pastels are just completely backwards from the working process of watercolors. But I have to say, I am loving it! The richness of the colors is so exciting. So here's the first of my summer pastel series. This is a still life picture I took at a local festival in VA near my Grandparent's house.

A recent commission...

2010-07-05T15:44:00.000-04:00

Did you know I do commissions for friends for a steal? Let me know if there's something I can paint for you! New living room? Check. Birthday or wedding present? Check and Check.

The painting to the right was just finished for a birthday gift. It's an 8x10. Nothing says love like original art!

Ok, that's my only sales plug on my blog. I promise.

Last watercolor until fall...

2010-07-01T19:29:00.000-04:00

Just for fun every once in a while I like to do a painting of a familiar subject, so here's the latest of my Ernie dog. I've realized my colors are getting really dark. I need to work on that because someone commented my colors looked like Rembrandt. Yikes!

With the exception of a commission I'm working ont his weekend, this is my last watercolor until fall. I'm diving head first into pastels. I went to the Southeastern Pastel Society with a friend from the Atlanta Artist's Center and had a great time critiquing the work with her. I think the more I study other people's painting, the more I learn about how to paint my own. Stay tuned!

2010-06-25T13:59:00.000-04:00

So I'm venturing into new territory with painting more people in my scenes. I think once I gain a bit of confidence using bolder colors this could work out ok. My first attempt is of one of my favorite people, Erin. We were at an outdoor cafe in Florence when I snapped this photo. I spent much more time on the drawing than normal- probably 3 hours- versus the 30 min to 1 hour I would usually spend drawing. I'm pleased with the initial effort but am spending a lot of time now reading about color theory.

So I have a few more finished watercolors to post and then I'm onto pastels. I'm making it my mission to get better at pastels and so I figured my hiatus from watercolor class over the summer is the perfect time.

Mixing it up

2010-06-14T21:27:00.000-04:00

Someone asked me recently if I ever try the same recipe twice. They were referring to cooking which is one of my other hobbies, but it's also a valid question for painting. The answer is no, and here's why. I feel like everything I paint is still an experiment. News flash: I have no idea what I'm doing. At least that's what it seems like a lot of the time. The possibilities are seemingly endless when it comes to techniques, color schemes, etc., and my goal with each painting is to find something that will work for that particular painting. So with that in mind, let me explain the strategy behind the painting "The Girl with the Red Umbrella". I knew as soon as I saw how this photograph turned out that I must paint it. It was taken in Tokyo moments after a downpour about a year ago. The reflections were perfect, the contrasts just right, and the people seemed to be posing for me it was so on point. But back to me not knowing anything about painting. I knew from the start that this was going to be a pastel painting, not watercolor. But once I figured out the medium, the age old question came up again: where do I start? I still struggle with pastels- I am convinced I make them harder than they need to be. Blog readers, if you have any tips, let me know! I have finally figured out that I'm not the underpainting type when it comes to pastels. So at least I know that much. Oh, and I'm singing up for pastel class again so keep your fingers crossed for me it doesn't get cancelled again for the 4th time.

On a whim, in St. John

2010-06-03T22:29:00.000-04:00

So I didn't actually have plans to do this painting last week although it was in the pile of "to be painted in 2010". But then it was my friend Leslie's birthday, who is actually the figure in the painting, and I thought- oh maybe she would like to have this one! So I sat down to do it in sitting, and I think if I had broken up the time I spent working on it, it would have lost the whimsical quality it lends. What do you think?

Value Studies

2010-05-22T11:00:00.000-04:00

For my novices: values= the darkness/lightness of a color. I haven't been painting too much the past month, but I've been thinking about it a lot. Specifically, how can I improve my paintings? I've been working on stronger value patterns and harmonious color schemes for a while now. The next 2 paintings showcase the latest change in my process. Instead of working off of my own sketches of value studies, my reference is the black and white photo of my subject, which I convert to b&w and the tweak with basic photo editing software (Picasa)- nothing fancy. It's been a great way to make sure my darks are dark enough. The more I read about painting- no matter what medium- the color really doesn't matter much as long as the value is right. The other advantage to working from the black and white photo is that the colors in the painting are essentially my imagination. And I love purple so much- I think it will be in all of my paintings from now on. So voila! 2 masterpieces for you.

Rome

2010-05-15T14:29:00.000-04:00

2010-04-30T13:54:00.001-04:00

For my poodle lovers! You know who you are ;-)

This is another pastel paper experiment. I give this one a B. I definitely like it better than the watercolor paper with pastels underneath. But I suspect Wallis is such a favorite (and a high price) because it just holds the pastel better than anything else.

The Last Venice Painting!

2010-04-25T09:17:00.000-04:00

Here's the 3rd painting in my Italy series. This is actually the second version of this painting. The first one just didn't turn out how I had pictured so I started from square one. And do you know I'm actually thinking about doing it for a 3rd time? Apparently a lot of famous artists did this so I don't feel bad.

Edward Hopper

2010-04-22T21:42:00.000-04:00

Here's my latest copy from watercolor class. The orginal is by the artist Edward Hopper. He used a lot of angles in his paintings and I've recently noticed that I too have a lot of architectural elements in his paintings. Why is it so easy when I'm copying someone elses painting but so hard to do my own?

My experiment- A pastel on watercolor paper

2010-04-20T17:35:00.000-04:00

Here's my latest pastel painting. I was really excited to work on this one since I loved the photo so much. I have to admit I'm a little underwhelmed. Part of the problem was the paper- it was on watercolor paper not traditional sanded pastel paper. I was trying a technique I read about in a book that suggested doing an underpainting of watercolors and layering the pastels over. It's hard to tell in the painting that there's even an underpainting there. I'm not totally sold on the idea of an underpainting but maybe it's just me. So far I have yet to be impressed, and in fact I think I prefer the immediacy of just getting right to it. Sometimes I try so hard to follow different sets of rules that I forget how to just go with my natural instinct as an artist. What bothered me most was that there really is no tooth to the paper which made it impossible to layer colors. I think I will try different paper next time.

2010-04-08T21:51:00.000-04:00

Ok so this isn't my typical style, but I've gotten some compliments on it so feel obligated to share it. In watercolor class a few weeks back we studied John Marin, who paints far more abstract than I ever can. So here's my attempt at imitating his style. This painting is a combo of 3 photos of Dubai that I tried to put into one composition.I completed this painting in only 2 hours, so I guess I got out of it what I put into it.

Every once in a while I feel completely overwhelmed by how far I still have to go with developing my skills. I just finished a pastel tonight that I was really excited about painting. Every single stroke just frustrated me until the very end when it started to come together. I think part of it is that I did it on watercolor paper which creates quite a challenge at covering the surface. I'm going to buy some wallis sanded paper since apparently it's a must have for pastels. I'm hopeful it will make a difference.

Harmony

2010-04-03T16:28:00.000-04:00

Tah-dah! I present to you my first finished painting using my new color pallette, consisting of all transparent or semi-transparent colors. I also used a limited palette of cobalt blue, burnt sienna, perylene maroon, and perylene violet. I am really happy with the color harmony and value patterns in this painting. This is one of the pictures taken around Central Park when I was in NYC a few weeks back. There was a fair amount of editing required to pull this composition together but I think it was worth it.

If you live in Atlanta, look for my paintings at Emory Hospital next month! I'm going to be sumbitting works next week! Both Venice paintings are going and maybe this one...

Wine Country

2010-03-29T20:44:00.000-04:00

Painting photos from Napa always makes me feel calm and peaceful, I guess because there is just nothing stressful happening when I'm there. I painted this using a very limited palette as an experiment, and I think it resulted in a very harmonious color scheme. I used: Cobalt Blue, Yellow Ochre, Burnt Sienna, and Cadmium Red. This is the last painting I completed with my old palette which included some of the semi-opaque and opaque colors I've since eliminated. If I did this with my current palette, I would have used Cobalt, Quinacridone Gold, Winsor Red, and Burnt Sienna. Later this week I will post a few paintings from my new palette.

On exhibit now!

2010-03-12T10:08:00.000-05:00

A recent pastel I painted "A Walk in the Park" is on exhibit in the Atlanta Artists Center's March show for "Winter Rythms". It will be hanging thru the first weekend in April so if you are in the neighborhood check it out here!

I recently made the switch to my all-transparent watercolor palette and WOW what a difference. No more muddy darks!! I am so excited with the results. It will take a while to get the hang of- certain colors don't mix quite like they used to. I've also made the decision to switch to 300lb paper from 140. I always thought it wasn't worth the money, but in my old age I am using bolder, wetter washes in my paintings and the 140 just doesn't stand up to multiple washes as well. I am getting ready to pick up a block of the Arches 300lb and will give it a test run this weekend. Lots of paitnings to get to! Right now I am working on a commission piece (deadline of next weekend) and then starting the last Venice painting (deadline 4/1). I am planning on sending the Venice series to Emory to display so lots of work to do!

2010-03-08T22:18:00.000-05:00

Say it ain't so! My beloved new camera won't turn on, therefore I can't upload my most recent painting! Hopefully this will get resolved ASAP. (Yes I changed the batteries...) :-) So I thought I'd take this opportunity to share some of the things in my painting pipeline. This week- I am starting a watercolor commission of the Lincoln Memorial in DC. Then next up I'm going to be attempting the following photo in pastel:

Then lastly I am going to finish the 3rd and final watercolor painting in the "Venice" series (Wll, at least until I go back to Venice again. I'm out of photos!)

And that's it for March!

Venice, Take 2

2010-03-01T22:02:00.002-05:00

Every once in a while I have the urge to revisit a painting that just didn't turn out right the first time. Case in point with these paintings of Venice below. The one below was done in 2008 when I was in my mode of literally translating every color and detail in the photograph, which coincidentally wasn't a great strategy since my camera took bad pictures (I've since upgraded and it was totally worth it!) The one above was just completed this week and I'm really happy with the results. I love all of the colors in Venice and since I just did the other gondola one, I figured I'd do this one as well since I felt like I knew what was wrong before. The first one was plagued by one color syndrome and appeared very flat. The colors were too gray and made it dreary. And lastly the value patterns and light source were all off. So with those 3 things in mind- I got to work on the new and improved Venice. I feel an enormous sense of accomplishment that I can look at older paintings now and tell what needs work on them. I hope you like it!

On a separate note, I've been planning on restocking some supplies soon, including paints, and was thinking about my color palette. I'm making a BIG LEAP and switching to only transparent colors instead of a mix of transparent and opaque. Overall I think that will help with the luminous glowy quality I love in some paintings. I'm a little torn apart though. My beloved Cadmium Red, Cerulean Blue, and Yellow Ochre will have to be kicked to the curb. But I think I have suitable replacements and it should make a major impact on my paintings. I just feel like it's the next frontier to creating professional quality paintings.

Ciao for now!

Workshop notes

2010-02-21T22:18:00.000-05:00

This weekend I attended a workshop with Marie Matthews about painting faces in watercolor. I have to say it was a
real privilege to paint with her, and even just observing her demo- you can learn so much! I need to defend the crappy painting at the right a little bit- I was painting vertically on my easel instead of at the 45 degree angle, and the results, well, are a little blobby since everything was running together. I think this only works if your brushes aren't loaded with paint and water. The time flew by and I could have spent another 1-2 hours on this painting since there are clearly problems with it (i.e, her skull is chopped off in the back) and the blouse is really an afterthought right now. I think I will continue working on it and see how much progress I can make. Speaking of progress, turns out all of those figure drawing books I've been studying are paying off! I have to say- the features of the face are something I have really been struggling with. Marie gave a few extra tips about placement that seemed to tie everything together I'd read, and sure enough, voila! It was much easier putting the drawing together. I've been thinking a lot about "brush mileage" (practice). Like anything else in life, the more you do it, the easier it becomes. Not because the task gets easier, but because your own skill level improves. I am happy to see this happening. So in light of this, I am taking on another task. Right now I am making my way through the book "The Human Figure" by John Vanderpoel, one sketch at a time. For the record, this book claims to have 430 sketches of body parts, torsos, poses, etc. I spent an entire afternoon this weekend drawing eyes in my sketchbook. Eyes looking up, looking down, to the side, closed, and any other possible variation you could ever imagine. Probably about 50 different individual eyes. I'm hopeful that copying these sketches will speed up my progress. And why do I care so much about figure drawing anyway? I'm a landscape artist for goodness sake! Well here's why. I feel like your painting will only ever be as good as your drawing is. And because a lot of paintings I do have a technical aspect to them with buildings and perspective, I have to be able to get it right. I have a painting in our den that just drives me bananas because the perspective is off. And I wonder, how did I not spot that 3 years ago when I started it? Signing off until next week- I will be travelling this week for work so not much time to paint. But you can bet my sketchbook will be packed!

A Walk in the Park

2010-02-13T14:10:00.000-05:00

One of the things I have been trying to improve is composing paintings with stronger contrasting values. I read on another art blog recently that "Value does all the work, and color takes all the credit". I find this to be right on. The more I go back and critique some of my older paintings, I realize that's precisely what is missing! And even older ones that I really like, that is something that I pulled off really well whether it was intended or not! A lot of times, I think artists go through a painting based on instinct and don't understand why something works or doesn't. As someone who does this frequently- let me tell you it can be downright painful. I personally find pastels easier to keep the values in check. Because there they are, all the answers right in front of you, in your set of 96 colors. I'm pretty sure pastels are what will make me famous one day and watercolors will just torment me. Especially if I keep doing pastels of Randy, the puppy in the painting.

I chose this photo as the subject for a pastel because it had great contrasts already in it thanks to my sister's stellar photography skills. It was easier to translate to a painting and I have to say I felt this huge rush of joy when I laid in the lightest "sun" colors. Just like that- it became 3 dimensional and ALIVE. I even think I might enter it in the juried exhibit at the AAC for March...

"A Walk in the Park" 12x16
Pastel by Melissa Saulsbury

5 hours later....

2010-02-10T22:06:00.000-05:00

I just finished reading a book about figure drawing and chiaroscuro. Let's just say my paintings were lacking in lifelike qualities prior to reading up on some different techniques. I'm trying to see the figure as more shapes and values than lines. Check out tonight's sketch below. My crazy work friends joke that I am going to "finger painting" class instead of "figure painting". Hopefully this will prove that in fact I am not attending finger painting.. :-)

Also- in watercolor class this week we studied Charles Burchfield. His art is depressing and flat but I thought it was interesting that everything he painted at one point was a view out of one of his windows. He lived in Detroit in the early 1900s- perhaps this is why his paintings are depressing. Anyway, I also painted a view out of one of my windows for class this week. This painting is the view I stared out the window at every day I sat at the desk in my studio in London. I will never forget the color gray that sky was day after day...

I just started a new watercolor this week and it's the first time in a while I fee like I just hate it. I'm hopeful it will turn around. Lately I'm feeling like it's so much easier to achieve the painterly quality I love with pastels instead of watercolors. My bricks turned out ok in the painting on the left, but it looks like the same rigid painting I always do. Whatever- perhaps this will change with time. Either way, it's another painting for my England series. I love the cool chimneys all the houses have in London so I'm glad I worked it into a painting. I'll be ready whenever I get that call for a one man show of 15 paintings in a series!

On why I paint....

2010-02-08T13:50:00.000-05:00

Came across the following on another artist's website. She finally was able to put into words what every artist feels but doesn't know how to say.
"My painting philosophy is very simple. I paint because I can't stop. I don't know exactly when I became obsessed with watercolor painting. It caught me when I wasn't paying attention and changed my life. I no longer look at the world without seeing common things in a special way. "

2010-02-02T13:44:00.001-05:00

So I was thinking that this week is crazy busy straight through the weekend, and how it would make life easier if I just skipped the figure drawing studio tomorrow night. Then I started reading about various artists online and came across a pastel workshop here in Atlanta in May by an artist named Duane Wakeham. I wasn't familiar with him until today but apparently he is big-time in the world of pastel artists. I came across the following online:
"Wakeham shares this breakthrough in his workshops, explaining to students that if they’ll do only 10-minute paintings the entire time, they’ll learn more about painting than if they do one painting each day. “Doing quick studies keeps you thinking about painting,” he says, “and it sharpens your skill in summarizing what you see. You develop your ability to say as much as possible with the minimum amount of time and effort, forcing yourself to see and think in terms of large shapes and simplified patterns of light and dark, instead of getting bogged down by details.”
Guess I have to go to class tomorrow.

Venice Value Sketch

2010-02-01T21:09:00.000-05:00

Here's how I got started. I new it was important to emphasize the light going down the canal so I tried to play up the contrasting shadows and exxagerate them a bit.

My Sargent Imitation

2010-02-01T21:05:00.002-05:00

This scene is from our engagement trip to Venice in 2006. I've been avoiding the photos I took of the canals as subjects for paintings, only because there are so many different elements all over the place. It took some serious editing to get this simplified so the drawing would make sense. I enjoyed trying to imitate Sargent's style and it came in useful when I got to a difficult area. For example, the gondolas were full of different items that I simply took out and made a varied wet wash. I tried to preserve the light areas as much as possible to maintain the strong value contrast and frequently referred to my value sketch which I will post next along with the original photo. Overall, I think the composition is strong. The drawing could have been a bit more accurate. This really would have been an ideal subject for a large painting (18x24) but given the time constraint (my 3 hour class, plus about 2 hours at home) I really couldn't go bigger than 11x14. I am satisfied with the result and am now an avid Sargent fan.

Something new to get into!

2010-01-25T19:45:00.003-05:00

So one of the classes I've been going to on Wednesday's at the AAC is a figure drawing sketch group. It's 2 hours of drawing 1 to 30 minute poses of a model. I've been really struggling with the face on the models so I just got several new portrait drawing books to help me out. Also I am hoping to take a workshop from a local artist that I met last weekend that is about painting heads and the figure. Take a look at her work here: http://mmatthews.com/ . Surely she can teach me a thing or two. This is one of the new skills I am attempting to take on with gusto!

I'm excited about how active the arts are in Atlanta. In the past month I've found all sorts of things to keep me busy with classes, workshops, and demos. I went to a demo last weekend at the Buckhead art store and was really impressed with the turnout- probably about 50 other "recreational" artists like me :-) Then I spent the rest of my spare time reading the portrait books so I didn't actually paint the rest of the weekend. I feel like I am in the awkward stage that I go through periodically. It's like I'm almost on the verge of a breakthrough of some sort but it's really painful getting there since I'm trying to change or improve what I'm already doing.

So coming up this week- I am copying John Singer Sargent's style into one of my own paintings, all in the 3 hour class. I have my photo of venice ready to go and am excited at the prospect of having a deadline to get it done. I want my watercolors to be looser and look more painterly and I've got a couple of ideas to help me achieve this. I will post the result later this week so you can see the finished product. Hopefully I will make Sargent proud!

But enough about me...

2010-01-21T20:11:00.002-05:00

I recently started a new watercolor class here in Atlanta and was given a new challenge this week: to reproduce a John Singer Sargent piece. His paintings are unbelievable and the subjects he chooses take you on a trip around the world. Check out his watercolor paintings here:
http://tiny.cc/pkR39 I think he might be my new favorite artist! Needless to say after 3 hours slaving away trying to reproduce his piece "Doorway to a Venetian Palace" http://tiny.cc/z6v5r
I am reminded of how much I still have to learn. The experience was blissful, however. Trying to recreate his bold brushstrokes was liberating. There's a pretty good bio of his life on Wikipedia if you are interested in learning mroe about him. He travelled the world, spoke 4 languages, and caused enough scandal to actually leave Paris and move to London. Good stuff.

Someone recently told me that a professional logs 10,000 hours of practice before they are considered a professional. I figure I'm good for about 1,000 so far at least for my 31.5 years! This week I've logged 5 hours drawing and painting so far and will get at least another 5 in this weekend hopefully. I'm seeing progress now which is all I ask for. My figure drawing class is turning out far better sketches than the ones I did in London 2 years ago. Who knows maybe I will even post some here... AND I have a new interest in portrait painting. But more on that later.

Imperial Palace Finished!

2010-01-13T21:52:00.005-05:00

I've had all of these great pics from our trip to Japan last summer sitting in a file waiting to become paintings. Here is the first one of the Nijubashi Bridge at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo. I decided to do this one in pastel for a couple of reasons. 1) I thought the colors in the photograph were really rich and it would be easy to render in pastel. 2) It is a fairly small painting (maybe 7x10) and I thought it would look too busy in watercolor 3) My box of sennelier pastels still smiles at me everytime I walk in my art room and beckons me to play with them!

Something I recently observed working in pastels- my issues with the color green have disappeared! Obviously in pastel you are working with a limited palette since you only have so many sticks (my set has 80 half sticks) and mixing colors is difficult. The set I have is specifically for landscapes. When I first opened the box I noticed the most flourescent lime green pastel I have ever seen. I thought, "when in the world will I use this color?" But sure enough it has made it's way into every painting recently as the most brilliant highlight color for foliage.

Overall I like this painting. It's better than another one I did recently of a bridge. I was challenged to capture the atmsophere however. When I took the photo the air was dewy since it just finished raining and the colors in the photo have an almost smoky quality. Somehow mine turned out looking like it is a clear sunny day. Perhaps the colors are too warm. Any suggestions?

2010-01-04T20:44:00.003-05:00

Ok so I wasn't planning on posting again so soon but I was just reading my older posts. Here's the barn painting from my grandparent's farm that I refer to in the post from Aug 1 2008. It's my first attempt at pastels on pastel card (which feels like sandpaper). I love the richness of the colors on this paper.

Long time no see....

2010-01-04T14:48:00.004-05:00

This is long overdue, I know. But in typical artist fashion, life has caught up with us in the past year and there just doesn't feel like there's enough time in the day! So to bring you up to speed, 2009 was a whirlwind after moving back to the US. I didn't have as much time to paint as I would have liked but have found a better balance now so I'm going to post some of my paintings from the second half of the year.

Most recently I have taken up pastel painting. It is a whole new world and I'm really excited to be taking a class at Savannah College of Art & Design that starts this week. My shiny new set of Sennelier pastels brought to life a painting that makes me smile.

I have to say that this is the first painting I've done in a while that turned out exactly as it was in my head. Thanks Merlie for the photo!

Update

2008-10-07T19:41:00.001-04:00

The blog is on hiatus until further notice but check out my gallery! New paintings will be posted when they are completed. Enjoy!

Back to Basics

2008-08-27T09:44:00.000-04:00

The above drawing is something quick I put together at the beach last week while Tropical Storm Fay was pounding us. I took a few pics of this setup as well with the intention of doing a watercolor. I'm not usually into beach scenes but we'll see.

Also- I have been working on the oil a little in between all of our travels. I am going to make a point to put in some time on it this week. My biggest frustration with oils is that they take for ever and it just feels crippling! Everything- mixing the paint, setup, cleanup, drying time- it all takes WAY longer than watercolors. As someone who rushes through life- this drives me up the wall :-) , but I am going to push through. An oil painting just never looks like anything until the very end when it all comes together!

Something new is coming...

2008-08-01T05:28:00.002-04:00

Ok so *someone* pointed out the other day that my house will look silly when it is fully of hundreds of watercolor paintings all hanging next to each other. So- I am going to start branching out more. I've worked with oils, charcoal, and pastels in the past but now I think I am going to *really* try to become better at these things. So when I was in VA for 4th of July I took lots of pictures to paint so that is what I am going to focus on next. I'm starting an oil today of one of the barns on my grandfather's farm. I've been practicing taking pictures at various times of day and I think the lighting in the one I am working on next is perfect, so that is what I am trying to capture in the oil painting. So here we go...

It's been a while...

2008-07-24T13:18:00.000-04:00

I forgot to mention in my last post that i sort of take the summer off from painting. It's not intentional, it's just when I regroup. But remember how I said even when you are not painting, you torture yourself thinking about it? Well that's exactly why I finally finished this painting. It was about 75% done when I put it on the shelf for 2 weeks. And while I think it shows minimal effort on my part, it's still pleasing nonetheless. I love paintings of vineyards.

Plein Air Paintings

2008-07-07T15:23:00.000-04:00

"Hartman's Cove" by Melissa Saulsbury, Watercolor, 2008
This painting and the post below are the 2 paintings I did on location over the 4th of July holiday. I think I'm making progress. The tree in the middle nearly divides the painting in half so I think I could have worked out a better composition, but overall I think the colors are nice and this turned out well.

The painting below is a painting of my great-grandmother's house that sits just across the field from my grandparents farm. I took a lot of pictures this weekend so there will be lots more farm/Virginia paintings to come.

Plein Air Paintings

2008-07-07T15:18:00.000-04:00

"Great Grandma Sally's" by Melissa Saulsbury, Watercolor, 2008

2008-06-30T12:24:00.002-04:00

Hi Friends,
Just wanted to give you an update on my current project. I decided to choose a painting that's very challenging, not in terms of size this time but rather technique. I've started another painting of Sonoma. The scene is of the fog over the vineyards in the morning with vies of the mountains in the background. It will be difficult to pull off the fog effect but I think it will look great once it's done.

Also I am off to the USA for some 4th fo July action tomorrow and won't be back until next week. I am packing my paints and am hopeful to be able to paint on site a bit. Any paintings to be posted soon....

Voila!

2008-06-22T09:45:00.000-04:00

"Montesquiou" by Melissa Saulsbury, Watercolor, 2008, 18"x24"

Weekly update

2008-06-18T15:48:00.004-04:00

Hmmm been a while since I posted anything so thought I'd fill you in on what I am working on. I was so inspired by the tiny rural villages in France that I've started another big painting (18x24) of Montesquiou, where I recently attended a friend's wedding. I'm working from a photograph I took, and I'm realizing that it is much easier to work from pictures taken on a cloudy day because i can read the colors much more accurately. I'm maybe 70% done and getting to that point where I'm like "ugh...hurry up already!" Even though in reality I have only been working on it the past 3 days, and actually I am enjoying it a lot (it has lots of shades of purple, and this is my all time favorite color.) So here is the photo I am working from, I will post the painting later this week when it is finished.

Another Sonoma Painting

2008-06-11T09:27:00.000-04:00

"Valley of the Moon" by Melissa Saulsbury, Watercolor, 2008

I received several compliments on the Purple Trees from Sonoma that I decided to do another Sonoma painting, and here it is! I think this area inspires loose painting. Anyway, it was fun to paint. Hope you enjoy it!

2008-06-11T09:22:00.000-04:00

Ahh here's a better shot- my laptop has recovered finally. I added the light wash over the bottom half of this painting and I think it works better. I'm still experimenting with skies as you can see. This one is for Mike's man room that he dreams about. :-)

A successful experiment

2008-06-09T12:49:00.003-04:00

Ok so I had this idea to take a fairly boring photograph and change the color scheme a bit. And it turned out ok! Let me know what you think, I still may darken the main water area a bit and make it more of a sea foam. I really liked the composition in the picture which is what drew me to it i think. As a side note, my computer is bugging out at the moment so it may be awhile before this gets updated. A new laptop may be in my future...

Sonoma

2008-05-31T06:12:00.000-04:00

Here are 2 small paintings (6"x8") from our trip to Sonoma, CA in April. The top one was done on location at like 6am. The bottom one is from a photograph I took- I love the colors in it!

Practice Makes Perfect

2008-05-31T06:10:00.000-04:00

These are 2 small practice excercises from my new Charles Evans watercolor book, "Quick and Clever Landscapes". They are small paintings, maybe 6"x8". But I think they are cute. Both of these were done using only 1 brush- a 3/4" flat sable.

Venice...

2008-05-31T06:08:00.000-04:00

Ok this one I came close to ripping up- I think I rushed through it. But I decided to post it anyway, since this about documenting my progress!

The latest addition to the England series

2008-05-31T06:05:00.000-04:00

Photo taken at Leeds Castle in Kent, England

Portugal Paintings

2008-05-31T06:04:00.000-04:00

Long overdue! I'm not loving the top one, but eh, they sometimes look better matted and framed. I may re-do this one, I haven't decided yet.I think the composition may need to be redesigned because the umbrellas really chop the painting in half. The second one turned out ok, I think it will look nice framed. And I think my palm tree rocks!

Blog Update

2008-05-30T04:26:00.003-04:00

Hey Guys, the blog is going on hiatus for a little while since we've been traveling a lot. Also I'm planning to write less and just post paintings as they are done. I should have a few up this weekend. See you soon!

A pat on the back!

2008-05-18T13:59:00.002-04:00

Ok I give myself a lot of critiques. I need to remind myself when things are going well. So that is what this entry is about. I'm about 80% done with portugal painting number 2. It's been sitting above the fireplace for the past 3 days and I think I've made some good observations about what else needs to happen. But this is one of those instances I am glad that I started over. I have a bit more work to do to match up the value patterns and add a few more bits of shading, but after that it's done. And I promise to go buy a camera battery this week and upload the finished painting!

'Bout time!

2008-05-14T05:06:00.004-04:00

Woohoo! So finished "Portuguese Cafe" finally yesterday! Although my camera battery has died so I will need to pick up another one to snap a pic to post. Additionally, I started the second Portuguese painting. I am roughly 50% done but am contemplating starting over. I just see too many things I should have done in the beginning, but didn't. The sky really bothers me- I was trying to duplicate one from the exercise I just did, and I didn't get the right mix of colors so instead of looking calm and glowy it looks murky- eek! The good news about starting this one over is that it didn't take long. It's another picture from Lisbon but a city scape. There are lots of red tile roofs and interesting angles. Once the drawing was done filling it in is a snap. Oh and I made a great discovery- yellow ochre+ alizarin crimson= a nice rich red roof color! I had previously tried mixing colors with burnt sienna and it just wasn't producing the right result. So I guess sometimes it's all about what you learn, right?

Ugh hurry up already....

2008-05-09T15:27:00.002-04:00

Ok so I think I mentioned that my Portugal cafe painting was going to take a while. It's big (18x24) and has a LOT going on in every corner of it practically. So I knew what I was getting into. But everytime there is a massive undertaking like this I have to take a break every once in a while. So today I did a few practice skies which are always fun. They are excercises from my new watercolor book "Quick and Clever Landscapes" by Charles Evans. I think I mentioned him once before, but let me say again, he is ah-mazing! Check out his website here:
http://www.charlesevansart.com/gallery.htm
He hosts a painting show in TV that I love, so I bought one of his books and it is great. Since I'm not taking formal lessons at the moment I try to learn in other ways so that's where my practice skies come in!

But now it is back to the Portugal pic, I really need to wrap it up. I haven't finished a painting since April 11! I get annoyed if it takes more than 2 weeks... so back to work!

Buongiorno Florence!

2008-05-05T15:18:00.002-04:00

So we made it back from Italy and can I just say this was a GREAT trip. I took 125 pics and probably half are for paintings! so i definitely think I have enough material now to last me till I'm 90. We spent time in the Uffizi Gallery and it was interesting watching art evolve over the centuries- there were actually sculptures dating back to the 2nd century AD. The Birth of Venus was spectacular as always, and I also really enjoyed Botticelli's painting "Primavera" as well.

One thing I really love about Italy is that artists are everywhere. You see them in museums doing sketches and painting landscapes of hillsides in Tuscany. Right in the main center of Florence next to the Duomo there is a whole row of artists selling original watercolors and painting on site. It was interesting because there were maybe 20 people with a stand set up and every painting was of the same subjects in Florence and Tuscany, yet the paintings all looked completely different. This just reaffirmed my thoughts that there is no right or wrong way to paint something, or no wrong shade of green (like i agonize over). Because it's each person's style that will still show through and this is what will make it unique. So I'm changing the rules yet again. I'm just going to paint it the way I feel it should be done. Not the way this artist or that one paints something. I sometimes think that I've been searching for answers to something that I already know the solution to. So was it still worth it? Definitely because now at least I understand better what works and why it works.

I have to say though that I am proud of myself- i hauled my sketchbook and colored pencils everywhere with me and ended up with a good number of sketches! Baby steps.... I suppose it is unreasonable to expect to start out by carrying an easel and oils everywhere you go.

Now it's back to another week of art mixed with regular life and- gasp- work! Until later this week...

Using my artistic license...

2008-04-30T16:08:00.003-04:00

Ok so I spent a good couple of hours on my first Portugal painting the other day and got a decent chunk of it done. But after all of the practice and reading i've done of various techniques, I still can never figure one thing out: why does it still always look the same??? I've been racking my brain with new ideas I can try to capture that loose quality that I admire most in watercolors. This painting in particular has a lot of architectural elements to it with lines and perspective needing to be correct. So what could I do to keep all of these angles correct on the windows for example, and still have it loose and free? Ah ha. It has struck me. I am going to try doing the next painting with very few lines drawn in and do the rest with my brush. This is something I did (mostly out of laziness) in my onsite painting from Sonoma, and I can definitely see a difference. But I think I will start implementing this as a regular practice from now on.

We're heading away for a long weekend tomorrow to Florence- yes- home of "The Birth of Venus". I promised Mike only 2 museum visits though, one to see the David, and the other to see the infamous Boticelli painting. But I am anxious to get more great pics to paint (we're spending a day in Tuscany also). I think I will need to leave my paints at home this time, but I will definitely pack my sketchbook and colored pencils.

Until next week...

The start of something big...

2008-04-27T09:32:00.002-04:00

Every once in a while I get side tracked from the series of paintings I'm working on and think about a painting I *must* do next. That happened the other day. I was flipping through pics I recently ordered from Kodak Gallery of our travels and I got to the snaps from Portugal. I thought, gosh that would go GREAT in my living room if I can paint that one big. But then I decided it would be lonely without the other Portugal pics, so I am doing a few of the other photos as smaller sized paintings. There are 4 total I'm planning on doing now and I expect this could take a while! But, it will be worth it. I don't think I've ever done a painting with the expectation it will "go" somewhere. So step one is to start the drawing for painting one which i expect to take a few hours. I'm doing the big one first which is a busy cafe scene on the water in Porto, Portugal. The buildings are all bright colors of blues, greens, yellows, and reds. It is such a sunny day that the umbrella tops over the tables are a brilliant white which I am hoping to provide a nice contrast to the rich colors.

As a side note, I've got 3 paintings from Sonoma finished- although I have to confess only one was done on site, and it was actually the view of the marina out our hotel window instead of vineyards! They are getting a few finishing touches and will be posted before the end of the week because we are leave Thursday to go to Italy for the weekend! (it is a long weekend here in the UK- everyone is off on Monday) Until next time...

Hot off the block....

2008-04-23T15:26:00.002-04:00

"Flowers for Sale" by Melissa Saulsbury, Watercolor, 2008, 18"x24"

We're back from Sonoma! And turns out if I had put it only 1 more hour on this painting before we left, I could have gotten it done! This picture was taken in Paris on the most gorgeous sunny day that also happened to be freezing cold. That is the thing I love about Europe- you really are spoiled for choice when it comes to deciding what to paint. Ever since I've started taking my own photographs I'm realizing that you can really turn anything into a great painting with a little imagination. A lot of artists have some sort of "message" they try to get across in their painting, others only paint one subject, like cats for example. The more I look at the works I've done, the more I realize my goal with each painting- for the viewer to see all of the colors and beauty in scenes just like I see them. And the more paintings I do of my travels, well, it's just like you've been along with me. That's what I wish for.

As a side note, I've gotten a few questions about selling my paintings. The answer is yes, most paintings are for sale! If you are interested in a particular piece please email me. Thanks for your comments!

Mini paintings of CA wine country coming up soon....

So Close!

2008-04-16T16:02:00.001-04:00

The work you see on the table is about 75% finished. So I came close but not quite there. I also took a picture of my studio so you can see how the master works ;-) Yes the wine glass is important! A few things important to me that you can see- my handy dandy color wheel and value scale. Yes I know this is something you learn in 5th grade art but you'd be surprised how frequently I refer back to it, mainly when you are trying to convert the colors you see in a photograph to the colors you are putting in a painting. The right intensity of a hue can make a big impact so it's important to match things up the way they should be in "watercolor world" ( I call it this because the colors never actually match- you have to make adjustments.) Again, you learn this through trial and error.

So I am like a kid in a candy store when I get to the art supply shop! All the colors overwhelm me and I completely forget what I went there for, even though I always bring a list! So my most recent purchase which I am totally psyched about is my new watercolor travel set, which is Winsor & Newton (the best) and was on sale 75% off! I'm packing it in my bag tomorrow and my goal for the weekend is to do at least 2 paintings on location in Sonoma, and 1 on the flight there tomorrow (9 hours!) Painting and drawing on the plane is something I've started doing on long flights to pass the time and it really helps it go by quickly. I'll be sure to post anything decent I come up with after a day of wine tasting. We'll be gone till Tuesday, so check back then and see what I did! Back to my painting...

Developing Personal Style

2008-04-15T13:07:00.005-04:00

I've been doing a lot of reading about technique and developing personal style lately and have found a few favorites which I've read again and again. Namely, "Painting with Your Artist's Brain" by Carl Purcell (check out his work here: http://www.carlpurcell.com/) and "How to Make a Watercolor Paint Itself" by Nita Engle (http://www.galleryone.com/engle_prints.htm). There's also a TV show I watch every weekend featuring Charles Evans who is a very popular painter in the UK. He's very Bob Ross like!

The one thing I have realized in my research is that it just doesn't work to say to yourself, "I like how he paints evergreen trees, I'm going to do mine that way. Believe me, I've tried. Sometimes the end result looks ok, but you just know it doesn't look like your work. Foliage is interesting to me and something that I'm always convinced doesn't look right in my paintings! And with maybe 20 ways to show texture on foliage, how do you know which is right for you? The answer is trial and error. In the past 3 months, I've created a stack of painting on the floor or my studio in the "this needs work" pile. Sometimes I pull one out and go back and try to make changes, but if it's something fundamentally wrong, like the composition, you can't just pick it up and put it on the other side of the picture. So in doing this, I have managed to narrow down my techniques into a short concise list of how I tackle different subjects. It's very easy to start to feel lost and like you're losing control in a painting and so I have this all written a a sheet of paper and taped right above my desk, so when i get stuck, the answers are right in front of me! So here's what works for me:
My Method
Texture: Splatter, salt, dry brush, masking
Water: Reflections painted first. Big washes over the whole thing after the first part's dried, then lift out lights and add darks. My goal is to have this done in 5 minutes or less.
Rocks: Washes, Mask hard edges of surfaces.
Bricks (up close)- Initial Wash, Mask "in between" bricks, then additional washes and salt or splattered water.
Foliage: (mid distance) Foliage with #8 Round brush, Vary colors to show depths and highlights.
Flowers: Each Petal Painted separately, wet on wet
Grass: Rigger brush to define blades within washes.

I'm hoping to finish another picture before we leave for California on Thursday, so check back then and see if I made the deadline! The painting I am currently working on is of a flower stand in Paris. Back to work!

Just another Friday night...

2008-04-12T10:43:00.001-04:00

"Morning Mist" Watercolor, Melissa Saulsbury, 2008, 18x24

...And this is what I did! I would say I spent maybe 6 hours on it total which is one thing I have been trying to improve. You can literally spend hours- I'm talking easily 20+ on a single painting this size so I consider it an achievement for this reason alone. Overall I am very pleased. I think it is an excellent representation of techniques I have been trying to perfect. I'm now a pro at splattering and graded washes! Like any artist I am incredibly critical of my own work and I now have taken apart half of my portfolio to try to improve paintings that still bother me.

Funny story about this picture though. I have been trying to make a habit of carrying my camera with me everywhere, because you just never know when you'll see a great shot. I travel around town a lot for work and was at a meeting near Oxford about 40 miles outside London. We stayed in a village called Woodstock which is the home of Blenheim Palace (I have another painting of this which I'll post soon in my photo gallery). I got some really amazing photographs that the paintings hardly do justice! But on the way back to London, I'm sitting in my friend's car, stopped in traffic on the highway. I look out the window and BAM- i saw just what is painted above. So I originally thought about calling this picture "the side of the M4", but changed my mind :-)

The Birth of Venus- I am an artist.

2008-04-09T15:43:00.000-04:00

Ok so I have decided to start a blog finally to document my progression as an artist as it is completely consuming my life. The blog is partly for me to vent, keep my thoughts organized about my work and where I want it to go, and lastly to keep my fans updated (ahem) so I don't bore you with conversations about this every time I see you. See the beauty of blogging? You can read it, or not! First let me tell you about why i chose the title. The Birth of Venus is a painting by Sandro Botticelli hanging in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence (read about it here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Birth_of_Venus_%28Botticelli%29). This is the first painting I ever remember making an impact on me. I saw it the first time when I was 17 on an art history school trip to Italy. Still to this day it makes me happy every time I look at it, even if I understand it better now than I did then. I think it is exceptional because it is the first artwork (in my opinion) to show true creativity during the Renaissance. This is a time when literally EVERY painting depicted a scene from the bible (if you've been to Italy- you've probably scene more last supper paintings than you ever thought possible!) The color scheme is so soothing, plus the sea shell depicting Venus emerging as a grown woman, what's not to love? And it's 500 years old!

So let me bring you up to date with where I am today. I think my first art class was when I was 6 (life drawing with furry animals- I think this was also when we discovered my allergies!) I've taken art classes off and on for the last 23 years now, gosh that makes me feel old! While there was more than one hiatus, some extended for a year or more, it doesn't mean I wasn't thinking about it constantly. Which brings up an interesting point- what makes someone an artist? At what point will I say, "I'm an artist working a side job as a sales rep" instead of "I'm a sales rep with art as a hobby"? I've been reading books lately about developing your style as a painter and am currently reading one right now called "Taking the Leap: Building Your Career as a Visual Artist". And the author makes a valid point regarding what makes someone an artist. Artists can't stop. They can't stop thinking about art. And if they stop painting, for however long a period, then they are still thinking about how they are NOT doing it. I think I realized this the other day when i was looking at a tree walking to the tube and thought to myself- that's an interesting color green, how would you mix that on a palette? Or, look at the way those branches curve out, that would make an interesting pattern. Surely normal people aren't thinking this on their way to the tube? So I think now I can say, "I am an artist."

I've been actively painting watercolors on a near weekly basis for 5 years now thanks to the endless guidance and support of Judy Dougherty. To this day I think she's the only one that understands when I send her a rambling email that starts with, "Don't you sometimes just feel like switching to pastel?" I've finally reached the point where I am ready to "take the leap" and start exhibiting and selling my work. Mike has been amazingly supportive and encouraging, and has even become my biggest critic! I've been visiting lots of exhibits and galleries since I've been in London and feel confident my work is good enough now. And since I'll always be painting, why not make some money off it? A house only has so many walls! Sorry mom and dad, my paintings are now officially for sale! hehe. Oh, and i do commissions too....

so once I figure out this whole blogging thing I'll start posting pictures of works I've recently completed. Critiques are more than welcome, good or bad! Sometimes I feel like it's missing something and could use the aid of an untrained eye to help me fix it! Also, because this is the first blog entry, I feel like I should state my goal now for the next 6 months- get a website up and running with my artwork, enter a competition, and have 3 bodies of work with at least 6 pieces each completed which will include my England series (at least 4 done and sellable), and probably the New York series since I've already got a few done, and European travel highlights. These are required to get my artist packet together to send to galleries. Ready, set, go! Back to my painting....