Lesson 15: treescape and jungle canopy

Not my favourite project but it was an eye opener when I saw how Ms Shia interpretes her trees using unusual colors of blues/yellows/reds and the shades in between.

Wow, because I didnt know trees can be painted with such dreamy colors~

It was fun to realize that watercolors do not need to be realistic, we can paint illogical colors so long as we maintain a fluid "feel" , get the branches and shadows done well.

I rather liked how my treescape turned out ….

BUT I definitely dont like the outcome of my jungle canopy too much…it was a mess of dullness!

It started well until I muddied the colors up, forgetting to stay within complementary colors and painting transparent colors instead of opaque….

I might in future want to attempt more interpretations of bleak, possibly focus dramatically on a sea of tree trunks in a monochromatic color …..

This too marks the end of my posting on watercolor tuition ....

I will from now on do self experiment using as references the books ordered online from Amazon.com~ boy oh boy….I am so excited that all my 5 books have arrived!

I sure am going to enjoy thumbing through :

1. Nita Engle : How to Make a Watercolor Paint Itself, Experimental Techniques for Achieving Realistic Effects

2. Birgit O connor : Watercolor in Motion : How to Creat Powerful Paintings, Step By Step with DVD

3. Linda Kemp: Watercolor Painting Outside the Lines, Positive Approach to Negative Painting

my first landscape….

what a lovely way to spend a languid Friday morning….

painting and chatting with my 3rd sister at my "art space" , catching up and sharing family news…..the time flew by so swiftly that to my surprise I actually finished my first free hand landscape within one hour!

My sister said it was a mystical outcome….

Me, loved doing landscape….for once~

15.5" x 11.5" on 200 gms cold press

Titled: Flooded field

© michellechoong_khoo

completion of painting skies assignment

continuing from previous blog

coming home from Penang and taking loads, loads photoshots of skies….

In spite of a splitting headache and to help me deal with my heavy heart over papa's ill health~I sat down, lit a Lotus fragranced incence stick and proceeded to paint my incomplete assignments~

outcome of Project C "Cabo de Gata"

based on a photo shot by Miquel Comes

I looked at all the photos of the skies that I shot enroute to and fro Penang….

the laden skies bespoke the language of my heart….

I will try to paint them another day ~

I wrapped up the night just as the 2nd incense stick burnt to ashes~ another token of thanks to a great pal , Andrea for this tip too.

The incense really helped to keep the bugs away and the subtle sandelwood aura puts one in the mood of creation…..I will never lite another incense without thinking of you, Andrea ;)

scene along East Coast Highway back to KL

11.5" x 8.25 " on 300 gms cold press paper

© michellechoongkhoo

giving thanks to a happy life, for the joys that my sons bring, for the love of my life, for the little blessings daily….

"How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our live." ~ANNIE DILLARD

paint more skies~

Trying to fulfill my promise to Ms Shia ~ link to Lesson 13 " studying deep fields"

Later in the evening after dinner…I scoured my archives to see what other photos of skies I have in my iPhoto folders….

I found that all my own photos of skies, were of those taken at diving locations…..or limited to sunsets, sunrises.

Searching my flickr ctc's photos to get skies in different perspectives ….I find Miquel Comes' many photos of stunning gorgeous beach colors and striking smouldering mountain sceneries to be mesmerizingly awsome….

I favorited 3 and sought his permission to copy them onto watercolor:

(A) Wish you were here :

This is simply beautiful beyond words, my favourite of them all~ I wish I was there too ;)

(B) Sister Golden Hair : The contemplative mysterious air makes one pause and ponder

( C) Cabo de Gata : I just love his composition of adding one lone nudist in the wide expanse of sea and sky

Granted Miquel's kind permission , I shall bravely try to attempt to do some justice to his beautiful photos ~ hope he do not end up disgusted with my efforts and edit me out of his contact list!!!!

outcome of Project Photo (A) Wish you were here

draft

first layer

trying out the salt effect for the beach grains…and after many layers of colors for the cliff and the horizon~

Oooops I seem to have shifted the focal point away from the sky and onto the sea /beach instead!

Not that I dont like it but mmmmm, I guess I need to try to paint more skies next~~~

outcome of Project (B) Sister Golden Hair

first draft

many washes of the skies later~ I prefer my sky of the first draft but I love the translucence of the finished painting……again I have succeeded in shifting the focal point away from the sky…oh noooo~

and I failed to capture the mysterious moodiness that the original photo enraptured ~

this needs to be repainted

&

I have one last chance to fulfill my assignment with the 3rd shot "Cabo de Gata"...

I sure hope that I do not end up fussing over the ripples of the waters and the silhouette of the nudist instead of the sky

link to painting of "Cabo de Gata" in blog " completion of painting skies"

If I do, then maybe I may have to change the title of this blog from "paint more skies" to something else perhaps?

Life is simple, Life is Good

lets not fret it too much…have a laugh

btw Have you ever wondered perhaps

"Why the sun lightens our hair, but darkens our skin?"

hahahaha, have a lovely weekend ahead

♥ michellechoongkhoo

Lesson 13~ Deep Field Study

We all brought photos for today's lesson…..

Skies blue, cloudy, pinky, grey, clear, thunderstormy, early morn or mysterious dusk….because the theme is learning about "deep field" painting …

Wait….I asked why only photos of skies ? Eh how come no mentions on photos of fields ?

Heh heh…deep fields as in skies that are deep in the horizon la~

Ah so des ka ? Ah sooooo! Oh I see~~~

I chose to paint some of my Sipadan photos of the gypies at work in the calm seas off Mabul….to try to recapture the beautiful tranquility and landscape of this incredible paradise which is always always a balm for sore urban eyes~

Sipadan's album link

We were shown how to paint an imaginary fluffy sky…Ms Shia made it seem so delightful , starting to prepare the paper for a very wet wash using cheerful aquamarine blue and also saying if one looks more carefully at the clouds,there are lemony yellows and spots of sweet pinks here and there as well as different tones of grey~

Ms Shia demonstrated by improving on my "icelandic" sky below……she kept saying the colors were so cooling …

I take it to mean my colors were not dynamic enough, hahaha.

Apart from being able to paint/draw masterpieces, obviously there is also language skill to motivate students and my art teacher has definitely mastered that to a pat :)

Thus duly motivated by Ms Shia's demo , my classmates were transformed and furiously proceeded to paint volumes of skies…..wow, 3 or more skies per person no less…..

Alas in comparison I was not as productive ;(

….for after I was done with my Mabul sky above, somehow I became sucked into a time warp ~ engrossed with the micro details of my gypsies on their "sampan"….I lost track of the morning until I heard Ms Shia intoning :

" Michelle ~ I want to see many forms of skies, show me an imaginary sky…done from your memory… "

Huh? Which made me go…." Oh Oooops ~ already 12 noon la….paper wont dry on time, I will practice at home la ok ! "~ I promise!

And viola, Tadaaa this is my completed Mabul panoramic sky with my sea gypies harvesting the sea from their little sampan ~

The photo shot was done with the painting clipped onto my curtains with the morning sun's rays providing a strong backlite~ erm practicing what I learnt from DSLR photography class about aperture, shutter , ISO and exposure compensation….

hee hee~

This is about killing 2 birds with one stone, boink boink~ Hahahaha

and what about my promise to Ms Shia?

read more on 'practise more skies' here