Some Girl

5-1/2" x 7-1/2" watercolor

Chicken Mug

5" x 6" watercolor

Yes, I know the ellipses are off. So many challenges, so little time! I'm using a light box and trying out different light sources, positions, backgrounds, bounce light -- and trying to relearn what I used to know about watercolor. It seems that the more I ratchet down my focus, the more little problems there are to contemplate and solve. The bigger picture is just going to have to wait...

Mini Squash

5" x 6" watercolor

This month I am concerned with trying to follow the spirit of the Duane Keiser/ Annie Dillard thing, trying to find substance and beauty in small, mundane things. I've had this funky little squash around my studio since last October, and it is only now starting to rot. Again the challenges of presenting yellows in shadow, but the main struggle for me lies with the properties of the medium. Whether to paint fresh and directly (Charles Reid) or to sneak up on the more subtle nuances (Ted Nuttal, Thomas Daly) is almost always the question, and my answers are never clear.

Guitar Doodle I

4 " x 4" pen and wash

Meanwhile, I have agreed to donate a painting to the Plains Art Museum's Spring Gala and it is due in one week. Their theme this year is the art of the guitar, and I am fond of painting music-related subjects and figures, so I might foolishly think this will be easy. Here's what I'm noodling with at the moment, but it is still much too descriptive. I am going to work up a few more ideas before I settle on something to paint and how to paint it.

The Lake

5" x 7"

Farm Trees Sketch

5" x 7 "

Horse Sketch

5" x 7"

I can see I don't know much about horses, and that I failed to finish painting under their bellies after I skinnied them up. And, don't be counting the number of legs. Oh, well.

San Marco Square

9" x 13"

Whew -- the more I try to do of these, the worse it gets. "These" being an exercise in trying to make the complex simple. I get bogged down. This is the 3rd or 4th, and still not getting the look I'm after. I will try again tomorrow, maybe repeat one of the ones I've already done so as to force a different approach to an old problem, instead of reinventing the same square wheel all the time.

Red Hat (Copely Square)

14" x 11" Watercolor

Shopping Off San Marco

14" x 11" Watercolor