Usually, I don't have problems with painting rocks.

But this time,

I ran into a boulder which had a formation I was completely unfamiliar with.

I didn't do too badly with the first under painting of them.



But as I progressed, my mind kept seeing rows of shingles like cedar shakes lined up on the side of a house.



I was totally frustrated...

Finally, a good friend of mine who has a much better understanding of geology,
explained to me that the rocks are really a series of vertical rock
divided by stress fissures that give them the appearance of being individual rocks.

Once I had an understanding of that concept, this is the results.





Now they looked more like the original.



 



 

        

I'd like to share an experiment I did in the Water Soluble Oils Forum. It consisted of putting a clear acrylic spray over a watercolor, so I could add water soluble oils (also know as water mixabIe oils) over it to add something more to the painting without disturbing the background.

I had a watercolor landscape that I had done several years ago which I kept feeling was not finished. It was on clayboard, and I sealed it with a clear acrylic spray, so I would not have to cover it with glass. When I looked at it recently, I decided I wanted to add some horses to the landscape, but they could not be in watercolor since the painting was sealed.





I thought that the safest thing to do was to experiment by painting a small picture using the combination of watercolor, acrylic and water soluble oils. This way I could be sure that it would work before possibly ruining the bigger landscape I wanted to alter.

First I took a 5 x 7 clayboard and painted a watercolor background.

After several hours to be sure it was dry, I sprayed it with two layers of clear acrylic spray.

The next day I wiped on a very thin film of walnut oil over the entire surface to act as a bonding agent for the water soluble oils. This also helps to make the paint go on more smoothly over the acrylics.

I sketched Mozart, my cat, using raw sienna. Having the thin film of oil on the surface allowed me to make adjustments to the sketch without disturbing the background or leaving any residue color.











The next morning, I decided I didn't like the way the tip of the tail was, so I put a little walnut oil on a paper towel and wiped the end of the tail off an repainted it.

Because I was using water soluble oils rather than acrylics, I was able to do this very easily.

I was happy with the results and even added some more color to the background with the water soluble oils. I really liked the tail much better, too.














If you would like know more about water-soluble oils go to

http://watersolubleoils.forumotion.com/forum.htm

Also, be sure to visit my web site for more information on painting techniques  at

http://www.filarecki.com/

Judy

Mozart    Copyright 2009 Judy Filarecki

        

Our forum is growing rapidly and great discussions are developing.

One thread you should take a look at is

        

Looking for a water soluble oils forum (also know as water mixable oils)?

Well, several of us who enjoy painting with water soluble oils have gotten together to create a forum for others who enjoy the same thing.

We are a friendly group of people from all over the world who love to share our work, knowledge, and experience, or lack of it, with whomever would like to share theirs with us.

If you would like to join us go to

http://watersolubleoils.forumotion.com

This is a new forum so you can help form it with your great ideas,

Right now have

• a place to introduce yourself and post some of your work
• a general chat place where you can talk about anything you would like with other members
• a place to make suggestions about what you would like to see on the forum
• a quesion and answer thread with lots of great technical information about water soluble oils
• a place to show completed paintings
• a place for works in progress (WIP) for you to share and get help with if want it.
• a critique corner
• group challenges
• and a Reference Image Library (RIL) for Members.

Also a fun thread called the Trash Bin where you can show some of your "not so good" work.

Give us a try. There is so much to learn and so much to share.

I look forward to seeing you on the forum.

Judy

 

        

The Art of Painting is something that just doesn't happen without effort and the right tools. One tool I use a great deal is Photoshop to help me plan out  a painting and get the feel of layout.  I'd like to share some of the process I used to get from a video to a painting.

First I took a video of the sunrise and panned the horizon so I would get all three of the mountains I can see from my backyard.

The following are the first, middle and last frames of the video saved as jpgs.  I did this with my movie editing program.

                                           

Next, I stitched the images together in Photoshop to get a complete panoramic photo.



And from there I started painting.  Of course, I modified things a little (or a lot).

The mountains look very small and far away according to  the  camera, where as when you see them in real life, they are much bigger.


When I made them larger, I found that I had to compress the Catalina Mountain Range if I wanted to get all three ranges in. If I didn't, the painting would have been 10 feet long.

As it is, it is 4 feet long by 2 feet high.







When it came to the foreground, I got my handy digital camera out and went down the road a mile to capture pictures of the Santa Cruz River where it flows in several streams.

By my house, the river flows through a deep ditch which isn't very aesthetic, and the reflections are hard to capture.




By adding the river in the foreground, I was able to create a colorful reflection of the sky.

Without that, the whole bottom half of the painting would have been a dull, non-descript space comparable to what you see in the original photograph.






To set the mountains back  in the distance, I added some saguaros.

The minute they were added, you got the sense of the distance and size of the mountains and the beauty of the sky at sunrise.

So there you have it. I went from a video of the sunrise over the Catalina Mountain Range to a complete painting making use of a video camera, a video editing program, Photoshop, a digital camera, a canvas, paints, brushes and imagination.

Hope this has inspired you to be creative with what you and your camera see.

If you would like to purchase a step-by-step DVD demonstrating how to paint clouds, mountains and foreground, go to



Judy Filarecki

        

Recently, I finished painting what was going to be a red rose. Every time I do that, I run into the same problem...highlighting.

Traditionally you would change the color value by adding white and that would be the highlight.
 
I can deal with that with most colors, but not with red...it becomes pink and that is not what I want.

I belong to a forum of artists at

and I asked if anyone had any suggestions for me regarding this. I  was referred to 
     
http://www.jerrysartarama.com/videoApplication/videoLessonListing.html 

There are a whole series of free instructional videos you can view.

I was specifically directed to one by Mike Rooney where he demonstrated how to lighten colors without using white. It was fascinating and I strongly recommend that you look at it.

http://www.jerrysartarama.com//videoApplication/videoLesson.html?title=Mike%20Rooney%20-%20%22How%20to%20Lighten%20Bright%20Colors%22&id=159&res=lowRes&catTitle=Artists&subTitle=Mike%20Rooney&cat=4&sub=4


While I was there, I also look at one on his that demonstrated how to darker colors without using the complement of that color which would tend to gray it down and dull it. Of course, sometimes that is what you want, but other times, you want the color to darken without being dulled down. You can view this video at :.  

http://www.jerrysartarama.com//videoApplication/videoLesson.html?title=Mike%20Rooney%20-%20%22How%20to%20Darken%20Bright%20Colors%22&id=155&res=lowRes&catTitle=Artists&subTitle=Mike%20Rooney&cat=4&sub=4

I haven't had time to look at other ones, but t here sure is a wealth on free information at the  http://www.jerrysartarama.com/videoApplication/videoLessonListing.html

Check it out.

Judy

        

What does an artist do when her hands becomes a problem because of rheumatoid arthritis or carpal tunnel?      I have just had to face these problem over the past 8 weeks.

I was getting very frustrated being away from painting for so long and decided that there was something I could do about it. After all, I had been a physical therapist for 40 years and had adapted things for my patients on a regular basis...so why not for myself.?

When I finally realized that I could do something, I came up with this idea.


Of course, it was like learning to paint all over again, especially since I am a very detailed person and this isn't really conducive to detail. Maybe in time as I practice, it will improve.

My plan is to drill different size holes in  tennis balls so they will accommodate different size brushes.

Just as I writing this, my mind is racing with all the possibilities. I just realized that I could probably use the same ball for three different sizes. That would definitely take up much less room in my paint box.

I was always told that "where there is a will, there is a way." I think I have found a way to overcome the hand problems I'm developing because of the rheumatoid arthritis and carpal tunnel. I sure hope so because there is an unending list of paintings I want to do before I'm finished.

Feel free to pass this on to others, and if you have any suggestions, I would live to hear them. Just send them to me in the comments section.

If you would like to see more of my paintings and get some painting tips, go to my web site http://www.filarecki.com

Judy

        

Are your vibrant colors dull?

Here is a painting tip on how to keep your vibrant colors brilliant.

Do you struggle with keeping you vibrant colors from becoming dull? I often did when I first started painting, but then I gradually realized what it was that  was making my colors loose their brilliance.

The secret to keeping them from being dull is to never use any color that has the third primary color in it.



For example, suppose you are painting some flowers that are just the most vibrant blue violet you have ever seen.  The complementary color to blue/ violet is yellow/orange.  The blue/violet is made up of red and blue as their two primary colors.  The yellow/orange is made up of red and yellow as its primary colors.  Yellow, as the third primary color in the mix, will result in dulling down your blue violet.

Of course you want to take advantage of this in areas where you want to make the areas darker.  Using the yellow/orange will enable you to create deep and shallow shadows which will give the flowers shape.

Keeping in mind that the third primary color will always dull the mixture of the two other primary colors, you can use this to your advantage no matter what colors you are using.

For more information on color mixing go to my website at www.filarecki.com/mixing-colors.html

        

New Page on Analogous Colors added to Mixing Colors


When you are looking for information on mixing colors at www.filarecki.com ,you can find a new page talking all about analogous colors.

We've all seen them and use them frequently in our color schemes when we decorate our homes, but we're not completely sure we know what they are except that they look good together.

To help you understand analogous colors better and help you choose more wisely, I have devoted a page on my website to explain them to you.

Take a moment now to go to analogous colors.

If you would like some home decorating ideas go to http://www.squidoo.com/home-decorating-analogous-colors