Wine Cork Watercolor- Parador "Castle"

I haven't gotten any painting done and realized it has been a week since my last post!  I have been waiting for my face to stop hurting after an especially "uncomfortable" 3+ hours at the dentist last Friday.  I was going in for an extraction and thought I'd be a little uncomfortable for a day or so and back to painting. Wrong.  Be very wary if you ever need to have a tooth pulled that has had a root canal.  Brittle roots- need I say more?

I did this cork watercolor a few weeks ago for #47 in my 100 Paintings Challenge.  I love the castle stamped on the cork.  I don't know if it represents the winery or another castle, but I loved it.  It is always a surprise to get a great cork, since you can't see it until you have opened the bottle.  I haven't been to this winery yet, it was a nice delivery from our Napa wine club.  The wine was very good, so it isn't all about the great cork!  Just a bonus if you are an artist with a thing for painting corks.

Fun with Watercolors and ACEOs

ACEO, ATC, whatever you call them- they are fun to paint!  These papers are 2.5 X 3.5 inches.  They just seem like pure fun to paint since you don't have a large piece of watercolor paper in front of you waiting to turn into a "serious" painting.  I have also been trying out the canvas ACEO papers for oil paints.  I have been seeing many artists on Etsy putting these tiny paintings in their shops and decided to give them a try.  I painted more of them, but didn't want to post too many at once, so will post more later. I found some small frames just the right size for them, and if you are like me, you probably like your paintings more once they are matted or framed.  The small size is also just right for painting two of my favorite subjects- wine corks and sea shells!

Works in Progress- Two New Watercolor Sketches

I think you can see why I needed to paint this wine label!

The castle design on this cork is exactly why I love to paint corks!

I am in the mood to paint corks again and chose these as my latest.  When I saw the label on the wine bottle I just had to buy it- didn't even care if the wine was going to be good, or not!  As an added bonus, the wine was very tasty! The wine is a Petite Sirah from Michael-David and another good one from the many available nearby in Lodi, California.  I loved the colorful, fun label and there is even an elephant on the end of the cork.  You might be getting the impression that we chose our wines because of the label art, but that is not exactly it. The label may be the reason I pick up a bottle in the first place, so it does matter. The cork is always just a pleasant surprise if there is a good design since you can't see it until you uncork the bottle.  As artists, we all have our favorite subjects to paint- and wine corks just happen to be interesting and fun to me!

  

100 Paintings Challenge #32, #33

 oil on canvas 5X7"

Oil on masonite 5X7"

These are the last two paintings I posted for the 100 Paintings Challenge.  Every time I am ready to post, I get stressed out.  The blog suggests that you stick with one medium instead of trying to "master" more than one.  When I started the challenge, I had intended to just use my watercolors.  I have been taking some time with the oils also, and when I paint with oils for a few weeks, I don't have new watercolors to post.  Why waste the oils and not count them?  They are still paintings that I am painting, and learning from.  Many/most of the main ideas of painting are shared between mediums such as perspective, value, shadows, etc.

Well, as you can see, I did decide not to discount the oils I have been doing since they are definitely learning experiences.  Some of the other participants have included sketches, pen and ink, acrylic, and watercolor- so why not oils and watercolor?  Why must I over think everything, anyway?

Now that I have had my morning stress, time to enjoy my coffee and crossword puzzle!

Watercolor - "Corkscrew"

I posted my drawing of this watercolor the other day and wanted to show the finished watercolor. I had fun with this one- no problems to fix or paint to lift in frustration. Just a nice, enjoyable painting day- hopefully that doesn't mean today won't go well....I am going to sit down and work on some Christmas card ideas. I used to paint my own cards, and it has been a while. I think, mainly, because I wait until almost Thanksgiving to get to it. I should be painting sandy snowmen in July. Hopefully, I will have a few cards started to show tomorrow.

Thanks for visiting!

Sheryl

Zin Bottle Watercolor Step-by- Step (well, sort of)

I started this wine bottle watercolor when I started the cork series. I just loved this bottle. With a name like Artist Series, and an easel on the label- I had to paint it! It is from one of our favorite Lodi wineries, M2 Wines. We belong to the Lodi Wine Club and they have a huge selection of wineries included. It is a great way to try out wines from many wineries in one place. M2 happens to be one of our favorites, but we have lots of favorites! So, the wine from the bottle was awesome, and now I got to have more fun with it by doing this watercolor. I already have my next wine bottle watercolor chosen- a bottle of Fisticuffs Cabernet from Tu Tu Wines in Napa Valley. When you see the label, you will understand why I have to paint it - I already painted the cork in my wine cork series. When I get the bottles painted, I can finally throw them away- my husband would like the empties gone already (he doesn't appreciate them as future works of art).

I took some basic color notes as I started painting, because I am not usually thinking about the details as I paint along. I started with all of the base colors

- Sap Green for the bottle, leaving light areas (I don't usually use masking fluid except on tiny white areas)

-Raw Sienna for the cork

-Thalo Red bottle top and wine stain on cork end

-Raw Sienna and Thalo Red for the skin tones and Cad Yellow pants

-Easel, Burnt Umber, and artist background- Turquoise

-corkscrew and bottle shadow Payne's Gray

I based most of the color wet-on-dry, but the shadow area was wet-on-wet as was the raw sienna background I added later to make the bottle stand out. The last steps are the details (lettering), darkest darks and highlights.

Most of the lettering on the bottle label and the cork are done in Burnt Umber, but the M2 is heavy on the Payne's Gray as is the 2007 on the end of the cork. I went back in with white gouache for the brightest pops of highlights. Cheating? Maybe, I don't really care if it gets me the result I am looking for!

I kind of got into my painting and forgot to slow down and take step by step photos- as usual. At least I took notes- I am getting better at this process! My main focus was on NOT trying to put in every little detail and to loosen up a bit. I love loose, flowing watercolors- unfortunately, I seem to lean towards tight and detailed. I need to remember sometimes that I am not creating a photo, but a watercolor. That is where the Twenty Minute Challenge will hopefully help me in the future.

Thanks for looking!

Sheryl

Twenty Minute Challenge- Wine Cork Watercolor

I found out about Twenty Minute Challenge http://twentyminutechallenge.blogspot.com last week from the blog of another artist, and couldn't wait to try it out. The blog is administered by Teri from Teri's Painted Daisies http://painteddaisies.blogspot.com

When I paint, I tend to rework and rework the watercolor until I have overdone it. I always seem to think there is more to do. The TMC is the perfect answer for artists like me- you time yourself and stop (finished or not) at 20 minutes. You just start out with your watercolors, a blank sheet of paper, and an idea. I didn't know how much I would get painted before my timer went off, but was surprised with the resulting watercolor. I have been painting wine corks this last week and thought a cork would be a perfect way to try out the challenge. I can't believe I could finish a watercolor in 20 minutes, let alone one I actually like! I thoroughly enjoyed the challenge and plan to continue doing these 20 minute paintings.

Thanks for looking!

Sheryl