Watercolor - Pansy Study

Pansy Study

8x7in watercolor on Yupo paper NFS

Artist Note

I have been trying to figure out how to do '

the pansies on this slick Yupo paper. 

For those of you who do not know what it is like,  

visualize a thin sheet of smooth,

white, flexible plastic. 

The stuff is great for abstract and 

non-representational art because 

the paint floats on the surface. 

The mingling of colors happens beautifully.

Flat areas are quite doable and 

 neat edges are formed where a puddle ends, 

but try to do a more impressionistic style 

of layering and it looks pretty messy 

right off the bat because

the darn paint lifts off when you don't want it to.

BUT 

that is also exactly the beauty of using it

...to be able to lift the paint cleanly off 

to get back to the white.

Here I slightly stained everywhere but 

the main white pansy first and lifted off 

smaller white areas - trying make sure 

that nothing 

competed with the focal pansy.

Anyone with any hints out there?

Pansy Pleasure... continued

Pansy Pleasures - continued

8x6' oil on canvas  Sold..

What's not to like about pansies? 

They are sturdy, colorful and

have a happy face. Best of all 

they provide visual pleasure

throughout the winter months. 

Artist Note.

One of the advantages I find by 

using the Fracturing technique

is the ability to suggest something by color, 

without rendering it perfectly.

In this case, I first painted the focal point 

with the correct form of a pansy.

Once this had been established I could 

then make any shape, and as

long as I repeated a color or used 

the very distinctive yellow center,

it would read as a pansy.

Here is a close up to show you how abstract 

the one above and next to the focal pansy is.

The mind makes it a pansy 

because it is next to a pansy of 

the same color.

Also the little touch of a yellow center 

is code for pansy.

I am experimenting with painting the pansies

in watercolor on Yupo and regular paper. FUN.

but hard to get what I want. 

P.S.

This is a repeat of a post I did back 

a couple of years ago. I am busy wrapping up 

the classes for the year, One more week!

Pansy Patterns - day 25 in the Challenge

Pansy Patterns

8x6in oil on canvas
work in progress.

Day 25
A colorful jolt to the senses!

Artist Note.

This is an older one I re-worked.
It is purely a decorative piece and I
still love having it around to
experiment on.

Back in late 2011
I did a series based on influences

from Picasso's work and cubism.
Using pattern and color as the main
focus it completely made me free
from the realistic motif of
light creating volume.
Good to have a change every so often...
especially near the end of a
Leslie Saeta 30 Day Challenge!
See all the beautiful paintings HERE

Pansy Time #10

Pansy Time #10



8x6in oil on canvas panel 100.

This is a last one of the pansy series. Do I hear a sigh of relief?

But, I have really enjoyed it and made new discoveries along the way.


Artist Note:

This is a combination of using a brush and painting knife.

I liked this impressionistic style so I want to explore if I can achieve it with a
different subject matter.
I have a feeling I will have to really understand what I am painting
to be able to do it.
I do know when I started the pansy series I could not
have painted them this way.
This technique is difficult for me to do because I have to choose
what to leave out or mess up.  I also have to be careful I do
not take it into what I call calendar art...meaning too pretty.

Pansy Time #9

Pansy Time #9

8x6in  oil on canvas   100.

Pass the sunglasses please!

This is purely a decorative piece and I enjoyed myself immensely playing around with pattern and color.
It was  purposely different to any of the other the other pansy paintings.
I was inspired to do it by my Picasso Rose piece from November 28th, of last year, (below) but not to be quite so Picasso(y).

Artist Note:

Fun, fun, fun.
I started by drawing with an acid free ink, felt tip pen.
I filled in all the big shapes with flat areas of color.
I used a pointed shaper to lift off some of the patterns
where I had deliberately painted a different color underneath
for this purpose.
I used a rigger (script liner) brush to do the line-work.