"First Weekly Mostly Watercolor Wednesdays" - Figurative watercolors

Here are two fun things I did while trying to learn to do watercolor.  Since it's such a challenge for me, I've decided to dedicate each Wednesday to watercolor - or mostly watercolor, because there's ink and even a bit of colored pencil in a couple of places.  Gotta remember just to let watercolor sit there and dry - don't fiddle with it - maybe requiring a bit of a personality change?  I do like the dance couple, especially her "pose" as if thinking 'how did I get into this'.  Will try to replicate these figures in oil - always tough because it's easy to lose the original feel of the pose, but I like this little piece so much that I'll keep working on it. 

Have been looking at watercolor how-tos on Craftsy and info on watercolor - transparency, lightfastness, granulation, etc.  really an interesting

medium, but I doubt I'll ever master it - just improvement is all I'm really seeking and the pleasure of learning something new.  And thanks so much for stopping by!

 

"40's Jive" - original ink and watercolor figurative drawing

 This drawing is totally loose and undirected with absolutely no thought to the end result.  Shouldn't admit it, but yeah, that's the truth.  I just put splashes of color here and there and basically had a great time.  Sometimes I think I'd like to make wire sculptures of dancers and this sort of has the same fun feel to it.  About 5 1/2 x 8" on Canson mixed media paper. Thanks so much for stopping by!

Jive Happy - original acrylic figurative painting

More crazy jivers doing their thing on a 12 x 16" panel.  Usually I paint in oil, but sometimes acrylic is such fun and I find it really liberating.  Another great thing about acrylic is that it dries so fast - gotta love that!  Thanks for visiting my blog!

Happy Jive - original figurative oil painting

It was gloomy all day, so the perfect thing to do was immerse myself in the film noir offered on Fridays in June on TCM.  Can never get enough of this genre.  My posting is sort of opposite the way I spent my day, though - happier and more colorful, for sure - this piece is on archival canvas board, 11 x 14".  Thanks so much for visiting my blog!

Jive Lovin' - original figurative oil painting

I should have let this dry a little because it's really shiny, but I didn't.  Oh well.  It's on 6 x 6" Gessobord.  Thanks for stopping by!

Jivin' on Seventh - original oil figurative painting

Listening to my jive music while painting this one - boogied at the easel, I did.  It's 8 x 10" on archival canvas board.  Thanks for stopping by!

On My Easel - Jivin' Night - original oil figurative painting in progress

Have you ever listened to "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy" by the Andrews Sisters?   Wow!  What a great song - I played it many times while painting this piece, along with more of my jive and rock 'n' roll goodies.  There's a good bit of work to do on this - work on the figures plus take out some of the little tiny brushstrokes in the background - and the music will just make it fun!  These dancers are on 9 x 12" stretched canvas.  Thanks for stopping by!

On My Easel - Jivers Again - original oil figurative painting in progress

More work to do on this, but should finish tomorrow and will just replace this with the final version.
Love those jivers - they always get me going - it's 9 x 12" on canvas - thanks for looking!

JiveHappy - original ink figurative drawing

My little jivers are back with a vengeance - well, actually, they are never far away.  I think all my little characters know I love them!  I've been doing lots of sketches that may or may not end up as paintings.  I'm a firm believer in drawing just for the sake of drawing - so whether they become paintings doesn't really matter to me.  This one is ink on 6 x 6" Bristol board.  Thanks so much for visiting my blog!

Jumpin' Jive - original oil figurative painting

Well, I was trying to tone the bottom with a bluish-grayish color at the bottom - maybe I overdid it.  Ah the constant worry for artists - did I overdo? underdo? totally kill? - questions that zoom around in my head.  Oh well, there's always tomorrow.  This painting is on 8 x 8" Gessobord.  Thanks so much for stopping by my blog!

Stock Market Jive - original ink and oil pastel figurative drawing

More goofiness, but fun for me.  Always loved this idea of painting on treated newspaper and am interested in working on different backgrounds, such as incorporating dry point backgrounds in my drawings.  This one is about 5 x 9 1/2".  Thanks for looking!

Daily News Jive - original mixed media figurative drawing

Just fooling around here, using the stock pages from the newspaper as a drawing support.  I've tried many different ways of using newspapers as a drawing background - maybe it's the straight lines of the printed paper and the sober stock market news reporting vs. the squiggly ink lines of figurative drawings that attracts me.  Often, I will spray with 'make it acid free' or use various acrylic mediums over it to make it longer lasting.  For this one, it will be bonded to mat board with Studio Tac after spraying with the acid free stuff.  I used ink with some Crayola and oil pastel - it's about 4 x 9 1/2".  Thanks so much for visiting my blog! Sold

Little Friday Jive - original oil figurative painting

My little jivers - always cuttin' a rug - this time, on 6 x 12" canvas.  Thanks for stopping by!

Ink Jivers - original ink figurative drawing

I LOVE fooling around with these little jivers.  Here's one I did on 9 x 12" Bristol paper.  It started with a really thin ink line, then I put in some touches of a bigger ink marker and added water, which caused a softening of some of the lines, then I blotted in places and ended up with areas of pink here and there.  You might say this drawing is just one big accident.  But fun to do.  Thanks so much for stopping by! Sold

More Jivin' - original mixed media figurative drawing

Well, the jivers are still jiving and I'm still following them around!  Initially, I had planned to do something with Caran d'Ache watersoluble crayons, but all I could find at my studio were the wax crayons by the same maker, so the best laid plans etc. etc. - anyway, this quick little drawing was fun to do.  It's on 9 x 12" cold press watercolor paper.  I used ink, graphite and wax crayons.  Thanks so much for stopping by!

Joyful Jive - original ink and watercolor figurative painting

My little jivers showed up today in ink (applied with a very thin dowel) and watercolor.  Done quickly in order not to overwork, it's on 9 x 12" cold press watercolor paper. I know, I know, I could go back and make lots of corrections, but I'm not going to because I love crazy lines and there are definitely lots of them here!  Currently, I'm listening to Barbara Tuchman's The Proud Tower on audible.com.  I can't decide whether it's better to listen to something or to draw in complete silence.   Do most artists like it to be quiet when they draw?  That would make an interesting survey.  Any thoughts on this?

On My Easel - Jive Practice - original oil figurative painting in progress

Much to do on this painting, but I sort of like this stage - not finished and sort of raw.  Maybe there should be shows for unfinished works - could be called "Beginnings".  My fear is that this painting will be killed, so I'll set my timer and do nothing to it after the buzzer goes off.  Absolutely nothing.  I promise myself.  The surface here is 12 x 12" stretched canvas.  Thanks so much for stopping by!

Jive Kids - orginal ink and oil pastel drawing

Just scribbling in front of the TV, added some color and here is an 11 x 14" drawing on Strathmore's Mixed Media paper.  I haven't been posting for awhile, because I'm working on lots of things, but not one of them is fit to be seen, yet.  Thanks for stopping by! Sold

More of Those Crazy Jivers - original ink and oil pastel figurative drawing

The first time I saw this jitterbug/jive/lindy step, I was dumbstruck.  Maybe the second and third times, too.  The guy - usually lower to the ground than this jiver - sort of scoots or hops along while the girl holds on tight to his hand to give him balance.  Anyway, it's unbelievable and I just can't help but wonder about his knees.  A fun thing, though, and I love it, because I adore what the jivers do as they jitterbug through life.  This started as an ink drawing and I was really happy with it.  Then, I thought about a little color - that's where the trouble usually starts for me, because my lines end up covered and ruined.  But I added just a smidgen here and there, so the lines wouldn't be obscured, and it seems to work???  It's on Bristol board paper, about 9 x 7 1/2".  Thanks so much for stopping by!Sold

On My Easel - Jive Start - original charcoal figurative sketch

Here's how it looks when I have absolutely no models.  Tons of lines trying to find the right positions for my little couple.  I just know - even though it's raggedy right now - that I can make a pretty good drawing and then a painting out of this.  Really.  I do. Thanks so much for stopping by!