Friday, December 30, 2016

Snowstorm Coming

© Robin Edmundson, 'Snowstorm Coming', watercolor, 12 x 9 inches
Winter clouds have become a topic of dinner conversation around here as well as the subject of many photos emailed from job sites, highways, vacations, etc.    It's been fun.

What has been slightly less fun is mastering how to capture some of that atmosphere on paper.  The painting here was the 13th effort in 3 days.

I painted them dry.  I painted them wet.  I painted them wet and dry.  I painted them right side up and then upside down and then right side up again.   I painted with 3 different blues and 2 browns.  Big brushes.  Bigger brushes.  My regular brushes.  Fronts of papers, then backs of papers. I have a freakishly tall pile of winter cloud rejects in the studio right now.

But finally, this one worked.  I'd like to say it's because I finally figured out how to paint clouds, but I'd have to paint them 'right' every day for a month before I'd be willing to say I'd figured it out.

I'll keep practicing and they'll get easier - or at least take fewer drafts to get there.  In the meantime, I like these clouds.  I'm loving the snow specks on the barn.   And the footprints.   And the human.   [Big risk, putting that human in there.   It was the last thing I did.]

Deets:
140lb cp paper, Arches
12 x 9 inches
colors:  indigo, WN burnt sienna, raw umber, burnt umber

Sunday, December 25, 2016

December White Roofs

© Robin Edmundson, 'December Roofs, Clay County Farm', watercolor, 9 x 12 inches
Over the past decade or so, a lot of folks out here are replacing their old asphalt shingle roofs with metal ones, like we did.

On frosty mornings, those roofs shine white no matter what color they are.   All the different white shapes look awesome on winter days when the farms are all buttoned up, against the blue shadows and the brown fields.

I did this painting after driving by a series of these farms in Clay County, Indiana earlier this month.  I especially love how the fields went from dark brown in the foreground to very blue in the distance.   Indiana is really beautiful all seasons of the year.  

Clay County is in the west center of the state about 1/2 hour southeast of Terre Haute.  It's in the open, flat part of Indiana and there are fields and farms like this one as far as you can see.

Details:
Arches 140lb paper, cold process [not]
Limited palette:  cobalt blue, raw umber, burnt umber, French ultramarine blue
Lots of dry brushwork in the fields to get that texture.


Saturday, December 10, 2016

Clouds over May Pasture

© 2016 Robin Edmundson, Clouds over May Pasture, watercolor, 10 x 16 inches

The Watercolor Society of Indiana Juried Member Show is down and my painting is back home.  I think it got better simply by virtue of the company it kept at the Indianapolis Museum of Art for the last couple of months.

I asked it what it wanted to do next and it seems to want to travel a bit more. So, I'm offering it for sale.  The painting is framed in a plain black frame. [You can see it in the frame, hanging in the museum here.]

More details:
Title:  Clouds over May Pasture
Paper:  140 lb. Arches, cold press
Image size:  10 x 16 inches
Framed size:  20 x 26 inches
Frame: Black
Mat: White, acid free
Glass:  Museum quality glass with UV protection

Price:  $450

Please email me if you are interested:  Robin at morenna dot com

Friday, December 9, 2016

Anderson's Bales, Bright October Morning


© 2016 Robin Edmundson, 
Anderson's Bales, Bright October Morning
watercolor, 12 x 16 inches


The colors in October are really something here - even in a bad year.   This year on my way to Clay City early one morning a few weeks ago, I rounded a bend to see my favorite hayfield all dewy and with a bright mist over the back end - and the mist was one of those double layer ones.   So pretty!

I'm totally digging purple shadows these days.   Must do more with this palette.  I like how bright and fresh this is.

Colors:  dioxazene violet, Mission burnt sienna, viridian, permanent alizarin crimson, burnt umber, new gamboge.

Wednesday, December 7, 2016

Morning Promenade, Late November

© 2016 Robin Edmundson,
Morning Promenade, Late November [final version]
watercolor, 12 x 9 inches
A couple of weeks ago I was weaving early in the morning and as the sun came out from behind the trees, the chickens happened to walk across the yard outside the studio windows.   The light hit the grass in a golden wedge and the chickens walked across in single file like dancers on a stage under beautifully backlit leaves.

It was gorgeous.

I did a quick sketch and thought about it for a few days before I had a chance to paint and it took a few drafts to figure some things out.  

Drafts are good.  They let you try things out in different ways.   I don't worry about 'ruining' one of these drafts any more than I worry about 'ruining' my favorite song if I decide to sing it a bunch of different ways.    If I can sing that song 12 times, then I can paint this scene 12 times.   The more you practice, the easier it gets.



© 2016 Robin Edmundson, 
Morning Promenade, Late November [Study #1]
watercolor, 12 x 9 inches



This was the first draft.   I really liked how the branch reached across the paper - very Japanese.  But it wasn't right.   Too much paper on the right.  Too brown all over.   The tree needed to be more vertical.








© 2016 Robin Edmundson, 
Morning Promenade, Late November [Study #2]
watercolor, 12 x 9 inches


So I decided to try again with a vertical format and more green in the grass.

I liked this one a lot more, but the leaves weren't crisp or bright enough and the tree really should have gone all the way to the bottom of the composition.  Also, I didn't like the rooster.     I could have cropped it up, but the leaves still weren't right, so I gave it another go.












© 2016 Robin Edmundson, 
Morning Promenade, Late November [final version]
watercolor, 12 x 9 inches





Better tree.  Better leaves.   Better light on the chickens. Better tree bark.  Better grass.

I'm calling this set finished.  

Colors: cobalt blue, quinacridone burnt orange,  new gamboge, Mission burnt sienna, raw umber, a touch of viridian in the rooster's tail and a touch of permanent alizarin crimson for the combs.















Tuesday, December 6, 2016

Bloomington Watercolor Society Member Show

This Friday [Dec 9, 2016] is the opening of the Bloomington Watercolor Society Member Show in Bloomington, Indiana at the Monroe County History Center on the corner of 6th and Washington Streets.   The show will hang at the History Center until February 21, 2017.

We're so excited.   Claire and I both have paintings hanging in the show and we got a sneak peak of the rest of the show when we dropped ours off.  Many have historical themes and all are amazing.   Feel free to cut and paste the photo above to share with anyone you think would be interested.

© 2016  Robin Edmundson, Storing the Jars, watercolor, 12 x 9 inches



This is the painting that I decided to put in the show.   I hope you get a chance to come see it in person.

The opening reception is this Friday [Dec 9] from 5pm -7pm at the History Center.  Come and meet the artists!  
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