Samples of watercolor paintings and illustrations.
Close your eyes and think of a quality you admire most about your mother. Perhaps you would describe her as calm, energetic, persevering, organized, friendly, or fierce! Visualize what action could represent that quality. One of the qualities I most admire about my mother is her willingness to listen and help people work out and … Read more
Here are steps to paint this pear in watercolor. Step #1Left: Wet the area of the pear shape, except for white highlight. Let red and yellow blend on the paper. Let it dryRight: Wet the area of the pear shape. Let a diluted wash of yellow and green blend on the paper. Let dry. Step … Read more
I recently did a small experiment while painting a rose. What was interesting for me about this was visualizing the shapes of light and shadow, instead of the shapes of ‘rose petals’. By focusing on the shapes of light and shadow it’s easier to see what’s in front of you instead of working through the … Read more
It’s a warm, lazy, summer afternoon. Close your eyes. Imagine lemon drops squeezed onto the tip of your outstretched tongue. Suddenly! Your focus is pinned to the sweet tartness in your mouth. What a way to be with the present moment! ______ NOTE TO SELF: “You can’t depend on your eyes when your imagination is … Read more
However long you’ve been painting, whether it’s been a month or ten years, I believe it’s important to show and share your work. Through sharing you will find your community of artists and they will help you learn and grow. And you will help them too by sharing who you are and what you do. … Read more
I’d like to share with you two different iterations of a watercolor I painted of my brother’s beloved cat, Toño. My initial inspiration was from a photograph taken of Camilo working while guarded by Toño, who wanted to make sure Camilo wasn’t disturbed. You can see how serious Toño is from his expression in the … Read more
Sounds counter-intuitive, doesn’t it? But I’m not talking about how to deal with life situations here 😉 This is about a concept to keep in mind when painting with watercolor. Do you feel unsure of what it means to paint a negative shape? Negative painting is simply painting around a shape instead of painting the … Read more
With piggies all around and to celebrate the Chinese Year of the Pig, I was inspired to paint my own pair of piglets and share a video on how I painted them. For some the pig has negative connotations. But the pig also represents a powerful and positive symbol of honesty, determination, fertility, and abundance. … Read more
Have you read the article by Mark McGuinness on getting your inner critic off your back? Mark’s article describes the challenge of inner negative talk and its contribution to creative paralysis. He offers a practical strategy to counteract this tendency. Through the use of just two humble words even and though, he demonstrates how to disarm … Read more
In this post I share photo steps in a video showing how I painted a box of chicken eggs. This series of egg illustrations, painted in watercolor, were part of a commission for a story about eggs, published in the online magazine Life and Thyme “Cracking the Code -An Exploration of the Incredible, Edible Egg” … Read more