Imaginary Gardens class lesson 2, Window Box

Our second assignment for the online watercolor journal class was to paint a window box bouquet, from life or from a reference photo.  We were to give ourselves an hour...ha ha ha!  I didn't get very far in an hour, the result you see here took me about 2 hours.  ;)  But, I'm learning a lot and getting a bit more used to the water brush, still not crazy about it.  (I think I'll like it better for water soluble inks and wc pencils)  This was painted from a beautiful picture Jared took at the Butchart Gardens on Vancouver Island on his spring break in 2007.  Here's his gorgeous photo!

First assignment reworked.

For some reason I can't add a photo of my Sorrel assignment showing the changes I made in response to suggestions, so I am posting a new entry in order to do so.

Here's my page after attempts to make improvements...

Back To School... mom's turn!

So, I've mentioned here that I'm seriously trying to reawaken my artistic creativity as my emptying nest looms.  I have jumped in with both feet to an online class on creating art journals while on an 'Imaginary Trip to the Garden'.  I knew I need the accountability and visual aspect of a class, but haven't found something local, affordable and within my time constraints.  I've been eying Laure Ferlita's   online classes for the past year and drooling over her lovely watercolors, waiting for the right time to sign up for one.

I hope I haven't bit off more than I can chew, but if so... too bad for me.  I'll still grow from the work.  ;)  I need her 'Foundations' course, probably, but the timing for that one didn't work for me this spring, with both boys graduations coming up next month.  This one is just the right length...6 weeks. 

Last week we received our first assignment, to paint a wildflower, within a time limit, as if we were painting outside in a garden with time constraints.  Laure provided some photos of Violet Wood Sorrel, a lovely, fairly simple blossom. We could also provide ourselves with our own photos or local flowers, but I thought I'd stick with the offered photo.  Below are my results... I did the under drawing and painting in less than an hour and added the words later.  I have mixed feelings about the end result.. not what I wanted it to look like, but I did learn along the way.  (We are encouraged to use a travel water brush, so we'll learn to actually use this useful tool in real life on real visits to places where we want to capture the beauty)  The water brush is a tricky little thing... I hope I can stick with it and get better results.   Click on the photo to see it larger... if you dare!  Ha ha.  By the way many of my 'classmates' have been on several Imaginary Trips with teacher Laure, and are wonderful artists, it's a lovely environment, I'm so glad I'm 'going back to school'!  I've received some great suggestions on improving the page, if I get time to try those out, I'll post the results. 

Blooming Ocotillos

blooming ocotillos nj, originally uploaded by Az~Kate.

Just finished in my small moleskine nature journal. A scene from my hike last week. The blossoms should be a brighter orange red, but I couldn't get the color right.