roses from my garden

 

 

 

I caught the early morning sun on some of my roses. There are only a few left. I hate to see the summer end...

Deb

Deb , a photo by Jan's Art on Flickr.

my friend and coworker retired and I was commissioned to paint this watercolor for her

geranium stem

geranium stem, originally uploaded by Jan's Art.

another quick watercolor sketch before the winter frost comes to visit

Martha's Vineyard & Nantucket

Click here to view this photo book larger

free photo book from Shutterfly (well almost free. I added 10 extra pages for $10)

Thomas

My friends son is now a US Marine! She is having a little party for him and I wanted to get a card, but thought - why don't I paint a card? so this is the result. Congratulations Thomas!!

Chris 3

Chris 3, originally uploaded by Jan's Art.

I attended a watercolor workshop by Janet Rogers on portrait painting. It was a lot of fun. I learned a lot and have a lot of practicing to do! We had to do quick gesture sketches and loose washes on the shadow side of the face. Chris 1 is done in 1 color and painted without drawing.

Chris 1

Chris 1, originally uploaded by Jan's Art.

I attended a watercolor workshop by Janet Rogers on portrait painting. It was a lot of fun. I learned a lot and have a lot of practicing to do! We had to do quick gesture sketches and loose washes on the shadow side of the face. Chris 1 is done in 1 color and painted without drawing.

Afternoon Watch - Leuty Lifeguard Station

Afternoon Watch - Leuty Lifeguard Station, originally uploaded by Jan's Art.

oil 24 x 30
Leuty Lifeguard Station is a land mark of "The Beaches" area of Toronto. My sister, Sharon lives close to here and we often walk along the boardwalk with our dogs when I visit her. This is one of my very favourite places to be on a sunny Toronto afternoon. Then we walk up just a few blocks to Queen street and sit in one of the many outdoor cafes and people/dog watch.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Beaches

Lily Pond

Oil 24x30 - Lily Pond
After visiting Monet's home Giverny, with my sister Sharon, I was very inspired. The gardens, home and pond are amazing! I took many photos of the lily pond and finally got around to painting it years later. The oil painting process is still a little new to me. I feel so much more comfortable with watercolor. Oil painting is a challenge and I like painting challenges so I will keep at it! My sister Sharon is a wonderful artist and has given me inspiration and encouragement.

Petra

Petra, originally uploaded by Jan's Art.

commissioned mother baby painting

007

007 -  I finally finished this painting!  not that I worked on it forever, but I have been procrastinating with my painting  just a little.  I started this painting last fall after a wonderful trip to Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket. Now  I have more than enough inspiration to keep me painting for a very long time, so I need to get busy!   I captured a photo of this little boat near the harbor in Nantucket.  This painting was started with very thin washy/drippy layers of acrylic and finished off with oil.             24" x 30"

Jim Markle workshop

this was the 1st sketch I did - needs some work

this is the 2nd sketch I did - a little better

3rd sketch - getting better

I attended a great workshop this weekend by pastel artist Jim Markle.
http://www.jimmarkle.com/www.jimmarkle.com/Home.html
First, we did a quick sketch in charcoal - very lightly, then we used purple pastel to shade in the dark areas.  Then we slowly added color.  It was a lot of fun!

We had 2 models and were able to do 3 sketches. After the 3rd sketch, I think I was starting to get the hang of pastel sketching, but I need a lot more practice!!

Okemos Art Show

My Delta Library show will be repeated at the
Okemos Library - Hope to see you there!

Jan's art show

I'm having an art show @ the library!
Hope to see you there

Christmas in Lansing

Watercolor from a photo I took of the Capitol building at sunset. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year 2010!

Alvaro Castagnet Workshop

Alvaro in downtown Indianapolis



compressed charcoal drawing



after the demo downtown
Alvaro Castagnet http://www.alvarocastagnet.net/about.html


my version of Venice. After Alvaro's demos, we all tried his technique, using his painting as a reference. He paints very fast and makes it look easier than it is.


my version - Alvaro uses big squirrel mop brushes. His technique is wonderful - 1st layer after a quick drawing is washy, colorful, light, then next wash is darker and lets the light wash underneath glow. It sounds simple, right? It takes lots of practice to get the skill Alvaro has.




My Version of Alvaro's painting


Alvaro giving a demo. He uses wonderful, colorful grays that have warms and cools and varying values. Sooooo much painting to do....such wonderful inspiration!
www.alvarocastagnet.net/about.html

the catch

I painted this watercolor from a photo I took in Florida. I was drawn in by the wonderful colors and shadows of the scene.

This weekend I will have paintings and cards for sale at the "clothes line" art show in Lansings Old Town for Jazz Fest, Friday and Saturday. Come and check it out! Sounds like a great weekend.

late afternoon

I painted this watercolor from a photo I took of my boys a few years ago. I have always like the photo because of the lighting (and because they are my boys!) When I painted this picture I concentrated on painting the dark shapes against the light and tried to eliminate a lot of detail.

pink hydrangea

Quick watercolor sketch (no drawing) of my garden hydrangea "Endless Summer". It is almost impossible to get my pink hydrangea to turn blue or even lavender. I used aluminum sulfate as directed and just got these lovely pink flowers! I read somewhere that you can also add 1 Tbsp of aluminum sulfate to a gallon of water and use with each watering. I will try try this. I added blue food color to the water of my cut flower - will see how that works!

***Happy July 4th***

This is a commissioned painting I did for my friend Cris of her lovely cottage in Leland, Michigan. 22x30 size.

Hope your 4th of July is happy and safe.

feel the ocean

I have always liked the photo I took of my son a few years ago while he played in the ocean at Laguna Beach, California. The late afternoon sun made interesting patterns of highlights. This is 8x8 watercolor and I would like to paint it again in a larger size, maybe even in oil

The Kite

A few years ago, our family took a trip north along the shores of Lake Michigan. We stopped at a beach north of Sleeping Bear Dunes and my husband Neal and son Nelson flew their kite, while I took pictures and Chris played in the sand. This is an ink and watercolor sketch that I did from one of the photos.

Happy Father's Day!

Father's Day is a day to honor all the very special Fathers that are very dear to our hearts. My Dad, Robert Barr is a wonderful father and grandpa. I wish him happiness and love this Fathers Day.


My husband Neal is a great father to our boys Nelson and Chris and I wish him happiness and love this father's day.


My father-in-law Leland McElmurry is a great father and grandpa and I wish him happiness and love this father's day. I celebrate these fathers for their caring hearts and generous spirits. Have a wonderful father's day to all.

after the rain

It rained in my garden this morning and afterwards the roses looked heavenly!

From top down, "awakening", "aloha", "aloha", "Graham Thomas" and geranium

on the go

Painting done from a photo taken in Portofino, Italy on a busy morning. I did a pencil sketch, permanent magenta watercolor outline drawing and Opera watercolor underpainting. I am experimenting with this technique that I learned in Donna Zagotta's workshop earlier this year.

Happy Birthday Dad

Happy 85th birthday to my wonderful Dad!! June 6, 1924. This is a painting I did for Dad for his birthday. My sister took the photo reference in Lynton on one of their many trips to England. Today we are having a family birthday party for him at my sister's house in Toronto.



Mom and Dad -Isola Bella, Italy. They love to travel and have been to many wonderful places.

Helen and Bob before they were married.

Yes Dad's birthday is on D-Day. Dad was a navigator for the Royal Canadian Airforce in WWII and stationed in England. On D-Day he awoke to the sound of airplanes and when he went outside, he saw the whole sky covered with allied airplanes.

Iris

There were 5 Iris blossoms on this beautiful tall stalk. Yesterday I found it laying on the ground broken, so I brought it inside to paint. This is painted on 1/2 sheet of watercolor paper. 30x11inches. I just started right in with the paint, no preliminary drawing. Iris are one of my favourite flowers. They look so exotic!


This was a very quick 5x7 watercolor sketch of the same Iris.


Painting of a variety of different colored Iris in my Garden.