A Person, Artist, Software Engineer, Geologist.

 It's been quite a while.  Yup, I told some time off from art because of ..... pickle ball, summer, travel but more of all, I was very unsure that I could produce art that I myself liked.  Slowly I got back into it and started to "get" a style in my watercolor.   Ink I can do but I wanted to have COLOR.  Watercolor is tough and very tough for me as I was looking for a style to call my own.  I bought a small journal to take with me on hiking the CT / MA section and did some painting.  That was not the breakthrough though. For the first timeI painted with other non-painters in the same room!  Very scary!  It was on a trip down on Dewee's island off the coast of SC.  I had just gotten a new small W&N Cotman watercolor "landscape" set to use and took an afternoon off from fishing to do some work. The results where very pleasing to me.  It was the break through I was looking for.  Not every one was a winner but my style was coming out. Here are some of them.

I've been trying to draw / paint these barns for a couple of years but never felt or got them right.  This time I think they turned out right. So What went wrong before and what's right now with this drawing?  This time, the light was right.  It's coming from the upper right and the shadows just looked right.  The other thing is the corn field on the left had to "be in season", otherwise it's just a plowed field.  I had taken other photos from different angles but they never felt right.  This angle has the road, power lines, corn field, etc. all leading to the right.  The shadows on the lower right helps fill in that corner (don't forget about the corners!).  The last part is trying to draw (ink paint maybe) the trees in the background.  Not so easy when they are kind of a blob is green shades. So yeah, it's composition that is king.  Many times I just don't see it until the drawing / painting is finished and when it's right it feels good.     

Still working on "my" watercolor style.  Lots of videos that you can watch, lots of books (I know as I have them) but it all ends up in your own hands as to what style is yours. I tend to only do some art when I've given up all hope of producing anything so my expectations are really low.  That is when I have freedom and not the self-pressure I put on my self. This is my latest watercolor that reflects a style that I did with my "Kat" watercolor.  Kind of interesting and I like it. As it turns out, I got a bunch of frames from friends that I did the "Kat" watercolor for as they are moving back to Scotland and where cleaning house.  The "Kat" painting is going to Scotland too!  Anyway, I thought the frames where 8x10, but No, they are 8-1/2 x 11, and old size.  So I put my mat cutting skills together to try my hand at double matting.  And it turned out great!  It uses up double the mat but the results are great. Here is another watercolor with

I have not forgotten about my Ink & Marker art work, but boy color is sure pretty.  Here is another Ink & Wash watercolor I did from our trip through Germany.  So many options for subject matter out there.  The old buildings, rivers, hills and history.  We just loved it. Everything is in stone and timber.  Lots and lots of old stonework in the small villages next to the rivers.   I'm working on more watercolors and see where they lead me.  I know that I need to practice, practice and practice some more to keep getting better.   I just love these little 5 x 7 watercolor format, but I need to try some 8 x 10s as well and see how they turn out. Well it almost Christmas time here and the temps are getting colder with the latest front passing through.  More time for artwork as playtime outside is limited by how much I want to stand the lower temperatures. One thing that keeps me going is the PadCast of "Ask An Artist".  I've been listening to it now for a couple of

I'm getting better at it (or at least I think I am). There are many different styles of watercolor painting and I've been looking at many of them, trying, just tying to get something that I like and turns out I can do. The style I really like is the "Ink & Wash" style of painting where an ink drawing is filled out with watercolor.  My latest turned out pretty good and I'm looking forward to giving my hand another go.  I took a bunch of photos from Bobbie & my river trip in Europe this fall so I've got a number of subjects to draw (sorry about the pun) from. I've been busy with other things for a while as I've had a number of AT hikes to get done (in PA now), an island trip and then the big EU  river trip where we ended up getting a tad of COVID.  Now winter is here I have fewer fly fishing outings and more indoors time to get some artwork done.  Also, the PodCase "Ask An Artist" has new Episodes too.   Till later....

 I had been a software engineer for so very long, but that well is empty and I've moved on.  I've got time on my hands and thus I picked up a pencil and brush.  I went back to my youth and wanted to give art a shot. Art has been go to me now.  I found a niche and I and other like my work.  I'm still working on finding another style and that my be a longer journey.  Until then people ask me if I sell any of the work.  I've given some away, sold other specific pieces (because the subject, house, cat, etc.) for the cost of the frame, but other than that, I have not tried to sell my work.  Letting go a piece is on a case by case basis. I will let non-profits use some of my images for their benefit and I'm find with that.  It's not bout the money for me, it's about me being able to create something that people (and myself) enjoy. I ran into (via email) another artist that does beautiful landscapes.  Such colors.  And she, like myself also does not try to sell her