The Squadron

I checked with my knowledgeable friend, Google, to see what a group of Pelicans is called.  One of the names is a "squadron" which seems like a fitting description.   They are ready to launch an attack as they fly close to the water looking for a quick meal.

I love watching them skim the water as the waves are crashing.  Even though they are large, clumsy looking birds while on land, they are very graceful in flight.  These are brown pelicans, which are prevalent in Mexico on the Pacific side.

This was a challenging painting because of the paper I used.  It is a piece of Lanaquarelle 150# watercolor paper that I've had for a very long time.  I've never heard that sizing in paper goes away over time but this certainly didn't seem to have any on it.  I've used other Lanaquarelle paper that was purchased in the past year and really liked it.
As soon as I put brush to this paper, I knew it was going to be a hard surface for painting.  It absorbed the paint immediately like a blotter.  I was tempted to throw it out but it was the only paper I had with me (I was out of town) so I continued and eventually enjoying working on it.  One of the problems was that the paint kept absorbing into the paper and was pretty pale when it dried.  The back of the paper looks like it was painted also because the paint bled through.

I don't think this would ever be a favorite paper but it was interesting to have the paper completely soaked and apply paint and not have it spread.  I think working on surfaces that challenge my usual way of working is a good exercise.   But...next week I will paint on a less stressful surface.  : )

The Squadron
Image Size 11" x 15"
Watercolor

Category › Mexico , nancy goldman , Pelican paintings , watercolor

Crash

This is my first attempt painting a wave using watercolors.  I was excited to try it and I liked the format of this piece of watercolor paper that I had already torn in half (11" x 30") that I was planning to use for another project.  It is Arches 300# cold press paper.
The right side of the paper is a bit smoother than the wrong side which I would have liked to use, but I used the wrong side because I didn't want the huge water mark that Arches paper has to show in the painting.  There is a little square that you might be able to see in the lower right corner below my signature that is also part of the watermark that always takes the paint darker as though there is no sizing in that area.  That has ruined many of my paintings.  I still have a lot of Arches paper which I will use until it is gone, but it is no longer my favorite.

Before starting this painting, I saturated the paper so that I could get some interesting soft edges but had forgotten how much the paint moves on this heavy paper when it's really wet.  I intended to paint this using only transparent watercolors and didn't want to have the really hard edges that are created from using resist, but had forgotten how much the paint moves on this heavy paper and I lost a lot of my whites.  I used white gouache for the edges of the waves and some of the foam area.

This paper was purchased before Arches began offering their bright white paper so this had a bit of a creamy color which actually adds a little dimension to the whites.

I'm excited to try more of these wave paintings using watercolors.  I think this has a more luminous feeling that the ones I've painted in oils.

Category › Arches paper , Mexico , nancy goldman , watercolor resist , watercolor wave paintings , waves

Wild Wave

Here's another wave painting.  I took lots of pictures of waves while we were in Mexico and I plan to paint a series of them using different mediums and in different sizes.  This one is oil and is 5" x 7".  With summer coming, these paintings are getting me in the mood for warmer weather and longer days.  I hope they have the same effect for those of you that are in colder parts of the country.

Wild Wave
Image Size 5" x 7"
Oil

Category › crashing waves , Mexico , nancy goldman , wave paintings

Beach Day

I'm playing with the palette knife again.  We just got back from Mexico and I'm already missing it.  These colorful umbrellas dot the beaches there and make every day feel like a holiday.

I primed the panel with bright orange and let bits of it peek through the colors to add some sparkle.

Beach Day
Image size 6" x 6"
Oil

Category › beach umbrellas palette knife paintings , Mexico

Sunset

I'm still in a tropical mood even though it is feeling like winter here.  I took a lot of photos of waves crashing while we were in Mexico and am planning to do a series of them.  This one is done on wood that has been gessoed using textured brushstrokes.  Even though this is oil, I worked the medium thinned down more like watercolor.  Some days, I just can't stand that thick dragging feeling of oil paints so I'm glad I had the underlying texture on the wood to give the painting some extra interest.

Sunset
Image size 6" x 6"
Oil

Category › Mexico , nancy goldman , seascapes on oil , sunset paintings

Murky Waters

I painted this from a photo that I took in La Manzanilla, Mexico at a crocodile farm.  I wanted to have 'crocodile' in the name but since there are no crocodiles in the painting, I thought it probably wouldn't make much sense.

The crododiles in the farm looked fake.  They were so large and most of them didn't move until food was thrown to them.  They looked like they were made out of cement!  I didn't know that they could grow that large.  I've heard that they can move very quickly but these guys were very lethargic since they really didn't have to do anything to get food.  Crazy humans throw food to them all day - and yes, we were some of the crazy humans feeding them.  There was a place at the entrance selling frozen fish parts.  Watching them eat was gross and fascinating at the same time.  Ugh!  They sure are ugly and evil looking.

Anyway, in these murky waters, you can be sure that those creatures hide just below the surface.

Murky Waters
Image Size 22" x 30"
Watercolor

Category › Crocodiles , La Manzanilla , Mexico , nancy goldman , swamps , watercolor boats

Costa Brava Palms

This is a wall mural that I did in acrylic. I started working on it back in November and I'm calling it finished but it's probably not. Originally I had drawn in a hammock between the palm trees but ended up leaving it out. That decision was made more because I was tired of working on it than because I thought it looked better without it.

The only other mural I have done was on the side of our house in an enclosed patio area. The total area was about 3' tall by about 60'. The walls were stucco and I used house paint. That really used a lot because the texture of the stucco used up so much paint. I painted the patio mural about 3 years ago and it looks exactly the same as it did then and doesn't look like it has faded at all. One wall gets sun all day and it looks no different than the walls in the shade. Since that was painted, I've been told that artist acrylics are very different than acrylic house paint because there is much more pigment and acrylic binder in the artist acrylics which should make them a better quality paint.

I bought some cheap acrylics (artist acrylic) to use on this mural because I thought I was going to use a lot of paint like I did in my first mural and I didn't want to waste my Golden acrylics. I figured even cheap artist acrylic would be better than using house paint. That old adage "you get what you pay for" was really true in this case. The new acrylics had the same pasty texture as my 20 year old acrylics had. I threw those old ones away and the same will probably happen with the new ones. There was so much drag, even when I was using matte medium to thin them, and that was making me curse. If you are thinking of buying acrylics and want to know what NOT to buy, send me an e-mail and I will tell you the brand name.

I've posted the work in progress photos below. You can probably see the hammock drawn in the first and second photos. Let me know if you think I should add it or not. Also, I had originally intended to have bougainvillea in the foreground. What do you think?

Costa Brava Palms

Image size 44" x 57"

Acrylic

Category › beach scenes , Mexico , nancy goldman , palm trees

Mexico Fruit Market

This month's virtual paintout location is Mexico City. I was really excited when I saw December's city because I love Mexico with it's bright colors and charming towns. It took a long time to find something I wanted to paint though. So much of what I saw looked so depressed and ugly to me and I wanted to portray Mexico in a positive way. I was excited when I found this fruit market. The actual scene was much busier so I really simplified it. I can't believe I put THREE people in this painting. This was not a fun painting for me and I'm not sure how I feel about the finished project but I'm proud that I've tackled this virtual paintout challenge for 3 months now. I wonder where January will take us.....

Mexico Fruit Market

Image Size 11" x 14"

Oil
Unframed
$100.00

Category › fruit market shoppers , Mexico , Mexico City , oil painting of mexico , outdoor fruit market

Spanish Style Wisteria

I took the reference photo for this painting at a house down the street from our house but I wanted it to look like it was down in Mexico. I don't even know if Wisteria will grow in Mexico but in my mind they can. I love the power we have as artists to alter reality, even if it's only in our minds and on paper (or canvas). Wisterias are so beautiful but for such a fleeting amount of time, I wanted to capture their beauty and my love of Mexico at the same time.

Spanish Style Wisteria

Image Size 16" x 12"

Watercolor

Unframed

Category › Mexico , watercolor paintings , wisteria

coconut cluster watercolor

This was painted from the same photo as the ACEO I posted on Friday but is a much larger painting. It is a watercolor and is 22" x 30"

Coconut Cluster Watercolor
Image size 22" x 30"
Unframed

Category › coconuts , Mexico , nancy goldman , tropical paintings , watercolor paintings