Yippee!!

I'm so excited that one of my paintings has been juried into the San Diego Watercolor Society 33rd Annual International Exhibition.  I've known for about a week but wanted to wait until the packet came in the mail so that it felt more official before I posted it here.

This will be the 3rd time that one of my paintings has been juried into the SDWS exhibitions so that makes me eligible for signature membership.  I know that probably doesn't mean anything to most of you but becoming a signature member of the top watercolor societies with international shows has been a goal of mine for a very long time.  This will be my first and now I'm motivated to tackle all of the rest!

Here is the painting that was accepted.

Crash

Category › 33rd annual international exhibition , nancy goldman , San Diego Watercolor Society , watercolor waves , wave paintings

Morning Surf

I decided to use that paper without the sizing again that I used for "The Squadron" a couple of weeks ago.  I enjoyed painting on this surface just as much as the last time.  It gives a fuzzy look to the painting that I like but it looks fuzzier in this photo than it does in person.  I still have some small pieces of this paper so I think I'll try painting a still life to see how the effect is with a different subject.  Even though painting waves is really fun, it will be nice to see if this softness translate well when painting something else.

Morning Surf
Image Size 7" x 10"
Watercolor

Category › nancy goldman , watercolor waves , wave paintings

Echeveria

I have so many photos of beautiful succulents.  I really enjoy painting these plants.  The combination of colors in each leaf/petal/whatever-it's-called looks almost iridescent.  I think this is a type of Echeveria, hence the title.  If I'm wrong, please let me know.

This took a lot longer to paint than I thought it should.  I'm not sure why it did, but I was really ready to be finished with it.  I might fiddle with it a bit more to play with the value contrasts in the future, but for now, I'll just prop it up against the wall and look at it with fresh eyes as I pass by each time.  That's how I usually catch my mistakes or see something that looks unfinished.  What do you think?  Does it need something more?

The color is actually a bit warmer than it shows in this photo.  I tried to change it in Photoshop Elements, but I'm not very familiar with that program and couldn't find a way to change individual colors.  I'm used to using my old Photoshop CS2  on my old computer, which is a more comprehensive program that has more controls, and it is really easy to adjust colors to make them match the original painting.  I suppose I could upload it to that computer and fix it, but right now that sounds like too much work.  : )

Echeveria
Image Size 12" x 16"
Watercolor

Category › Echeveria , nancy goldman , watercolor succulent paintings

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

Orange Lilies

Orange has never been my favorite color.  In fact, it's my least favorite color.  So....why did I paint these flowers orange?

This was drawn a long time ago.  I don't even remember drawing it and don't know what photos I used as reference.  This paper was attached to one of my watercolor blocks and I wanted to paint it before I cut it off so that the paper would stay flat, which is the whole purpose of having a watercolor block.  I wasn't that motivated to work on it and I didn't want to paint white or pink lilies again so I guess that's why I decided to paint them orange.

The orange paint I usually use, mostly in mixtures so that it's not really orange, is Cadmium Orange.  After painting watercolors for 20 years, that tube of paint is finally gone.  : )  The only other orange I have is called Brilliant Orange, which is made by Holbein.  It's a nice clear color but but it isn't a very strong color.  I had to use this almost straight from the tube to get this much color.

This wasn't one of my favorite paintings to work on but the good news is that my watercolor block is now ready for a new project.

Orange Lilies
Image Size 12" x 16"
Watercolor

Category › nancy goldman , orange lilies , watercolor lilies

Foggy Morning

This is my first attempt at painting a foggy subject.  I'm not sure that I'm happy with the result but it was fun to try.  The photo from which I worked was taken by my husband when he was visiting Oregon.  It had much less color than this but that lack of color wasn't reading well in the painting so I pushed it a little more.  This is painted on Ampersand Aquabord.  It's a fun surface that makes it easy to lift paint, which was perfect for this one.

Foggy Morning
Image size 6"x 6"
Watercolor

Category › nancy goldman , paintings of fog , watercolor fog

Cool and Cloudy

We don't usually have dramatic looking skies here in Southern California.  Most of our days are sunny and when we do get rain, we rarely get really cool looking clouds.  I have taken a lot of cloud pictures as I've traveled and now I want to do a series of paintings featuring the sky as the focal point.

Today is a rainy day (one of the few we've had this year) so it seems appropriate to post this painting.  Of course, our sky is just gray, but I can pretend that it looks like this one.  I'm just really happy that we are getting some much needed rain.  

This is painted on 300# Arches cold press paper.  I'm going to have to crop some of the top because of that annoying watermark that they use on their paper.  It's so maddening!  I do like the way this paper works for wet into wet painting though.  I soaked it and then played with the sky until I was happy with the result.  Then I let it dry before painting the ground and trees.  That small area was painted wet into wet also.

Cool and Cloudy

Image size 10" x 20"

Watercolor

Category › clouds , nancy goldman , rainy days , watercolor cloud paintings

Koi

I know, this doesn't have a very creative name but I get tired of naming paintings and I just wasn't feeling particularly creative today so "Koi" was the best I could do.  The inspiration for this painting was a long, skinny piece of plexiglass that I have that I thought I could use for framing so I cut a piece of paper from my watercolor paper roll and decided that Koi would be a fun subject for this long orientation.

My plexi is 48" long and this paper is 44" long which would allow for a mat when I frame it but I think I will cut it down a little bit so that I can use a standard size mat (32" x 40").  I could buy a 40" x 60" mat but I think this painting could use a little cropping so I'll do that instead.

I haven't painted Koi for awhile so it was fun to get back to one of my favorite subjects.  Doing multiple glazes on very wet paper gave some really nice effects.  This painting has a soft, blurry look which is very different from how my paintings usually look and I'm really happy with the result.

Koi
Image Size 44" x 13"
Watercolor

Category › koi paintings , nancy goldman , Watercolor koi paintings

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

Red,Red,Red

I've always like the way radishes look all bundled together in the market with those squiggly roots.  Finally, I decided to paint them.  I'm not really a fan of having radishes in my salads (or any other part of my meals)  but I tried to make them look delicious anyway.

I found out that my banner design didn't make the cut but it was fun to try and I look forward to next year's competition.

Red, Red, Red
Image Size 5" x 7"
Oil

Category › nancy goldman , oil paintings of vegetables , radishes , vegetable paintings

Freesias

Here's a small watercolor sketch done on TerraSkin.  I haven't worked on this surface for awhile and am happy to be back to it.  It's such a great paper having a lot of the properties of Yupo but the lifting abilities are a bit different.
This photo doesn't really show the painting off very well.  It is brighter and the flowers aren't washed out like they show here. I used a different camera than usual and it "blahed" everything out a bit.

Freesias
Image size 4.5" x 7.5"
Watercolor on TerraSkin

Category › Freesias , nancy goldman , paintings on TerraSkin , TerraSkin

Cocos

We just returned from Mexico and while we were there, I painted this one.  Technically, I started it at home a few years ago and never seemed to find the motivation to finish it.  So I decided to take it on a tropical vacation and, while being in the right atmosphere, it seemed to finish itself.

When I look at coco palm trees, I can feel my blood pressure drop and I get a feeling of tranquility.  That's probably because, in my mind, coconut palms and vacation are linked together.

This was painted with acrylics.  I just started using some of the Golden Open acrylics and I'm enjoying them a bit more than regular acrylics.  They stay wet longer so I have more time to blend and play with the paint.  I still fight with this medium more than any other but I am determined to someday finish an acrylic painting without uttering one single swear word.

Cocos
Image Size 14" x 14"
Acrylic on gallery wrapped canvas with sides painted

Category › coconut palm trees , coconuts , nancy goldman , tropical acrylic paintings , tropical paintings

A View From Above - Encaustic

This is the third encaustic that I've done since I took that one day workshop in October and they are so much fun.  This one is the largest one so far.  It is 10" x 10" and my first two were 6" x 6".  I have a few supports that are 18" x 18" so my next ones may be even bigger.

On this one, I used encaustic gesso to prime the wood.  This time, I didn't put a layer of clear wax on first and I was much happier with the result.  When I had the clear layer of wax as my first layer, it made the colors I put on top do weird things.  I had much more control this time.

For me, the fusing is the fun part of encaustics.  Trying to get the wax to level out without moving it where is shouldn't go is a challenge.  On my next one, I think I will pick a subject with more detail to see what I can accomplish.

The finished encaustics have such a wonderful finish.  They can be buffed to a beautiful sheen and have a very unique look.

A View From Above
Image Size 10" x 10"
Encaustic

Category › beach paintings , encaustic paintings , Heisler Park , Laguna Beach , nancy goldman , seascapes

Lonely Palm

I had so much fun painting this one.  I used black gesso on the canvas before I started painting.  I love the matte finish of the black gesso and hope that when the oil paints dry on this one, the black bits peeking through will be a contrast with the shiny oils.  Of course, some oils dry flat, not shiny so I'll have to wait and see.

This was painted entirely with a palette knife.  I don't know why I don't do more palette knife paintings.  They are so different in the finished look and the feeling while I'm painting.

Along with leaving bits of black peeking through the paint throughout the painting, I left a black line between all of the major elements.  With my background making stained glass windows for so many years, I am still attracted to this look.

Lonely Palm
Image size 12" x 12"
Oil

Category › Hiesler park , nancy goldman , paintings of Laguna Beach , palette knife paintings , palm trees

Silverado II

I've worked on this painting some more and I like it better.  I may still work on the water some more but not right now.  I think I'm in danger of overworking it so I'm going to step back for now.

I poured some more color on the trees in the middle and right side and darkened them.  I also added some more to the water and darkened the reflections.

Category › nancy goldman , Silverado Canyon

Silverado

I painted another poured painting this week.  Looking at it in the photo, I realize that I have a bit more I want to do on this one.  I think I will do another pour with the resist off to add more color.  I like the red but think I need more.  I also want to darken parts of the trees and add more detail and work on the water some more.  For now though, I will tape it to the wall and study it for a few days to decide exactly what to add.

The photo I used for this painting was taken in the canyons not too far from our house.  I've painted this before and plan to try it in oil and possibly pastel in the future.  It's fun to see the different results with each medium.  The first time I painted this, I used watercolor and painted almost exclusively wet into wet. The poured painting was also painted very wet but is a very tight, graphic painting since resist was added after each layer of paint.  So even though the same medium was used, they look totally differnt.  Below is the first painting I did of this scene so you can see the different effects.

So far, I like this first one better but hopefully, when I make the changes to the poured painting, I will like it equally.

Silverado

Image Size 22" x 30"

Watercolor

Category › nancy goldman , poured watercolors , Silverado Canyon

Laguna - Poured Painting

I haven't done a poured watercolor painting for a long time so I decided to do one this week.  Poured paintings have a very graphic quality, which I really like.  Each time a layer of paint is poured and dries, another layer of resist is added to areas that don't need to be any darker to save those values from future pours.

This is a large painting, 22" x 30", and doing each pour was a bit messy.  I ended up with a lot of the paint on my shoes.  I haven't quite learned how to keep the paint on the paper while I'm blending the colors together.  I think I might be using too much paint.

I didn't stretch the paper because I have been told that the paper can be manipulated better if it's not stretched and can be bent to make the paint go where you want.  This paper, Arches #150, dried with big vertical ripples in it which made subsequent pours very difficult.  I think I'll try the next poured painting on stretched paper and see how that works or maybe I'll use a thicker paper.

By the time a poured painting is done, it is almost completely covered with resist so it's hard to know what it is going to look like when the resist is removed.  Taking the resist off is like opening a package.  You don't know what you're going to find.  It's really fun!

Laguna
Image size 22" x 30"
Watercolor

Category › Heisler Park , Laguna Beach , Laguna Beach paintings , nancy goldman , palm trees , poured watercolors

Foam

I'm still playing with the sea.  It's so weird that I'm so into these seascapes.  I've never had any desire to paint them before.

I've always loved how the foam remains after a wave has swept onto shore so I thought I would try to paint that.  I'm pretty happy with this but I want to paint more versions of this so I get to know it and hopefully get better at them.

Foam
Image Size 6" x 12"
Oil

Category › foam from waves , nancy goldman , sand , seascapes , waves

Flat

Well, the waves certainly weren't very exciting on this day but I thought they looked very serene.  I was surprised to see a surfer walking out to sea across the rocks with his board (a little farther down from here....lots and lots of rocks).  The waves didn't look like they would be very much fun to surf but I guess this guy was determined.  The combination of rocks and flat surf made surfing seem like a bad idea to me.

Flat
Image Size 6" x 6"
Oil

Category › beach paintings , flat surf , nancy goldman , seascapes