pattyanneart

Pink Waterlily and Lotus flowers

A quick post on some of my recent work painting Waterlilies and Lotus flowers. These lovely flowers were a bit challenging for me, but I found that continued practice does pay off. After a number of attempts, I have a few paintings to share with you.

A simple Lotus flower painted on 6×9 inch Aquabee watercolor paper. I really love the combination of pinks and greens in this painting.

Pink Waterlily painted on 9×12 inch Arches watercolor paper. The flower seemed dull but finally started to come to life after I added additional detail once the painting dried. I also darkened the water around the flower and that helped as well.

After working on a few other waterlily paintings that were disappointing, I decided to work on smaller paper and allow myself to work out a few issues before giving up and moving on to something else. I watched a few short videos online and was motivated to keep on trying. This journey is about learning, sharing, and having fun. Hopefully, I can also put a smile on your face and brighten your day as well!

I hope you enjoy seeing my work and are inspired to keep painting, creating, and having fun. If you would like to receive notifications of new posts by email, simply click the follow button on the right. I would love to have you follow me on this journey.

You can also see more of my work on Instagram and my website, PattyAnneArt. Hope you have a great week.

Happy Painting!

Patty Anne

Butterflies in Watercolor

Just a quick post this week on butterflies. I’ve always loved butterflies and it makes me smile when I see one flutter by or land on a nearby flower. Their delicate wings have such beautiful colors and patterns that are all so interesting. I thought it would be fun to try and paint some butterflies this week.

I tried to keep things simple and loose (but sometimes that is easier said than done). Below are two of the paintings that I am happiest with. I think my favorite one is the bright blue butterfly. I really love Daniel Smith – Phthalo Blue!

I hope you enjoy seeing my work and are inspired to keep painting and having fun. If you would like to receive notifications of new posts by email, simply click on the follow button on the right. I would love to have you follow me on this journey.

You can also see more of my work on Instagram and also on my new website, PattyAnneArt. Hope you have a great week.

Happy Painting!

Patty Anne

White Goose in Watercolor

This week I was back to painting birds and I decided to work on a white goose. I had fun using light shades of blue and purple for shadows and definition.

On this painting, I worked a bit larger using Arches 11×14 inch cold pressed watercolor paper. The roughness of this paper was a great help when it came time to add some texture to my goose.

Here is my goose without a background. I am so in love with how the bill turned out!

I decided to add a background to this painting after it dried. I always get nervous at this stage…Am I going to mess it up, what if I don’t like it after adding the background? Well, I threw those thoughts aside and continued anyway. Using similar colors, I tried to connect my goose to the background by blurring part of the neck and back area into the color of the background. After doing so, it still looked as if I had too much white paper, so I added a touch of blue for the sky and a blur of greens near the bottom to indicate a grassy area. I am happy that I added the background, I think it added more interest and fun.

Techniques used

Wet on Wet – Adding water to the paper first and then dropping in color while the paper is still wet. Using this technique, I like to have a tissue handy in case I want to lift out any color or lightly touch up an area.
Dry Brush – For adding some texture, I used straight pigment on a mostly dry brush and then dragged the side of my brush on the paper in the direction of the feathers or fur area.

I hope you enjoy my work and are inspired to keep painting and having fun. If you would like to receive notifications of new posts by email, just click the follow button on the right. I would love for you to follow me on this journey.

You can see more of my work on Instagram and also on my new website, PattyAnneArt.

Happy Painting!

Patty Anne

More Lavender Watercolors

I continue on this journey painting both new and favorite subjects. Lavender has quickly become a favorite of mine. What I love is that there are so many varieties and beautiful color combinations to try.

As I was writing this post, I started thinking that for a future painting it might be fun to paint a landscape with rolling hills of lavender in the distance.

Below are a few paintings from this week. A few other paintings didn’t work out so well but that is how it goes… I had fun and will keep on painting and trying to improve. There is a lot to learn from paintings that don’t work out, sometimes I think you learn more from them.

I like the soft background in this painting and am happy that the colors didn’t get too dark. With this composition I was trying for something a little different. What do you think of it?

The second painting I’m not as happy with but I do like the variation and loose feel. An interesting thing I’ve found is that purple appears a bit darker in my photos than it actually is on my watercolor paper. I’m not sure why that is.

Watercolors used: a combination of Daniel Smith and Winsor & Newton
Ultramarine Blue (DS), Quinacridone Rose (DS), Payne’s Gray (DS), Sap Green (WN), White(WN)

Payne’s Gray is a new color in my palette. I like to mix up my own gray with Ultramarine Blue and Burnt Sienna Light but recently I decided to try Payne’s Gray and I really love it! If you are looking for a new color to add to your palette, I recommend giving Payne’s Gray a try.

You can see more of my work on Instagram and also on my new website, PattyAnneArt

Happy Painting!

Patty Anne

New website and birds in watercolor

Hi all,

I am pretty excited, this week I launched my new website, pattyanneart.com. It is just a simple website where I can showcase some of my artwork. I hope to add to it over time and am sure it will evolve as I continue on this journey. If you get a chance to visit, any advice or feedback will be much appreciated.

I’ve been painting birds the last few weeks. Below is my first attempt at a Great Blue Crane. I used my new Daniel Smith Cobalt Teal Blue on this one. I just love that color! After painting the crane (and letting it dry), I wet the sky area with water here and there and then dropped in some color. I tried to not touch the area much and just dragged my brush around a bit for some clouds. I really like how that worked out.

I also painted this cute little Blue Bird. I love the fluffy feathers on his chest!

Tips on painting branches:

Branches that are closer should have more detail than those further away.
Branches are thicker near the tree trunk and slim out as they get further away.
Color mix: I use Daniel Smith Aquamarine Blue and Burnt Sienna Light (using different amounts of each color for a variety of shades).

You can also see more of my work on Instagram
If you get a chance to check out my new website, let me know what you think: PattyAnneArt

Happy Painting!

Patty Anne

Feathered Friends in Watercolor

Ahh, those fluffy feathers! I have been having fun this week painting birds. In my last post I shared with you my first Pink Flamingo that I painted in my 7×10 inch watercolor sketchbook. I decided to try it again but paint larger and use a few different techniques. When working on smalls, I think I tighten up a bit so I decided to go with a 9×12 inch painting on this one.

I started out with a sketch in pencil to get my shape and placement. Remember that the positioning (and size) of the head, eye and beak are all very important. For feathers, I start with light color and work up to bolder colors. When working on the small detail of the eye, I use either a small rigger, liner, or round brush. I used my new Princeton round #2 brush this time. I really love that brush!!

Below is an in progress view of my feathered friend.

Watercolor techniques:

When the paint was damp, I tossed a little regular table salt on the neck and body area. Later when it was completely dry, I dusted off the salt. I was hoping it would give me some nice texture and an interesting look. I really like the results I got using the salt.

I also tried to use some expressive brush strokes with my larger round brush for the body feathers and used different shades of pink mixed with just a touch of red and orange here and there. I moved the brush around loosely pulling it in the direction that the feathers would be on the body.

While the painting was still damp I spattered some paint on it. I tried using a toothbrush as I’ve seen others demonstrate but I always seem to have trouble getting that spatter where I want it. I ended up using my round brush loaded with juicy color and then tapped it here and there over the painting, that worked for me.

This is the final painting below.

I hope you enjoy seeing my work and are inspired to keep painting and having fun. If you would like to receive notifications of new posts by email, simple click the follow button on the right. I would love to have you follow me on this journey!

You can also see more of my work on Instagram

Happy Painting!

Patty Anne

Florida Inspired Watercolors

Just a quick post on some Florida inspired watercolors that I recently painted. I have many fond memories of traveling to Florida with my family.

I posted these pictures and others on Instagram while participating in #worldwatercolormonth. You can also follow me on Instagram at: pattyanneart

I hope enjoy my work and are inspired to keep painting and having fun.

If you would like to receive notifications of new posts by email, simply click the follow button on the right.

Happy Painting!

Patty Anne

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