Painting the beach

I have a couple beach paintings to share with you today. I’m always inspired by the beautiful colors at the beach. 💙

Happy Thursday!

First layer of quiet beach watercolor

After applying the base layer of a painting it’s a good idea to step back and take a thoughtful look.

You can see that the horizon needs to be straightened up and the distant water needs to be darkened. In addition, the foreground needs darker colors and more detail to bring it forward.

Quiet Beach watercolor painting – 9 x 12 inch

The second layer and final details make a big difference.

Beach blues watercolor painting – 8 x 8 inch

This is a beach painting from a few months ago. I’m not in love with the sky in this one but I do love the sparkle in the water and how the grasses frame out the foreground.

I hope you are inspired to create art and have fun. Take good care of yourself and shine on!

Patty Anne

Join me on Instagram @pattyanneart

Finding joy in simple things

I have a few paintings to share today of people enjoying life and doing things they love.

I hope you find time to do the same. 💜

Out for a walk with mom on a chilly day. This scene just makes me smile and I love that pink jacket.

Enjoying the day fishing.

Thinking of my brother… He loved the outdoors and fishing. ♡

A couple out playing with their dog in the snow.

My dog is getting older but he still loves to run and play. I’m looking forward to taking him to the lake this summer. Swimming is one of his favorite things.

I hope you are inspired to create art and do something you love. Until next time, share a smile and shine on!

Patty Anne

Join me on Instagram @pattyanneart

Soothing Blue Watercolors

Today I have selected some of my watercolor paintings in soothing blues to share with you.

Hope your day is wonderful!

This loose floral with gray blue flowers is very calming.
It’s just simple and delicate. I really like that.

Playing with the gray blue here with a single flower. I love the lost edges and the pale petals in back.

A little abstract landscape with some soothing blues in the distance. I love the bright flowers in the foreground. I’m always inspired by o_aquarelles on Instagram. The ease with which she paints beautiful landscapes always makes me want to pick up my brush and paint away!

Limited palette leaves. Playing with a plastic card, brush, and watercolor pencil. The little lines with pencil add a touch of detail that wakes up this painting.

As I was putting together this post I was looking back through some recent paintings. The single flower and landscape jumped out at me. I’m always amazed at how much more I appreciate some of my paintings later on. As for the landscape above, I’m loving it now.

I hope you are inspired to create art and have fun. Until next time, share a smile and sprinkle kindness everywhere.

Patty Anne 💙

Join me on Instagram @pattyanneart

Telling a story with watercolor

I used to think the goal of my art was creating something that looked very realistic. Over time I’ve found much joy in loosening up and getting lighter with detail.

The more I explore and play with that idea, the happier I seem to be about what I am creating. It’s like a story develops on the paper and the viewer gets to fill in some of the blanks. 

Favorite Quote

“A painting requires a little mystery, some vagueness, some fantasy. When you always make your meaning perfectly plain you end up boring people.”

 – Edgar Degas

Garden view landscape

My thought as I was painting this landscape was a pretty view from a garden looking out into the quiet distance. 

I like the energy in the foreground from the bold red flowers. I used gouache paint for the tiny white flowers. That created a little contrast and softness.

Maybe the story is:

– A summer drive through the countryside looking out the window.
– Walking around the garden and taking it all in.

You the viewer get to decide. 😊

Strolling around the city

More practice with figures in this painting. Many people moving about in the city. It feels alive with many stories to tell.

Where are they going? What’s their story?

I hope you are inspired to create art and do something you love.
Until next time, share a smile and shine on.

-Patty Anne 💚

Join me on Instagram @pattyanneart

Spring tulips in watercolor

Today I have some pretty tulips to share with you.

I’m so happy spring is here!

A quick painting, loose and simple. Loving the purples here.

Tip: mixing blue and pink creates a nice purple. Simply adjusting the amount of each color in your watercolor mix and you can create a lovely range of colors. Have fun and play with it. I like to mix ultramarine blue and quinacridone rose.

For this one I went with a bright orange and red combination. I’m really happy with the movement of the leaves.

I hope you are inspired to create art and do something you love. Creating has always been something that brings me joy and I love sharing my watercolor journey with you.

Until next time, share a smile and shine on!

Patty Anne 💜🌷

Join me on Instagram at pattyanneart

Winter views in watercolor

Today I have a few winter scenes in my sketchbook to share with you.

Happy Thursday! 😊

Out for a winter walk with the pup.

My eyes go right to the cozy blue jacket and the winter boots. I really like the color palette and simplicity.

Winter Day

I used a limited palette in this gray winter landscape.

The dry brush work and fine lines in the foreground were made with thicker paint (less water). Those darker details in the foreground come forward and help to create depth.

Walking dogs at the park.

Here I added a covered path and another walker in the distance. Those simple additions really help tell a story. I’m happy that I decided to try something new and challenge myself with painting figures.

I hope you are inspired to create art and have fun. Until next time, share a smile and stay excellent!

Patty Anne 💚

Join me on Instagram @pattyanneart

Multiple Sketchbooks

I always have multiple sketchbooks on hand to work in. I like a multimedia sketchbook that can handle watercolor and has a nice smooth surface for ink sketching too.

I’m still enjoying painting figures in watercolor and trying to remember that less is more.

Figure painting is a great way to warm up and explore.

I pulled out my ink brush pen not knowing what I wanted to sketch. I thought about the fun shapes the pen makes and started to experiment with flower centers. I kept playing and created this nice floral. I love the contrast in this sketch.

Sometimes you have to just jump in and sketch. If you don’t like it you can always turn the page and try something else. It’s a sketchbook after all and there are no rules. 😊

In this poppy painting there was a lot of experimenting with leaves and seed heads. The painting could use some darker colors. Maybe I will explore this further in another painting on heavier watercolor paper.

I hope you enjoyed this quick trip through my sketchbook. Until next time, share a smile and shine on!

-Patty Anne 💜

Join me on Instagram @pattyanneart

Sweet Little Bird

Today I have a sweet little watercolor bird to share with you.

I started out by sketching my bird using a watercolor pencil. Then I painted the background around my bird sketch. By painting the branches on wet paper it created soft dreamy distant branches. I love how it sets the mood. 😊

little bird on 8 x 8 inch fluid watercolor paper block

I worked on the bird and branch in the foreground next. The detail and additional layers of color brought the bird forward and into focus.

I hope you are inspired to create art and have fun. Until next time, share a smile and shine on!

Patty Anne 💙

Join me on Instagram at pattyanneart

Small landscape paintings

Today I have a few more small landscapes to share with you. They have been sitting in my drafts folder waiting for me to finish writing up this post.

What I noticed is that each painting is very different in this group. There’s a different season and feeling with each one. I love that!

5 x 7 inch watercolor sketchbook – Frosty trees in winter.

5 x 7 inch watercolor sketchbook – Sweet home in spring.

6 x 8 inch watercolor – Lakeside in summer.

I hope you are inspired to create art and do more things that you love.
Keep painting and creating!

Until next time, share a smile and shine on.

Patty Anne 💚

Join me on Instagram at pattyanneart

Something new – painting figures

I recently decided to try painting figures. I’ve been wanting to add people to my landscapes for a while now so I watched a few videos online to help me get started. Today I have a few tips to share with you that have really helped me.

My thought is to keep it simple starting off with views from behind.
-no hands or shoes necessary
-keep brush stokes to a minimum (that is a challenge)
-start off with a jacket first then add legs with simple brush strokes.
-be careful with head size, not too big
-add few darker areas of shadow

I love that little pop of color on the scarf and hat.

Here I started with a few figures and then played around and added a background of city buildings.

Out for a walk hand in hand. This simple scene makes me smile.

Chilly walk in the park was a good practice too.

I’m not sure where my art will take me this year but I hope to keep working on landscapes and dropping in more people and animals. I needed a new challenge and something fun to work on. I think this will be a good direction for me this year.

What are your creative goals this year?

I hope you are inspired to create art and have fun. Thank you so much for your kindness and support. Wishing you all the best this year friends! 💜

-Patty Anne-

Join me on Instagram @pattyanneart