Thursday, May 26, 2011

"100 SLC Porches, No.48"

"100 Salt Lake City Porches, No.48"
Watercolor on 9" x 12" Paper
Now this one may seem very similar to porch #13.  In a way I will admit that it is and I wouldn't be surprised with 100 porches if I end up with a bit of duplication. Though this painting is in watercolor and it shows the full porch at an angle.  Porch #13 is closer up, shows just a portion, and is done in a limited oil pallet of purples, peach, with a bit of blue. Also, this porch has a mental work that goes across between the poles.  With the flowers out front and the light, I think this porch is singing in Springtime.  I did this in a flat watercolor wash method and I think it gives it a nice muted easy going feeling.  I could spend an afternoon just passing the time on this porch!  To view the progress (or to purchase) please visit the 100 Salt Lake City Porches page.  I welcome any feedback you may have.

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

"100 SLC Porches, No.47"

"100 Salt Lake City Porches, No.47"
Watercolor on 10" x 14" Paper
You don't see many of these...a double level porch!  They just don't seem to build large tall houses like this anymore.  I imagine it's wonderful view from that top porch area; as this house is on a bit of a hill.  The original house has dark almost black browns, grays, and red brick.  I opted to limit the color pallet to two colors; an indigo blue and the lovely quinacridone gold. (Please don't ever ask me to pronounce what kind of gold this is.  I'll surely screw it up!)   I used the wet to dry watercolor painting method.  It went pretty fast and it was a fun painting to do.  I welcome any feedback you may have.  Please visit this page to view the progress of 100 Salt Lake City Porches.  Thank you.

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

"100 SLC Porches, No.46"

"100 Salt Lake City Porches, No.46"
Oil/Acrylic on 16" x 16" Canvas
I almost put this porch painting on my blog yesterday.  I took pictures of it but then I got to looking at the porch painting and the original porch photo.  It was then that I realized I missed some of the detailing on the railing area.  It's all in the details; sometimes.  So last night, I went home and fixed it.  I took a new approach on this porch painting.  The house is mostly a series of green.  So I decided to start with the green acrylic that I prepped the canvas with.  I thought I would just paint the actual porch and the wonderful front window off to the side of the porch.  There's some beautiful details in this porch and I couldn't resist not painting in the pretty flower bed. I would love to hear any feedback you may have.  To view the progress of the 100 Salt Lake City Porches, visit this page.

Monday, May 23, 2011

"100 SLC Porches, No.45"

"100 Salt Lake City Porches, No.45"
Watercolor on 10" x 14" Paper
Quite often I'm cruising quickly by on my bicycle past this porch as it is along a hill in the lower Avenues area.  But a couple of weeks ago I forced myself to go more slowly with my camera in tow and captured it. I like to think of this porch as an understated refined beauty.  I start this porch painting with a series of flat washes in a mixed green and a watered down phathlo blue.   Then, I proceeded with a bit of puddle painting to reach the final result. I limited my color pallet for this painting to phathlo blue, medium yellow, burnt sienna, and just a bit of crimson red. 

Thursday, May 19, 2011

"100 SLC Porches, No.43 & No.44"

"100 Salt Lake City Porches, No.43"
Poured Watercolor on 10" x 14" Paper
This wonderful porch is located over in the Federal Heights area of Salt Lake City.  What drew me to this porch were the flower pots placed on each corner of the wide open porch, and the flowered wreath on the door.  I used the colors of indigo blue, medium yellow, and a 50-50 mix of permanent rose with cad. red.  I had fun with this poured watercolor and I hope it shows!

"100 Salt Lake City Porches, No.44"
Watercolor on 10" x 13" Paper
This porch was nestled near the Canyon Rim area neighborhood.  I chose a bit of a different approach for painting it.  I started with a flat wash of medium yellow and built from there with cerulean blue and raw sienna.  I felt that this style fit well with the simple clean lines of the porch.  There's just something about a yellow house!  I can't explain it but I seem to be drawn to yellow houses.  This porch captured my eye with its simplicity and I also liked the weather vane in the front yard. That color yellow just draws me in; maybe its from growing up with a warm yellow kitchen that always seemed to be the center of activity?  But I will try to not go overboard on the yellow, I'll try to pace myself and balance out the colors of the porches.  I promise!  But please check out the progress of the porches on this page.  I welcome any feedback you may have.  Thanks for visiting! 

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

SLC Gallery Roll 2011-- Bike Art Show

I'm taking a bit of a break from the 100 Salt Lake City Porches Art project.  This Friday is the opening night for the 3rd Annual Gallery Roll.  It's art with a definite bike slant.  The SLC Bicycle Company, located at 177 East 200 South in Salt Lake, is turning the bicycle store into an art show for the night and will have all the art on exhibit till June 5th. It’s a great chance for those that enjoy art and bikes to have the best of both worlds! Also, nearby on Friday night is a Bike Bonanza taking place at the Gallivan Plaza which is a short walk from the shop. I have three pieces in this show; two watercolors and an oil.  So if you happen to be in the downtown Salt Lake area on Friday night between 6-9PM swing by and say "Hi" to me.
 
This piece pictured below is one of mine that is in the show.  I call it; "Shadow Cycling Chalk Creek Canyon"- watercolor on paper. 



Tuesday, May 10, 2011

"100 SLC Porches, No.42"

"100 Salt Lake City Porches, No.42"
Watercolor on 11" x 14" yupo
It's been a while since I've done a watercolor on yupo.  I thought that this fun yellow porch would work out nice on yupo.  This porch is a few blocks from Liberty Park in Salt Lake and caught my eye as I was out riding my bike a couple weeks ago.  It was too colorful and fun NOT to paint.  I like to imagine that a school teacher or a family with young children live in this house.  I bet it would be a fun place to visit and hang out at!  To view the progress of the 100 Salt Lake City Porches Project (or perhaps to purchase) click here.  20% of all proceeds will be donated to Salt Lake City's Habitat for Humanity.

Monday, May 9, 2011

"100 SLC Porches, No.41"

"100 Salt Lake City Porches, No.41"
Mixed media  on 12" x 12" wrapped canvas
This porch I did a bit differently.  I usually lightly underpaint my canvases with an acrylic paint and then paint over with oil.  This painting, I started with staining the canvas in places with an almost solid coat of watercolor paints.  Then, I painted with oils.  I found it rather fun to experiment with using watercolor and oil paints together.  Water and oil don't usually go together well but I think this turned out pretty well.  This porch is one of the first of many more to come from "the Avenues" part of Salt Lake.   There are a great deal of beautiful porches in that area.  I loved the purple and green of this porch.  To view the progress of 100 Salt Lake City Porches (or to purchase); click here.

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

"100 SLC Porches, No.40"

"100 Salt Lake Porches, No.40"
Poured Watercolor on 10" x 11" Paper
This porch was requested by a friend.  She has moved within the last year and thought it would be nice to have a painting to remember her old porch.  The house has a great deal of memories for her.  "It was a place of security, place of growth, friendships, and joy." She said, and I hope that she will look on this painting for years to come and find the joy in remembering.  She seemed pleased when I emailed her a picture of it last night shortly after I finished. 

I was holding my breath hoping that she liked what I did.  I find it hard to do a "commission".  As an artist I see things differently, and even among artists I can sometimes be out in left field as to how I approach subjects.  Reminds me of a story of a plein air workshop up a local canyon.  There was 8 or 9 of us.  We were all out in the open air with our easels set up kind of in a row.  As the teacher went along... mountains, evergreen trees, quaking aspens... all along different perspectives or scenes but all basically the same.  The she gets to me... water pump and a hose!  We are out in the middle of all this glorious scenery and I'm enamored with a water pump and a hose.  Hello!?  The teacher looked at me, shook her head and said," Jeanne, you are definitely a different bird!"