Detail of Watercolor EDM 69 Teatime

I know I made the silver spoon too dark, but really don't know what I could have done other than use a lighter value to make it look real. Any ideas out there? Tricks you've used? It just doesn't look silverish, or reflective. What do you think might have worked better? Thanks.

Tea for Mieke: EDM 69

Sometimes our kids know what we need even better than we do. My daughter was kidding around on the phone today, telling me she was sick of looking at the front porch(last post in early June), and that I needed to sit down and draw. She was more right than she knew. I have been "spring cleaning" in a way, in order to move my studio into a bigger room, yanking up old carpet, washing windows, floors, walls, and the things I'm moving as I go. It's been...mumble mumble...a long time since I really cleaned my studio equipment. (When was the last time you wiped down your electric pencil sharpener with Mr. Clean? Yeah, me too!) And I really DID need to just center, sit and draw. So here's challenge number 69, draw a beverage. The cup and saucer are from a set of six Ansley cups that my mother treasured and enjoyed using, and the silver spoons (the real kind that get hot when you stir your tea) belonged to my grandmother, very beaufiful things, and interesting to watercolor. They will go to my daughter someday. The drawing angle was off, I should have tilted up my sketchbook more to be at the right angle to my line of sight. And the ellipses are a bit "off," as are the values...white porcelain that reflects is tricky, but by and large, I'm happy with the sketch. If anyone's done reflective surfaces, and has hints, I'd love to hear them...silver, liquids, porcelain? Thanks in advance.

Front Porches

There are a couple of wonderful streets in old town Gaithersburg, where the homes are all different and most are Victorian looking, and every single one of them has its own charm. The front porches are so inviting, and most of the yards are filled with flowers. It's a great place to wander and take pictures. This is a little sketch with marker and watercolor, just because it's fun to play.

Caroline's Permission

Caroline Jasper is one of my favorite painters, and a lovely human being and teacher to boot. Since I've decided to take oils back up, I have begun by simply copying the work of some painters that I like, Caroline among them. This way the composition is worked out, and I can concentrate on technique and color mixing, rather than having to be concerned with everything at once. I recently finished a very "growing" painting copied from one of Caroline's pieces. (In that, I feel like I learned a lot.) The paintings that I copy I give away, and sign them with my initials and after that "after Caroline Jasper" (or whoever) right on the front. This way the artist is given credit, and the recipient is happy too. In this case, my son, who likes the way this one turned out. I wrote to Caroline, and she gave me permission to post this for you. Here is the URL to her web site and this particular painting, which is really a neat piece called Trail Lights: http://www.carolinejasper.com/P1_landscps/trllghts.htm, so you can see her original. Her book is wonderful also, which is posted here on her site: http://www.carolinejasper.com/. Enjoy!

Same Photo with Pitt Brush Pens

Love the new Pitt Brush Pens! This is the same image as previously posted Graphitint landscape. The quote I wrote in the margin was "Color gets all the glory, but value does all the work!" I'm not sure where I read it, but I am convinced it's true. So much hinges on using good value, creating a value path. Good darks flowing thru the work. Thanks for looking.

Illustration Friday Cake

Decided to buy the most complicated cake I could find to draw, and it turned out to be a hit to eat as well. The perfect contribution to a neighborhood picnic. Done with watercolors and Pitt brush pens in the Moleskine sketchbook. I really like these challenges. Can you tell it's ladyfingers on the sides?