Unstructured

I attempted to be a little less tight with this painting, although I still painted it wet on dry. Parts of it work, parts of it don't. Thanks to Sarah Yeoman, the master of wet-in-wet flowers, for the reference photo, which I simplified greatly. The layout turned out to be a little awkward, because I really needed a square piece of paper for this and mine was horizontal, while the image was neither horizontal nor vertical, due to the width of the bouquet. But, enough self-critique: "Peonies" is my entry for today's #30x30DirectWatercolor2020.

Paul Jackson and Daniel Smith and M. Graham watercolors on Fluid 140lb. watercolor paper. Escoda Prado brushes.

Direct in every sense

Today's direct-to-watercolor painting comes from a photo I saw on Facebook that struck me powerfully. I wanted to paint it as a combination of the feelings it evoked and also to explore the technique of representing smoke or gas in the air. It was a difficult experience to paint it, so I'm just going to post it here without further comment.

Various watercolor brands, Escoda Prado paintbrushes, Bee sketchbook.

June is "Direct" month

Each June brings with it the 30x30 Direct Watercolor challenge, in which artists paint in watercolor without making an underlying drawing. It achieves two things, at almost opposite ends of the spectrum:

1. It makes you look really carefully at every stroke you make so that you can portray your subject accurately even though you have no lines to guide you;

OR...

2. It allows you to use watercolor in a more spontaneous, unstructured way.

Since I tend to be kind of uptight about my painting, the former works better for me than does the latter. I hope to try both during this month of experimentation, because one of my goals is always to be looser; but I also appreciate that painting without lines really refines your eye for structure, perspective, and detail.

Today's drawing was made from a photograph online that caught my eye; I didn't realize until after I had painted it that my first day of watercolor without lines was of a bottle of ink, which I would normally be using to do my drawing before accenting it with watercolor! So here, for my first day, is "the forbidden" for the rest of the month.

I was pretty happy with the reflections of light that I captured. I didn't get the reflection on the cap quite right—it was an extraordinarily clear echo of some brown wooden cabinets with some bottles sitting atop them, but here it just turned into colorful fuzz. But I do like the contrast that these other colors make with the rest of the drawing.

Paul Jackson watercolors, Escoda Prado brush #10, Bee sketchbook.

Down with fascism

Tonight's was an impulsive and quick study of the Michigan Secretary of State, Jocelyn Benson, who called out the fascist in the White House today when he threatened to withhold funds from the state of Michigan during the pandemic because her office mailed vote-by-mail applications to all Michigan residents eligible to vote. The great idiot first called her out for mailing them absentee ballots, which would be illegal, but that's not what she did, so she clapped back.

Riffing off of earlier criticism of the massive asshole when he referred to Governor Gretchen Whitmer as "the woman from Michigan," Benson tweeted, "Hi! I also have a name, it’s Jocelyn Benson. And we sent applications, not ballots. Just like my GOP colleagues in Iowa, Georgia, Nebraska and West Virginia."

The state authorized no-reason absentee voting in a referendum in 2018. The coward's claim is that "Mail-in ballots are a very dangerous thing. They're, they're subject of massive fraud." In fact, there is little fraud present in absentee voting (especially compared to voting machine interference), and Michigan has put in place safeguards including signature verification specifically to prevent fraud.

I read a piece online by Heather Cox Richardson about the whole thing, and someone in the comments dropped in Benson's address in Michigan and said "a postcard to her to say 'good job' would be nice," so I decided to send one. Since all I have are blank watercolor postcards, of course I had to paint something on the front, so I did Benson's portrait. Not a perfect likeness, but maybe she will enjoy it. You go, girl.

Uniball pen and watercolors on Strathmore "Kids Series" postcard.

Secrets

This one could possibly be included in my "people reading" series, but since the subject is reading her own words, I'm not sure it counts!

I'm still trying to find the secret of painting Kirsti. This one is marginally better—it looks more like her, but a blander her than the one I know. Of course, to pull it off I had to use a reference photo with half of her face covered! I will achieve it someday.

Meanwhile, it's another birthday for Kirsti, so Happy B-day, Mama! Someday I will figure out your secret!

Uniball pen, Jackson watercolors, Bee sketchbook.

Breath is life

Today's inspiration was a photograph of a masked and gowned medical worker—maybe a doctor, maybe a nurse, maybe an aide—from the 1918 Spanish influenza pandemic. She was featured in an advertisement on how to avoid catching the flu (yes, stay home was one of the bullet points), and I was arrested by the first line in the ad: "Do not take any person's breath."

It was such a weird phraseology—I'm sure they meant you should stand far enough away that you weren't breathing in what someone else was breathing out—but it sounds more like an admonition to be careful about being too desirable, which ties in to the masked-and-gowned look here. It gives the 1986 Berlin song, "Take My Breath Away," a whole new meaning, since Covid-19 almost literally takes the breath as its most serious symptom.

I painted her without any skin tones because I wanted the emphasis on the eyes and how tired and wise they look above the anonymity of her mask. So I used my favorite Daniel Smith color, Shadow Violet, to capture any nuance in the painting.

This was done with a Uniball black pen, Jackson watercolors (except for the Shadow Violet), in my Bee sketchbook.

But, let us turn to more pleasant things, such as how hot Tom Cruise and Val Kilmer were in 1986 in Top Gun, for which this song was written!

The Kiss

My Facebook friend Quinn posted a picture a couple of days ago, saying "I was trying to take a selfie of the crankiest bookseller on the block, but my tiny dog ruined it by being so friendly and adorable."

Quinn had never had a dog before Cha Cha (I don't think), and she agonized over whether or not to adopt her. She asked people all kinds of questions about human/dog interactions, she had a few play dates to be sure, and then took her little lady home, albeit with a fair amount of trepidation. The pairing has worked out beyond her expectations: Cha Cha has become perhaps one of the most pampered (and best dressed) dogs on the planet.

Quinn, as previously mentioned, is a bookseller, and during quarantine has established a nightly online story hour in which she reads aloud to Cha Cha. Cha Cha also deigns to deliver an occasional book review, her latest discussing The 101 Dalmations, by Dodie Smith. Quite a perspicacious review for such a tiny dog.

Here is the review.

"More bitches in charge," is Cha Cha's primary conclusion. Who wouldn't agree?

I found the selfie similarly irresistible, and spent my afternoon turning it into a portrait. Here are Cha Cha and her person Quinn, sharing a kiss.

Uniball pen, Jackson watercolors, in Bee Sketchbook.