Splashing Through Life - Art by Patricia Henderson

Finally I've finished this one. For such a small and seemingly simple subject, it did seem to take a long time! I was undecided about the background on this, so I compromised and did a light cerulean wash. Now...I wonder what I'll do next???

Well, they do say "slow and steady wins the race"! I work on this when I get a chance, but my youngest son was home last weekend and I only got a couple more berries done then. Wednesdays are my short days at work, so after a nice walk I got a few more done. But then I also have a really good book to read! Dilemma! Here's where I am now:

Back to a more familiar medium. I liked the bittersweet berries so much, I've decided to paint them in watercolour this time. Since I'm so slow, I'm going to show my progress pictures, so at least I'll have some blog posts to show you! The first picture shows my reference photo taken last fall. The drawing was done freehand and I used small touches of masking fluid for the highlights. I'm not usually keen on the stuff, but I thought it would be okay for the minute dots on the berries. As you can see, I don't have a fancy setup, just a large piece of plywood on top of part of an old computer desk. Here is a bit of a closer look at the drawing and my first start on the berries. And here's where I am right now: My only dilema for this painting is background or no background? I'm leaning towards a sky blue background at the moment....but will decide later.

Something totally different from my last painting, an acrylic on canvas! I had botched an earlier attempt at watercolour over gesso'd canvas last summer, so I thought I'd gesso over it again. My jar of black gesso was screaming out, "Use me! Use me!" (I guess it was lonely!) So I did. The canvas sat there, a blank black square for a few days, while I decided what to paint on it. It almost became the background for a collage, but while looking through my reference photos I came across one of some Bittersweet berries I had taken at Rondeau Provincial park in the fall. My original intent was to use the photo as a basis for a watercolour painting, but I thought, what the heck, I'll do this in acrylic! I almost left the background black, but decided it needed some zip. I liked the way some of the black showed through around the berries and also through the background in places. I think I'll still do this as a watercolour....I told you I couldn't stick with one ...

Well, the idea was to post a lot of progress shots along the way.....um, I got one more and then I finished it! LOL Here is the progress shot, with the first wash on some of the leaves. Then, since it was such a yucky, rainy day, I did nothing but paint. I had the house to myself (Pat was at a Chili cook-off),I had the music blaring, and I proceeded to overwork that one leaf there. (The dark one) Overall I was fairly satisfied with most of this painting, there are parts I really like and some not so much. Anyway, onward and upward!

Well, it's a perfect day for painting: cool, wet and windy! A blustery fall day is just the incentive I needed to get back at my Autumn Berry painting. Today I worked on the stems of the berries, and I've just started putting a light wash on the leaves.

Slowly working on the berries...I do a few, take a break, do a few more, take a break...etc! This afternoon we are planning on taking a drive to Rondeau Provincial Park , so I hope to come back with even more reference photos to have on hand!

Seems like the only time I have (or have the energy) for painting is on the weekends. Lately they have been busy with family Thanksgving and visits, so I haven't been in the studio much. Now that the weather is turning cooler, I look forward to more of my favourite pastime! Today I decided to go through some of the photos Pat and I took while out on a nature walk a couple of weeks ago. There were some beautiful red berries that caught my attention, so decided to give them a go. Using the photo as reference, I did a very quick pencil sketch. I then deepened some of the values and will use the sketch as a guide. I loosely traced my sketch onto the backside of some Arches 140 cp paper. (My favourite!) Here is my studio set up. I am mostly using my sketch as a reference and only peeking at the ref. photos occasionally. There is my one and only brush that I will be using! You can see an open book by Ann Blockley that I have out as inspiration. Love her work! I'm loving the reds of t...