Watercolor Words and Wanderings

It came up in conversation yesterday, just what is a Giclee print anyway? I thought I should learn that as I tip toe my way through finding the most cost effective way to get my art reproduced and also end up with a product I can be proud of. First off it is pronounced Zhee Clay ( I often get the consonants mixed up and say Glee-shay ;)). Giclee is derived from a French verb gicler meaning to spray or squirt. Wikipedia claims my ink jet printer can produce a Giclee.  According to gicleetoday.com the answer is no. Giclee uses special light-fast, water resistant, archival inks on archival substrates. The process uses 12 of these special inks creating a very accurate color reproduction of the original.  If treated properly, the prints will last a lifetime. The way the image is scanned is different also. The original is scanned directly on a drum scanner or large flatbed. If the image is larger, or cannot be taken off the stretcher frames, then a professional large format photograph must be taken. Finally it also seems that most of the Giclee printers can accommodate large sizes. So that seems to be it in a nut shell!

Here is what I have been working on this week- I hope you have a good week- Peace Out-Bec

Exercise using masking tape to reserve the whites.

W.I.P. trying to make the scene believable.

W.I.P here I am working on making those stone walls less straight.

I am attracted to the sky line created by the barn and house….I want to repeat the somehow in the picture…

W.I.P. taking this to strange places- what I am going for is to capture the correct values.

W.I.P.- Thin washes on hot pressed paper. Dry as dry can be before adding the next layer.

W.I.P- I glazed over the back ground with yellow. I meant to do this in a cool color- whoops!

W.I.P again pumping up the contrasts- not sure if the house will be able to read as white…I will look again in spring to see how to do this better!

W.I.P straightened the right side of the house with Gouache.

W.I.P the foreground is filled with salt and masking fluid.

W.I.P.- almost done- I glazed over the back ground and used some gouache on the dandelions in the foreground, Next going to pump up the contrasts in the branch in the fore ground and do some detail work on the a few dandelions.

Watercolor Words and Wandering

I have not been wandering very much lately. Just when I got the OK to go back to the gym after major surgery…I got a nasty cold. Dry hacking cough, sore throat- grrr. I have managed to get some painting done this week! In my studio and I am just reaching into the stack of W.I.P.’s and working on them as they pop up. In my Tuesday morning drop in class I taught about working on hot pressed paper ( which is very smooth) using a glazing technique I saw on youtube done by Jay Lee. We also worked on our field and tree paintings. Looking at the pictures of this I really despise the composition…I made the walls between the fields too straight! I can fix that!

W.I.P.- Thin washes on hot pressed paper. Dry as dry can be before adding the next layer.

W.I.P. Thin washes on hot pressed paper. Using permanent rose and phtalo blue

W.I.P. I am going to use my ink pens on this one just to pop a few to the front- I think. Again thin washes on hot pressed paper

Exercise using masking tape to reserve the whites.

W.I.P. trying to make the scene believable.

I missed class with Doris Rice on Wednesday due to cold- hoping to catch a class or two with her in January. I also missed class on Tuesday with Becky Darling, again due to my cold, but we were working on barns. Here is a picture she took and my start on a painting. I am wanting to make this a geometric design and I may even zentangle on it.

Becky’s picture of a homestead somewhere in New London or Sutton she was not sure.

I am attracted to the sky line created by the barn and house….I want to repeat the somehow in the picture…

Below find the ones I finished- the butterfly is sold 🙂

Brown Hair Streak 2017

Across the Street- Take 5? 2017

Here are the ones that I decided were finished- they are smaller 4×6 and are of Cedar Circle Farm in Vermont.

Nice day at Cedar Circle Farm

Onion beds created a “blue” area at Cedar Circle Farm in Vermont

Below are the ones that I worked on and are not done yet but you know I like to show you the progress.

W.I.P.- challenging subject used a lot of masking fluid

W.I.P. pumping up the contrasts and defining rock/waves and people.

W.I.P Here I try a white Apple tree against a white house in Norwich VT ( note some fo the green on here is masking fluid)

W.I.P again pumping up the contrasts- not sure if the house will be able to read as white…I will look again in spring to see how to do this better!

I got my Christmas cards off and returned from Vista Print! I am also getting ready for a show with my Odanaksis Plein Aire group. 4 painting framed and ready. Being home sick has been productive! Until next week- Peace Out- Bec