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Fixing mistakes in watercolor

A little disaster recovery in watercolor... Some dark color seeped under the drafting tape that was masking the right wing of this butterfly (top left) when I was painting the background. So I masked off the edges where I thought they should be with drafting tape (top right) and lightly rubbed the seepage off with a nylon bristle brush (bottom left) and blotted with a paper towel. This didn’t remove all the phthalo blue because it’s a staining pigment, but it got most of the black off. I actually re-masked the area and did this yet again to extend the wing tip a little further (bottom right). The paper doesn’t take repainting very well when it’s abused like this, but sometimes you can get away with a little dry brushing over the damage and nobody will notice (hopefully).

Another small new work in progress

I'm not in a finishing kind of mood... This is the fourth watercolor I've started without finishing the other three. Hopefully I can wrap this up today...

Year of the trial size dove bird

Watercolor dove bird day 2...

Dove in process

Hello birdy! Just getting started on a new watercolor...

Revolution in the Making

Happening opening at the beautiful and huge new Hauser, Wirth & Schimmel gallery space in downtown LA this afternoon. The show is "Revolution in the Making: Abstract Sculpture by Women, 1947-2016"

"What's Clear Now" opening reception

Thank you everyone who came to the opening reception for my solo show at George Billis Gallery in Los Angeles last night... Your participation made it a huge success! I really enjoyed talking to everyone at the opening, and thanks for all the great feedback! If you missed the opening, the exhibit continues through April 2 -- gallery hours are 10 am to 6 pm Tue - Sat. Have a fabulous week...

Solo show at George Billis Gallery

Here's an installed view of the first non-watercolors I’ve exhibited anywhere in the last ten years. These oil paintings plus fourteen of my recent watercolors will be on view at George Billis Gallery in Los Angeles through April 2, 2016.



Here's a better installed view of "Waiting," oil on linen, 2016, 36 x 24 inches...

New watercolor in progress

What's on the drawing table now... the monkey business continues!

Watercolor detail view

Boxing up framed watercolors, a little ahead of schedule, but I so want all the work for this show to be DONE! Detail view of “Hatch” as it goes in the crate...

Solo show countdown

More framing fun, and I’m really running out of space to pile these paintings. Delivering the work in about two weeks -- tick tock tick tock...

Solo show in Culver City opens Feb 20!

Framing recent watercolors for my upcoming solo show at George Billis Gallery in Culver City, opening February 20 -- hope to see you there!

Moving on (to another watercolor painting)

Not exactly finished, but let’s just say back-burnered for a while...

Was this a good idea...?

I'm wondering if this hardwood floor thing is gong to work out... before the end of next year.

Hello kitty

It's not really my thing to paint domestic mammals, as the sentimental element runs kind of contrary to my interests, but as a challenge to the well-worn comfort zone, here is the start of an interior scene which will be like nothing I've done before in watercolor... If it all works out.

Another finished watercolor painting

"Everything you see when you close your eyes is mine"...

Finished watercolor painting

Is it done? For the time being at least, the answer is yes...

What's new?

Trying to wrap up this butterfly jasmine mirror painting… New watercolor work in progress

Fixing mistakes in watercolor

Sometimes a small piece of 220-grit sandpaper can save your life... I had to move the boundary of this white area slightly out to the right in order to fix a symmetry issue, but the area was bounded by phthalo blue, which really penetrates the paper deeply and doesn't want to let go. I scrubbed gently with a damp nylon bristle brush first, which removed some but not all the blue color along the boundary, and then I scraped it lightly with an x-acto knife (after drying the area thoroughly). This removed the color, but it also frayed the paper surface in a less than attractive way. So I cut a narrow rounded triangle from a sheet of extra-fine-grit sandpaper and used that to sand down the distressed paper surface to its original smoothness. After such drastic measures, the best thing to do then is to leave this area alone going forward. Even though it looks smooth and fresh once more, this paper is tweaked and it will not stain evenly ever again! Which is fine, since it was intended to be a highlight anyway. So the take-home message is this: You can't go back to square one in watercolor, but you can make a one time "adjustment."

About that dark blackwash

I finished off two tubes of lunar black while painting the background... I guess I’m laying it on a little thick.