Flying High with YUPO + Birds!

"Groovy Bird" watercolor and gouache on YUPO (9x12)--collection artist

I had a fantastic Saturday yesterday thanks to all the creative artists who attended my YUPO/bird painting workshop. Thank you again to the Heritage Fine Arts Guild for inviting me to share my passion for YUPO painting -as well as birds! A perfect painting match IMHO!

Much like my YUPO painting above, the workshop artists began with an abstract background using watercolors to which we added texture (stamping, stencils, lifting, salt, etc.). Many of the artists then worked their bird painting into their abstract painting. (I plan to post a step by step demo on this technique soon.)

Artist Sue rolled black gouache around her rooster shape--Love the colors and texture!

How sweet is this colorful hummingbird??

Beatrice working on her lovely snowy cardinal.

Since YUPO is "erasable" your subject can be developed using a positive or negative approach which yields really cool and unique effects. At the end of workshop we had at least 20 great paintings to show for our hard work. I wish I could post every one but here are just a few of the inspirational paintings that took flight! Awesome work ladies!

Great example of abstract with representational component. 

Anita added colorful leaf printing (from real ones) to her vibrant rooster--which looks great on YUPO!

A lovely jay on a really high energy background.

A gorgeous owl in progress--love all the color splatter!

Beautiful cool colors in Amber's abstract and texture painting.

My sincere thanks again ladies (guys you'd enjoy YUPO too!) for sharing your creative time with me on a Saturday!! I know your paintings will help to inspire other artists (as they did me) to give YUPO a try (or another chance!) the next time you want to "play" or just re-energize!

It's YUPOssible!

"Thinking Pink Orchids" 9x12 watercolor on YUPO (collection artist)

Happy Hump Day everyone! Looking forward to my presentation/demo tonight for the Heritage Fine Arts Guild in preparation for my upcoming YUPO workshop! And on that note, I've been talking about it but the official workshop registration link is now live so here's the save the date info:

Workshop: Spread Your Wings with YUPO
When: SAT. November 16
Where: Littleton, Colorado
Time: 9A-3P
Cost: $30 members/$50 non members
You can find the supply list on the workshop page the Scarlet Owl Studio website.
To Register please visit the Heritage Fine Arts Guild workshop page.

Painting Workshop Description:
We'll warm up with YUPO (which you may purchase from me on that day) but the rest of the day will be dedicated to helping you with a bird themed painting in any watermedia of your choosing--so watercolor, acrylic, etc. You may also choose to work on YUPO for the rest of the day or you can paint an acrylic on canvas.

Space may be limited so please don't wait to reserve your space. Questions about the workshop? Please feel free to contact me (you can email or call) through the SOS website.

Challenge Day 14: YUPO at the Beach

"YUPO Gull" watercolor on YUPO 8x8  (collection artist)

In watercolor, the experienced know that seeming chaos is usually the precursor to a strong painting... (Hilary Page)

I have to admit I’m really enjoying my “watercolor vacation” this week.  If you ever feel like you need a creative break (and who doesn’t?) you might want to try a different medium. It’s unbelievably liberating and refreshing!

Don’t get me wrong. I’m dedicated to improving my oil painting skills but for my previous challenge painting, I had such a good time cavorting with the YUPO and watercolor that I just had to try another. I bought a whole pad after all…

I took this gull pic last January when I was in Marco Island Florida. I liked the speckles on his head and the bright yellow eyes.

I wanted more texture in this YUPO painting, so I added some paint splatter (tapping brush) and salt (with a salt grinder). Both work great for beaches.  Also, I lifted some of the lights in this with a damp Q-tip as well as a stiffer brush (such as an inexpensive acrylic round).  You can also spray the YUPO surface with alcohol or fine water spray for additional spots of light and suggested texture.

Are we there yet??  Kudos and sincere thanks to all the fellow 30 in 30 challengers who’ve stopped by, took time to write a comment, etc.  Painting is certainly a joyous part of my life, but it’s not always easy. In fact a sign in my studio says: Make time for your art. It’s important. So on that note, happy weekend painting all! 

Challenge Day 12: Visiting an Old Friend...

"YUPO Chickadee" Transparent WC on YUPO 9x12 (collection artist)

Hmm..You may notice a gap between um Challenge Day 5 and today. OK. About a week. The good news is that one reason I got a little behind in the challenge (in addition to out of town guests) is that I've been planning my new November workshop which will be bird themed and feature painting on YUPO--one of my all time favorite painting surfaces. (Sorry for the all caps that's just how YUPO is.)

Briefly, YUPO is a synthetic waterproof "paper." It's super smooth, clean bright white, and you can much more easily make value corrections such as lifting out your lights. It can feel a little strange at first and like any other new art technique take some adjustment, but now I just love it.

A few years ago when I became more of a "daily painter" I moved away from watermedia to oils. But I've always had a special place in my heart for watercolor and fluid acrylics. So you can imagine my delight when I was asked to teach a workshop that featured watercolors and YUPO and birds. Honestly, I can't think of a more exciting combination.

There was only one tiny problem. I had to confess I hadn't painted with YUPO recently but even as I was saying this I was heading toward the garage so I could run up to the Guiry's art store by my studio and buy a pad. (YUPO comes in pads and large sheets--online at Dick Blick.)

So today's painting is a watercolor and YUPO study of a chickadee in my backyard aspen trees. One quick YUPO tip: Use just 3 primaries (red,yellow, blue) because this takes a while to dry and it will run around on you. The 3 primaries will create wonderful harmonious mixes on their own.

If you have any questions about my SAT., November 16 YUPO workshop please email me. I'll have a link for it soon as well. Happy Challenge Painting everyone--we're almost half way there!

Yupo Nalu

Nalu, as some of you may know, means wave in Hawaiian. One of my younger students, this week painted this gorgeous frothy wave on Yupo with Golden Fluid Acrylics. We had a great time working with the wave pattern and texture with spraying both rubbing alcohol and water directly into the wet acrylics which tend to hover on the Yupo surface until dry.

We also added some freshly ground sea salt into the Quin Gold for the sandy texture beneath the wave.  For the wave colors we used Thalo Blue, Turquoise, some Quin Magenta, as well as a touch of Hansa Medium and Crimson.

It's been a joy to be back this week painting in the studio and I'll be posting 2 new pieces soon, one oil abstract figure and one acrylic abstract horse. While working, I've also been busy listening to some very inspirational and informative Blog Talk Radio shows called Artists Helping Artists.

I loved their recent interview with well-known daily painter Carol Marine about daily painting and what it's meant to her and her career. I hope I can get to one of her workshops at some point, if I can find one that's not full! But in the meantime, I really looking forward to her book 100 Small Paintings which I ordered earlier this week. Mahalo everyone & happy painting!

Yupo Friday

 

Happy Friday everyone! I'm thrilled to post these inspiring and exciting Yupo floral paintings today painted by Richard K., one of my watermedia students.  Thank you Richard for letting me sharing these with all the Yupo fans out there. While Yupo can be a challenging surface especially if you are used to a "toothier" paper,  I think these paintings are wonderful examples of how well Yupo works for painting organic subjects such as flowers.

Richard also used the Golden Fluid Acrylics to help him achieve these tropical saturated hues and amazing textures.  Check out some of the "bubbly" texture in the spiky leaves of the bird of paradise. I just don't think you could mimic that on paper, even with hot press. And Richard makes an excellent  point when he told me that after painting on Yupo for a while he had a new found "respect" for painting on watercolor paper.

It's true, at least for me, that trying new media, surfaces, subject matter etc. is a very helpful way to strengthen your overall creative skills.  For example, if I'm having less than a stellar day with a difficult oil  painting (yes, it happens even after 25 years), I switch to watercolor the next day or do a layered acrylic abstract. Speaking of moving between styles I noticed in the March issue of Southwest Art (one of my favorite art magazines) the beautiful and angular oil landscapes of Arizona painter Ed Mell and his quote about how "moving between abstraction and realism" also helps keep him fresh.

Friday is usually my own studio day so I better get to work. I'm planning on a representational oil still life painting, but we'll see what happens...Also, if you are in the Denver area quick reminder that it's First Friday today so go out and support your local neighborhood galleries and artists and have a great time!

Figure it Out

Happy Holidays everyone! Many thanks again to all my continuing students and for those of you planning to start painting in January I can't wait to get started. I know it's going to be an amazing year of art and creativity.

In honor of that, I'm posting one of my all time favorite Yupo and figure paintings. This is also the painting that juried me into my first Colorado Watercolor Society show.

My tip for getting ready for painting for the New Year is start working on (or adding to) your idea/inspiration folder or scrapbook.

This is a great activity to do over the holidays as you perhaps take relatives to museums, or browse galleries, flip through books or magazines, visit cafes, listen to music, take a road trip, etc.
Remember always take your camera!

Also if you are looking for an art themed movie to watch over the holidays (note language a bit rough, so not for the young ones!) I just rented Local Color. It's based on the true story of a young painter in the 1970s who finds out that one of his painting mentors (a cantankerous and bitter Russian impressionist) lives nearby.

Enjoy your week!

Groovy Yupo Painting

I wanted to post another Yupo painting, but this time a figure to show the versatility of the surface. I painted this particular model in a quick pose session using a fine black Sharpie for the quick sketch and then adding watercolor glazes. (Her "costume" had a distinct seventies denim vibe so I chose colors to accentuate that look.)

Several years ago, one of my art goals was to be juried into the annual Colorado Watercolor Society show and the piece that I was happily juried in with (which I'll post one of these days) was a figure painting on Yupo.

Also, if you enjoy watercolor figure painting, be sure to check out Don Andrews book "Interpretting the Figure in Watercolor"--his bold, grainy color combinations and figure compostions are some of my favorites For more information about my art classes, please drop me a line at ScarletOwl@hotmail.com--I'd love to hear from you.

Watercolor Monday

Since I posted an abstract painting on Yupo over the weekend, I wanted to post a more traditional watermedia painting today to show just how versatile and fresh this surface can be.

One of my earliest forays into art was with pen and ink sketching with watercolor. Yupo works great for that application as you can see here. Here's an example of a quick (maybe 10-15 minutes) study I painted of peppers using a fine black Sharpie and watercolor. As I often do I started with a pure contour drawing before adding any color.

As I mentioned in my previous posting you can easily find Yupo in sheets (I prefer the heavier ones) or pads now online at Cheap Joes, Amazon, and Daniel Smith.

For more information about my watercolor classes, please write to me at ScarletOwl@hotmail.com or visit me on Teach Street. I look forward to hearing from you!

Yupo Saturday

First, what is Yupo? As some of you may know, it's a 100% recyclable "tree free" synthetic paper from the commercial printing industry. I first came across Yupo at a workshop almost 10 years ago. Because Yupo more like plastic, it's very durable and super smooth.

Today, with Yupo's growing popularity as an artist "paper" you can easily purchase Yupo online at places like Cheap Joes--who even sells Yupo in a pad.

I find Yupo's to be a versatile and adventurous painting surface that works well for both detailed representational work or loose abstracts as I've done here. In this particular painting, I used Golden liquid acrylics for really bold color saturation.

In researching Yupo art, I found this demo of painting sunflowers on Yupo as well as a great looking Yupo demo video from master watermedia artist George James.

I love introducing Yupo to my watermedia students, for more information please write to me at ScarletOwl@hotmail.com.