Direct Watercolor Challenge - and two sales!

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I haven't blogged for a long while - I have been painting, but intermittently. I really enjoyed June's Direct Watercolor Challenge where we were all asked to not use a pencil to sketch first, but just paint directly. One painting a day - no pencil! We were all posting on Facebook to share and see each other's work. It was spectacular - the learning, the confidence. Some of the work I saw was mindblowing - so ambitious. And no pencil! What I learned was - and there is always a lesson in everything - that it's a mindset. A pencil is a crutch. You don't need it when you stop using it. You reach for it out of habit. You can catch yourself and NOT use it. I stopped carrying it with me through the month of June because I didn't want to have it and be tempted.

Towards the end of the month, I was very pleased with these two versions of the same painting - the interior of the Orpheum. I took the reference image for this from my seat while waiting to see the musical Hamilton last October (2019) with my book club. It was a spectacular show - I didn't think I would love it as much as I did. I sold both these paintings recently. Only the red one was up at Red Berry - the yellow one was bought by the same person who bought the red as a Christmas gift for a friend, but wanted one for herself. I was asked for "another one like it" and luckily I had one in another color palette! She bought that too, on the spot, based on just the image. What an honor, what a compliment.

Waiting for Hamilton



Orpheum Matinee


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