Trees. 6 x 6 mixed media on paper. © 2017 Sheila Delgado
It’s all about the light. I reclaimed light by dabbing a damp paper towel into the treetops. Also found a bit in the first, large trunk. I dipped my rubber comb into clean water, and scraped the paint in the foreground. I love that those marks remained subtle after drying.
To the treetops I added more yellow, some orange and Shiraz in selective areas. Seeing it here, I feel like I need to add some shadow at the base of the trees. What do you think? Not going for realism, just think a little more contrast would be good.
We had rain for about 20 minutes today. Full sun, windy, light rain. Clear blue sky to the south. I kept hoping the sun would catch and really make this pop. Very dreamlike as it was though.
Rainbow
Was inspired by Sandrine Pelissier’s newsletter, as I always am. Dug out my travel Spirograph. Had a bit of a worry when I didn’t find it in the first two looks. The 4 x 6 paper did not fit, so most of my drawings ended up more centered, less random. I filled the edges with doodles. I am going to try again. But maybe this lends itself to trees better.
Just FYI. If you ever buy a travel Spirograph, post-it notes fit perfectly!
Hot Mess. 4 x 6 mixed media on paper postcard. © 2017 Sheila Delgado
Love how you used the spirograph shapes as an element in your cactus postcard! And I enjoyed reading about your process for spoon flower patterns in your other posts.
Thank you Juana 🙂 That was inspired by Sandrine Pelissier. Her work is awesome! Happy creating to you Juana, have fun 🙂
Hi Sheila – posting reply to you here – The shiraz is your ‘darkest’ dark right now. If you add a darker mix (which might include your shiraz) it should have the affect of pushing the shiraz (that you already have) to become a more middle value. If you add more light to the trees then the shiraz that is already there will read more dark. It seems to me that you have the light background and then your trees have the shiraz and yellow that are quite close in value. When I ‘squint’ the yellow and shiraz in the trees seems to read the same. You wouldn’t need much dark to get a nice range of values. You could use straight black from the tube or experiment mixing the shiraz with a dark. If you want – mix your dark and paint some paper with it. Then you can cut it up and see what it looks like against your trees. This is just personnel preference Sheila – it really is up to you and what you want to ‘say’ with your painting. I would love to see you continue with your tree series and displaying them all together – it would have a lot of impact. One other thing – I like that the first painting was a single tree and this has 6 – the variation on your theme is wonderful. I hope I haven’t made things too confusing – would be so much easier in person!! Maybe someday – that would be fun! Apologies this is sooooo long!!!!
Hi Janet! I would love to paint with you, that would be fantastic. 🙂 thank you so much for such a detailed response. I have not had a chance to work on the piece, but I am hoping to this evening. I will address your suggestions more fully when I post, but you really gave me a lot to think about. And you are absolutely right about the values. I have so much to learn about values. I looked at it in grayscale, and it is all the same… LOL. Thanks so much for taking the time to educate me on the error of my ways , LOL. I mean that most gratefully. Chat with you soon, have a great one!
No ‘errors’ Sheila – I am still working on this whole value thing too! Always glad to share and always, always appreciate your generosity, sharing and kindness – always shines through in your art and your words. Take care and look forward to seeing more! ox
Thanks for that Janet, your generous thoughtfulness is a blessing – you made my day! 🙂
Wonderful catii and the fine lines!!! Great colors!!!! Those dots make them sing!!!
So glad you like it Carol. Happy day to you 🙂
reminds me of palm trees against a California setting sun!
Oh I like that Juana 🙂
Oh – those lines from the spirograph are wonderful! Hope there are a few more ‘Hot Messes’ in the works! I really like your tree ladies. I do notice a difference with some of the lighter tone you have added. Wondering if you would consider adding some darker values – not too much, but I think it would really make your trees pop. I really like your ‘trees’ and can’t wait to see more of them.
I am going to add some shadow under the trees… you can let me know what you think. I feel like I have too much of the dark Shiraz. But do you think I can go darker still in the treetops? Thanks for sharing your thoughts with me Janet!!
Looking good Sheila – having fun is always good!
I am sure your students know that well Val 😉 Thank you 🙂
Love the comb marks!
Go ahead and play with some shadow. The eye always loves contrast.
Love the way these tree ladies have quiet attitude, leaning a hip here, cocking a shoulder there.
Love the hot mess of spirograph lines in Hot Mess!
Will do Dotty! There more I looked, the more your ladies became visible. Got lucky with those drips, LOL. Have fun today in your travels 😉