Category Archives: Pen

Day 26 Of The 30-Day Creative Gathering

Day 26, FEB C.G., 8 x 8, watercolor on Arches 140lb. cold-pressed paper. © 2020 Sheila Delgado.

For the flowers I used gouache. I haven’t worked with gouache much. I need to play with it more. Gouache is an opaque watercolor paint. Transparent watercolor allows you to see the “white” of the paper through the paint. Gouache paint can be applied in solid colors. This allows artists to paint in layers from dark to light.

The flowers of the Prickly Pear look waxy and are translucent. So gouache was not the right medium for them. Lesson learned. I was hoping to capture the vivid colors. I will try again. Won’t that be fun! Here is a terrific video showing different cacti flowers. If you watch to the end, it gives the names of each.

Day 20 Of The 30-Day Creative Gathering

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Day 20, FEB C.G., 8 x 8, watercolor on paper. © 2020 Sheila Delgado.

I have to admit, I have had a hard time getting started each day. Seems I think about what to paint, longer than it takes for me to actually paint. Haha. Indecision. Not procrastination. I have a folder full of images, cacti, that I would like to paint. I just have a hard time deciding.

I guess that’s not a bad problem to have. I would like to start earlier. And finish before midnight. Tonight I set a goal for myself. To complete the piece in 2 hours. I wasn’t sure I could. I haven’t been timing myself. I stop for breaks and get distracted. Sometimes. But I sat down to work and didn’t stop until I was done. I had 2 minutes to spare.

Did you know cactus spines are actually highly modified leaves? This helps to prevent water loss from the surface of a leaf. The spines can also provide shade for the cactus and reduce airflow around the plant.

I know quite certainly that I myself have no special talent; curiosity, obsession, and dogged endurance,
combined with self-criticism have brought me to my ideas.
Albert Einstein

Endurance is not just the ability to bear a hard thing,
but to turn it into glory.
William Barclay

February 2020 30-Day Creative Gathering, Day 19

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Day 19, FEB C.G., 8 x 8, watercolor on paper. © 2020 Sheila Delgado.

I love how the sky turned out. This is the inexpensive paper I bought from Hobby Lobby. This time, the texture is really noticeable. Love it! The key is using a sedimentary color.

A work in progress. I think. I need to add shadows. And the sand feels too… something. Too orange, too red, too busy. Too hot. Scottsdale was extremely hot the day I took this photo. And what are those rocky shapes along the edge?? And why does the sky have horns? Haha!

Still, I would say that I am happy with this piece. I had fun working on it.

I haven’t found a name for this plant. I think it is an Octopus Agave. It looks like a giant air plant. Most of the Octopus Agaves grow out from the center. This one was shaped more like a mohawk.

I want to paint this again. I used the photo as a reference for the shapes, but for some reason, I didn’t use it for the light.