Tag Archives: landscape

#The100DayProject – #14 and #15

Mingus Day #14. 5.25 x 12 in. watercolor on Arches 140 lb. cold pressed paper. © 2018 Sheila Delgado.

If this was a 30 day challenge, I would be at the halfway point. I would be looking at the down side of the hill. But it isn’t, and I have a long way to go. Still, two weeks in and I am feeling in the groove.

I have two on the table. (Laughing allowed.) To be honest, one of them is staring back at me whispering, “You can’t fix this.” So it will, be on the table a while longer.

I used the salt technique on the front range of #14. The effect is very subtle, but I do like the added texture. The sky is lavender, not sure if you can see it here, or if it just looks blue.

Mingus Day #15. 5.25 x 12 in. watercolor on Arches 140 lb. cold pressed paper. © 2018 Sheila Delgado.

Yesterday was a grey, blustery day. Teasing rain. It was dark east of Mingus, and I am sure that side of the mountains saw same moisture.

The sky is a mix of the sap green and indigo in the hills, with a touch of burnt umber I think. There is some terrific granulation, really love it.

I made a calendar to help keep my right on the numbering. Did it three times, because I kept goofing. If you see an error, be sure to let me know. 😉

100 Days.

LYA side swaps

Janice Darby.

Janice Darby and Sherry Harmes are two of my longtime LYA swap buddies. I always look forward to seeing their incredible cards, and receiving them together was even better!

Janice’s gorgeous angel came from California. Visit her link to see more of her angelic creations! As you can probably guess, I love the colors in this angel card.

Sherry always comes up with the coolest ideas. This year her card is “quilted” pieces. A mix of papers, ribbon, a button and a silk flower. A supper sunny side swap!

Sherry Harmes.

Thank you Janice, and Thank you Sherry! I love your cards, and I am so glad we swapped! Can’t wait for next year!

Seaing is Believing

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This week the Spoonflower design challenge is to use watercolors (or digital watercolor brushes) to create a whimsical surface patterns inspired by fantasy creature motifs. I know that the Seahorse is a real creature, but to me they have always seemed magical.

I used both digital watercolor brushes and hand-painted watercolor for this design. You can see the digital brush layers on some of the Sand Dollars. The Seahorses are all hand-painted.

Voting begins today. This challenge sponsored by Skillshare. The top winners will take home Spoonflower credit and a Skillshare Premium subscription to start learning everything from how to create a surface design using motifs to “The Basics of Photoshop”, “Hand Lettering” and so much more! And, for the first time ever, all submissions into May’s design challenges are automatically entered to win the grand prize full of design goodies worth over $1000!

Here is a closer look.

I drew some dots, and circles and spots, and used them to suggest air bubbles, sand and pebbles. The watercolor was applied using a clipping mask. Here is a short video that shows how it is done. I know some of this may be too complicated, for those of you that do not use Photoshop, but the basic principal is easy to understand. It is just like cut and paste from the olden days!

I started by deciding on a palette, sunset hues.

Sunset palette

I am working on a companion piece as well. This will be on a smaller scale than you see here. This collection will lend itself to quilting or children’s clothing projects. I will also do this using different colors for the background.

Sand Dollars. Digital surface design. © 2017 Sheila Delgado

Thanks so much for taking the time to vote, I can’t make top ten without you!

LYA Side Swap

Val van der Poel.

I received this wonderful watercolor from my good friend Val in BC Canada. Val works in many mediums, and she is consistently learning and growing her skills in new areas. She works in paper quilling, watercolors, acrylics, oils, pen & ink, charcoal, mixed media and, recently, fabric art.

Not only that, she teaches too! I can always count on Val to give a sincere evaluation of my work. Be sure to visit her site and treat yourself to her fabulous work!

On the back of the card:

This is what I feel about art;
“Art is a Gift. Whether you make it, give it or receive it, I hope you will cherish it!”

Wonderful thought. And yes, I do cherish your card! Hugs and best wishes to you as well Val. Thanks so much for sharing your work with me. Your mountains are inspiring, and your pines and poppies are perfect! Love this view!

Lonely Landscape = Lively Learning

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Lonely Landscape. 14 x 18 acrylic on canvas.

This is a large piece for me. I enjoyed working larger. It was a bit cramped working while this piece was drying though, my desk is really the only space I have for the task. This was request from a barn loving friend, and I am happy with how it turned out.

Technically, there are many mistakes here. For one, the barn is centered. The top right corner of the roof is exactly the center point of the canvas. Didn’t plan that. Oh and that white, lighter area under the barn, is not really there. Don’t know why it is showing that way. There is also much more movement in the sky, but the 72 ppi smooths it out.

I have worked on this for almost a month. Sheesh! Had no idea until I went back to figure out when I started. If you ask me, this has “student” written all over it. That’s O.K. Because I did learn a lot each step of the way. I was referencing the art of Caitlin Schwerin. A sky here, some land there.

I painted the sky over six times. Lost count. Tried for some clouds but they were not working, so blue sky it is. Mostly I think my failure at that is not having the correct brush. My first attempt at the mountains failed too. They were much shorter lengthwise, and the highlights were all wrong. Here are some close-ups of the finished piece.