Art Project

For the past couple of years, my far-away cousin and I have been trading art projects. So fun! Until today, I was sending the project ideas by email with attachments, but sharing by blog will be even easier, and I won't have to limit my attachments! So, here it is, sweetie:

Freestyle watercolor

Supplies
You can get all of these supplies at Michaels, and most craft stores. I'll tell you what I use in case you're curious, but I'd recommend buying whatever's on sale. :) A good online art supplies store is Cheap Joe's Art Stuff.

• Plastic watercolor palette
• Watercolor paints (I like Winsor & Newton's Cotman watercolors from Michaels, but any will do. You can also get packs of watercolor paints, which are great)
• Big watercolor brush
• Bowl for water. I just use a recycled plastic tub from yogurt or cottage cheese!
• Ruler
• Watercolor paper. I use Aquarelle Arches from France, but Strathmore's really good too, and less expensive.
• Board to tape the paper to (watercolor paper will start buckling when wet, so you need to tape it down). Sometimes I just tape it to the cardboard back of my watercolor pad if it's sturdy enough, but they also sell boards made for artists.
• Masking tape

Prep

Get a medium sized piece of watercolor paper. If you only have large paper, just cut it in half using a ruler and scissors.

Draw a half-inch border around the paper, like the photo below. That way, instead of painting to the edge of your paper, you'll stop around this border, so that you won't lose your painting if you decide to frame it.

Next, use four pieces of masking tape to tape the paper's sides to the board:

Okay, now just fill up your water bowl, grab you watercolor palette, paints, and big watercolor brush, and you're set! I usually cover my table with a vinyl tablecloth for when I spill water and paint.

Here is my watercolor palette - it's a mess, and I love it that way. The result of years and years of use.

Now, use your big brush to slop water all over your watercolor paper, covering every inch within that border you drew.

Next, rub your wet brush on a paint color that you really like. I picked Cerulean Blue, which is a sky blue. Now, dab the brush in a few places on your paper. You're not going to cover the paper in one color, since we'll be adding a lot of different colors to see how they spread and what shapes they make.

With each new color you add, be sure to smoosh your brush around in the water bowl to get rid of the paint from the last color (unless you actually want to blend the two together).

Here's what I ended up doing. I had absolutely no plan, just kept adding colors I liked in different areas. I'll tell you what colors I used, in case there are some you really like that you want to get.

Cerulean Blue (a light, sky blue)

Black* and Naples Yellow (a pale yellow). Look at how the paint is spreading and merging.

Opera (deep pink)

Burnt Umber (brown)

Cobalt Blue (deep blue)

The paint is already doing neat things! The pink and blue look like a waterfall as paint spreads on the wet paper...

And in a place where a drop of clear water fell from my brush on the paper, it looks like a firework or sea urchin.

I'm still adding paint, more of the black, yellow, and brown, plus a few dots of red (Scarlet Lake) on the pink. Again, no plan, just having fun!

All of a sudden I had the urge to add tons of red, having no clue if it would look good or not. One thing's for sure - very fun!

Here is the end result, after it was all dry (You can use a blow drier to hurry it up, by the way.) You never know what watercolor's going to do when it dries. It can look totally different than it did when wet!

Wow, so different! 

You can even see the sharp edges on the top and bottom where I accidentally missed when wetting the paper. Cool!

When I'm planning a painting, I usually decide on a few colors I want to feature. But in this case, the idea is to just have fun and use whatever colors strike you. This painting actually looks a lot like my palette - a joyful mess. :)

That long, diagonal splotch in the middle is where water pooled. Usually I get the edge of a paper towel and soak it up, but I wanted to see what would happen. Kind of looks like a solar system.

Our next project will be similar, but we're going to add even more imagination to it. Have fun giving this a try! This should help you learn more about how watercolors act, which is interesting and always surprising.



*I made black by blending blue and brown, specifically Cobalt Blue and Burnt Umber from my Windsor Newton watercolors.

Featured Quote: The Crushing Comeback, Hamlet Style

Hamlet: ...Will you play upon this pipe?

Guildenstern: My lord, I cannot.

Hamlet: I pray you.

Guildenstern: Believe me, I cannot.

Hamlet: I do beseech you.

Guildenstern: I know no touch of it, my lord.

Hamlet: It is as easy as lying. Govern these ventages with our fingers and thumb, give it breath with your mouth, and it will discourse most eloquent music. Look you, these are the stops.

Guildenstern: But these cannot I command to any utterance of harmony. I have not the skill.

Hamlet: Why, look you now, how unworthy a thing you make of me! You would play upon me, you would seem to know my stops, you would pluck out the heart of my mystery, you would sound me from my lowest note to the top of my compass, and there is much music, excellent voice, in this little organ, yet cannot you make it speak. 'Sblood, do you think I am easier to be played on than a pipe? Call me what instrument you will, though you can fret me, you cannot play upon me.

― William Shakespeare, Hamlet

Outdoor Concert Chronicles

Pink Martini at Wolf Trap

Oh, where to start... Pink Martini is one of my favorite bands ever. Wolf Trap is my favorite outdoor venue. So, Pink Martini + Wolf Trap = Yay!

Ridiculously talented, the group blends sultry world sounds with the nostalgic styles of the 1940s and 50s. Their lead singer, China Forbes, recently returned from successful vocal chord surgery, so it was a huge treat seeing her perform on July 1st.

I would have died for either of the dresses she wore for the concert. The first was a sweeping cherry-colored high-low gown which she wore with a sparkling bib-style necklace. The second, following intermission, was a black one-shoulder gown with embellishment at the shoulder and a side leg slit. I totally agree with my friend Maya, who turned to me and sobbed "I. Want. That. Dress!"

BSO at Oregon Ridge, Star Spangled Spectacular

This was both my first time visiting Oregon Ridge Park and my first time hearing the fabulous Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. Our group wisely commandeered a picnic bench in the shade near the top of the hill, and covered it in a spread including chips, salsa-cream cheese chutney, avocado-yogurt dip, Chardonnay, pink lemonade, and gluten-free Trader Joe's cookies. A refreshing setup while we waited for the sun to set. By the time the fireflies came out, we were enjoying a cool, relaxing evening.

Emerging opera soprano Katie von Kooten presented patriotic songs from various eras, including selections from vaudeville & Broadway composer George M. Cohan (love him - he wrote "I'm a Yankee Doodle Dandee" and "You're a Grand Ol' Flag"). She also performed modern Broadway favorites like "I Dreamed a Dream" from Le Miz and "Think of Me" from Phantom of the Opera. Being a bit misty-eyed over the Le Miz rendition, I didn't have the presence of mind to film it, but did catch most of the Phantom pick. Lovely, rich voice:

The program ended with a nostalgic fireworks display. We endured a long wait leaving the parking lot - tons of cars (shudder)! But well worth it, honestly.


Scythian at the Annapolis Irish Festival

My favorite local (more or less) band, Scythian is a DC-based group with a celtic-gypsy-world-americana sound. It all makes sense when you hear their distinct, infectious sound. The Annapolis Irish Festival, now in its third year, was crowded to the point that people had arrived early and set up tents in front of the main stage. Great to see it's taking off, but a challenge to find a place to stand without getting in people's way. We ended up standing a bit off to the side and shading ourselves from the sun with my rainbow-colored umbrella, which at least has some green in it. I may want to invest in an old-fashioned parasol next time. Every girl needs one, just sayin'.

It was hot, about 85 degrees, and the humidity made it feel about ten degrees hotter. But I wouldn't have missed Scythian for the world, even for a cold, refreshing mimosa. Especially since I'd already had one this morning. Anyway....

Scythian drew from a variety of their repertoire, including some of my favorites like "Hey Mama Ya," a 'Nawlins style number; "Dance All Night," and - my favorite - "Jack Dempsey." They're always fun and always great at interacting with the crowd.

Sure, Maryland's summers are blistering and humid, but it's worth braving the energy-zapping heat for the outdoor concerts in the area. And now, I'm going to go drink three gallons of iced tea. And maybe pour some of it on my head.