What's an Artist to do?

I love my Arches Watercolor Blocks, but I really hate it when the glue around the edges gives way.

Glue gave way on my w/c block.  This means it will probably do it even more on subsequent paintings.

 So, the only thing I know to do is wrap the corners with painter's tape and hope for the best.  On larger blocks, I've added a bulldog clip (with cardboard in between to protect the paper), but that's never ideal.  #Arches, if you're listening, can you pretty please do something about this?  (Does anyone else have solutions they use?)

The tape has to be removed if you haven't painted those corners yet, and remember not to put tape on paper that is still damp at all.

www.helenKbeacham.com

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In 2015, we're going to Venice, Niagara Falls, Montreal and so on!!!  
Find details HERE

And my favorite is..........?

It's a good time to take stock of what I loved about my 2014 paintings.

Even though I always feel like I'm not painting enough (don't we all?), I painted 28 pieces in 2014 (many of which were large formats).  Wow!  That's a lot, considering it takes me hours and hours to finish them.

And which were my favorites?  (Honestly, my "favorite" is usually the one I'm working on at the moment.)

Hard to choose amongst my various babies, so I broke it down by the different substrates I like to use.  In no particular order, here they are:

Substrate:  Translucent Yupo
"Spring" by Helen K. Beacham
Available through the artist.

Substrate:  Watercolor Canvas
"Morning on the Piazza" (30x40) by Helen K. Beacham Fine Art
Available through the Mary Martin Gallery of Fine Art.

Substrate:  300# Arches rough, cold-pressed paper
"Rosso Veneziano" by Helen K. Beacham Fine Art
In a private collection.

If I didn't happen to mention one of my paintings that YOU added to YOUR personal collection, don't fret.  I truly love everything I create...what I offer you is always a glimpse into my soul.  Happy 2015!

www.helenKbeacham.com

Come paint with me! 

In 2015, we're going to Venice, Niagara Falls, Montreal and so on!!!  
Find details HERE.

SEE MY LATEST BLOG POST HERE.

Venice - in my Studio

It's been 2.5 weeks since I got home from Venice.  Since then I've done all this:

- Narrowed down my 3200 photos to about 75 potentials that are paint worthy.  The others I'll keep for the times when I need to double check things that I can't see well enough in my 75.  I took a lot of shots from different angles, exactly for that reason.  And I manually bracketed a lot of my shots for better lighting conditions (HERE's an explanation of auto bracketing, so that you get the idea behind it if you're not familiar with it).

- I duplicated photos that had my Venice students in them, and I emailed the photos to them.  This took a bit longer than I thought, but I was happy to do it for them (happy memories!).  If any of you have some photos with ME in them, please send them along to me!  (But remember, what "happened" in Venice, STAYS in Venice!)

- I had to decide which of my potential paintings would be done on traditional paper (usually Arches 300# rough) or on Yupo (I like the translucent Yupo rather than the opaque).  It was only after I got back from Venice that I realized I had let myself run out of my Arches paper (I had cut up the last 2 sheets to take to Venice with me at the last minute and forgot...).  So,

- I placed an order for Arches and

- I sketched 2 scenes onto Yupo so I could at least get started painting.

I'm assuming that you all go through the same process of deciding what kind of paper to paint a particular scene on.  That's good stuff for a future blog post, but if you have thoughts about it, jot me a Comment.

Below is my first studio painting based on my recent Venice trip.  I'm showing you two shots...1 day apart.  Not finished yet but ready to share.  These are the Doge's columns in San Marco.

Work in progress:  watercolor on Translucent Yupo.  My goal is to make the columns stand out from the background (even though I think the background is the yummy part).

Not finished yet.  This shows the progress I made today.  Even though I REALLY wanted to be outside...it was soooo pretty out!

And this is my trusty sidekick and studio mascot, Squirtie.  Whenever I push back my chair, I have to remember to look down...cats are kind of funny when they're sound asleep and you accidentally step on them (lightly).

www.helenkbeacham.com

Come paint Maine with me in October 2014.

For details, click HERE.

See my latest post HERE.

  

Tippette #22 - Different Surfaces - Different Results

Tippette = Snippet of a Tip (in watercolor).  One per day...during April...right here!  Tell a friend!

Different Surfaces - Different Results

Do you feel stagnant?  Forgive my impertinence, but maybe you need to freshen up!  

If you're always painting on the same watercolor surface, why not challenge yourself to explore what's out there for us watercolor painters to use!?

Here are some of the materials I've painted on, along with examples of my work.

1)  Arches 300# rough paper (cold pressed).  This is my go-to paper.  

"Oak Majesty IV" (watercolor) by Helen K. Beacham - Sold.

2)  Ampersand Aquabord:  I enlarged a section below so you can see the texture you can achieve.  Aquabord is lovely because it's a hard board (you can buy it in various ways including cradled), with the surface treated for watercolor, and you can lift out color very easily with a damp brush.  If I use this surface, I spray it with varnish and frame it without glass.  It IS more expensive than traditional paper.

           
3) Watercolor Canvas - You can easily lift out color from this surface as well.  I spray varnish this canvas and frame it w/o glass.  The drawback is that it comes in standard sizes as for oil painters, which to me is restrictive.  I sometimes like to crop my paintings for extra strength in my composition.

Close Up of unfinished painting (on watercolor canvas) by Helen K Beacham
Can you see the canvas texture in this enlarged version?

4)  Yupo - This is a synthetic material so your paint cannot soak INTO the surface.  The water evaporates, leaving paint on top of the material.  You end up with lots of visible marks and harder edges.  I personally love it, but many artists shy away from it.

"At the End of the Day" (watercolor on Yupo) by Helen K Beacham - Sold.

 5) Rice Paper:  Depending on the type of rice paper, you can get various results.  I love that it always looks so drastically different from traditional papers.  

" Beach Grasses II" by Helen K. Beacham - Available.

Come with Helen K. Beacham and Kelly Medford to paint Venice this October...
TWO Spots Left!
click HERE for details!
www.helenKbeacham.com 

READ MY LATEST POST HERE.