Leaves of Autum

I have been working down at the beach on 2 more leaves. I am learning a lot making these leaves. I am only using primary colors to obtain the colors I need for the image. I found these leaves while on a trip to Gatlinburg, Tenn. where I went with my granddaughter Loren (pronounced Lo-ran, don't forget to make a face like Humphrey Bogart) for a cheerleading competition.

Rambling around

I have been so busy with the holiday season, shopping, decorating that I have had little time for artistic pursuits. But, here is a delightful spot I found after reading Robert Genn's Declining Sight email regarding Degas. So, I decided to try googling him and came up with thousands of images, one of which was at http://www.enchantedlearning.com/ , I found a coloring book and colored one of my favorites Van Gogh's Starry Night. Look over to the right under kids activities and find Art Coloring pages. Try it out, I had a good time. You can tile an image on your computer and see if you can follow it by filling in the colors...pretty amazing and a lot of fun.

Tulip Poplar

I painted this one quickly yesterday. I committed a faux pas by copying the design of the leaf and adding everything that was there. Unfortunately, it was not a good thing to do since it added eyes to the leaf. I will have to do this one again and resist adding everything I see. I am the artist in charge of this painting and lesson learned...don't be a slave to the image!

I am working on an oak leaf and it is proving very hard...wonder how long this will take. I will show you the outline and you will see why I am having to start all over, but will work out all my mistakes on this copy before going ahead...

White Oak Leaf

I am amazed at the loss of color when I take these snapshots of my watercolor paintings. The vibrant color is lost and there does not seem to be much I can do in Adobe Photoshop to enhance it. I am using my Canon G6 to take the picture. I will go and read more on the photography end and see if I can make things better. This leaf was found in Auburn, AL. I have a leaf press that I have put my collection in and got a book called Fallen Leaves by Louise Kollenbaum. It has sections where you can keep your leaves after pressing.

I finished the leaf today after working on it for hours at the beach during Thanksgiving.

Watercolor

I painted a River Birch leaf while on vacation down at the beach. We had such cold weather, I felt it was time. I found the leaf while on a visit to my daughter, Michelle's new home in Chattanooga. I had been inspired to paint leaves by Brenda Stevens after taking a watercolor class in which we painted a leaf.