Grove of Trees

Painting by Vicky Christensen

 Today's painting is an abstract of a grove of trees. I started with a wet into wet underpainting (below) followed by layers of color to outline the foreground grass and trees.

Underpainting

More Experimentation

Painting by Vicky Christensen, 12 X 16 inch watercolor

This is another abstract experiment with watercolor, using a wet into wet underpainting and finishing off with layers of glazes. I wanted to do something different from the branches and berries, but once I did the underpainting I was kind of stumped as to what to do. Above is the result. I'm not sure what it is, and I am debating if I should change the orientation by rotating it a quarter turn. I think it might have been more interesting if I had varied the vertical placement of the shapes. I do like the colors.

And here is the underpainting.

Underpainting

More Branches and Berries

Here's another painting done using the techniques I learned at the community ed watercolor class.

Another Experiment

Painting by Vicky Christensen, acrylic on 12 X 16 inch canvas panel

I'm still experimenting with negative painting, this time with acrylic on canvas. I have a bunch of relatively cheap canvas panels that I am using to play around with different colors and glazes. This one ended up pretty moody and dark.

Branches and Berries

Painting by Vicky Christensen, watercolor

This afternoon I attended a community ed course offered by one of the local high schools. The topic: painting branches and berries using the negative painting techniques championed by Linda Kemp. I got carried away painting berries because I figured I need the practice.

Negative Leaves in Watercolor

Painting by Vicky Christensen, watercolor on Arches 140 lb. cold press, 12 X 16 inches

I had so much fun doing yesterday's painting that I wanted to do something in the same vein, this time in watercolor. The underpainting was like being a kid again -- get the paper wet, slop and splatter on color, spray it with some more water and watch the colors run. I wish I had taken a photograph before painting over it.

Glazed Leaves

Painting by Vicky Christensen, acrylic on 16 X 12 inch canvas panel

Last fall my brother-in-law took a photo of some brightly colored leaves that I vowed to paint. I got the idea that it might work to use glazes and negative painting to make an abstract painting based on the photo. My original intention was to paint in "sky holes" of blue between the leaves, but I ended up liking the dark, moody feel of the painting, so here it is without the sky holes.

Sacre Coeur

Painting by Vicky Christensen, acrylic on 18 X 24 inch canvas

You're thinking, Sacre Coeur? Well, a couple days ago I truly intended to do a painting of Sacre Coeur. You know, the cathedral in Paris. I had my reference photo ready and I did a yellow ochre underpainting, which I thought would be a great foundation for the late afternoon lighting in the photo. But I chickened out. Instead I decided to do an abstract using negative painting techniques.