Dippy Duck #6...

Dippy Duck #6

watercolor & gouache, 8" x 8"

Chris Beck

Dippy Duck has been a favorite demo subject -- no surprise there as he is brightly colored and quite distinctive. The title reflects the construction of the set -- the top part is a pepper shaker and the bottom half is a salt dish from which you would dip the salt with a small spoon. Oddly enough, this is the one salt shaker I don't actually own. I discovered this little fellow near the close of an eBay auction and the price was stratospheric -- somewhere around $400 -- quite beyond my budget.

This is another of the pieces I finished during a demo last fall. Like the duck painting I posted last week, the background is spattered with gouache to add sparkle and texture.

Catching up & a teaser...

Hip Hop Bebop

watercolor, 12" x 12"

Chris Beck

I've been doing the happy dance here on a regular basis lately.  Hip Hop Bebop was recently selected for the Northwest Watercolor Society's upcoming international exhibition on Mercer Island, WA by juror Mark Mehaffey. The show dates are April 15 to May 31.

Then, yesterday, I heard that Hip Hop Bebop was also chosen for publication in Splash 15: Creative Solutions, part of the ongoing series published by North Light Books.  Publication date is set for Summer 2014.

 Waiting in the Wings

watercolor, 12" x 12"

Chris Beck

And a few weeks ago, I learned that Waiting in the Wings will be included in the Transparent Watercolor Society of America's exhibition (May 4 to August 4) at the Kenosha Public Museum in Kenosha, WI.  Jurors were Robin Berry and Paul Jackson.

  

And please keep an eye out for these little guys! >>>

I'm joining with my friends Jelaine Faunce, Pablo Villicaña Lara, Kathleen Ballard, and Geraud Staton in the Fourth Annual Spring Peeps Challenge!!  We plan to post by Sunday morning.

Come paint with me...

I'm so pleased that Guy Magallanes has asked me to teach a workshop at his studio this fall.  Guy is a wonderful teacher and he's set up a very congenial classroom space at the "shop."  I'm happy to be getting back into teaching and I'm really looking forward to sharing my latest painting techniques.  Please join me for a demo on Saturday, September 15 from 10am to noon.  And I hope to see a bunch of you in the workshop on Saturday–Sunday, October 20–21, from 10am to 4pm.  For more information and to reserve your space, email Guy at: guy@guymagallanes.com.  If you register and pay in full by September 15, Guy will even knock $25 off the workshop fee!!

(You must have some watercolor experience for this workshop.)

Another fun stamp...

There's a new duck in the flock!!  I just added this stamp to my Zazzle shop!!  For anyone unfamiliar with the custom stamps on Zazzle, these are real postage stamps -- the postage value is not crossed out on the actual stamps.   They're approved by the USPS for mailing and you can customize the face value of the stamps, when you order, to fit your most common mailing needs.  Pop over for a peek around!!

TWSA Auction Donation: Old Salt...

Old Salt

watercolor, 6" x 6"

Chris Beck

Each year in connection with their annual awards banquet, the Transparent Watercolor Society of America holds a silent auction featuring small paintings created for the event by signature members. Proceeds from the auction benefit the Awards Fund for the next year's exhibition, and over the years, it has become a very popular part of the festivities.  

I am very pleased to have been invited to donate a painting this year. In keeping with my fascination with vintage salt shakers and other bits of vintage ceramics, I've done a portrait of this recently acquired cutie. Just love her topknot and the coy look in her eye!! 

So if you're planning to attend the reception and awards dinner for TWSA this year, keep your eye out for this wee painting. With a little luck, you might be the winner of this fun piece.

I'm also happy to share the good news that my painting "Hip Hop Bebop" was selected for the annual TWSA exhibition. The show runs from May 5 to August 5 at the Kenosha (Wisconsin) Public Museum. The awards dinner will be on June 16. I'm hoping to be there!!

Yes, Virginia, these are REAL postage stamps!!

Custom postage stamps make a great gift -- fun *and* useful!! I've just posted six new stamps to my Zazzle store!! -- all images are from my original watercolors or acrylic paintings.

If you order today, you can take advantage of Zazzle's 15% off sale by entering code DECDELIGHT11 in the box in your shopping cart. Stamps ordered today will arrive by Christmas!

Demo painting: Dippy Duck #3...

 Dippy Duck #3
watercolor, 8" x 8"
Chris Beck

This demo piece was lurking unfinished in the flat files so I decided to play with the background. I've painted this image twice before, initially with a plain cobalt violet background and then with a deep purple/magenta background of feather shapes. I had found a roller designed for painting walls that has stars scattered over the roller and thought it might work well.

As I usually do before working on the actual painting, I tested my idea on scrap paper. I put the star roller on its handle, poured some masking fluid in a tray and rolled the stars through it, making sure they were well-coated. Then I rolled it carefully across the paper so the stars wouldn't get too distorted. After the masking dried, I brushed a simple wash across it and when that dried, removed the masking with a rubber cement pickup.


Satisfied with my experiment, I cut a frisket film for the duck and rolled a star pattern across the background. After removing the frisket, I painted Winsor violet on the background around the duck, let it dry, and then removed the masking. I painted a deep rose across the entire background and followed that with several more washes to get the color depth I wanted. Unfortunately, the end result was a bit intrusive and the color was dull, so I decided to enhance it a bit with spattered gouache.


Because I would be spattering paint with a toothbrush, I didn't have to make a water-tight seal on the duck image. I cut a piece of frisket film roughly the size of the duck and laid it in place, smoothing it out before trimming it.


With a new X-acto blade in my knife, I gently cut along the outline of the duck and removed the excess film. I pressed it down firmly with my fingers, but did not burnish it down.


Using an enamel tray, I put out small dabs of gouache of a deep magenta, deep ultramarine, and permanent white. I mixed up a medium magenta and a medium blue-purple and spattered them with a flat bristle toothbrush. (Be sure to protect your work surface with newspapers!!) The size of the spatters are related to the amount of water in the paint puddle, so it takes a bit of experimenting to get the size droplets you want. Generally, the more water, the larger the droplets.


I ultimately used five or six different shades of magenta and purple, spattering until I was satisfied with the appearance of the background. (Note that, unlike watercolor which dries lighter than it appears when wet, gouache dries slightly darker.) Then I removed the frisket, pulled the masking tape off the edge of my painting, and signed it. You can see that there was a significant amount of leakage under the tape. This is not a serious problem, since I always mat my paintings, but I prefer a cleaner edge on my non-demo work. I normally use a better tape for protecting the border -- Nichiban tape -- which I discussed in this blog post a while back.



Here, once again, is the finished painting!

TOYS...

  
Fe Fi Faux Fowl
acrylic on canvas, 30" x 30"
Chris Beck

I got word over the weekend that this fun fellow will be flying east in a few weeks. He's been accepted for the show TOYS: Re-Invent, Re-Imagine, Re-Discover at the Annmarie Sculpture Garden & Arts Center in Solomons, MD (about 60 miles southeast of Washington, DC on Chesapeake Bay). The show runs from October 14, 2011 to January 8, 2012 and includes 62 works by 32 artists.

This painting was quite a departure for me -- both size and medium. I made a brief foray into the world of acrylic a few years ago but scurried back to watercolor with no regrets. I do like the oversize presentation here and the fact that it doesn't need to be framed under glass, but I prefer the process of painting in watercolor to that of acrylic.

The backstory...

Background trial run

I don't usually work from multiple resources for my still-lifes, preferring to set up a scene, photo it and then crop the best image in Photoshop to serve as my working image. In the case of my most recent painting, Waiting in the Wings, I wanted to set a scene that combined separate elements into a cohesive whole. I started by painting a sample of the background image -- an exercise that chewed up a full day's work time but proved invaluable in deciding how to proceed. It was obvious that sticking to a faithful reproduction of the resource image would not work -- too much distraction from the main characters, the fez-wearing ducks. (To test my composition, I made full-size prints of the ducks, cut them out and pasted them in front of my sample clown.) Plus, the intense colors bled too easily if I tried to run a wash over them. I know I could have chosen to paint the clowns in fluid acrylics, but I enjoy the challenge of creating a painting using only transparent watercolors.

I decided to tone down the background with a warm neutral wash and use muted versions of the original colors. I chose staining colors (quinacridone gold, brown madder, and indigo) and used them quite diluted for the clown's features in case I would need to do further washes on the background. This proved to be a great decision, as I ended up doing at least 6 or 8 washes over the background.

First stage -- light, but muted color background

Early on, it became clear that the background was too light and created a visually confusing situation, so I used Photoshop to test a darker background.

Photoshop trial -- darker background

Based on that, I ran a couple of mid-gray washes over the clowns. It seemed too blue, so I later ran some quinacridone sienna washes across the area to restore the neutral tone.

Initial dark washes over the background

As I completed more of the foreground, I became less and less satisfied with the background. It was still too light and the muted tone detracted from the light-hearted mood I wanted. I tried a number of Photoshop tricks in my search for a fix. First, I airbrushed orange across the top of the image -- interesting but weak.
 

Photoshop trial -- airbrush color

Then I tweaked the center by selecting the area and running a "darker" variation on it. That really popped the ducks into the spotlight, but it was dull and uninspiring.

Photoshop trial -- dark center panel

Finally, I tried changing the color of the panels and that looked like a good solution. Nevertheless, I waited until I'd completed the foreground completely before adjusting the color on the background panels.

Photoshop trial -- colorful panels

A series of washes across the panels livened things up and brought the background into harmony with the rest of the painting.

Finished painting -- Waiting in the Wings

Creative clutter...

A clean studio is a bad sign when it comes to creativity, at least in my world. Nothing to fear these days!! The piles of resource photos, paint testing sheets, mock-ups, and assorted flotsam that have appeared over the past two weeks are getting more precarious by the minute and I couldn't be happier.

As you can see, I'm working on still-lifes right now. Look for more of my little goofy ducks in new and (even) sillier roles!! Here they are, just hanging around waiting for the next photo shoot. Although I set them down without planning, they look like they're eagerly awaiting the next proof to come off the printer.

The Ta-Da Moment...

Ruddy Ducky, watercolor, 4" x 4"

Today marks the first anniversary of my blog!! When I started this, I had no idea where it would take me. At first, it seemed that I was dropping pebbles into a bottomless well. Other than a few friends who subscribed, there didn't seem to be anyone reading what I wrote. Worse, I was self-conscious about chatting with a world of strangers, telling them about my work and my life. But somewhere along the line, I relaxed and began to enjoy writing, I got some subscribers, people started leaving comments, and out of all this, I made some new and valued friends.

This small painting of one of my silly salt shakers is my way of saying thanks for joining me over the past year. Sometime this coming week, I'll draw a name from the pool of people who have left comments on my blog this year and the winner will get this little painting. I'll announce the results of the drawing next weekend.

I'm also going to have a big surprise for you this coming week. Please be sure to stop back Tuesday to see what's up!!!

One more time now...

Been dining on humble pie lately. I had a large serving courtesy of eBay. My first auction ended without a single bid, and I finally had to admit that perhaps I didn't do quite enough research into the finer points of writing a listing title. I've relisted the little snail painting with some revisions to the wording and will be running the auction for 10 additional days. Click here to go to the auction for a chance to place a bid on this cutie:

"Zoom-zoom"
6" x 6"
acrylic on gallery-wrap canvas

The other helping of humble pie came from CafePress. You may recall that I ordered a pair of tote bags printed with two of my recent duck/bird images. Due to some faulty advice, I ended up with very sad, washed out images. But CafePress stood behind their guarantee and I uploaded a new, darker image with the promise of speedy turnaround. The package never arrived. Back to CafePress again where the customer service rep ordered up a reprint. Two days later, I had a second sample set -- of the original faded images!! Aargh!! They printed the wrong file. Once more, CafePress stood behind their guarantee and ordered a duplicate printing of the darker files. Even speedier delivery this time. Alas, the darker files were TOO DARK, and it also became clear that primary colors are much more successful than some of the funky purples and oranges that I like to use. So it's back to Photoshop to see if I can tweak the duck image to print nicely. And just maybe one of the other primary color bird images will print well too. I have to try one more time....

I'm planning to post another painting Friday afternoon. Check back later in the day.

Still alive

In some twist of fate, the weekend for the fine arts festival broke all heat records for this area. A week before, we'd been turning on the heat to take the chill off the house in the morning and we're back to doing that again. But two days before the festival, the winds switched from the prevailing westerly direction to the east, bringing all the heat of central California to our normally temperate area. We set up the booth in near 100 degree heat; the next two days were slightly cooler, but still hot. I had the good luck to get assigned to a partly shady spot at the edge of a cluster of booths and we were able to bring some market umbrellas to add extra shade. There was a steady breeze most of the time, making it seem more like a vacation than work. The show organizers did a fabulous job. Everything ran smoothly, lunch was provided both days, and there were booth sitters to give the artists a break if they wanted one.


I snapped this photo just before opening time the first day. The crowds were lighter than usual this year and people were clearly mindful of the state of the economy, but I had sales nevertheless and a lot of interest in seeing more of my work. Both the show and my gallery are in the same town, so many of the visitors had already seen my gallery show. It was a nice chance to meet some of my patrons.

Meanwhile, the gallery show is in its last week. One of the joys of being in a cooperative gallery is the opportunity to be involved in all aspects of staging a show, including designing a window display. It's a chance to be playful, and especially for this show of vintage toys and silly saltshakers. I scanned the vintage tablecloth from my main show piece of saltshakers – "Heirlooms" – and scattered a couple of dozen rubber duckies on the windowsill, surrounding some of my small paintings. It's been a total kid magnet if the small handprints and noseprints at the bottom of the window are any proof.



The small paintings are from the "Cute as a Bug" series. My plan is to begin posting these paintings for auction in the next few weeks. Stay tuned.

Swan song??

Ta-da!! So here's my big surprise, finished just in the nick of time. I put in my first all-nighter since college to get this little fellow done for my show and I'm here to report that I recovered a lot more quickly at 20 than I do now!! This is a snapshot taken under less than perfect lighting conditions, but it came out pretty close to the real thing.

Fe Fi Faux Fowl
30" x 30"
acrylic on canvas

The idea for this painting grew out of the show of small works that we hung last fall. I was one of the people who pushed for that show, so when I chose "Out of the Ordinary" as the theme for my feature show, the logical creative step was to "supersize" the little toys I'd painted in the fall.

I love the concept of taking a very small toy and blowing it up to such a large size, but the technical challenges of painting this in acrylic made for many frustrating moments and a lot of very long painting days. I know that working in oils would have made this a much simpler task, but I have a long history of chemical sensitivity that has made me wary of oil paints. As it turns out, I may have to back away from acrylics too. By the time I finished this piece, I was feeling weird and woozly at the end of every day. At first I thought it was just because of the long hours in the studio, but a few days after I finished it, I opened the sealed palette-keepers that I stored my paints in and the odor of the acrylic just about knocked me over. So, in addition to loving watercolor as a medium, it may truly be the only one I can tolerate. But I'm hoping that if I back off acrylics for a while and only work on small pieces when I start using it again, it may be OK. Acrylic has so many unique properties that I really want to be able to play with it some more. I feel like I've barely begun to discover what it can do.

Now I have to get ready for next weekend's outdoor show. There's a whole bunch of framing to do, prints to make and mat, and assorted other tasks. I've recently redesigned my publicity materials and have to update my booth signage to match. It should be a busy week.

Homage to Homer

No, not the famed author of antiquity, nor the renowned 19th century watercolorist. I'm paying homage to a much more recent Homer: infamous donut-eater, father of Bart -- yes, the Simpsons. I am particularly fond of Homer's signature exclamation -- D'oh!! -- as a way to express a moment of sudden enlightenment. (I suppose some might argue that this is really nothing more than awareness of prior stupidity, but it sounds so much better cast as enlightenment, don't you think?)

So this week, I started on an acrylic painting that dwarfs my usual efforts. Using the same brushes that I use on my 6x6's, I gamely started on the larger piece. Frustration multiplied by frustration!! In desperation, I finally resorted to some stiffer brushes designed for acrylics that I've been avoiding because I don't like long-handled brushes. Paint moved when I wanted it to, stayed where I put it, blended together easily!! Truly a Homeresque moment.

Since I'm going to keep that painting under wraps until my gallery show, I'll share the most recent 6x6, just being varnished today.

Quack-quack
6" x 6"
acrylic on canvas

Enjoy the weekend. I gotta go paint now.

I caught a "fish"

It's not like I've been living in a cave, unaware of the whole cyber-universe thingie. But more and more this past week, as I set up a website and this blog, I've been feeling like I set out to catch a fish and discovered that I'd somehow snagged a whale. The options for communication are SOOOOO vast -- well, it almost leaves me speechless. Which brings me around to the subject of chattiness. Those who know me in person are fully aware that I do not lack the gene for yakkety-yak. But set me in front of a blank sheet of paper and I kind of freeze up. Good thing this is an art blog, I guess!

I mentioned that I'd been honored to be chosen as artist of the month on The Artist's Magazine website back in January. Here's the piece that was featured:

Heirlooms
10" x 10"
watercolor

My mom had a pair of these little salt shakers in her china closet and I always loved them. Over the past several years, I've collected a whole flock of little guys like this, as well as some definitely stranger cousins. Look for more paintings featuring them in the future.