Mary in Andrea's: green beans and Pickles

Green Beans and Pickles.

I finished my pictures in Andrea's Mole (several days ago, actually), but there is one more to be scanned or photographed.  Unfortunately, I am not sure when I will be able to mail it because my schedule for the next few days is plum filled up.

Home made paint from French pigments, watercolro and gouache.

And they partied and giggled and laughed and hoorayed

and ate green beans and pickles and danced hard and played.

Mary in Andrea's: Noah helped Frankie write words on some paper

Noah helped Frankie write words on some paper
Invitations to come to their party and caper
Watercolor and gouache on wc Moleskine
by Mary Stebbins Taitt
Click image to view larger

This is my latest painting (illustration) and is for one of the children's books I am working on, Frankie and Noah have a Party.  It is done in Andrea's Moleskine, Round 4, Pass 2.  It is all watercolor except the blue background, which is gouache, on Moleskine watercolor paper.

Here is the text for this page:

Frankie helped Noah write on some paper                    

Invitations to come to a party and caper 

They’d fill up balloons with helium vapor

If they filled up enough it would lift up a tapir   

The pigeons and crows and the owls and wrens

carried the invites to their animal friends. (by me, of course)

The picture is of my grandson Frankie, who is three years old, and the finished book will be for him.

Little Dream Sketches for Aya's Pocket

Aya's pocket says, "add dreams here" (Or something like that).  So even though I had previously done two pocket items, I did two quick little sketches of dreams for the dream pocket.

In my flying dreams, I am not always sure
if I am flying or falling.

Sometimes, I can walk through walls
in my dreams!
Click images to view larger.

These are just little, done with gouche on red-colored card stock.

Lakeshore Poppies, Approaching Storm

Lakeshore Poppies, Approaching Storm
Watercolor in watercolor moleskine A3
by Mary Stebbins Taitt
Click images to view larger

I painted this this morning in my round 4 Moleskine with watercolors. Last night, I did the one below, which is smaller and in a different oritnetation and with gouache instead of watercolor.

I am tempted to darken the Moley one a little (so it looks more like the Graham-cracker-box one), but haven't decided yet.  I guess Iw ill do more work first and come back to it if I have time.

This is my third page in the Round 4 Sketchbook.

If you are interested, you can read about my Graham cracker box sketchbook here. I also did a raisin-box sketchbook here.  Although some of the images don't show up in the small versions, they do show up if you click on them.

For some reason, the images look a little washed out on my screen--they look brighter if you click on them.

Lakeshore Poppies, Approaching Storm
5 x 7 gouache sketch
in Graham cracker sketchbook on Canson mi-teientes
by Mary Stebbins Taitt

Mary in Aya's: Benny and the Iguana

Benny and the Iguana
Gouache

Page 4 in Stephanie's book: Under the Bridge at Silverthorne, Colorado

Under the rte 70 Bridge, Silverthorne, Colorado
gouache

This is the last in the series of Virtual Paintout pictures for this mole--the other two half-pictures will be different.

pages 2 and 3 in Stephanie's sketchbook: Aspen Colorado

Aspen, Colorado
the walking trail
gouache

Two more pages completed in a two-page spread.    This is another for the Virtual Paintout.  Aspen, Colorado.  I scanned the pages separately and didn't get the register quite right in the image.  Sorry.  It doesn't look like that in the book (in the center.)

Here is the google maps street view image I used to paint this from (for the Virtual Paintout).

Screen capture of street view used for painting above

But we ran anyway

"But we ran anyway," page two of an imaginary kids' story. Watercolor. I did the snowflakes and flying snow with both masking fluid and gouache.

Click image to view larger. (The scan isn't great either.)

I am still sick. :-(

Why I should never paint or do art when I am sick (or without sleep, as sickness tends to leave me):

• I made a lot of stupid mistakes. :-(
• I kept leaving the water color palette open when I wasn't using it and then setting my hand or arm or the Mole in it. :-(
• I worked really hard on a sketch for the next piece and then proceeded to totally ruin it beyond redemption so I have to start all over again.

Luckily, this is my own Mole (round 3), hope things improve before the next one.

It was not a good day to run away

First round 3 painting, in my A4 landscape watercolor mole. Watercolor and gouache (snowflakes). Being up with insomnia (and being sick) is probably not the best time to paint--tired! Woozy! Didn't sketch first or look at any references, just painted. Prolly should have not painted the kids dead center. Oh well. Click image to view larger.

Keith Arches Aquarelle

Or should I spell it Aqvarelle?

I painted this on the paper that covers a new pad of Arches watercolor paper. I am going to put it in the pocket of the next full-size mole that comes my way in round 2 or 3 (whichever comes first.) at is 7 x 10 and painted in gouache. There are real (unused) stamps on it. Some are to help mend the tears I made when removing the black cover sheet and others are to balance out those doing a mending job. I was going to use stickers, but couldn't find them. I will come back here later and announce whose mole got this painting. (Click image to view larger).

First piece for Milo's pocket

I don't have a mole (a traveling one, that is) right now, so I am working on some other projects (a Ms of poetry, a novel, some paintings). I painted ANOTHER yellow ladyslipper using the same photo I used on the one I made for Ballookey as a reference at the request of a friend--this one in gouache. I made a print of it and one of the picture I made on the iPad for Ballookey and am saving them for Milo's pocket when it arrives. I wrote a little bit about the project here, if anyone is interested. This is entirely painted with gouache. I used a rigger brush for the small water droplets. It was made from scratch on green paper. I made the original sketch in gouache, not pencil.  (It's still a big deal for me to just go ahead and paint without sketching first).

Another for Willie: "Lonely Street, 3AM"

Here is another for Willie's "pocket." I've made a number of these, but I wanted to post some with companion poems and haven't had time. This one, "Lonely Street, 3 AM," is done in gouache on arches 140 lb watercolor paper. It's from the homeless series I'm working on. The paper is is bigger than the size of my scanner. so it's slightly blurred because it was lifted off the platen and also, slightly less purple than it really is. I don't know why the scanner didn't pick up the purple.

If you click on the painting, it will enlarge significantly.

For Willie's "Pocket:" "Home"

I've been working on a series of Homeless pictures for Willie's pocket--these two are just part of the collection--Then, I realized from someone's note (Aya's?) that Willie has a small Mole, and that my big paintings won't fit in his pocket. SInce I made them for him, I will send them to him under separate cover, these and the others. Two of the others have accompanying poems which is why I haven't posted them yet. Willie will have to consider these pocket matter, even though they won't fit in the pockets.

They are both done with gouache on colored paper. The first is called "Somewhere to sleep" and the second "Home." Somewhere to sleep is 8.5 x 11 and Home is 5.5 x 8.5. The first is on bright saturated red paper and the second on pale blue paper.

I guess I won't be getting Willie's mole for a while, since Steve, the person ahead of me, hasn't received it yet. But I will just keep working on stuff for him until it comes. Both images get bigger if you click on them.

Skulls for Andrea

This skull picture is based on a similar one I did a while back. The last one was done in pastels, but this one, since it's in the moleskine, I did in pigment pens, watercolor and gouache. I did it especially for Andrea. Click image to view larger. I included a large print of the earlier version, which I copied from. They are similar but not the same.

Joan's Magnolia (Last one in Ash's Mole)

The magnolias are in full flower in Detroit, but going by soon. We stopped to enjoy Sam and Joan's magnolias when we visited them yesterday and I was inspired to paint them.

This was done with three "colors," Windsor Red deep (wc), Hooker's Green Dark (wc) and white (gouache). No other paint.

This is the last one, so Ash's mole will be packed up and mailed to Mike as soon as I can possibly do it. Hopefully tomorrow--I apologize for being a little late.

By the way, having had three semesters of dendro and looking at trees very closely, I know that normally, branches get smaller and don't wind into each other--but this tree was sort of knobby and had fat places and weird circular places.

ML Liebler Reads, in Ash's Mole

ML Liebler Reads, in Ash's Mole. ML Liebler is a poet who is big in the Detroit poetry scene and always doing amazing performances. This was at the Scarab Club Art gallery and the attending listeners shown are art pieces.

Watercolor and gouache.

One more to go and I can mail. Unfortunately, we have two commitments tomorrow.

Click image to view larger.

Insomnia, in Ash's Mole

I suffer from Insomnia and struggle to communicate to non-insomniacs what a dreadful experience regular insomnia is. Watercolor and gouache plus pen and ink.

Click image to view larger.

Mourning Doves, first in Ash's, Collaboration with Steve

Okay, here's my first piece in Ash's Mole, it's a collaboration with Steve. He painted the background and I drew and painted the doves. My goal was to change Steve's background as little as possible while bringing forth the doves. I wanted some of the original color and texture to show through and at the same time, have some of the dove color visible. I also wanted my piece to harmonize with his across from mine, and at the same time, be mine (my style).

I used ink and gouache. Gouache watered down. The top image is as it came from the scanner and the bottom image is as it came from the camera. Go figure.

The images will enlarge if you click on them. (And yes, that is our house behind K.)

Three Pocket Items for Ash

Nothing I put in anyone's pocket will EVER compare with the boobies Hennie put in Willie's pocket, so I guess a few prints of my current artwork will have to suffice. I have made 4 x 6 prints of these three recent pieces for Ash's pocket.

They are:

1)Magnolias. This is created in my practice watercolor Moleskine, which is a 5 x 8 Moleskine. I colored the page orange with an orange permanent marker (Sharpie)[which by the way, I received as a gift from Andrea, thank you Andrea], and then sketched the vase and magnolias with a Crayola water-soluble marker (the one I've been using for water-brushed sketches), and then painted it with gouache. It was an experiment. As I expected, the marker blended with the gouache to darken the edges of the petals, branches and vase. My first attempt at this technique.

2)a from-life sketch of BB in the cover-leaf of the same sketchbook, done with ball-point and gouache. I think it's the best sketch I've ever made of BB in that it looks more like him (which is my goal, to learn to do likenesses) than any other I've ever done. At some point, I may try to make this into an art piece without the centerfold, but I do not have time right now. I did it when we were eating out at the Coney, and he was holding a beer, but I didn't finish it before it was time to go.

3)Tulips at the Village Market 100328--a digital smudge painting sketch which is a practice for what I hope to do over maybe in water-soluble oils, big.

Inquiring minds want to know, so here is the totally unadulterated version of my sketch of BB (K).



The paint beaded up a little on the coated surface, making it look like he had the pox. This does not happen on watercolor paper.

Collaboration with Steve in Hennie's Mole: Diaphony, Dancers with Scarves

Here's my collaboration with Steve in Hennie's Mole. I am calling it: Diaphony, Dancers with Scarves.

The other is another little pocket treat--I painted it with gouache on orange paper--it's The Grand Canal in Venice. Hennie gets a print because it's too big for the pocket.

Click images to view larger.