OT - My new hobby ...

[JohnBFisher]

Here's a cardinal sitting on a snowy fir tree branches. I decided to take what I've learned with the Chinese Brush Painting (the little that I've done) and mix it into more western style pen & ink with watercolor painting. I hope you enjoy the results.

[JohnBFisher]

Using similar techniques as I used with the cardinal, I painted this gold finch on a branch. As we brace for winter weather, it helps to have something cheerful to brighten the day. I hope you enjoy the results.

In case you are wondering, the black in the painting is Noodler's Black Ink, which is one of the "eternal" Noodler's Inks. It does not fade, even in direct sunlight. The yellow of the gold finch is Noodler's Yellow ink. It is supposedly an "eternal" ink, but testing by others has shown that it does fade in direct sunlight. So, this painting will need to be put behind UV protecting glass or acrylic. The remaining colors are watercolors.

[JohnBFisher]

Today's painting is based on a photograph taken by Johnina Payne Young. It is titled "Tilted Daisy 2". This is part of the Paint My Photo website. This did not come out as well as I hoped. But it's at least a cheerful little painting. And that's my hope for you .. that it will help brighten your day and help you smile in spite of your day.

[ems]

[quote="JohnBFisher" This did not come out as well as I hoped. But it's at least a cheerful little painting. And that's my hope for you .. that it will help brighten your day and help you smile in spite of your day.

[/quote]

I like the painting but I LOVE what you said. Yes, I smiled.

[jwerley]

Hi John.... I missed the Oriel and the cardinal....have not been feeling well. I love both of them... the finch is also beautiul!! They do make me smile. Thank you!

Janice

[JohnBFisher]

Well, I decided to try the Gold Finch on an Aquaboard. This is essentially a masonite board with a clay surface that can be painted. It provides a smooth but lightly textured surface, rather like hot press paper. Since it is a clay surface, it is not as absorbent as paper. But unlike paper, I found that the ink tended to not keep as sharp a line as I would prefer. As a result, I'm not as pleased with this painting as I am of the gold finch on the rice paper. It will do, but just doesn't have quite the punch without the fine lines. An additional issue is that the surface is not as bright a white as paper. This tends to dull the painting quite a bit. Well, lessons learned. Hope you enjoy it.

[JohnBFisher]

Today I decided to do a pure watercolor painting. Need to keep those skills as sharp as possible! Today's subject is another cardinal. It's a good winter subject, but as you can see, this cardinal is sitting in a dogwood tree. So there's the promise of spring in the painting. So, here's hoping this cheerful cardinal brightens your day!

[JohnBFisher]

This time, I decided to try to do the Gold Finch as a traditional watercolor with pen & ink. As you might imagine, this painting took longer than my normal paintings. I hope you enjoy the results as much as I enjoyed painting this.

[ems]

This time, I decided to try to do the Gold Finch as a traditional watercolor with pen & ink. As you might imagine, this painting took longer than my normal paintings. I hope you enjoy the results as much as I enjoyed painting this.

My favorite! This one is truly beautiful!

[JohnBFisher]

Teaching is a wonderful way to learn perspective. While I enjoy a pun as much as anyone, I didn't expect it to be lived out in my blog. My recent post of the Gold Finch jarred me. Fortunately, someone suggested it was that I missed the mark on the three rules of perspective:

• decrease of the size of objects proportionally with distance
• muting of colors with distance
• decrease of the precision of details with distance

Once again, taking the time to teach others gave me the chance to learn. He's right and perhaps you can see why I found this painting both a delight and jarring at the same time.

[kteague]

Kinda glad that I can just enjoy images without scrutinizing technical details. Reminds me of family members who are into music. I hear the overall composition, they hear each piece and notice every little thing about how those pieces are put together. Glad you are able to appreciate the growth process, John. I'll just keep enjoying your creations.

[JohnBFisher]

Glad you are able to appreciate the growth process, John. I'll just keep enjoying your creations.

Isn't that the wonderful thing about sharing?! While we might not see the same things, by sharing we get to experience more than we would by ourselves.

[JohnBFisher]

Yesterday, a friend posted a photo of a cardinal pair. My wife also loves cardinals. So, I decided this would be a perfect Valentine's Day present for her (in addition to what I had already gotten for her). Hope you enjoy!

[JohnBFisher]

Well, painting the Cardinal Pair took much less time than I expected. That's the advantage of snow scenes. There's less of the paper that needs to be painted. Hope you enjoy!

[icipher]

Well, I decided to try the Gold Finch on an Aquaboard. This is essentially a masonite board with a clay surface that can be painted. It provides a smooth but lightly textured surface, rather like hot press paper. Since it is a clay surface, it is not as absorbent as paper. But unlike paper, I found that the ink tended to not keep as sharp a line as I would prefer. As a result, I'm not as pleased with this painting as I am of the gold finch on the rice paper. It will do, but just doesn't have quite the punch without the fine lines. An additional issue is that the surface is not as bright a white as paper. This tends to dull the painting quite a bit. Well, lessons learned. Hope you enjoy it.

I love this. So vibrant and popping.