New Year's Eve

Seascape

by Artist Rita Squier

Acrylic Painting - 24 x 36 inches

My Christmas gift to my husband Michael

It's time to say goodbye to 2009. I cannot believe it is New Year's Eve already. Time seems to pass faster and faster as the days go by. I want to thank all those who have taken the time to read and follow my blog. I truly enjoy sharing my art with all of you and I enjoy writing about it too. It has been fun creating my Tuesday's Tips for Watercolor Painting blog posts. I want to thank all those who have purchased some of my artwork. It is a great thrill to have people who love your work so much they want to acquire it to enjoy in their own homes. Thank you so much, I honestly do appreciate it. It encourages me to keep painting and wanting to create new paintings and new works of art.

Goodbye 2009.

Tuesday's Tips and Techniques for Watercolor Painting

Lose the Fear, Enjoy the Process

My tip for the very last Tuesday of 2009 is basically ... Just Paint!

We have all been wrapped up in the hustle and bustle of the holidays, it's time to just relax and paint something. Paint anything!

Don't fear the blank sheet of watercolor paper. Here's a plan to start. Following the rule of thirds, draw a horizontal line 1/3 up from the bottom of your piece of watercolor paper. Wet the top 2/3 with clear water. Now let your mind wander. Dip those brushes into colors of paint. Create something, create anything. Create a landscape. Start with a sky. Add in a pale background. Use medium tones for a middle ground and darker tones for a fore ground.

Forget your fears, forget the craziness of the holiday season and loose yourself in a painting. Enjoy the process!

I hope you have enjoyed my weekly Tuesday's Tips and Techniques for Watercolor Painting. I have really enjoyed creating them! Hope you continue to follow me through the new year.

Love This

Swan Head Pendant

by Rita Squier

I simply love this charming little pendant! I love the photo of the pendant too. It was created from an image of one of my favorite paintings I titled: My Swan.

I have had a lot of fun turning some of my own paintings into art jewelry. I love them all. Many can be found in my Etsy Shop. I will continue to add more and more. Hope you love them too!

http://squier.etsy.com

Holiday Cheer

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Hope your holiday is filled with lots of love and good cheer.

Enjoy Christmas!

My 2009 Christmas Card,

I hand painted all of them.

Tuesday's Tips and Techniques for Watercolor Painting

Protecting Your Art

Okay, so you've painted a bunch of paintings, maybe matted a few but they're not ready for framing. Perhaps you don't plan on framing them, you want to either sell them at art shows or give them away as gifts. Whether or not you mat them, you can slip them into Crystal Clear Bags. I love these bags and use them for my own artwork. They're acid free and lignin free and perfect for keeping fingerprints off of your art. They come in tons of sizes and you can find them easily at http://www.clearbags.com

They have a peel away strip that reveals a sticky adhesive to close and seal the flap on the bag. I prefer the ones they call Protective Closure Bags the sticky part is on the bag and not on the flap so you can easily slide your art in and out even after you've sealed it, because it is re-sealable. The ones with the sticky on the flap are great for odd sized pieces where you can fold the flap down tighter on a piece of art that is smaller than the bag.

Snowstorm, Not Here

Snowflake 10 Pendant

by Rita Squier

I created this pendant from a print made from Snowflake 10 my original watercolor ACEO art card, a Scrabble tile, some resin & a bail. My pendants were so fun to make and people love them as soon as they see them. I sold 4 today on Etsy ... yay!

Okay ... the east coast got this HUGE major snowstorm ... we got very lucky. We didn't even see one flake of snow. No snow here in upstate NY and I believe they predicted we would get about 6-8 inches of snow. It would have been nice to receive a fresh covering of maybe 2 inches, but right now with all we need to get done, no snow is fine by me.

In the Spirit of Christmas

Blushing Snow

by Artist Rita Squier

Original Watercolor Painting

Size: 3.5 x 7 inches

I love this time of year ... Christmas music, baking cookies. I have baked three batches of Christmas cookies: snowballs, chocolate crinkles and thumbprint jellies. I cannot wait to make spritz cookies. Yesterday, I needed to pick up some baking supplies and we treated ourselves to a new Christmas CD and I love it! Straight No Chaser - Christmas Cheers is fantastic. Check out their website, the video for The Christmas Can Can is funny: http://www.sncmusic.com

Baking cookies, listening to Christmas music has definitely put me in the spirit of Christmas!

Tuesday's Tips and Techniques for Watercolor Painting

Step Back

Often times, while painting a watercolor you are working up close. Getting totally engrossed in what you are doing. Hopefully enjoying the entire process. Every now and then you need to step back from what you are doing. Prop your painting up on a shelf, a ledge, a bookcase and then step back and take a good look at what you're doing. If you have a working mat, place that on your painting to cover up the tape and the mess on your board.

Step back, stand several feet or more away from your painting. Try standing at a distance where one would most likely stand to view the painting. Are those little fiddly spots really all that important? Are you spending too much time in the little details that will not be seen from several feet away. Most people will not be viewing your art from 6 inches away. Perhaps the happy little accident you are fussing to correct isn't really that noticeable and would most likely be better off left alone.

Prop up your painting, step away from it and view your painting as a whole. Do this several times during the painting process and you will end up working more efficiently and you will also be able to check your composition as you go.

Features Galore

Great Blog Features

This past week or so, my Etsy Shop items have been featured on several blogs. A big thank you goes out to those who have featured me and my items on your blogs. I really appreciate it! Thank you so much.

Here are the links to the various blog features:

Featuring my Giant Indigo Dew Drop Ring

http://suavoce.blogspot.com/2009/12/new-endeavor-etsy-free-feature.html

My Peachy Dew Drop I - ACEO Art Card

http://creativewithclay.blogspot.com/2009/12/color-feature-of-week-peach.html

A fabulous feature on my husband and I and our Etsy shop

http://poshgallerynews.blogspot.com/2009/12/shop-here-squier.html

My Original Watercolor Pear Green Dew Drop

http://simplyinvitingcards.com/blog/?p=367

Please take a look at the features and check out the blogs, they're great blogs to follow!

It's Snowing

Snowflakes 6

by Artist Rita Squier

Original Watercolor Painting

Size: 2.5 x 3.5 inches

ACEO Art Card, Editions & Originals

ATC Artist Trading Card

Number 6 from a Series of 12 Snowflake ACEOs. I love this series and I keep thinking about it more and more right now because it just keeps snowing! I think it is supposed to snow everyday for the rest of the week. Not constantly, I hope. A few snowflakes now and then is what I would prefer.

Number 12 from this series SOLD yesterday and it's on its way to its new home.

Snowflakes and cookies are all I can think about right now!

Tuesday's Tips and Techniques for Watercolor Painting

Mixing Beautiful Flesh Tones

It is easy to mix beautiful flesh tones with watercolor paint. The luminosity and transparency of the paint add to the depth and beauty of a portrait.

In the Maimeri Blu brand of watercolor paint I love to mix Primary Red Magenta with Permanent Yellow Lemon, both are transparent colors. These two colors are very bright on their own, mix a small amount together on your palette and add a lot of water and you will create a lovely pale flesh tone. Add a little more yellow for a more peachy undertone. Add a little more of the red for a rosy undertone. If you are going for more of a tanned skin tone try a well watered down Burnt Sienna. For darker skin tones you can use Burnt Sienna mixed with Sepia. Mix this well on your palette because they are granulating colors. If you want a deeper dark skin tone add a touch more Sepia to the Burnt Sienna, it creates a beautiful color.

Rosey & peachy pale flesh tone - front & center swatch - Primary Red Magenta + Permanent Yellow Lemon.

Tanned or olive skin tone - top right swatch - Burnt Sienna.

Dark skin tones - top center swatch - Burnt Sienna & Sepia.

Deeper dark skin tone - top left swatch - Burnt Sienna & Sepia.

Mix the colors well on your palette. Vary the amounts of each color to change the under tones. Blues and purples make great shadow colors on all skin tones. The shadows can be applied under or over dried skin tones. If you don't have the exact colors I have, test the colors in your palette. Mix a cool red with a cool yellow, mix a warm red with a warm yellow for the pale flesh tones. Then remember to add lots of water. I bet you have great flesh tones hiding in your palette.

Wearable Art Jewelry

Great Response

I have had such a great response to my new wearable art jewelry. I've had a lot of fun creating these little pieces from my own artwork. Some are my landscapes miniaturized to the size of a Scrabble tile and others like the dew drops are the actual size I painted the dew drops. Some are done on little Scrabble tile rectangles and some are done on a small round wooden game piece. I applied the image to the game piece, coated it with a thick layer of doming high grade jewelry resin, attached a bail and added a silver plated ball chain.

When people see these in person, they love them and want them! I have gotten rave reviews. This makes me so happy.

I've been adding them to my Etsy Shop several each day. Take a look, maybe there is one you just have to have. If you see any in the photos of multiples and they're not yet listed in my shop, please contact me. I will be happy to see if I still have it for you. I have multiples of some of the designs, but not all of them. The pendants will make a great little gift, a great stocking stuffer, a great secret santa & grab bag gift. Teens and adults absolutely love them!

It's Snowing

Finally it Snows!

Today, we finally received our first snow of the season. I love the first day of snow. It's just so fresh and pretty. Cold and chilly, yes. Pretty much gray all day, but that's okay ... because it's snowing! It has been snowing all day. The perfect day to stay home and do indoor things. I even skipped house cleaning. Who could clean house when it's snowing? I also prefer not to venture out on the roads. Why do people in a snowy region always seem to forget how to drive on the first day of snow? Snow is slippery.

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow! I'm cozy and warm indoors.

Tuesday's Tips and Techniques for Watercolor Painting

Sparkly Medium

In honor of the upcoming holiday season and to celebrate the first day of December, I decided to make today's tip about Iridescent Medium. There are a variety of mediums available for watercolor painting and Winsor & Newton make several I really like. I rarely use them, but they are fun to play with and explore. Hand painted Christmas cards are perfect for using the Iridescent Medium. Angel wings, dresses, Christmas ornaments painted in watercolor on paper can become magical and sparkly with just a little bit of medium.

First I mix a small puddles of the colors I plan to use in my painting on my palette. Then I pour a small drop of the Iridescent Medium the size of a dime or less onto my palette near the colors I want to mix with the medium. With a wet brush, I will pick up some of the medium and mix it into my puddle of color. Add a little more water if you want the color to be lighter. If you want the color to be a little darker, I suggest using a separate brush to get more color, so you don't contaminate your main palette color with sparkles.

I added the Iridescent Medium to the blue of the ornament ball shown here. I also added a little to the yellow I used to paint the cap on the ornament. I know it doesn't show up too well in the photo, but it looks so pretty and sparkly in person. The iridescent medium has a very fine sparkle to it. It is very easy to mix with watercolor paint.

Just remember to clean your brush well when you are done to remove all the glitter. You don't want to be painting a landscape or a portrait later on and find out things are sparkling when they shouldn't be.

This is definitely a fun watercolor medium to explore!