November 6, 2009
yellow maple leaves watercolor sketch
This morning I got a surprise from one of my co-workers and very close friend. She snagged a maple branch from her neighbors “perfect looking” maple tree just to give to me. Is that love or what?!?
This morning at 8am it was such a brilliant shade of warm yellow. By 10am it was dull yellow and by noon the leaves were starting to curl. Don’t worry little yellow maple branch, work does that to me too, dries me out and makes me dull…..HAAA, HAA, hA!
I had to take matters in my own hands. As soon as I noticed the beauty of the leaves starting to fade, I grabbed my super-duper travel sketch watercolor set and began to document a moment in this maple branch’s time.
As of today, in the month of November, most all the leaves are gone from the deciduous trees around town. Just a tiny few however are still holding on…this golden maple for example has been celebrated on a day like today.
5 Comments | 
Artwork, Nature Sketching, art, nature, sketchbook | Tagged: Christine Kane Art, ckane, maple branch sketch, maple branch watercolor, maple leaf sketch, watercolor maple leaf, yellow maple leaf | 
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Posted by letspaintnature
October 30, 2009
This morning I was fascinated with the simple act of falling leaves. I had a mouth dropping discovery. Stopped at a red light, I noticed something that never really occurred to me…autumn leaves don’t just fall, they spin like tops when they fall! They spin and fall and spin and fall. It was like watching poetry…for me anyway. It warmed my heart so much I thought, “Is there something wrong with me? Do other people get this excited over an expired leaf making its flight towards death?”
I was so inspired I had to sketch this scene:
Spinning Oak Leaves - Watercolor Sketch
The leaves spin as they descend in the direction of the clouds, in the direction of the wind. ckane
Oh how I love active weather! You might look at this painting and say, “Oh yuck what a gloomy day.” But I smell the rain and see the clouds and smile when I say, “Oh I love such a day as today!”
Autumn leaves don’t drop like bricks. They spin like tops as the wind carries them where ever it wants to take them. Thank you God for such a simple revelation. Beauty is everywhere.
5 Comments | 
Artwork, God, Landscape, Nature Sketching, art, nature, sketchbook, storm, weather | Tagged: autumn leaves, autumn leaves sketch, Christine Kane Art, ckane, Cook County Forest Preserves, oak leaves, painting weather, rain, sketchbook, storm, stormy art, weather | 
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Posted by letspaintnature
October 29, 2009
In watercolor world, what’s the difference between cold press and hot press watercolor paper? Why, let me show you…
Do you remember the red maple leaf we painted the other day? Well, I painted two of them at the same time using the same steps and the same paints. Here is what they look like:
Cold press watercolor paper (left) has texture. Little bumps and groves holds in the water and pigment. It really sucks up the water pretty quickly. Cold press is a good choice when you want to convey texture in your subject.
Hot press (right) is super smooth. No texture with this paper. This paper doesn’t suck up the water as fast as the cold press, allowing you to play around more, like re-wetting edges of pigment.
Notice the colors of the two leaves! This is what I discovered when painting them side-by-side, the hot press is more vivid and bright. The cold press is a little more dull…but I used the same paints! Does it have to do with the absorbance of the paper? Maybe? Maybe the pigment gets imbedded in the cold press paper and soaks thoroughly and perhaps the pigment on the hot press dries closer to the surface. Or maybe the tiny groves in the cold press creates an overall shadow to the eye? Hmmm…interesting.
Here is a close up of the upper right section:
Cold Press. Can you see the texture in the paper?
Hot Press. Really smooth.
Buy both papers, don’t limit yourself to just one type…play…have fun! I hope this helps clear up the confusion about cold and hot press watercolor paper.
3 Comments | 
art, sketchbook | Tagged: cold press watercolor paper, difference between cold press and hot press watercolor paper, hot press watercolor paper, red maple leaf, watercolor paper differences, what is cold press, what is hot press | 
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Posted by letspaintnature
October 28, 2009
Everybody knows I hate squirrels. I hate them because they clear out my bird feeder within 10 minutes of me filling it always. I especially hate them because my neighbor hand feeds them peanuts. Ohhh, let’s reward the little snots with a big juicy peanut!
Anyway, even though this particular varmint is my enemy, I would never do anything to harm one of them…even if I kind of want to. Look at this poor fellow who was again caught in the act of clearing out my feeder:
EWWWWWW, look at that poor sap’s tail! Gross!
He had an extremely hard time balancing as he was up to no good. He almost fell several times and then finally did.
What do you think happened to him? Maybe he was running across the street and a car got his tail? Maybe he got stuck in a trap? Stupid squirrel.
3 Comments | nature, wildlife | Tagged: bad squirrel, I hate squirrels, stupid squirrel | Permalink
Posted by letspaintnature
October 24, 2009
I can tell by search information that a lot of people are trying to learn how to paint autumn trees and such right now. I don’t blame them! What a wonderful idea to take advantage of the season. To tell you the truth, I think autumn has more to offer than any other season. The colors are exploding and there is so much to choose from.
In my quest to make it simple for the beginning watercolor artist, I want to show a very easy step-by-step demonstration on how to paint an autumn leaf. You can do this! Try it out…
Step 1: I am using cold press watercolor paper. I sketched my leaf larger than life size with a #2 pencil. I taped the actual leaf down next to my sketch because the leaf was curly and I couldn’t see the entire top surface.
Step 2: Wet the entire leaf. Wait until your paper is no longer shiny and paint the veins winsor yellow. Remember, with watercolors you paint the lightest color first, then you layer with darker colors.
Step 3: While your paper is still wet, take some permanent rose and paint the leaf around the veins. Why am I using permanent rose (a pink color) for a red maple leaf? I use the pink under the red to give the red color brightness and life. If I do not use the pink, the red will look dull and lifeless.
Step 4: While the perm. rose is still wet, paint the outer edge of your leaf alizarin crimson. The paint will mix and move around…we like that. Take a sharp stick and scrape out the veins.
Step 5: Wait until everything is dry then take winsor yellow and a rigger brush and paint the veins yellow again. Next make a watercolor mixture of alizarin crimson and burnt sienna and paint inside the leaf in between the veins and around the edges. Almost done!
Step 6: With a mixture of alizarin crimson, burnt sienna, and ultramarine blue, paint the outer most edge of the leaf and along some of the veins with a small rigger brush.
Step 7 Final: Today I decided to outline with my black micron pen. I didn’t do every single vein, just some of them. Next, take cobalt blue and paint in the shadow to make it look like your leaf is not floating in the air, but resting on a surface. The stem is perm rose and green gold at the very tip.
We are done!
I hope one way you can celebrate autumn is by painting this easy maple leaf. Maybe you would like to find your own autumn leaf and try to paint it by using the lightest-to-darkest watercolor layering method as shown in this demonstration? Take the blessings God gave you to document what’s going on around you. It is so much fun!
6 Comments | Artwork, Nature Sketching, art, nature, step by step painting | Tagged: autumn leaf, autumn maple leaf, autumn painting, Christine Kane Art, ckane, how to paint a leaf, how to paint a maple leaf, how to paint an autumn leaf, red maple leaf, step by step watercolor maple leaf, step by step watercolor painting, watercolor maple leaf | Permalink
Posted by letspaintnature
Let's go hiking in the Midwest Forest Preserves, we will paint and sketch what we find and learn more about nature together. Painting is a way to study a subject and learn it thoroughly, I'll show you how.
