"Light As A Feather"

(SOLD......8" x 8"....on 300 lb CP Fabriano....Presented on a 2" depth cradled board)

"The spirit is quiet and as light as a feather." To hear the spirit of God within us, it is quite necessary to be quiet. The Spirit does not speak where there is loudness and chaos, but in a still, quiet voice. It is another way of looking at the verse from Psalms....."Be still and know that I am God."

You probably noticed that I took three days off from blogging. There were other more pressing issues to deal with and I really do need to sleep....so there you have it!

This is the second in my trilogy with the feather. These are (8" x 8"'s) and will be displayed together in a fall exhibit called "Poetic Collections". What I am noticing is that the more I paint the same image, the more abstract it becomes. So if you want to learn more about how to abstract an image, this is a good way.

I have begun both pieces the same way with a very wet surface....getting rid of excess water with a sponge....and then dropping in some pale yellow with a mop brush. All the other colors were glazed on dry paper and losing most of the edges with a brush dipped in water and dragged over a sponge cloth to get rid of the excess....and then touching the edge of the color just glazed. The paper, of course, was thoroughly dry before adding a new glaze.

The dark stripe shapes in the feather were painted rather dark and solid and then allowed to dry. I then got a water brush and brushed over those stripes and into the neighboring shapes to deepen the value and soften the edges of the stripes. It can look contrived and rather stark to paint dark shapes with  hard edges around the perimeter. The problem can also be resolved by paying attention to the color and value immediately surrounding the dark shape.

Another tip is to test your values on a scrap piece of watercolor paper before applying it to your piece. It is very difficult to judge the darkness and lightness of watercolor when mixing it on the palette. And there you have it...just a few more things to think about.

Please contact me personally to inquire about this piece.