Original Watercolor Ink Aceo Landscape and Experiments

“Purple Tree Fantasy”

 

ACEO Chinese Ink Paintings

 

The first image is my fantasy impressionistic tree in a summer cloud burst on 140lb. watercolor paper with watercolor and ink.   This miniature work is a combination imagination and enjoyment of color.   Well it’s not a total fantasy, I often see a tree this shape near a park I travel.  Smaller paintings can stand alone or are the basis for larger work.

The second image is ACEO’s I had painted in the past on thin rice paper with sumi ink and bamboo brushes. I appreciate calligraphy and sumi paintings so I gave it a try.   The works on rice paper were mounted to a backing paper with glue in order to smooth out the edges and bring out the color of the work. 

What I enjoy about the smaller format efforts is the ability to experiment with different tools, processes, mediums and genres.    Sometimes my experiments don’t work but at the very least I’ve learned about a new product, art form, and had a little (2 ½” X 3 ½”) art adventure.

 If you want to experiment or collect art, ACEO miniature artworks are a wonderful way to start.

Lets Stroll Over to "The First Friday Art Walk"

One of my favorite events on Etsy is the First Friday Art Walk sponsored by the Art Walk Etsy Team.

The featured treasury is just a small example of the teams beautiful work.

Painting and Music a Great Combination

The majority of this work especially the body of the tree was painted with a palette knife. This painting has a strong textural quality due to the thick paint and knife strokes

I was listening to blues and jazz music and this landscape is what surfaced. The music didn't make me feel melancholy but you knew the singer was digging deep from a soulful place... I guess you can say trees, music, and art carry me to a special place. Today was just good day to paint.

Etsy Updates:
Tomorrow is the first Friday of the month and it's a great time for a virtual art walk on Etsy. The following are some of my favorite art teams and their links:
Finding Fine Art Team - You'll find art in every genre and medium!

Art Walk Etsy Team

Fine Art Friday Team

Original Acrylic Still Life by JC Strong

"Brent Gave Her Roses"

I hope everyone had a good weekend. Initially, the painting began with a lighter middle valued background but it just didn't seem to do the roses justice.

The roses were a fun and fabulous gift and they had lots of oomph. So I tried making the background luminous with darker values and color. It seemed to bring out the roses and give them more spirit and punched up the golden tones in the roses.

I'd been reading a book about the artist Robert Motherwell
an American abstract painter. His images have big blocks of color, texture and they are huge. I think his strong color sense kind of slipped into this painting.