Stavanger, Norway

Click on image for a larger view. Watercolor 12"w x 9"h. This is a painting for Bill Guffey's Virtual PaintOut

Hellooooo!

Country Road

Click on image for a larger view. Watercolor 12"w x 9"h. This is a painting done for A Painting a Month Club.

Boston Common Ducks

Click on image for a larger view. Watercolor 24"w x 18"h. This is one more step for a paining I am doing. I will replace it as it progresses (the final will be shot in better light). At the end, I will show all the steps—Follow along for Boston Common Ducks.

If you missed some of my strugglng steps, no bother, I will be posting them all after completion. Maybe I will end it right here! I kind of like it and I might go too far. Maybe a few more refining strokes...you think?
I don;t think it is working the way I want...we will see!

Bread

Expecting a watercolor? Sorry—I was thinking about other things. Not to bore you...but many years ago when I served in the Navy, bread was made at sea around 12:00 midnight. If your watch ended and you were up and watching a movie, bread was placed out in the ships mess to cool. There is nothing like fresh bread. Years later when I moved back home, I found in the attic an old bread maker. Nothing but a galvanized pail with a crank and dough hook. I followed the bread directions on the bag of King Arthur Flour and it came out great. I made this bread for many years . After a while, as life goes, I fell away from it, I started making bread again and had a lot of trouble. I think I found the problem. Today the recipe calls for water instead of evaporated milk. I switched back to evaporated milk and the bread is fantastic again.
Bread is easy to make. All the time comes from waiting for the dough to rise. If you are around anyway,it's no time at all. It only takes about 15 minutes to mix.
If you would like this recipe...let me know. BREAD IS GOOD! So Good. E-Mail me and I will send a text file. Click Here.

Know Your Staining Colors

Some of the watercolor paints are staining. This means that they will not lift off the paper. Some might lift more than others—but not totally. This can be handy at times. If you mix Burnt Sienna and Thalo blue and paint a tree trunk, the paint, before dry, can be scraped with a palette knife. The Thalo Blue will stay on the paper while removing the Sienna— leaving a nice texture effect. The same is with Alizarin Crimson. I like to use this for distant skies—once down, it won't move. Play with your colors and don't pick too many. You can always lighten and tone down a color. Try to brighten it and...forget it. Play with your paints until they become your friends. Paint with bright colors!

One more Before I Start

Click for larger view. I hope I ccan keep it loose