impressionistic

Happy National “Sorry Charlie” Day

/ Jodi / 70 Comments
Charlie Dog Impressionistic Watercolor Jodi McKinney

Charlie Dog Impressionistic Watercolor by Jodi McKinney

Happy National Sorry Charlie Day!

What???  You didn’t know?

Are you kidding me?

According to the National Day Calendar #CelebrateEveryDay, National Sorry Charlie Day is observed each year on April 6.  This day is designated to encourage us to think about the times we have been rejected.  Whether we’ve been rejected by a sweetheart or a college or a prospective employer or by the bank for a loan, we have all been rejected.  National Sorry Charlie Day also gives us an opportunity to reflect on how we survived the rejection and what we learned from it.

Sounds like a day to celebrate – eh?

This day also gives me an opportunity to celebrate some of the very special Charlies in my life.

First – there’s Charlie, our favorite guest blogger.  Charlie is my favorite furry son.

Second – my Grandpap’s name was Charlie, and he was the most awesome Grandpap ever.   (You can read a post I wrote a year and a half ago about him by clicking here.)

Third – is my son Nick, whose middle name is Charles (named after my Grandpap).  Formally Nicholas Charles, we sometimes call him “Nick Chuck.”  (You can see him as a “chuck”ling King of Spades with his Queen Liz and their court of friends last Halloween by clicking here.)

And last, but not least, is one of my favorite fellow bloggers, Charlie O at Doodlewash, who is celebrating his birthday month with a #Doodlewashaday challenge to celebrate daily National and International holidays.  Here is my #NationalSorryCharlieDay painting for you, Charlie.  If I ever get brave enough  good enough, I’ll give your charming Charlie portrait a try!

The other Charlie I think about when I hear “Sorry Charlie,” is the silly cartoon tuna fish, who just wasn’t good enough for Starkist.  “Sorry Charlie!  Only good-tasting tuna gets to be Staaaahhkist!”  (I know – way too much television in the 70’s as a kiddo!)

Seems it’s an all-around “Charlie” kind of day!  How are you celebrating?

Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi

 

He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands

/ Jodi / 49 Comments

watercolor globe world

My son, Nick, challenged me to try something different in watercolor as a painting for him.  He requested something like “space” or planets or the world.  Well – that’s a pretty wide open request, so I asked him to show me some examples of things he liked, and he sent me a few ideas.

I really loved what he had found, so I used one as an example to try to recreate it Jodi-ish.  This painting is done on 10×14″ 300 lb Arches Cold Press.  I used Winsor & Newton Cobalt Blue, Cadmium Yellow and New Gamboge, Windsor Violet, and Burnt Sienna watercolors.  I also used liquid frisket to mask off some white spaces I wanted to be certain to preserve.

I’m excited to mat and frame it for him!

In full respect and disclosure to the original artist, to view and/or purchase the original art print that inspired this, prints are available here at a home decor shop called Artollo.  It appears the artist is Elena Romanova, who goes by Fairy Somnia, and I am a new total fan of this young lady from London!  Her loose, impressionistic style is my favorite way to paint. I hope she appreciates the shout out and my admiration of her work.

Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi

Everything’s Popping Up Poppies

/ Jodi / 58 Comments

everything is popping up poppies 8 x 10 watercolor

You’ve probably heard, “Everything’s Coming up Roses.”

Well – I’m in a poppy state of mind these past few days, so after painting this bunch of very loose impressionistic poppies after dinner last night, I decided to name it “Everything’s Popping up Poppies!”

I even put this 8 x 10 painting in a frame I had and hung it on the wall to see what it would look like.  First time ever….

everything is popping up poppies 8 x 10 watercolor framed

I have been inspired by various styles and artists while perusing Pinterest and YouTube and all of my amazing WordPress artist friends and blog followers, so I decided to just “let it go,”  and I think this might be my personal favorite so far.

In a few days, it will be one full year since I painted my very first watercolor painting ever (which you can view here).  What a fun journey this has been so far.  I have learned so much and have sooooo much more to learn.  I now understand why many artists say it is a life-long journey to accomplish or develop a style and master a medium!

I am enjoying the journey…

and cherishing the brushstrokes and paint puddles and splashes…

the artistic moments… at life in between.

Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi

Sittin’ on the Dock of the Day Part Deux

/ Jodi / 69 Comments

old red boat watercolor 10x12

If you caught yesterday’s post: “Sitting on the Dock of the Bay,” you MIGHT recognize this old red boat.

I couldn’t resist doing it in watercolor.

But alas my attempts at recreating it – TWICE – last evening – fell short of what I had in mind….

One last try I thought….

So I flipped the 10×12 sheet of Arches over and slapped on some paint with abandon this time – not even trying to exactly recreate, but just having fun splashing and creating a “feeling,” presuming I would never post this one.

But then….

I kinda liked it.

It’s not a Monet or a Matisse, but it’s a “Jodi,”

and for now, that’s okay.

Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi

Shake Your Tail Feathers

/ Jodi / 42 Comments

draw a bird day march 8 2016 wren shake your tail feather

Shake your tail feathers!

It’s #DrawABirdDay again with my WordPress friends.

This little wren is shaking it’s tail feathers in honor of Spring approaching, as am I!

This is a very simple 5-minute “study” of sorts in brush strokes using my BRANDY NEW Rekab 320S #2  squirrel hair brush!  Oh what a glorious, lovely brush it is!  This brush came on the recommendation of Debi Riley as her “go-to” brush, so I couldn’t wait to get my hands on it.  Unfortunately, the only place I could find it was in an art store halfway across the world in Australia (where Debi happens to live), called Art Scene.

So order it I did, and then I waited, and waited, and waited.  Patience is not one of my virtues.  It really only took about ten (loooooooooong) days.  I practically hugged Cliff, our mailman, when he brought it last week.  Between my excitement and Charlie’s leaping out to see him, Cliff got the greeting of the prodigal son.  He laughed about my paint brush coming from the other side of the world and my excitement over it, and he spent a minute or two giving Charlie some pets and scratches and a morsel or two of his lunch pretzels (yep – Charlie has weasled his way into Cliff’s heart too!).

I can’t wait to have more time to play with this lovely, wonderful brush, but I am traveling this week for work, so it must wait.  What I was trying to do, however, with this, was to be very deliberate with my brush strokes and create an impressionistic version of a wren.  I love the freedom with this brush to create swooshes and thick washes as well as the tiniest of lines like the feet and beak and even a small dot of an eye.  One brush for every stroke, line, dot, and splash!  Swoon!

Wishing you the simple joys today – like the chirping of a bird…

Springtime weather…

or small gifts like a paintbrush brought by the mailman from the other side of the world…

or nibbles of pretzels and ear scratches from a thoughtful mailman to a loving  dog.

Cherish the moments!

Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi