Yupo Pasture

“To accomplish great things, we must not only act, but also dream; not only plan, but also believe.”
– Anatole France



Yupo Pasture
10″ x 8″ Watercolor on Yupo

Those two acrylic paintings took so long to do that I am going to post an old painting today.  I usually manage 5 paintings a week, but not this week. 


I like the peacefulness of this scene.  In total contrast, I am literally ga ga!! I have been commissioned to do a 2′ x 4′ version of my Little Pink House painting!  I am so thrilled!  It’s going to Florida and I am “butt wiggling” happy!  (I finally shot a price to her and she was very happy with it, so now it is real.)

About Anatole France

Anatole France was the pen name of Nobel Prize–winning French author Jacques Anatole François Thibault. He was born in 1844 in Paris. His father was a book dealer, and France spent his life among books, including 14 years as assistant librarian to the French Senate. His novels, including the Contemporary History series and The Gods Are Athirst, often use allegory and religious symbolism as vehicles for moral questions. He died in 1924.

Mushroom Fantasy

“Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions.  Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great.”
–Mark Twain

Boy, isn’t that the truth!

 

Mushroom Fantasy
6″ x 9″ Watercolor on Yupo

This little painting reminds me of a fantasy.  Dreamy and a little distorted.  I had a piece of Yupo that I had previously played with.  Then I just had fun with color and a little imagination.
Here is the background, before I painted the mushrooms.  There is a little difference in color, due to the bad lighting when the photo was taken of the background.  I scanned the final painting.





Mark Twain

On Nov. 30, 1835, the small town of Florida, Mo. witnessed the birth of its most famous son. Samuel Langhorne Clemens was welcomed into the world as the sixth child of John Marshall and Jane Lampton Clemens. Little did John and Jane know, their son Samuel would one day be known as Mark Twain – America’s most famous literary icon.
Approximately four years after his birth, in 1839, the Clemens family moved 35 miles east to the town of Hannibal. A growing port city that lie along the banks of the Mississippi, Hannibal was a frequent stop for steam boats arriving by both day and night from St. Louis and New Orleans.
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Another great quote:

“Twenty years from now, you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”

–Mark Twain

Grazing in Westbroek - October 12, 2009

"Consider the postage stamp: its usefulness consists in the ability to stick to one thing until it gets there."

– Josh Billings

.Grazing in Westbroek

8" x 10" Watercolor on Yupo

I finally spent a little time with my new Yarka travel watercolor set. I like them. They are very rich in pigment. They are almost thick, and never really dry hard on the pallet. There is a stickiness to them, that keeps me from closing the lid and using them for travel, because all the pans stick to the lid. When you open up the lid, all the pans are stuck to it. I guess I could glue them down. Anybody have any ideas?

I learned a few things this time, about working on yupo.

It really does make a difference, if you wipe the whole sheet off with isopropyl alcohol before you start. It removes all the invisible little fingerprints that cause the paint to repel from the yupo. This is why they recommend that you handle yupo with cotton gloves.

I used a barely damp fan brush, to get the details on the grass. I let everything dry really well before I went back in and added the cattle. The whole painting still only took me 30 minutes. I enjoyed the process a lot.

About Josh Billings

Josh Billings was the pen name of folksy American humorist Henry Wheeler Shaw. He was born in Massachusetts in 1818. After he was thrown out of college for stealing the clapper from the school bell, he roamed far and wide for 26 years before settling down in Poughkeepsie, New York, as an auctioneer. His essays were initially snubbed; he became successful only after he adopted a more eccentric phonetic spelling. He was best known for his annual Old Farmer's Allminax. He died in 1885.

Three Hungry Goats - June 23, 2009

"The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes."

– Marcel Proust

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Three Hungry Goats

2.5" x 3.5"

Watercolor on Yupo