I’ve just finished my second spools painting, Vintage Color II. Since several of you asked, after my first spools painting, I kept track of my time. It took me a little over 100 hours to paint this watercolor. The dimensions are the same as my first one (17″ x 23″). But instead of warm colors, this time the spools are mostly cool tones of blues and greens. Click on the slide show, at the bottom of the blog, to see how my painting progressed from sketch to final artwork.
Tomorrow night, Friday, April 7th at 6 pm, is the art opening for Show III: North Country Arts, at the new LARAC Mountain Gallery (21 Bay Street, Glens Falls, NY). A variety of art and mediums will be on display, including my watercolor painting, Blossoming. The show will be on display April 7th – May 10th. The Mountain Gallery is open Wednesdays – Saturdays, 10 am – 3 pm.
I am well into my second painting of spools, and thought I’d give a sneak peek of my progress. Several people have asked me how I do some of the detail work, so here is a step-by-step on how I paint spool threads. This is a simple, basic spool without a sticker on the top.
First, I use a kneaded eraser to lighten all of my drawn lines of the spool. I always start with the spool ends. In this case, several thin layers of grays and browns. The spool ends are actually white, but the shadows are different colors. I then use resist to preserve the whites of the loose pieces of thread. I try to paint them as thin and even as possible. I create a wash of the base color, preserving the whites where the light hits the spool.
Then I do two more washes, incorporating tints of orange and green.
Next is the most difficult step. I don’t paint the threads of the spool, but rather the shadows of the threads of the spool. I try to keep them as even as possible using a #00 brush. I also use a scrap of paper to roughly measure as I go along on the spool, because it’s very easy to mess up your lines once you get to the loose threads. Next, I subtly darken the thread shadows with a variety of mixed colors.
I paint light washes over the spool to give it more body. I paint in the direction of the threads, a few threads at a time, so I don’t wash away all my hard work painting the lines. Before removing the resist, I lightly outline the bottom of the loose threads with the darker green. This is so I can easily find the threads. Once the resist is removed, I clean up the edges of the loose threads.
Finally, I add color back onto the loose threads, paying attention to make sure some areas blend in and the highlighted areas stand out. I also darken some of the shadow areas.
A simple spool such as this one usually takes approximately 3 hours to complete. Once I paint in more of the surrounding spools and the dark background, I might go back to the spool to tweak the colors and darken any shadows. But for now, this spool is done.
Yesterday was the reception of the North East Watercolor Society’s (NEWS) annual juried members’ exhibition. 77 watercolor paintings are on display. My painting, Dragonfly, was given an Award of Excellence by juror Maryann Burton. Many thanks to her and and the NEWS jury of selection for this honor. The exhibition continues until March 18th, at the Orange Hall Gallery in Middletown, NY.
I was inspired last summer while sorting through my mother’s old sewing supplies. My mother was an avid quilter, known for her crazy quilts. She had sorted hundreds of thread spools into Ziplock bags by color scheme. The colors caught my eye immediately. The spools range from antique, to retro 1960’s, to modern design. I don’t normally do still life paintings, but I had to give this a try. I set up the spools outside in the strong sunlight, and took dozens of photos until I got the look I wanted. I meticulously drew the spools before I started painting. (At the bottom of this post there is a slide show, if you’d like to see the painting as it progressed.)
The painting is called Vintage Color. It was an ambitious image to paint, but I love painting new things and challenging myself. I began this painting back in November of 2022. It took quite a while to paint, but I enjoyed the subject so much, I’ve started another painting to go along with it.
I’m very excited to announce that my painting Market Joy is a finalist in the Splash 24: The Best of Watercolor competition and will be in the July 2023 edition of Artists Magazine! A big thank you to juror Jean Haines, who judged the competition. I’m so honored to be represented along with such other amazing watercolor artists.
The North Country Arts Gallery, at the Shirt Factory in Glens Falls, NY, is currently having their Sweetheart Deal art show. (All artworks priced at $99 or less.) My watercolor, Succulents, is on display in the show. The show runs until February 18th.
Also, the North East Watercolor Society is having their annual juried member’s exhibition for 2023. Two of my paintings were accepted into the show. Dragonfly and Captured will be on display from now until March 18th, at the Orange Hall Gallery in Middletown, NY. Opening reception will be on February 26th, 1 – 4 pm.
North Country Arts is hosting a fine art exhibit at the Crandall Gallery in Glens Falls, NY. My painting Autumn Welcome is on display, along with many other local artists’ work. The show runs December 4th – December 29th.
Saratoga Arts is having their Annual Members’ Show November 18th through January 7th. My watercolor painting Cole’s Woods will be on display. Saratoga Arts is located at 320 Broadway, Saratoga Springs, NY. Gallery hours are Mon-Fri, 9am-5pm and Sat, 12pm-4pm.
North Country Arts is having their Celebration 2022 show November 19th through January 7th. My watercolor paintings Trillium and Hunting will be on display. The NCA Gallery is located in The Shirt Factory, Suite 120, 71 Lawrence Street, Glens Falls, NY. Gallery hours are Thu-Sat, 12pm-5pm. Portions of the proceeds from the show will be donated to the Wait House in Glens Falls (The Wait House is a homeless shelter for youth in need.)
Inspired by more flowers from my garden, my latest watercolor painting is entitled Blossoming. The flowers are Matrix Asiatic Lilies and the blossoms just glow with vivid color.
This painting was a bit of an experiment, as I used 400 lb. cold press Arches watercolor paper, instead of my usual 140 lb. It was definitely a different experience. The paint really absorbed into the paper quickly. No warping or bubbling of the paper, which was nice, but it was more challenging to get crisp edges and paint all the fine details that I love to paint.
Click on the slide show below to see the evolution of my painting.
Cindi Handy 