Happy New Year 2023!

Just a sampling of the 40 pieces of art created and sold this past year!

Greetings and salutations to all on this wintry day. The laundry is done, the dishes are done, the Christmas things are mostly down, my business taxes are filed - whew! The birds are snatching up the seeds as tiny white flakes spin down from above. And I'm free to play catch-up here, for a change.

2022 was a great year for sales of my watercolors. Over 40 framed pieces sold between the Bellefonte Art Museum, Art a la Carte, and The Gallery Shop in Lemont. That's truly exciting. Lots of prints were sold last year, too. So I've been able to keep my supplies coming in and my paintings going out - with a bit of a profit, to be sure.

And what are my thoughts about the coming year...?  Perhaps to broaden my subject matter to include more types of wildlife. And maybe to expand on my trial efforts using gold metallic paints/inks with the watercolors... Possibly to add some details to the background with pen & ink... and more mixed media, perhaps.

I chose a special frame with gold detailing to accent the gold moon behind this mockingbird

This is Merlin, a mixed media mounted on a panel, which then was varnished numerous times before painting. No glass is required when this method of finishing is used.

So far, I have limited myself to two sizes of framed work, making it easier to order bulk frames to meet my needs. I have experimented with a few new sizes - including a small square frame, which worked out nicely with some petite paintings.

My studio is in the process of returning to being my studio, after spending several weeks as the Christmas storage room for gifts, wrapping papers, ornament boxes - not to mention the bird seed, my indoor plant shelf, new frames waiting to be used, numerous drawings on 300# Arches watercolor paper awaiting my paint & brushes to come to life.

I'm looking forward to cleaning out the boxes and getting back to painting once again. May you all be looking forward to new opportunities for love, laughter, and contentment as we move into 2023!

"Sunflower Splash" - continued!

"Sunflower Splash" - dark blue mat 11"x14" - mixed media on Fluid 140# hot press wc paper (c)Pat Dolan

I've added some contrasting color and depth to this painting by adding Winsor Newton Indigo Blue watercolor and a touch of white to different parts of the sunflowers. I like the additional details and the strong contrasts this has provided.

However, I'm quite surprised at how different the same painting can appear depending upon the color of mat surrounding it. Each mat complements the painting well, but the choice of frame will make a huge difference, as well. A simple gold metal frame would work with them all, but the lighter mats might be further enhanced by dark wood frames, or even a wide white frame!

Which matting do you prefer and why? How might you want it framed? Please comment below!

"Sunflower Splash" - cream mat 11"x14" - mixed mediaa on Fluid 140# hot press wc paper (c)Pat Dolan

"Sunflower Splash" - white mat 11"x14" - mixed mediaa on Fluid 140# hot press wc paper (c)Pat Dolan

Meanwhile, here are a few more Bluebird photos - one taken during that wind storm and the others taken today when it's much calmer outside!

Please comment as to your choice of matting and/or framing for the Sunflowers above!
Enjoy!

New Website! Plus Another Mixed Media Cat Portrait

Today's project is Melissa's Cat, a 12"w x 9"h mixed media painting - begun on smooth Fluid Cold Press paper in watercolor and completed in Prismacolor colored pencils.

Meanwhile, I've finally got all the mysterious computer language sorted out so that my web address actually works, and takes you directly to my Fine Arts America webpages. The official web addy is: pat-dolan-artist.com

The link takes you to where my art is exhibited. I'm not sure why I shouldn't use the pixels address - they're the same place. O well. That's computereze for you. While I've used computers for almost 40 years, I'm not into the languages they use! I suspect I could create a separate page at the pat-dolan-artist.com site - if I knew how to create a web page. This way, it's all set up by Fine Arts America.

Two Paintings Off the Easel

Jakob - yesterday, I forgot to add his freckles! So I quickly added a sprinkling of freckles today.

I began working on Merlin a month or so ago, in watercolor on 300# Arches paper. I love the heavy weight, textured paper, but I wasn't very happy with how the painting had progressed. I decided to simply let go of my purist desire to do so-called "pure" watercolor, and to add colored pencil to achieve the look I wanted on the fur of this amazing cat.

Merlin's eyes are enchanting, so I think the background contributes to his magical being. He was great fun to paint - and even more fun to let go of perfectionism and play with the colored pencils on top of the watercolor base.

David Walker, thank you for the photo of your amazing cat, Merlin!

Mixing Media

Rockville Farm in Snowstorm - (c)Pat Dolan - mixed media - 10.5"w x 8"h

Getting back into painting has been more difficult than I had expected, however, a new issue of Watercolor Artist Magazine arrived yesterday full of fun ideas mixing different media with watercolor. In a way, it was just the "permission" I needed to experiment with a painting I was attempting to rescue. Working in watercolor can be quite restrictive, especially if one is a purist with the medium. Nearly all of my education with regard to watercolor has been from that purist perspective. But here artists are combining pure pigment dust particles with water in their watercolors! Others are using pastel sticks almost in equal measure with watercolors! What a liberating issue this is turning out to be!

On my easel, Rockview Farm in the snow has rested for several weeks. I was at an impasse as I had actually started this painting back in December, but then put it away when surgery arrived. Once I could paint again, I realized that the masking fluid that I had used to preserve the white snow had dried and firmly adhered itself permanently to the paper! So the painting sat, begun but frozen in time/space while I debated throwing it out or turning the paper over to begin a new work.

But then the magazine arrive, and I immediately got out some white acrylic paint, my colored pencils, my ultra-fine-line markers, along with the watercolors and went to town. It's certainly not my best painting ever! but it gives me the freedom to paint what I want HOW I want, using whatever media and/or tools I choose to achieve my goal. I'll make many mistakes along the way as I explore blending mediums in my work, but I'll be having a great time. And having fun is what being an artist is really all about!