Back to Where it All Began

So, once again I haven't had much time to paint lately (this seems to be a recurring problem). Between studying for finals, writing papers, putting together presentations, trying to get an internship, and spending time with my brother, Thomas, before he left on his mission, finding time to paint has been impossible. But, now that the tests have been taken, the papers written, presentations given, internship attained, and Tom in Brazil, I'm hoping to have lots of time to paint.

In my first blog post (History) I posted this picture of my first ever watercolor painting:

I thought it might be fun to try it again. So, I went up to Park City a few weeks ago and took about 30 pictures of the barn. I only really like two of them (photography is obviously not my thing). My plan right now is to do one small and one large painting of the barn. Unfortunately the flag wasn't up, so it won't be in the new paintings.

This is the picture I decided to use for the smaller painting:

And here is the progression:

(6x9)

I'm pretty happy with the overall painting. I think my favorite parts of this painting are the yellow bush and the silos. I also think the color of the line of trees in the background should be less intense; I should go back and lift some of the color off. I got carried away with the background and left out a couple of trees, like the big yellow one right behind the barn. OOPS! I should look to my reference photo more often, I guess.

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Finally Finished Poppies

The poppies are finally finished. I am pretty happy with the way they turned out but as usual there are a few things that I wish I could have done better. I may tweak it here and there in a while, when I can look at it with fresh eyes. It's hard to tell what it needs when I have been staring at it for a long time. Two things I learned while painting the poppies: 1: Orange is easy to work with. It lifts quite well. 2: I need to work on my shadows. Hopefully I'll get some more practice with another poppy painting. Here is the finished painting:

I Did It!

This post has nothing to do with painting of any kind, but something much more important, to me at least. It is my biggest accomplishment thus far and I wanted to write down my thoughts and feelings, while I still have them. I graduated from college yesterday. I spent the last five years attending Westminster College and yesterday was a day that I wasn't sure would ever come. I majored in Aviation: Flight Operations and spent much of my time at the airport, flying airplanes. I haven't flown in a while but I think I ended up with about 350 hours. I earned my private, instrument, commercial, and multi-engine ratings. Toward the end of my education, I decided that flying probably isn't for me. This change of heart was a result of many things, but most of all because my eyes were opened to all the other opportunities in the aviation industry. There is a place for me out there, somewhere. I just need to find it. I was originally pursuing an art minor, which is why it took me...

County Fair Entries

The Salt Lake County Fair is next week and I entered two paintings in the fine arts competition. I entered: the lilies and... the poppies. I put them in a white frame and I quite like it. No surprise there! One of the requirements to enter is that the painting was completed in the last three years. These are the only two watercolor paintings I have finished the the past three years. Wow. That makes me sad! I need to get my butt in gear! Entering a painting in a competition and sharing my work has always been nerve-wracking for me. But I'm making myself do it because I figure what good is a painting if it is just going to sit in a portfolio in my room? It would be a waste of time and effort to pour so much hard work into a painting and never share it with anyone, especially when I love watercolor so much. And that's a big part of the reason I started my blog, too. The Utah State Fair is next month and I would like to enter a painting but I am more hesitant about that com...

Emilee Williams Art

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