Emilee Williams Art

I didn't paint another flower? Ha! So I decided that it would be fun and good practice to try painting faster on a smaller scale. I got a new book of watercolor paper that I am really excited about, too excited about. It's a 6x9 Strathmore pad of paper. What I like about it is that it was made at a paper mill that purchased 100% wind renewable energy. I don't usually go out of my way to be "green", but when it is as easy as picking up a different pad of paper, I'm all for it. Especially when I am not advanced enough to notice or care about a change in paper. I was turned on to a website called  paint my photo  by a fellow blogger. It's a great resource for photos of things you want to paint that you can't take a photo of yourself. I've found pictures of things that I didn't even know I wanted to paint, but sure enough, I do now! I was just checking it out to see what it was about when I stumbled upon this picture: I love this photo and...

So the county fair was just how I remembered it: every entry got a ribbon and about a quarter of them were first place ribbons. It seems like there were a lot more first place ribbons in the fine arts section than any of the other sections. I don't know how they judge it but I suppose it worked in my favor: The lilies got a first place ribbon and a high blue ribbon. I'm not really sure what high blue means, I think it is one abve first place. I think high blue probably would have been the equivalent of an honorable mention or 3rd place in a normal competition. The poppies also got a first place ribbon (hard to see in the crappy picture). Go figure! Two first place ribbons in the same category? Ha! So I think this means that if I enter the state fair I need to enter the lilies. It's bigger and did better in the county fair so I think it would give me a better chance at being juried in at the state fair.

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...

I've been watching a lot of other watercolor blogs and I am amazed at the ease that these other artists paint with. Everything looks so flowing, beautiful and brightly colored. I feel like my paintings look contrived compared to theirs and like I am using the medium incorrectly. So, in this next painting I am not going to worry so much about the outcome and just relax, put the color down, and have fun. I hear a lot, especially from my younger brother, David, that all I paint is flowers. So, I'm going to try to stay away from flowers for a while. The next picutre I would like to tackle is one I took in Villefranche, France. I love the colors and the memories it brings to mind when I see it: I did a quick sketch because I want this painting to be loose and more about the paint than the drawing. I still probably put too much into the drawing: The drawing is not nearly exact, and that's a-okay with me. My goal on this painting is not to try hard and just do it. So here ...

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:

So, once again, I haven't had much time to paint lately. Surprise, surprise! It's been hard to find time between work, studying for my multi-engine checkride, and being out of town. I did have some time while I was in Park City to make some progress on the poppies. I need to make some adjustments to what I've done and finish the centers of the flowers and I think I'll call it done!

I am still working on the poppies. I haven't worked on them a whole lot lately. Partly because I have been busy with school and work, and partly because I was intimidated by them and scared to keep going. I didn't want to mess it up. I was scared until I got some inspiration from another watercolor blog I follow: Laura's Watercolors . She described having a similar problem and attributed it to being "too attached to results". As soon as I read it I knew that was what my problem was. Looking back, I can see that I have probably always been too concerned with the results of my painting and it is my goal not to do that anymore and just paint. If I can do that, I think I will be a lot more productive. I think it will be better practice and refine my skills, too. So, today I sat down and just painted. I think it worked out pretty well and I got quite a bit finished in a relatively short amount of time. Here is what I've done since my last post: Th...