Rain, Rain, Go Away....

I have never seen it rain so much in Provence, let alone anywhere!  Rivers of water are running down the street and puddles are gathering.  The shop keepers tell me it has been raining since January!  This is very unusual for this normally sunny burnt sienna and Indian yellow with a touch of manganese blue kind of place.  Still we manage, armed with umbrellas, to walk to St. Paul de Mausole, a hospital for the insane and home of Vincent Van Gogh for one year.  Here he managed to paint over 160 paintings.  We see his bedroom and walk along the corridors where he once painted.  We sketch and paint on location.  The iris and red poppies are blooming.

.

Posing with a statue of Van Gogh

Beautiful Scene in the cloister gardens

Blue Iris Blooming

Marie takes advantage of some sunshine to do a drawing

Painting in the courtyard

Greetings from France

It is always a long journey to get here but so wonderful to be back.  Marie and I started out with a 6 a.m. flight out of Oregon and arrived in Paris 18 hours later.   As our jet was flying low and beginning our landing, we were passing endless beautiful checker board fields of bright, lemony yellow, interspersed with green fields.  We decide that the yellow flowers blooming must be fields upon fields of mustard!  Wonderful French mustard!
We gather up one of my students at the train station and all took the same train down to Avignon.  After filling our little car with groceries for the upcoming workshop we headed down to St. Remy de Provence passing fields of red poppies blooming!  Even though it is raining, we take a evening stroll through one of my favorite towns in France.  The streets are deserted from the rain but the lighting is beautiful.   This is Sally's first time to Europe and it is so wonderful to hear her exclamations of joy about the charm and loveliness that we are surrounded by.  Her awe and delight reaffirms my love of Provence.  We peek in the shop windows, drooling over the colorful stacks of tablecloths and napkins from the region.

They have obviously been having lots of rain here as the rivers are high.  It has been raining hard since we got here.   The rain has brought more flowers this year than in the past and will give us colorful scenes to paint.  We may have to make up the shadows on our paintings if the sun is not out but that is part of fun of being artist!

Preparing for the Journey is Half the Fun!

I am leaving on a jet-plane tomorrow morning... my bags are packed.  I find that preparing my journals for an upcoming trip is so much fun!  Part of the Provence, France group came to my studio a couple weeks ago and we made very creative cover photos for our journals.  We used paintings that we had already painted and then made image transfers with a splash of mica powders to give them some pizzazz!
I also took my little watercolor journal apart, as I love to do, and added pages of painted black gesso and Strathmore drawing pages.  I have a Bind-it-all that I use to make the correct sizes for the hole punches.  

  

Up and Running

***Artful Gathering Online Retreat is now open for registration   

People comment to me about how bright and colorful my paintings are.  Once I started using the color wheel to make a color plan my paintings became more vibrant.  I am offering an online color workshop to help you along with your color quest.  The workshop is called The Good, the Bad and the Beauty of Color.  It is offered through Artful Gathering Online Retreat.  It is fun how Zinnia has set this retreat up.  My workshop starts on July 16 and continues on until August 26, 2013.  During that time you have access to my classroom where we can chat, post photos, answer questions and make new friends.  You will be able to work on your color paintings at your own speed.

Getting Ready for Provence, France

I have been busy getting ready for our upcoming watercolor painting trip to Provence, France.  There will be 14 of us exploring the little hilltop villages.  I am looking forward to sketching these colorful, beautiful villages: Gordes, Roussillon, and Vaison la Romaine.

Watercolor Workshop in Italy

Are you interested in painting in Italy?  Join me for this fun watercolor travel journal workshop September 2014, THE COLORS OF UMBRIA, KEEPING A WATERCOLOR JOURNAL.  Our home base will be Orvieto, Italy.  Exploring the streets of this historic hilltop village, we will discover stone archways, quaint alleyways and Italian piazzas, the Duomo of Orvieto, Gothic and medieval designs, the local fresh food market and colorful flowers cascading from windows - every corner a possible painting.  

You will learn how to create a visual diary of watercolor paintings and mixed media as you slow down, observe and savor your time in Italy.

I love the bond that artists develop when spending time together creating art.  What a wonderful way to meet new people and share our joy of watercolor.

Happy Colorful Painting!

Jacqueline Newbold

Mybook, Watercolor Journeys, Inspiration from Travel is Now Available!

Because of so many requests, I have just finished updating my self-published book and this is the 4^th edition!  Watercolor Journeys, Inspiration from Travel is filled with watercolor tips and information.  Since it is 5 ½” x 8 “and spiral bound, it is easy to take along on your artistic journey.  Here are a few of the things I cover:  Exploring the Elements of Design, Color and the Color Wheel, Watercolor Journeys – Traveling and painting, the Painting and Drawing Process, and painting on location.  Watercolor Journeys is over 60 pages packed with color and information.

Here is what Lynn said about my book: Dear Jacqueline,

Just wanted to let you know that I received your book today, "Watercolor Journeys". Wow! What a treasure! I love it! You need to expand on it and publish it big time! What a gorgeous book and filled with great information and beautiful artwork! I read your introduction and was struck by your upbringing
Here is what Jeanne said, Hi Jacqueline,

I just wanted to follow up with you...I LOVE the book, I have been pouring over it and working on the lessons - I feel like they should be called "workshops", they have proven to be so productive and interesting for me. Your careful, organized, right-to-the-point explanations and ideas to try out the concepts (especially color mixing, love the chickens:-) has been very helpful, fillling in the holes in my watercolor education. I am having so much fun with it, and not feeling any of the tentativeness or anxiety around the outcome as I have in the past. The journal format is perfect for this, perfect for me. I'm adding a little collage, too, as the spirit moves. Thanks so  much - you are a wonderful teacher.

Watercolor Palette Review - Part 2

3.  The Daniel Smith Watercolor Pocket Palette -  OK this one is just down right adorable.  I just discovered it and had to add it to my collection.

PROS:

• Very small, compact and adorable!
• Metal with a closing lid
• Has a water built in water container and a detachable water holder that clips onto the side.
• Holds 12 colors

Artful Gathering Online Art Retreat Blog Hop - #10

Celebrating Artful Gathering 2013 Online Art Retreat

Open for Registration

Blog Hop your way for chance to win!

From June to August 2013, ArtfulGathering.com will be presenting TWO exciting semesters of premiere online video workshops offered by fabulous artists who are known nationally and internationally. We are all very excited to share our knowledge, skill, and creativity with you, and we hope that you will join us for this AMAZING annual online event.

Blog Hop with us for a chance to win a $200 gift certificate towards an Artful Gathering 2013 online video workshop(s).

(Gift certificate applicable to 2013 workshops only and does not apply towards kits or dvds).

Each week I will announce the next featured blog for you to visit, and there you will find a new secret word or words that you will need to collect along your way. Once you have collected all the words from each blog you visit, they will work out to say a very artsy phrase. Here are the rules:

1. For your chance to win, you must collect all the secret code words and submit them upon the final destination blog in May. A random drawing will be conducted from those participants who have submitted the complete collection of secret words.
   
   
2. Only one winner will be randomly drawn from the list of participants who have collected all the secret words.
   

Remember to collect all the secret words. These words will work out to say a very artful phrase, and you'll need all the pieces to be eligible for the final prize drawing!

Please HOP over and visit the Amazing
Diane Cook

http://www.rosa-josies.blogspot.com//
(Pick Up the Next Secret Word)

Views: 338

Watercolor Palette Review, PART 1

As it turns out, I realize that I am a collector of watercolor palettes.  I thought I would show you the palettes that I use and the pros and cons of each one.  You might find this useful if you are in the market for a watercolor palette.
1.  THE HERITAGE PALETTE - this is probably my all around favorite palette and recommend it to all my students.  It is especially great for travel.  Because of this, it is included in my Daniel Smith Jacqueline Newbold Watercolor Kit.

PROS:

• Folds and has a lid plus a removable mixing tray.  
• I like to put a laminated color list under the removable tray.
• Nice big mixing areas. 
• Generous 18 wells for color. 
• Can be used for travel or in-studio painting.

CONS:

• Only holds 18 colors. 
• Probably too large for backpacking type painting.

2.  DANIEL SMITH TRAVEL BOX  - Another one of my favorite palettes!  This is metal with removable and refillable 1/2 pans or full pans so there is lots of freedom for switching out colors.

PROS:  

• 24 color wells.  
• Removable 1/2 pans or 12 full pans or a mix of the two creating lots of freedom to change out colors as needed.  
• Adequate mixing areas. 
• Folding and closing lid.  
• Can be used for travel or studio painting. 

CONS:

• My first one finally looked so bad I had to replace it.  It got rusty and the paint buckled up on the lids.  
• The metal makes it heavier that a plastic palette.