As the song goes, June really IS "...bustin' out all over!"  All I have to do is take a look at my raised bed gardens, where, in addition to vegetables, I also have beautiful Oriental Lillies to brighten the side-yard landscape--and to paint.  I know many of you also have beautiful flowers to add to your watercolor painting collection--I've seen some of them, as well as your photos.

It's a busy time of year at WSI.  Take a look at our calendar, and you'll see what I mean.  If you're not already a member, please do join the WSI organization.  We have many opportunities for growth--in friendship, in knowledge, and in appreciation of the arts. 

https://www.watercolorsocietyofindiana.org/Calendar

When she was here for Easter brunch, my sister admired an acrylic (30x40 on gallery-wrapped canvas) painting that I have hanging in our house, and she particularly liked the vivid colors in the painting.  She asked if I could do one just like it for her, and I told her I couldn't duplicate what I'd already done, but I could do another painting with lots of vivid colors--so I did.  However, when I finished it (or thought I had finished it--you know how that goes), I thought it needed a unifying element, so I began to read information about glazing an acrylic painting.  My degrees are in English, not in art, so this art thing is a  constant learning experience for me.  My searches led me to this video--which I found to be both interesting and informative and easy to follow--and I love the artist's accent. https://youtu.be/04Kf5IiaWbg

What I discovered (and I'm sure most of you already know this, but I didn't), is that glazes are best if they begin with a transparent color.  The color is mixed with  one of several possibilities of mediums--I used a glazing medium--and then applied to the dried painting.  I thought acrylics were all opaque or semi-opaque and was surprised to find--when I examined my tubes of paint--that I actually had several acrylics that were transparent.  So, I followed the directions in the video, mixed the glaze, applied the glaze, and VOILA! the glazing actually unified the painting.   

That's my learning experience so far this June.  So....

Go and paint beautiful things.  Have fun.  Be creative.  And let's get together and paint.

But that's just my opinion.

Pat