One big bloom

This one of those saucer sized roses from my garden.

Floral study new from old

The painting in the background is one i did in early 1960s.  One that has a few finger marks from my young sons in it.   It was based on a picture in one of those how to paint books.     Oils. Palette knife.   I still like it. It is the only one i kept. The rest are long gone.     I thought id try it in a watercolor sketch.    The flowers are no longer zinnias.  Lol.    It was a fun breakfast exercise though.  I seldom use brown backgrounds so it was challenging.   

A light breakfast

This was done over the pencil notes and sketch i showed a couple. Days ago.   This might be a good candidate for future felting project.    I rather like the openness of the scene.

From sketch to felt

I am starting to create a felt piece based on that water color study i did the other day.    While the colors in watercolors can be so glorious due to their transparency and light properties - these are things that make it difficult to capture in wools.    This is the first step - blocking in colors.   Then layering comes next with little wisps of colors.     I will post again as it progresses.

You may note the pencil sketch under the watercolor with the color notes.    Its all part of my process.

Hen scratches

Without any colors to work with I took notes of two photos that might be effectively translated into fetl landscapes.   Looks like hen scratches but they hold the necessary information.      

Majestic mountain

Wouldnt you like to wake up in a cabin near here and take your breakfast outside to smell the fresh pines and breathe in bclear quiet air?  Inspiration for this sketch was a calendar photo of a painting.  I dont know the source.    Im only concentrating on blocking in the colors for a felted piece.

Flowers for a friend

I visit a friend in hospice every Monday.  Either before or after art at the senior art center.     I almost always take her fresh flowers - usually roses from my garden.    Today however we are having a heat wave so I painted her some flowers.   This was todays breakfast painting.  

I was surprised to find these are the colors she has been painting with since I visited last week.    

Breakfast and paints

The tile with the boat is one I painted back on the 90s.   I used to sell these at art fairs and boutiques here and on the coast.  I decided to do a watercolor sketch based on it while I ate my shredded wheat and banana.   The hardwood easel was made by friend Pepe Poole who has such a talent for design and construction.    I prefer to use it on my art table.   

Wildflower walk

This was done from a photo for a breakfast sketch a few days ago.    Ive done some tweaking to it since then.   

Potted plants

Using my sketch of Cezannes painting I showed earlier, this morning I explored his palette again for my breakfast painting session.

Breakfast rose final

The neutral palette didnt suit me today so more colors were added.   I think I'll call it done.    Have a colorful day.

Breakfast rose

This is the start of todays breakfast painting.    Planning to keep it in neutral tones.   

Blue heron breakfast

The photo I used for inspiration was from an article by Candace Murrow in a 2005 Bird & Blooms magazine.    Thank you Candace.    She and her husband had this fellow drop into their garden for a little fishing in their garden pond.    I found this breakfast challenge out of my comfort zone again.   Thats why I selected it.    it gave me a good excuse to use a different palette.

Dark shady woods.

Back in 60s we set off on a weekend jaunt to upper Wisconsin and came across a beautiful wooded area where the sun illuminated white birch trees.   That memory is still fresh so I thought Id try to capture it.   I doubt that my boys remember it.  They were pretty young.

I think they might remember the ride home when a huge gust of wind ripped the boat off carrier on top of the jeep sedan.   It was a sruggle to get it secured on top again under weather conditions. But we managed.   Farther along we got to the eye of the storm where it was so still.     Then it moved farther North as we were headed back to Illinois and we were again in high winds coming from a different angle.  The boat stayed put on this leg of our journey.

Anyhow thats the inspiration for this mixed media painting.   Combination of watercolor. Collage.  Acrllics.  Ink.

Breakfast in the woods

Playing around with ideas for a felted piece i painted the woods in brighter than usual colors.      Inspired by a photo pulled from a magazine awhile back.     Breakfast in the woods. Oh my!

Breakfast with Toulouse LauTrec

The inspiration for this is "The Clown" which  he painted in 1894.   Way out of my comfort zone.  But thats kind of what the breafast painting series is all about.    A morning stretch.   It was the bright yellow skirt that drew me to paint it.

Good morning floral

What a cheery way to start the morning by creating a painting of mixed flowers.  

Setting up new paint chart

When the paper paint patches were used up on last sheet, rather than peel off the patches and replace them with fresh ones, I started a fresh one.    I wanted to change the order and wanted better samples.   Here are the steps to do this. 
1.  Decide the order of your colors and how you want to lay them out.    For some reason I like to start with greens.
2. Number the samples.    
3.   Make a grid.  This has 40 samples so it was logical to set it up 5 across and 8 down.    I measured and left a blank row at botton in case i want to add anything or experiment with mixing.   
4. Number the grid.
5.  Do the same on opposite page  
6.   Label the grid with paint color names.   7.   Cut samples making sure number is on back.   Its next to impossible to identify the color without it.  
8.  Using glue stick or other adhesive - even double sided tape - attach paint papers to the grid.   
9.  Using wet brush pick up some of each color, one by one  and paint inside each corresponding grid box.   I put paint down more saturated first then watered down a bit to show the range.   This will be invaluable for things like skin tones.  

When I use one of these sample sheets I make sure it is dry before closing it.   I also layer in a sheet of deli wrap so colors wont transfer or smudge.

I hope this helps you if you want to use dry paint sheets.     I got the idea from Roberta Schmidt.   Thanks Roberta.    I love using these beautiful colors.   

Sources

I donated most of my oversize art books recently.    i gotctired of lugging them around.   Some are so large  and heavy they dont fit on my lap.    These are some tiny ones still residing on my shelf.    i guess they will inspire me for quite awhile.

Breakfast with Sandy Meyer

I tore this article Upper left) from an old American Artist magazine.   It is a study she did for a painting "Dancing in Snow" painted in 1995.   I thought it might inspire a felted piece with  the soft subtle color scheme.   Between bites of cereal i did this quick watercolor sketch from it.     Meyers finished piece is very colorful and dynamic.    Purples and golds and high contrast.   As beautiful as it is - I think I prefer the sketch.  

Good Monet Morning

Tudor Publishing put out sets of booklets on various artists.   Petite Encyclopedie de l'art.    1964.    This one on Monet has this painting on the cover.   I have a number of these from used book stores.   I will be using some for my breakfast inspirations.   This one is "Sailing boat at Argenteuil" 1874 by Monet.  

Breakfast with Ernst Ludwig Kirchner

Using the black and white picture of his painting i did this quick watercolor sketch.   I think I can adapt this for a felted landscape.

Paint samples

Closeup of the colors in Nicholsons Peerless transparent water colors. To the right of each swatch is a scribble using a wet brush.   Btw that neutral tint upper left is a fabulous color.    Kind of a charcoal grey.   You can see how useful this sheet is.   

Breakfast with Max Pechstein

Very loosely sketched based on his painting "before the storm"  1910.    I only had this black and white picture as inspiration - i chose to make it a nice day with bright colors.    I am using Nicholsons Peerless transparent water colors.    They came as a set of  2 inch squares of paper with the paint floated and dried on top.  you need only touch with a wet brush to pick up the very saturated color.     The colors are awesome.   Lots of interesting greens.   Chroma green.   Myrtle green.    A deep olive green.     Hunters green. Grass green.   Mountain green.  Veridian green.    IM IN GREEN HEAVEN.    i cut these up and made this travel set as my friend Roberta Schmidt had done.   Its also my color guide.   Its very handy.   Otherwise i would not guess by names what colors would be produced from the papers.

Waiting at tire shop

This is Charley.   I sat and waited next to him and his handsome owner.   We had a nice chat and it helped pass the time.    this will go in my "Waiting"  series.

Burst of color.

This is not photo shopped or enhanced.    These brilliant orange gladioli are from my garden.

Selfies

Id rather take a pic of my reflection.   Fuzzy is good.   Hides some wrinkles.

Breakfast in the country with Cezanne

Thinking this might be a good inspiration for a felted piece- i did quick sketch during breakfast.      I wish i could get a better variety of green wools.   

Breakfast with Cezanne and basket

Only a small portion of his painting.    They looked so delicious ivthought it would be a good morning sketch.

Breakfast with Otto Mueller

I dont think I posted the finished sketch.    Here it is.   This is one of my favorite breakfast sketches.

Two kisses for this one

Totally unlike my usual watercolors.  Im using some powdered paints my friend Rachel sent me years ago.   Finally.    Moving and packing turned up some forgotten treasures.     Thanks again Rachel.     

Heres that Matisse

When i posted this breakfast sketch-the photo did not attach.     Here it is.

Lulu ready for summer

After a few days of 100+ degree weather Lulu needed a summer hairdo.     She still wont win any beauty contests but she us more comfortable and wont need brushing and combing as often.   And no more tangles.   Yea Lulu.  

Breakfast alone with my muse

This photo shows a portion of an abstract done quite awhile ago.   I turned it on its side and suddenly saw this little village.   So my breakfast sketch this am is from that inspiration.   

Breakfast with Barbara

My friend Barbara Schwartz started this little painting - but gave up on it.   So I adopted it.    Evening before I painted background green filled with leaves behind  the roses she had painted.    Next morning I hated it.     So I pretty much covered the green with yellow iron oxide and white.   Better.    Then I placed some of the acrylic rose skins I painted earlier over her roses leaving a touch of hers still showing. .    Better.   But boring.     Thought I'd add a hint of a blue vase, but my muse took over and turned it into a turq band at bottom.   Better.   Still dull.     I had the paint still wet on the palette so added turq polka dots.     Now I like it.     I had to add some touches of red and yellow iron oxide to the roses to ground them to background.    Finished.   Can hardly wait to show Barbara and see what she thinks.    hope she likes it.

Breakfast with Bill Herring

Herring has some brilliant things going on in his landscape.    Its the color and liveliness that caught my eye.  So this is what I chose for my rough breakfast sketch. Followed by the charcoal lines.    Reminds me that sky does not need to be blue .    And landscapes do not need to have a lot of brown tones.    Thanks Bill for the inspiration.