This spring, I had the pleasure of leading a total of 20 students on a painting journey, in my newly-renovated watercolour studio/gallery in Lindsay. We all worked hard and made some great art.

Shown below are the ladies of my three-day Autumn Bay class, starting to work on their paintings.

The next photo is their graduation, with my demonstration painting shown at the bottom. Several of the students opted to paint larger formats and finish them after class.

 One of the Autumn Bay students sent me this comment after class:

"Thank you so much for a great painting session and the photos.  I am grateful that you included the steps of building up your painting as well.  It will be a great reference as I continue my homework. I really enjoyed the graduation photo. It is good to look at everyone’s work objectively when we have had some time to distance ourselves. Everyone did a fabulous job because of your excellent guidance. Thank you once again." ~Wendy M.

This photo below is from my two-day Canadian Road Trip class.

You can see my demonstration painting in the bottom of this photo of the graduating students.

And here are some photos from my Pebbles 1-2-3 one-day classes.

Although my Pebbles classes are usually for absolute beginners, I did teach one group at the advanced level. They started larger compositions in class so they could work on them at home. Here is how far they got in the one day class.

One student sent me this comment after class:

"Thank you Karen. I thoroughly enjoyed my day and really like PEBBLES!! Yeah! The way you explained colour mixing made so much more sense than the other classes I have taken. Thank you so much for our class yesterday." ~Maggie H.

Another student sent this message:

"I want to thank you so much for welcoming us into your home, and for such an informative class.  You are very special because you make everyone feel comfortable, no matter their skill level. I look forward to taking another class." ~Marjorie B.

Two of the students who did additional work on their paintings at home after class sent these photos of their lovely work.

Thank you to all my students, who made a watercolour journey with me this spring. Together, we learned a lot!

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Recently I worked on this painting as a demonstration at a one-day Pebbles 1-2-3 class. Here is how it started:

Step 1: After drawing a crinkled yellow leaf as the focal point, I penciled in the pebble shapes around it, loosely inspired by a photo reference. Using neutral mixtures created from primary colours, I painted interior shadows in the pebbles. This starts to build the 3-D effect. The leaf will be left unpainted until the pebbles are completely done.

Step 2: Using a dark neutral mixture, again from the primaries, I painted the negative spaces between the pebbles. In the larger spaces I used a graded wash, to give the impression of an underneath layer of pebbles.

Step 3: Using various combinations of primary colours, I painted the coloured pebbles. Since watercolour is transparent, you can still see the shadow layer showing through the colour layer.

 Step 4: Using more neutral darks, mixed from primaries, I added the shadows cast by the pebbles and intensified the interior shadows where needed. After that had dried, I painted the leaf, first with pale yellow and then with darker golds. Finally, I painted the shadow cast by the leaf to finish Autumn Memory, 4.5 x 7.5".

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Last June, during our trip to British Columbia, I photographed these male Tiger Swallowtail butterflies on a sandy beach on a lake in northern Ontario. They stayed in the same spot for at least an hour, while we had a picnic lunch close by. At the time, I wondered what phenomenon kept them there in one spot for so long. Read on to the end of this article to find out the answer.

This fall, I taught a two-day watercolour workshop 'Butterflies on the Beach', using these reference photos. I began by masking off the paper margin and the butterflies with self-adhesive contact paper and drawing gum (masking fluid). Using a toothbrush, I spattered on lots of drawing gum, which forms a temporary, waterproof coating in the shape of small pebbles.

Then, using several mixtures of primary colours (Raw Sienna, Permanent Alizarin Crimson, and Indigo), I spattered on paint, sprayed on clear water, and tilted the paper to make some areas soften and run together in a cool, sandy colour. Once the paper had dried, I wiped the paint off of the plastic mask so I could take the photo below.

I peeled the plastic mask off of the butterflies and stuck the pieces onto the margin, in case I needed to re-use them. I removed all drawing gum from the sand background, to reveal white paper in the shape of small stones and large grains of sand.

Using the same primary colours mentioned above, I painted the butterflies with a pale yellow layer, let it dry, and masked out the intricate dots of light colour on the outside edges of the butterfly wings. When the masking was dry, I painted the black details over top. Then I painted in the shadows cast by pebbles and butterflies, as shown below.

To complete the painting, I removed all masking from the butterflies, added bits of blue and red dots on the wings, and bry-brushed in the details on all the little stones. Below is  the finished painting, with an integral margin. When mounted and varnished, the margin resembles a mat, such as one would use when framing with glass. The title is 'Sunbathing Swallowtails'.

Below is a detail of some of the butterflies.

Now, why do male butterflies gather at sandbanks, you ask? Apparently they are ingesting sodium and nitrates, often found in mud or damp sand. This process is commonly called 'mud-puddling', and is vital for digestion, reproduction, and flight. Who knew?

Click here for more information about the finished painting.

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You may have noticed the tag line on my web site reads "Making the world a happier place...One painting at a time."

This statement has more than one meaning for me. It refers to the pleasure that I feel when finishing a beautiful new painting. Viewers and purchasers of my art enjoy the serenity or nostalgia my work conveys. My students experience excitement and satisfaction when I teach them how to make their own paintings.

But today it occurred to me that there is another layer of meaning in my tag line, and that is the positive spin-off that is generated when I donate a painting to a charitable cause.

As with all artists, often I am asked to help this or that fundraising organization by giving them artwork to be auctioned off at one of their gala events. If the 'worthy cause' aligns with my views, then I give them a piece of my art. The funds generated help many people near and far.

This year, the paintings shown in this article have been donated in aid of women, girls, and children in crisis; various community and international charitable projects; and two public art galleries.

I am glad that the gift of my art is making the world a happier place.

I've taught my watercolour students how to paint stones and leaves many times, as they are some of my favourite subjects, and my students love them as well. But for the first time this spring, we added a new twist to two of my workshops, by painting a scene with these familiar objects on a bed of sand.

We started out by choosing actual stones and dried leaves and making a balanced composition with these objects on our 300 lb. watercolour paper, as shown below.

Using adhesive shelf paper and masking fluid, we protected the shapes of each object on the watercolour paper.

Then we painted the sand using fun, messy techniques like spattering masking fluid and paint, spraying with water, and tilting the paper to make colours run and mingle.

Once the sand layer was dry, we removed all shelf paper and masking fluid and painted the first value layer on the stones, and the cast shadows of each object, as shown below.

While the stones dried, we painted the leaves (shown below) and the shells.

Finally, we painted the details on the stones to complete our beach scene.

To see a larger view of my demonstration painting, click here.

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Have you wondered how to paint lifelike rocks? Check out this progression of photos from my recent watercolour class, 'Newfoundland Beach Rocks'.

Here are my four students working hard on their paintings.

First, I sketched a contour drawing in pencil on 300 lb watercolour paper, and masked out the white caps on the waves with masking fluid. Then, using New Gamboge, Antwerp Blue, and Permanent Alizarin Crimson, I mixed up some dull washes of paint and applied them to the boulders, using a darker mixture towards the bottom of each rock, and a lighter mixture on the tops. (The entire painting was created using only these three colours of paint.)

I wet the sky area with clear water and dropped in some blue and grey mixtures, leaving some white areas to represent clouds.

While the sky dried, I painted the ocean area using a slightly darker mix of blue. I pre-wet only the calm section directly under the headland, and then added horizontal strokes of blue, interspersed with strokes of clear water, starting at the top and working my way down toward the near shore. This produced the effect of waves. I added darker blue under the white caps.

When the sky and ocean areas were dry, I painted in the distant headland using a charcoal grey mixture. Then I dropped in spots of clear water to create intentional 'blooms' or pale shapes, simulating the look of distant shadowed cliffs.

Applying paint to dry paper, I started adding some stripes to the boulders, using various mixtures of grey and tan.

I completed adding stripes to most of the large boulders, and darkened the rock shadow areas using a dark grey mixture. I also darkened the ocean with a more vivid Antwerp Blue layer, and removed the masking fluid, to complete 'Newfoundland Beach Rocks', 10 x 8".

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After years of searching for a suitable property throughout central Ontario, from Owen Sound to Bancroft to Brighton, we have selected a home in Lindsay, (30 minutes NE of Port Perry) and will be moving there this summer.

We've been packing like mad since selling our Port Perry home at the end of April. It's amazing how much you accumulate after 22 years in the same place, and we have done lots of purging and downsizing.

Many people have asked if I will be teaching after we move. I do plan to offer painting classes in our new home, starting in 2015, after we are settled in and finish remodeling.

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The first half of April was busy with more workshops learning how to paint realistic stones. The workshops were one or two days in duration, all at my Port Perry studio. Check out these smiles:

Sand Pebbles 1-2-3

Underwater Stones (class #2):

Underwater Stones (class #3):

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Here are the smiling faces from my March Watercolour Workshops. Everyone worked hard, had some laughs and learned a lot.

Sand Pebbles 1-2-3:

Evening Light:

Underwater Stones:

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