First Scan on My New Epson Perfection V600 Photo Scanner

What a beautiful scan. My watercolors never looked so good. The Epson Perfection V600 photo scanner is affordable, compact, lightweight, easy to set up, and a snap to use. Since I typically photograph my artwork in the evening, I was plagued with artificial lighting issues and shadows that I couldn’t easily correct in Photoshop without distorting the color. Bye-bye lighting issues and unwanted shadows. Hello gorgeous color.

The Epson Perfection V600 also solved a problem I was having with my camera capturing the texture of the cold press watercolor paper that I typically use. I don’t want that texture to appear on high-quality prints. Thank you so much for the fabulous gift, Mom, Greta, and my bestie, Tami. It looks like instead of doing housework and laundry on this rainy day, I’ll be playing with my new scanner.

Night fairy in watercolor on cold press Acquarello Artistico paper by Fabriano. This painting is based on a tutorial in the book, “Enchanting Fairies–How to Paint Fairies and Flowers,” by Barbara Lanza.

Moth Fairy in Watercolor

My daughter and I have an ongoing disagreement over this painting. My intent was to paint a male fairy since all of the fairies I’ve painted thus far have been female, but she insists that this fairy looks like a girl, too, because of its long locks and the way it’s sitting on the daisy. I disagree. I think it clearly looks like a boy. What are your thoughts–boy or girl?

This painting is based on a tutorial in Linda Ravenscroft’s book, “The Fairy Artist’s Figure Drawing Bible.”

Happy Holidays

Happy holidays from my home to yours. I hope your holiday is filled with laughter and love. I can’t wait to spend the day with my family and friends.

Holiday fairy in watercolor.

Purple Fairy in Watercolor

Good morning, everyone. How was your weekend? Mine was busy. I spent time visiting with relatives from Ohio, went to the D.C. Big Flea antique show, visited a local farmer’s market, and did some housework, laundry, and yard work. And I managed to squeeze in one quick watercolor painting. This purple fairy is based on a tutorial in Linda Ravenscroft’s book, “How to Draw and Paint Fairies.” It’s an indispensable source of information for new watercolorists.

Normally, I paint fairy wings quite pale, so I thought I’d change things up a bit and use a more intense color. What do you think, are the wings too dark? Here’s a close up view of the fairy’s face. Thanks for visiting. Have a great day!

Rainbow Dragon

I couldn’t wait to share this rainbow dragon that my daughter painted today. I love the colorful scales paired with the neutral gray tones; it creates a wonderful balance of cool and warm colors that helps guide viewers’ eyes around the painting. This painting is an interesting play of contrasts: its whimsical and sophisticated, colorful and subdued, patterned and random. What’s not to love?

Holiday Fairy

I started work on this painting two weeks ago in hopes of posting it on Christmas day but with all the hustle and bustle of the holidays–shopping, wrapping gifts, baking, and hosting visits with family and friends–I wasn’t able to complete it until today. This little holiday fairy proved to be more time consuming than I anticipated. Oh well, better late than never. Besides, the holidays aren’t officially over until New Year’s Day, right?

This painting is based on a tutorial featured in Linda Ravenscroft’s book, “The Fairy Artist’s Figure Drawing Bible.” Here are some close up shots of my painting. I really enjoyed painting her and working with such vibrant colors.

My Sister’s Fairy Artist

My sister Cindy chose to paint this fairy artist during our winter family watercolor fest. She really rocked the shading on the fairy’s dress. This painting is based on a tutorial featured in Linda Ravenscroft’s book, “The Fairy Artist’s Figure Drawing Bible.”

Here’s a close up of Cindy’s painting: