30 Paintings In 30 Days By Leada Wood, Texas Artist

Leada Wood Contemporary Texas Artist, Watercolor, Mixed Media, Collage

Morning Light ©2015 Leada Wood

Day 4 of Thirty Paintings in 30 days challenge. 

Getting harder to get a painting a day already...life goes on...I guess that is why they call it a challenge! These pink coneflowers are painted in transparent watercolor and have a companion piece to go with it but you will have to wait until tomorrow to see. Thanks for stopping by!

Watercolor, Floral, Red Poppy by Leada Wood, Texas Artist

Happy May Day!

Happy May Day! by Leada Wood ©2015

I know I missed my chance yesterday to wish you happy May Day but I didn't want to miss out totally! May Day use to be a pleasant tradition as people would gather a bouquet of spring flowers put them in a basket and hang on your door knob. Some traditions should never die. May Day also brings to mind little girls in pretty dresses dancing around the May pole. Mind you, these haven't happened in my life time I have only experienced them through books...but I still think they sound nice. 

We have had the most pleasant spring I can ever remember in Texas. The winds have been mostly gentle breezes and lots of rain!  The earth has laughed and laughed in wild flowers...amazing beauty everywhere and green! Hope you are having a wonderful spring where ever you are...thanks for stopping by!

Fresh And Loose, by Leada Wood, Texas Artist

This is what was on my gator board today. I wanted to sketch a blue hydrangea with watercolor pencils and then paint as loosely as I could without overworking it and adding too much detail.

I use a possum palette from Cheap Joes, and it keeps my paints nice and juicy. Sometimes I do add a little water, but they never dry up and crack like some palettes I have used. There are individual cups with lids for your paints. I also enjoy the three separate mixing wells, and it has a carrying sleeve that the whole palette fits into. Makes traveling with that palette a whole lot easier. Sweet!

Here is a close up. I just let the color mingle and mix on the paper...and let the paint do its magic.

Here is the final version...fresh transparent watercolor. Still in love with them after all these years!

 Have a great weekend!

Petals by Leada Wood

Petals by Leada Wood copyright 2014

Www.leadawood.com

Www.leadawood.com/blog

Texas Tulips by Leada Wood, Texas Artist

                                      

                 

                                         Texas Tulips by Leada Wood copyright 2014

With all the whacky weather we have had this year and the long cold winter my tulips did not bloom until mid April.I took photos and have finally gotten around to painting them. I tried a different technique using acrylics paints on canvas. I painted the entire canvas a mid tone pink and then started painting my lights and darks. It was new to me anyway! I really enjoyed painting this way and will continue to play around with it.  Texas Tulips is 5x7 on canvas.

Peaceful Poppies by Leada Wood, Texas Artist

Peaceful Poppies by Leada Wood©


This Mixed Media  painting is 12x24 on illustration board and is available. I think this is one of my favorite color palettes. Rich, warm, vibrant earthy colors just make me feel good. I used modeling paste and some of my stencils to give this painting raised textures. I also sculpted around the poppies with a palette knife to give them a defined edge. It is always interesting to experiment and find a new way to interpret a subject. Sometimes they turn out like you imagine or they take you on a completely different path. Kind of like life isn't it...you just never know what to expect!

"Moon Shadows" by Leada Wood, Artist of Texas

Moon Shadows by Leada Wood©

Close up of Moon Shadows by Leada Wood©

This was started in Carol Nelson's workshop and has gone through many changes since then. I decided today what was needed to finish and here it is on my blog at last!  I started the same as in the previous post layering papers I had designed, then glazing.The flower is a new technique Carol taught in her workshop to paint our papers. After all the collaging I started laying in my lights and darks and putting the finishing touches on.

I love Moonflowers! My mom and grandmother always had them in their yards.They bloom at night and early in the morning. I haven't carried on the tradition as yet but I do see moonflowers in my future!

"Cosmos" by Leada Wood, Contemporary Texas Artist

Beginnings

It's All In The Crumple!



The Happy Ending! "Cosomos" by Leada Wood©

Faux Batik is fun in watercolor...but in Acrylic it is indescribable! The paper I use is a Japanese paper, a little heavier than tissue paper but still transparent with pieces of fiber running through it and delicate. When you are finished with the painting you apply a special mixture of waxes all over the painting and then crumple it up...then you apply a color of paint over the wax and it goes into the crevices...hopefully. When that is all finished you iron the wax out of your painting and what is left is a beautiful faux batik effect.

Sunny Days by Leada Wood

Sunny Days © Leada Wood

We have been getting lots of moisture in Texas over the winter and spring which has really brought the wild flowers on strong, especially the pretty yellow flowers.
I just love springtime in Texas!
My mom's favorite color was yellow and she really liked sunflowers, as do I. I Love to see the giant ones heavy with seeds swaying in the wind with their heads bent over. Every time I see some I have to stop and snap a few photos for future paintings. I have done  several sunflower paintings and never tire of painting them, so cheery to look at.
This painting is 8x10 on Arches paper painted with transparent watercolor and it needs a home!

Ruby Reds by Leada Wood ©

Ruby Reds by Leada Wood ©

The tulip originated centuries ago in Persia and Turkey, where it played a significant role in the art and culture of the time. Most likely commenting on the Turkish tradition of wearing tulips in one's turban, Europeans mistakenly gave tulips their name, which comes from the Persian word meaning turban. As Europeans began taking to tulips, the flower's popularity spread quickly, particularly in the Netherlands where a phenomenon dubbed tulip mania set in at one point during the 17th century. Tulips became so highly-prized that prices were sent soaring and markets crashing. Tulips are now grown throughout the world, but people still identify cultivated varieties as "Dutch tulips." Red tulips represent true love and the belief in love. Happy Valentine's Day!