Tackling The Dumo

I have to say that, although Rome was fabulous, Florence was my favorite city in Italy.  We were only there for one day so we had to pack alot in, all unforgetable!  

So now I take on The Dumo as part of my Italian Street People series.  The people part will come later.  This piece is actually a composite of three different photos.  Which is tricky because you have to match or invent the correct perspectives and lighting.  So I break out all my mechanical drawing and engineering tools and on this snowy Spring day I begin.  

The drawing is tetious, however, I plan to show a loose indication of all the ornaments on the building.  To do that everything has to be in the right place, perspectives need to be correct or else those loose plops of color later will look like a loose painting with a bad drawing underneath. 

And I want my people down on the street to be the major players here.

Also, for me, drawing it out and laying hands on the paper, makes me feel more confident when it's time to paint.  And as you may know, I love drawing!  

Stay tuned!

Happy Spring!

"Guardian of the Wetlands"
Watercolor, 8" x 18"
©Carmella Tuliszewski 2013

My husband and I own a home on the wetlands of the Jersey shore.  It's a beautiful, quiet place where friends and family gather every summer.  We've spent many summer nights facing the wetlands from our porch enjoying the sunset with a brandy or glass of wine.

Last fall Superstorm Sandy came roaring up the east coast and made a left turn right into our little town. Watching it approach from tv broadcasts, horrified at the shear size and power of it, we thought we'd never see the place again.  The ocean and the bay actually met, leaving the entire island under water. We were lucky.  We had our share of clean up but our damage was nothing compared to what neighboring areas had to and still deal with.

This little rusty garden angel and her American flag stood in the area bordering the wetlands in front of our house.  One sunny day last year I went out and took her picture for a future painting.  It became something else after the storm.  It means something to come back after Sandy and amazingly see her still standing.  Her flag was gone but later found in the debris.

So this little painting is not the fine art piece I usually do but an illustration depicting the wetlands and it's occupants coming back in every sense.  Her flag is replaced. The first flowers of Spring, the crocus, have sprung.  A turtle cautiously crawls out of the wetlands.  An Osprey flies overhead with it's catch of the day.  A rabbit explores while a frog and a fox peep through the reeds.  The NJ state bird, the Goldfinch, and the State insect, the honey bee make an appearance.

And in the distance the stately egret and the seagulls roost in the wetlands.

I have a little more work to do on it.  Mostly picking out sunny hightlights in the reeds and surrounding subjects.  But since the weather here is so cold and gloomy today, I wanted to pop in some Spring a little early.  Enjoy!

Sunset over the wetlands from our porch.

Our neighborhood under water after the surge.

 The Angel's flag found in the debris and put in place by Jenni.

"Concerto",  Watercolor,  14" x 18"

©Carmella Tuliszewski 2013

I am finding it a happy challenge to work with figures and architecture again after so many years.  It's so interestting to me to see them here and wonder what the rest of their day was like and that they will never know they spent some time on my drafting table.  My main goal here was to capture the connection between the two musicians and I am satisfied.  If you would like to see the progressions for this piece, please visit the previous post, "Just Jammin".

Next, onto Florence.  Still working out the idea in my head but it will include the Dumo, a couple of horses and a little flirtation between characters on my stage.  

As always, thank you for taking a look.

Just Jammin'

I have moved onto my next painting in the Italian Street People series.  I am intrigued by the look between the two musicians in this one.  Is it "Hey how cool are we!" or "Another day of keeping the tourists happy."

Whichever it is I am amused by their shared day of music under the Tuscan sun.

This is part research and part my memories of walking through this little town.  I added the tall flower pots instead of the unattractive concrete barriers which were actually there.  And what is Europe without a few pigeons hanging around?   So they are popped into the scene.  Makes it more intersting don't you think?  Working on this series reminds me of my days as an illustrator.

Well, time for a lunch break and I'll start painting this afternoon.  Be back in a couple of days to show my progress.  Thanks for stopping by!

©Carmella Tuliszewski 2013


I start with the figures here because they are the areas of the painting that I consider the most difficult.  Not much detail yet but feeling good about the coloring and especially happy with the eye connection of the two musicians to each other.  So far so good.

What I am finding with these figures is that less truly is more (a difficult concept for me).  All it takes is a light dab of color to be enough to indicate a smile or a squint.  I want to keep this sun drenched look of the day.  The cobblestones so identified with the streets of Rome are accomplished by a sketchy brushing of a Paynes Grey following the arched grid I have drawn in.

Almost there.  Right now that big, dark door in the background is driving me crazy!  It really does help to photograph and post in stages.  It's very odd, but I see what needs tweeking easier up on screen than I do with the original right in front of me.  Today I will finish the center structure behind the musicians and then go back to that door.  Maybe it's too blue?  Well we shall see!

Complete!

"Sunny Day Concert", Watercolor. 14" x 18"

©Carmella Tuliszewski

BALLOON PIAZZA

"Balloon Piazza"

Watercolor, 12" x 28"

©Carmella Tuliszewski 2013

Watermark does not appear on original.

Well the first of my Italian street scenes is done.  I was so attracted to this scene because of the balloon characters and the light contrasts.  I won't lie, this was a challenge.  Not exactly like painting flowers but really the same applications apply.  I remember so clearly when I took this photo.  I had passed the scene but did not see it's potential until I turned around to look from a little distance.  The light just glowed through the balloons and the girls on the right.   If you have ever been to Rome you will smile as you recognize those beautiful bluish cobblestones that cover all the streets.

And of course the stunning shutters everywhere and that golden color of the buildings.

Light, color and that sun drenched feel is what I wanted here and with the exception of a little tweeking, I am pretty happy with it.  

These Italian paintings will not be for sale but I will have Giclees made if there is any interest.

But for now they will become a chronical of our trip.  I could be working on this for quite awhile, 

I have so much research.

I worked differently on this piece because it is so large and I work in a small space.

The first time, actually, that I've used my new easel.  Most of the time I sat with the board on my lap leaning against the easel and using my table to hold palettes and paints.  By the way, it may look it, but I don't work in a cave.  This picture just turned out much darker than the room actually is!

I used a different paint this time and the jury is still out on my using them again.

These are Dr. Martin's Hydrus Fine Art Watercolor.  

They were great for the color I wanted for this as they are brighter than my tube colors.  It made it interesting to contol the saturation rate.  But what I did not like about them is that they do not allow much lift.  I really missed having that option to lighten an area, but it did require some discipline on my part to make the right value choices in the first place.

I think they will be amazing for something more abstact or flat design projects.

They do, however, blend and glaze beautifully.

Thanks for stopping by!

DRAW, DRAWING, DRAWN

As I begin my Italy series, I of course went through all my photos from my trip to Rome and Tuscany last year.  We came across this young man while walking through the Forum.  Tourist everywhere but he never even picked up his head, so in the moment was he.  

I am now ready to put myself in that zone for the next few months.  But if you are expecting to see paintings of the Vatican or the Colosseum I'm afraid you may be dissapointed.  I am much more interested in the small side scenes.  I plan to focus the series on the activities in the streets, the people, wether local or tourists and the many contrasts of the modern world on this acient place.

I haven't drawn people or architecture in a very long time.  Which is one of the reasons I am so excited about this next batch of paintings.  I love the contrasts and meshing of todays world here in a place so filled with ancient history.  Here the mix of the British teenagers gathered around the balloon stand all the while a hundreds year old religious painting looks down on the scene from the corner of the building.
Drawing architecture brings me back to linear perspective drawing.  An old favorite of mine.  You can see the vanishing point and converging lines I used here on my street drawing. While in college in Philadelphia, I spend a lot of time drawing around the city, including one long day in the Cathedral drawing the inside of the cavernous space.  I wish I had kept those drawings but I remember it so clearly.

This is my name in 3 point perspective.  I had this posted on the door of my classroom for many years.
I loved teaching one and two perspective to my middle school students but, honestly, the kids hated it.  They complained that it was too much thinking for art class.  (sigh)

‎"Drawing is not a natural act. You've got this flatness and you have to learn to lie about it." 
Wayne Thiebaud 1920--

Well, time to paint!

Autumn's Last

I began putting this scene together last Fall.  I had this fun vase in my dining room and deceided to put it to work.  I had just visited our local dairy farm and picked up these little pumpkins for decoration, so they went in too.  And I had this fabric just waiting for a spot to use it in.  I was cleaning up the gardens  and these flowers were the last left standing.  

They served me well all summer and deserved a proper farewell.

First, a very detailed drawing.  I use both sketches made on site and the many photos I took at the scene.  I love to draw.  It's that simple.  And this kept me busy for a couple of days.  The flowers were easy but getting the roundness of the vase and all those flowing stripes to read as 3D on a 2D surface was challenging but awesome fun!

Color begins.  It's the reason I put all this together.  Lots of mixology here.  

Loved painting all those stripes!

Ok, that was fun but now it's time to slow down and access what I've done so far.  

I have this sitting in bright sunlight which means there are lots of deep shadows to come.

With this many colors you have to be sure not to loose your focus.  Here I mean the focus to be on the vase and three pumpkins.

Did I mention that the whole scene is sitting on my grass lawn?  

You may look at the grassy background and think I painstakingly laid in every blade.  But I actually cheated a little.  I first laid in a green wash, let it completely dry, and used my trusty Fineline Masquepen simulating blades of grass over the green wash.  I rubbed off the Masquepen the next morning and washed in more values of green in key areas to appear like grass in the sunshine.

"Autumn's Last", Watercolor, 18" x 24"

©Carmella Tuliszewski 2013

Shadows.  Always love this part.  I usually use the subject's complement to create an interesting dark.

But here with so many subjects, which complement to use?  I went with a bluish black with varying degrees of Ultramarine Blue and Burnt Sienna.  The danger of working from a photo is that you may end up putting too much in.  My reference had many more and darker shadows than appear here.  

I left them out and toned down some areas to keep the focus on the vase and pumpkins.

I have given myself a few deadlines to meet over the next few months of winter. 

I really would like to be juried into my local art league and a watercolor society show this spring.

There are also a few art festivals this sumer I'm hoping to be juried into where I can sell originals and prints.  Don't know if this one will make submission but, I'll see how some of my other ideas go the next few weeks.

Thank you so much for taking the time to view my work.