Surely some folks must like roosters, but I hate them. And I don't use that strong word lightly in regard to those cocksure cock-a-doodlers with their beady-eyed bravado, over-sized machismo, and creepy feet. However, I'm having so much fun painting pictures of roosters that I may yet find a place in my heart for them.

From my perspective, anything goes: tail feathers of schnazzy violet and cerulean, 5-star epaulets of bronze and gold, gaudy combs of crimson and alizarin, high stepping struts, mincing side-passes, and full-throttle sprints . . . so many juiced up possibilities that my  head spins just thinking about them. In fact, I've arrived at names for paintings that I've only begun to visualize: "Rooster Tango, " "Rooster in Drag," "Rooster Masquerade" to list but a few.
​
This flamboyant deviation from my usual sober subject matter is a result of the MT Watercolor Society workshop that I attended in early October with Bev Jozwiak. I played catch-up during all four days, always one project behind Bev's demonstrations, but I was determined to complete each one of her challenges, even if I had to do so at home. In my first effort to take rooster extravagance over the top—"Two Steppin' Rooster"—I underpainted gold metallic gesso here and there. Wowzers! It looked like gold leaf, without any of leaf's tedium and expense. Like a gateway drug, my two-stepper demanded a second dose. "Rooster Steppin' Out," is the consequence. I hesitate to 'fess up, but it's true—roosters are pushing me to lighten up and revel in more splash, even as they energize my hours and brighten our grey November days.
​
Margaret Eller  [email protected] 
prairieislandellers.weebly.com 

How to use your art to promote your work and delight your friends and family!

I know I am usually late to the party but with the holidays coming up, I felt this was a good time to bring back the subject of using your own artwork in promotional materials...whether it be a business card you hand out, a postcard you send to promote an opening, or greeting cards you send to special people. Many artists I know print their artwork on note-cards, etc. themselves but since I am quality printer challenged, I usually resort to a professional printing service.

I did a little research on some online companies (Of which there are many!) and I came back to a service I have used several times.
Staples Printing Center https://www.staples.com/sbd/content/copyandprint/index.html
I feel the quality is nice, they are quick and reasonably priced and the best part for me is I can upload the photos of my work and pay a few extra dollars and have delivered to my house.

I can then do some collage and embellishment if I want to personalize the cards in any way,

Another fun service I found personalizes postage stamps using your photos. I have created special greeting cards to be given as a gift with the same art used in a set of matching postage stamps.
https://store.stamps.com/Store/catalog/photostamps_product.jsp?id=prod10094

And of course there are many service that let you use your artwork on a variety of interesting products such as books of prints of your photos, t-shirts or even coffee mugs. I have used Walgreens print center for a few of these items and again it is the convenience of doing most of the set-up work online. https://photo.walgreens.com/store/welcome
They also have a quick turnaround time for that last minute shopping??? And weekly coupons and discounts for orders of multiples.

I did check out the following company but have not used their products yet. The prices are higher but it looks like you could have some of your work printed on nice quality canvas reproductions. What a nice gift for someone very special.
https://fineartamerica.com/custom/create-custom-greeting-cards

Of course none of these can ever compete with sharing your original artwork but can be a nice way to 'share' pieces of your talent with others!

Working on adding the photos from Watermedia 2018 which just ended last week.  As always I am continually entertained and awed by the talent of the artists that enter our show.  It is a HUGE amount of work for the few dedicated MTWS members to put on our annual international show and I am so grateful for their commitment to making the show such a classy event.

Soooooo, I want to invite anyone who may read this blog to think about jumping in and participating with MTWS and helping us keep the quality of our organization at the level it has enjoyed for so many years...

And don't forget to give a big THANKS to the MTWS Officers and Committee Chairman and they continue to keep MTWS progressive and up to date!

Mucking about the web...

​Lots of trials and tribulations seem to be the hallmark of being an amateur web designer...however I am learning much as I go.  I cannot promise that there will be tons of blog posts as it seems to not be one of my better activities...

I continually journal but I am still inclined to do it the good old fashioned way with a pen or pencil in my hand.  I feel strongly that the society needs a web presence but I am certain that it will take more than my occasional ramblings ad updates to make it what our members wish to present!

This is truly a "takes a village" project...join me?
Vickie Lynn Johnson
​Web Editor

Remembering Our Friend Chris​

Sky Writer by Chris Twardowski  Watermedia 2017

These Days
 
Watercolor cast aside 
Thirty-nine years ago, revisited
To heal my child within
Awakened to her feelings  
These days
 
 I hold back nerves & butterflies
Tears from the critical past and
 Give watercolor one last chance
To feed my wounded soul
 
Confidence comes with stealth
Coaxed through water and colors
Brush strokes become bold
The child within shifted and
Flashes a turning point smile
 
These days
The dining room table is
Buried with art making evidence
Of soul healing in progress
And ……..
 
“Revisit watercolor ”  is
Checked off my Bucket List
With a sable brush
                                                      RuthiE Neilan

Skies and Clouds
In order to get myself out of the studio, I recently had the opportunity to take a plein aire paintout Saturday morning class with Susan Blackwood and her husband, Howard Friedland.  Although they both are oil painters, I was able to take away some valuable points when painting skies and clouds that would be applicable for any medium.

•When painting with watercolors, put the sky in first, light to dark, back to front, warm to cool.
•Remember the sky is a dome, darker directly above and then getting lighter on the horizon.
The other dome consideration is seeing how much lighter the sky is when going from the sun side and then darkening further away from the light source on the opposite horizon.

I kept these two points in mind when selecting colors to generate that dome feeling and somewhat compressing the sky on my painting to generate that visual spatial relationship. It was a glorious cloudless sunny morning, but being an artist, I had the ability to put clouds in because I can!
The other thing to remember about clouds is they are water vapor so no hard edges and emphasize those flat areas on the bottom of your clouds (if you are painting that style of clouds). Notice how they get flatter and smaller the further they move away on the horizon.
One thing I needed to remember when painting in a sky is to keep the negative shape of the sky interesting.
This is why small thumbnail value sketches are so important. I work out those issues prior to going to the board.  Also, clouds and skies can create an overall mood, such as a wind storm causing yellow skies, a hail storm can actually make the sky greenish, and we have all seen those raging thunderstorms come boiling in with dark grays. I also like the sunsets that push purples, oranges, pinks, yellows, reds, and blues reflected against the clouds.
Georgia O’Keeffe painted a series about being above the clouds when she was inspired on her first jet flight. So literally, the sky’s the limit! It’s so great to be the artist and create interesting shapes and fill them with beautiful colors.
Keep painting!
Michele Beck, MTWS President