Vibrant Landscape - Experimenting with color combinations

 

Color....  I seem to always be chasing more interesting color combinations and how they relate to one another.  I'm working with oil pastels to try some new combinations... to see the atmosphere they create.  In this experiment - I was working with warm and cool combinations - juxtaposed next to one another...  I like the sense mystery that has resulted.  

If you look closely, there are subtle juxtapositions - warm colors that have a leaning toward cool.  Cool colors that learn toward warm.  And also, value shifts that are intriguing.  

Experimenting and working with known variables in a new way is an important part of discovery. 

What's next for this??  Possibly a full sized oil painting will come from
these color combinations.

Bluebell in Bloom

Bluebells in Bloom, 5x7" watercolor on paper
matted in white for 8x10" frame
©Helen Read

Magical, don't you think?  Sunlight filters through leaves of golden green, floating on a sea of blue. 
To me, there is magic in the woods!  And bluebells add their glory! 
What a gift given to the one who will stop and see! 

Ready to frame
(domestic shipping included - IL residents please add 8% sales tax) 

Please visit my website for details and pricing on this painting.

Peonies and Lavender

 

Peonies and Lavender,  5x7" watercolor on paper
matted in white and ready to put into a 8x10" frame
©2021 Helen Read

(Domestic Shipping is included,
IL residents please add 8% sales tax)

Please visit my website for details, pricing, and framing option for this painting. 

Peonies and Lavender has a loose and more watery approach. They bring an interesting color into the space where the bright flowers are not.  These bright pink peonies flow with liquid color! A touch of lavender gives additional visual interest.

 

Floral in Blue Jar

 

Floral in Blue Jar, 
7x5" watercolor on paper
matted in white and ready for a 8x10" frame
©2021 Helen Read

(domestic shipping included,
IL residents please add 8% sales tax)

Floral in a Blue Jar was done with a combination of watercolor and ink. The ink and soft colors create the sense of a charming bygone era. The summery colors are offset by the transparent blue jar, with some shadow notes of lavender.  This lovely still life is ready to slip into a frame and hang! 

Please visit my website for details about this painting, pricing, and a framing option. 

Woodsy Pathway

 Looking ahead to a watercolor workshop I'll be doing this fall, I'm experimenting with watercolor landscape ideas.  Today's effort ~ this woodsy scene with spring greens and a lavender bloom.  I'm not sure, yet, if this is the one we'll use... but I like the sense of it and actually think it would be fun to walk that path!   

Summer Scents!

 

Summer Scents
© Helen Read
7x5" Oil on gesso panel

Available framed in a black wooden frame - 1.5" deep and .75" across the face
or unframed
(pricing includes domestic shipping.  IL residents please add 8% sales tax.)

Sold

Yes, Please! More Peonies!

 Peony Blossom ~ Perfect Beauty
© Helen Read
7x5" Oil on gesso panel

Available framed in black wood - 1..5" deep, .75" across the face)

Or, sold unframed

(domestic shipping included in pricing, IL residents - please add 8% sales tax) 

Please click here for more information and a purchase link.  

Why buy art framed?  All the guess work is taken out - when you receive your painting, it is ready to hang!  This saves time and allows you to put your beautiful painting on the wall
immediately!  The frame that is included is a solid, well made wooden frame which accents and protects the painting perfectly! 

It's Peony Season again!

 Peonies are one of my favorites!   This little watercolor is my free download print
for the month of June!  

It's available to my friends who have subscribed to my email list... every month I have a little free gift like this - maybe you'd like to join us!?  No pressure... no purchases are necessary...
We just stay in touch and I share what's happening in my studio!  

This link will get you all set up to join us! 

Yay! Let me join!

For Email Marketing you can trust.

Just for May - a GREAT DISCOUNT!

 Sunspots, 9x12" oil on linen panel
©Helen Read 

Not far from where I live there is an old farm.  It's a step into history.  On the approach to the farm, there's a bridge over a creek and this painting is a view that I saw as the sun dipped farther toward the horizon.   Just a few bright spots of color landed in the deepening shadows.  
Moments of complete tranquility... the lazy flow of water, light and shadow, and blues against greens.
A sense of another place and time!

Visit my website for purchase information.

Framing is a matte black contemporary wooden frame. It is 1.5" deep and approx 3/4" wide on the face. This option simplifies the decision, purchase, and waiting period for framing to occur. When you receive your painting, it is ready to hang!
(Photo available on request.   Please email me)

The Joys of Springtime!

 My garden in May - even before the dandelions demand attention, these early arrivals bring joy in their colors and delicate smells.  This little watercolor represents those first delights of spring time after a long, gray winter.  Lily of the Valley and Brunnera; delicate and lovely.   A proclamation that life is returning!  

This little watercolor was a free download to my friends in my May newsletter.  Each month, I make a new work of art available to those who have subscribed!  It's easy to join :). Click here ~ be added and at the beginning of each new month, you'll get a colorful, newsy note and downloadable art... and other fun surprises! 

Spring Cleaning Sale! 25% off these until 4/30/21

 Studios have to be cleaned too! 

I need to make room for new works - so these featured paintings need to find their new home!  See below for a larger photo and purchase links!
Don't delay... 4/30 is just around the corner - and as you can see, the cottage painting has already found it's new home!
Domestic shipping is included in this great price.
And there's a framed option and unframed option for each of them. 

The frames are wooden - 1.5" deep and 3/4" on the face.
They are either (as noted) black or cherry wood. 

 

Post sale -  Visit my website!  There's more to be seen!  

Daylilies, 10x8" Oil on panel 

 

 

 

Summer Shadows, 12x9" oil on canvas

 

 

Scentsational - 8x8" oil on panel

 

 

Elm Grove, 14 x 18" oil on canvas
 

 

Autumn in Color, 10x8" oil on panel 

Post sale -  Visit my website!  There's more to be seen! 

 

Beyond the Now..... what if?

 Beyond the Now,  16 x 20" oil on canvas
painted around the sides - ready to frame (perfect for a floating frame)
©2021 Helen Read 

$740.00
(domestic shipping included,  IL residents please add 8% sales tax) 

Click here for more information

The earth in vibrant color hints at a future time when Creation is restored.
Colors vibrate - the earth is pulses with life.

All is again as it was in the Creator's first plan.
----------

What if...?

That's what I hope to let the viewer imagine.  Of course, we can only imagine,
and yet, most likely our imagination isn't big enough!

April's Gift

Yes... the gift of color and life seems to burst forth in April.  What a welcome relief from the cold and grayness of winter.  This little watercolor is a bit of an experiment with some new materials.  The transparency and vivid colors are to their credit!  I am trying out Yarka's SemiMoist watercolors, and they are passing with flying colors! (literally!)  :).  

This painting is available as a free download for those who receive my monthly newsletter... Along with cool discounts and a a first view of new work.  Join in!!  I love adding to my group of friends! 

Yes! Please sign me up!

For Email Newsletters you can trust.

A GiveAway Contest!! :)

 Who doesn't love a free gift!? 
I don't know that person! 

This little mini oil painting is going to one of my newsletter friends in February...
and it could be you! 

Every few months I have a drawing for a FREE Painting. 
This little 3x3" painting with it's own tiny easel will be winging its way to someone in the next couple weeks!  It's not too late to enter. 

Sign up to receive my monthly news note and all the details about how to enter are right there!
Plus, you'll get a free painting download every month that you can print for your own use. 

Let's stay in touch! :) 

click here to get your newsletter!