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Friday, November 27, 2009

Bethel Grain Elevators



Bethel Grain Elevators
Watercolor on Langton Prestige 140-lb rough paper
14" x 20" (36 x 51 cm)
© 2009 Steve Penberthy

Used with permission from Liz West under Creative Commons license; thanks Liz! Here's a link to Liz's original photograph: http://www.flickr.com/photos/calliope/111110338/

I got inspired by Don Gore's recent painting of grain elevators, and they reminded me of how much I enjoy seeing them.  I've spent a fair amount of time in Kansas, and have seen my fair share of elevators.  It's such a staple of the prarie landscape that it's almost a bit of Americana just to look upon them.  It invokes the agrarian work ethic of the American farmer.

My goals with this painting was to create a work that looks strong from about 30 feet across a room; therefore, I didn't worry about detail--I tried to stay loose and paint spontaneously.  I first drew an accurate perspective drawing of the buildings and laid the sky wash in first.  I rendered the elevator shadow as one big dark-valued shape to sharply contrast in value with the sunlit side of the taller buildings and the middle-values of the smaller buildings.  I used a fairly restricted palette:  cobalt blue, ultramarine blue, perm. alizarin crimson, raw sienna, burnt sienna, and payne's grey.  This was really a fun painting on which to work.  Thanks Don, for the inspiration and Liz for the reference!

Here's a value sketch I did using my Faber Castel brush pens in my 3" x 5" Moleskine:

Thursday, November 19, 2009

Watercolor Landscape - "Defiance Road"


Defiance Road
Watercolor on Langton Prestige 140-lb rough paper
14" x 20" (36 x 51 cm)
©2009 Steve Penberthy

I finally finished the more formalized version of my previous sketch of this same scene.

Monday, November 16, 2009

Watercolor Painting :: Lullaby


"Lullaby"
11" x 15" (28 x 38 cm)
Watercolor on Arches 140-lb CP paper
© 2009 Steve Penberthy

A friend challenged me with doing a portrait of a baby, so this is a first attempt.  Since this is a boy, I intentionally used lots of blue.  The palette includes Hansa Yellow Medium and Perm. Alizarin Crimson (for flesh tones), cobalt, cerulean, and ultramarine blue, and indigo.

Sunday, November 15, 2009

Watercolor Painting :: St. Paul's United Church of Christ, Defiance, MO


"St. Paul's United Church of Christ, Defiance, MO"
14" x 20" (36 x 51 cm)
Watercolor on Langton Prestige 140-lb rough paper
© 2009 Steve Penberthy

This beautiful church is just up the hill from the Yellow Farmhouse Winery in Defiance, MO.  I was attracted to the look of the gleaming steeple in the fall afternoon sunlight.

I painted this one using a limited palette of ultramarine deep, cobalt blue, perm. alizarin crimson, and raw sienna (all are Holbein pigments).

Wednesday, November 04, 2009

Steve Penberthy Watercolor Art Exhibit, St. Louis, MO, 11/22/2009

Photo by Frenkieb
I am pleased to announce that I will be exhibiting several of my recent watercolor paintings at The Designing Block, 7735 Clayton Road, St. Louis, MO 63117, from 12 noon to 5 p.m. on Sunday, November 22, 2009 as part of the Holiday Champagne Stroll on Clayton Row event.

The exhibit will feature both framed and unframed works, all of which have appeared on this blog.  Most of my work is typified as traditional landscapes, but I have several that are of abstract or unexpected subject matter. Works in this exhibit includes landscapes, figures, and unusual viewpoints of everyday scenes, and range in size (unframed) from 5x7” to 14x20”.  All artwork in the exhibit will be offered for sale.

The Designing Block store, owned and operated by designer Susan Block, offers an eclectic mix of furnishings and interior-design pieces for the home. The Designing Block is located in Richmond Heights, Missouri at 7735 Clayton Road.  Here's a map:  http://bit.ly/3ppcHS

Please plan to stop by, say hello, and consider picking up some art as special Holiday gift!

Here's an image of the flier: