Thursday, May 14, 2009

All dressed up


These Ibu-Ibu were walking in front of me this morning, beautifully dressed in traditional kebaya and sarong, with flowers in their hair, carrying offerings to a ceremony at the temple. I remembered Anne Watkins beautiful watercolors of the luncheon ladies walking down 5th Avenue in NYC. This seemed like the Bali version of that event. So, I attempted to try to paint them without doing my usual pencil or pen sketch first. It was a bit intimidating because I knew that whatever I put down on the paper was going to be there—forever. Now where is that pencil...


Sky Study 5.14.09 I was reading Laura's blog and she referred to a challenge from Vivien's blog to paint the sky at different times of day and weather conditions and really take notice of the changes. Such a great idea. So, I decided to do a quick twice a day sky study everyday before we leave for the USA in June. Here's the first one—pagi/morning and sore/sunset from inside the villa. 

16 comments:

winna said...

I like all your sketches (love the dog with the snake) and this one done with paint alone shows what an accomplished artist you are...

Maree said...

I agree with Winna - you're definitely very accomplished and it's a beautiful painting, gorgeous colours.

sue said...

These are wonderful, Jennifer! I love the freshness here. All your Bali images are so rich, depicting their culture so well, too. Beautiful.

Spinneretta said...

This is great- loose and free and a great way to quickly capture the colours and feel of the native dress in Bali :)

Anne Watkins said...

Hurray!
Love them, and so happy to be part of your watercolor work without the pencil! Your women have better foot gear!

Revelle Taillon said...

This is awesome! So , so, what's the word? free and instant and loose. Very nice!
Revelle

Nothing to See said...

I love how you get so much information with so few strokes. These are beautiful. And, they are proof that you don't have to fiddle for weeks with tiny strokes to get a beautiful and realistic image.

Margaret Ann said...

You nailed this! Could possibly be my newest fave of yours! :)

Caroline said...

Fast and loose! Very elegant too!

Alex said...

nice control of the colors! :) and yea, I agree... no pencils, something I can't draw without! Your stuff is definitely on a way much higher level here!

Ann said...

Elegant is the perfect word to describe this. You didn't need a pencil!

Lydia Velarde said...

I like how you are using your brush to draw. Very nice !

seesue said...

The information contained in these few brush strokes...! Amazing! Beautiful. I hope that these are a size that can be framed and put on your wall once home in the USA. What an exquisite memory they will to have!
The 2xday sky work will be fun to have as a weather record as well.

Anonymous said...

The Balinese ladies are wonderful. You should do a series and get them printed to sell to tourists. I would buy!

Robyn Sinclair said...

Your ladies are extremely successful, Jennifer. Delightful.

laura said...

Your sky studies are all just great, Jennifer--you're the right person to paint the sky!
I LOVE the Ibu-Ibu ... the colors and the repetition and the way all the pieces hang together perfectly.