Natasha's View

More Old Junk by Natasha Thomas

Finished November 2003
7 inches x 5 inches
Arches 140 lb CP and Rembrandt Artist Quality Watercolors.

Cape Vulture by Natasha Thomas (Formerly Trifunovic)

Finished November 2003
11 inches x 15 inches
Arches 140 lb CP and Rembrandt Artist Quality Watercolors.
This painting was for the WaterColorWorkshop Silhouette project.

I attended a wonderful workshop by Frank Francese, organised by the Mississippi Watercolor Society, in September 2003.

Frank really emphasized value drawings, and showed us a great way to complete them using markers. Here are some of the value sketches I drew during the course. The first two I drew with markers and added the values with payne’s gray watercolor. The second two I sketched with black marker, scanned, and then filled in the values on the computer.

Dot's Cafe - Natasha Thomas

Our House - Natasha Thomas

Polana - Natasha Thomas

New York - Natasha Thomas

Usually I paint about one half-sheet watercolor a month. Frank paints very fast, with big brushes and lots of color, and never draws on his paper at all. I managed to paint 7 (SEVEN!!) half-sheets during the five days of the workshop following his teaching.

Here are some of the paintings I did in the workshop.

Dot's Cafe, Philadelphia, MS by Natasha Thomas

22 x 15 inches
Watercolor

Our House, Sept 2003 by Natasha Thomas

22 x 15 inches
Watercolor

Polana Hotel, Maputo, Mozambique by Natasha Thomas

22 x 15 inches
Watercolor

New York City, Downtown Winter by Natasha Thomas

22 x 15 inches
Watercolor

Kolmanskop by Natasha Thomas

Finished August 2003
7 inches x 5 inches
Arches 140 lb CP and Rembrandt Artist Quality Watercolors.
This is a study for a larger painting, based on a photo I took in the ghost town of Kolmanskop, Namibia. Originally the town was built by a diamond mining company in 1908. When the diamonds ran out the town was abandoned and the sand dunes took over.

Magnolia Grandiflora #1 by Natasha Thomas

Finished July 2003
22 inches x 15 inches (half-sheet)
Arches 140lb CP and Rembrandt Artist Quality Watercolors.
Life-size Magnolias (each flower is 10-12 inches across) from photos of the magnificent trees outside the Philadelphia, MS Courthouse. This is painted with a limited palette of Pthalo Blue, Quinacridine Rose and Indian Yellow, plus W&N Permanent White gouache.

Here are some more magnolias, these are much smaller paintings (5 x 7 inches).

Magnolia Grandiflora #2 by Natasha Thomas

5 x 7 inches
August 2003

Magnolia Grandiflora #3 by Natasha Thomas

5 x 7 inches
August 2003

Red Rose #1 by Natasha Thomas

Finished July 2003
8 inches x 6 inches
Arches 140lb CP and Rembrandt/ W&N Artist Quality Watercolors.
Another rose done using the techniques from Susie Short’s video “Painting Roses”. This rose was painted with a limited palette of Winsor Red, Pthalo Blue (green) and a little Permanent Lemon Yellow.

Susie's Roses #1 by Natasha Thomas

Finished July 2003
15 inches x 22 inches (half sheet)
Arches 140lb CP and Rembrandt/ W&N Artist Quality Watercolors.
These roses were painted following Susie Short’s video “Painting Roses”.

Exquisite Blue by Natasha Thomas

Finished June 2003
30 inches x 22 inches (full sheet)
Arches 140lb CP and Rembrandt/ W&N Artist Quality Watercolors.

A full sheet close-up of a handmade broach from the 1960′s which belonged to my mom. The broach has “Exquisite” engraved on the back. This was painted for the Watercolor Workshop “Close-up” project. It won first place in the amateur division of the juried art competition at the Neshoba County Fair in August 2003. The strong blue color is Winsor & Newton Antwerp Blue.

Mom's Brooch

This is my Mom’s broach, it’s about 2.5 inches across.

Sossusvlei at Dawn #1 by Natasha Thomas

Finished May 2003.
7 inches x 5 inches
Arches 140 lb CP and Rembrandt Artist Quality Watercolors.
This is a small format painting of one of the tallest sand dunes in the world, in Sossusvlei (Namibia). These paintings were for the second SharingWithArtistPartners painting swap.

Sossusvlei at Dawn #2 by Natasha Thomas

Three Tulips by Natasha Thomas

Finished April 2003
5 inches x 7 inches
Arches 140lb CP and Rembrandt Artist Quality Watercolors.
A mini flower study done from life.