Donna Pierce-Clark Fine Art

Afternoon Tea 30 x 22" Watercolor  ~~~~~ How This was Painted; it's a long story! ~~~ Photo Reference for Afternoon Tea I set up hundreds of still life possibilities, and finally decided to start this one.  Little did I know, until I began the actual painting process, and had been at it for several weeks; did I realize how extensive this one would be. "Why?" I asked myself! "Why did I start this!?"  I can honestly say this process has been a love/hate relationship for nearly a year!  But love wins out in the end!  While painting this, the name began to form in my mind.  The painting process in "Afternoon Tea" was greatly enhanced by daily enjoying the series from Brit Box: "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes" (starring Jeremy Brett), wherein many scenes involved tea being served in delicate porcelain cups such as you see in the reference photo.  Follow along below, as I recount the steps in this very involved still life. ~~~ THE BEGINNIN...

  YELLOW DOCK 11 x 14" Oil ~~~ Yellow Dock went through a few changes!  My palette "en plein air" (on sight) for beginning this painting was basic. The less I have to carry out into the field is best. Less weighty! Paints weigh more than any other thing I take with me! Titanium White (Gamblin) Cadmium Yellow Lemon (Gamblin) Permanent Red Medium (Rembrandt) Ultramarine Blue Deep (any brand) Naples Yellow Deep (Rembrandt) Cold Gray (Rembrandt) ~~~ Unfortunately, I had left my bright yellow (Cadmium Yellow Lemon) at home! This is a strong, bright, opaque yellow. This particular yellow is strong and mixes great greens; however, the only yellow I had with me was Naples Yellow Deep which is not bright, and very transparent, so when mixed with other colors, Naples Yellow Deep barely affects the other color. So, unfortunately, when I wanted to mix a nice green, I could only mix very blue-greens. No green trees! No green water. 😞 I began my session as always: I took a photo and ...

  EARLY AUTUMN ON PEW ISLAND 11 x 14" Oil ~~~ The trees are just beginning to change; however, I'm not sure if this is due to the quickly approaching Fall season, or if these early whispers of autumn are actually a result of the current drought we are experiencing in this part of Ohio. What do you think? When I looked out across the channel toward the lake,  my eyes were particularly drawn to the colors of the leaves on the far trees.  I saw touches of orange!  I've been noticing these changes where we live also.  So, I mixed these colors: several greens,  some sky & water colors: blue and pale yellow  AND some of that orange I was seeing! ~~~  ~~~ As I normally do, I started with a photo of the scene  overlaid with grid lines and the 4 dots to indicate where those grid lines crossed. ~~~ As I began applying these mixes.  my intention was to emphasize those lovely trees, and to  purposefully downplay the sky and water.  So,...

  EARLY DAWN AT THE LAKE 14 x 11" Oil ~~~ We arrived very early for this day of painting and fishing.  The sun was just coming up and the moon had not yet set.   In the finished painting, that is the moon you see in the sky.  I placed grid lines over my reference photo, dots on my canvas,  and mixed some greyed down blues and yellow for the sky and water. ~~~ This is as much as I could accomplish at the lake.   The storm had started, and I could see the rain heading toward me pretty quickly!  ~~~ So, I packed up the car, and sat there watching the rain pelt the windshield, as  Dennis continued to fish. See the stickers? We get those on our  coffee (or tea) at the Gathering Grounds in Russels Point. The stickers keep the drinks warm, then I decorate the dash! That practice started with Covid in 2020. We couldn't be around crowds, so we went to Indian Lake often and were happy to see the Gathering Grounds was always open during that ...