Vincent showed up for a modeling session last weekend, so I decided to focus on a close-up of his face. He has expressive eyes and is happy to sit and pose for me. I used lots of thickly applied watercolor pigments with some acrylic medium. He is quite happy with the results! more »
For me, the challenge is to continue this series and expand on the teapot designs. My goal is to do at least twenty unique designs. Originally the focus for this background was to be a crossword puzzle, but it evolved into the arrow-like shapes. I also wanted to use a different range of colors than […] more »
Cats play a big part in our lives and I have a lot of models around during the day. Felines love squashing themselves into a small box and I used a reference photo for this watercolor painting. I used a limited palette of cadmium orange, cerulean blue, sap green, ultramarine blue, white and thalo red. more »
I have decided to continue with my Teapot Series still lifes after reviewing some of my past work. This subject matter still intrigues me and I wonder where the future designs may lead. That is why I continue to paint — the surprise ending is well worth it! I do know that once I start […] more »
Lately I seem to be creating a lot of different birds! This one started with some loose, contour drawings of chickens, which I think are funny birds. I love the variegated feathers and textures on the birds. After I completed some drawings, I used my tracing paper to combine some of them into a pleasing design. […] more »
This piece was inspired by my observances of birds’ funny behavior and appearances. I used one of my sketches for this and edited as I worked. It began with the bird’s overall color and expressive eyes and wild hairdo. Another challenge for me was using a smaller format, but not quite as small as what the Daily […] more »
Marybeth Heikes recently received a Merit Award at the Polk County Heritage Gallery on October 18, during the artists reception. Her winning entry, RAGBRAI, is an acrylic collage of a bicycle wheel with pieces of an Iowa map included in the background. The juror was Barb Vaske, Director of the Ankeny Art Center. She commented […] more »
This design took a complete 180 from what I thought would be a perfect flower garden. At the start I chose a dark burnt sienna background — a different color for me, and I added the bold sunflower on top. Then I was at a standstill for many weeks. Last week I envisioned a much different composition […] more »
Marybeth Heikes recently received an Honors Award in the annual Midwest National Abstract Exhibition in Indianapolis. She received a cash/ribbon award for her watercolor painting, Engine Series #5, part of her series of train engines. The juror, Paige Williams, commented on the piece: “The lushness of contrasting color and variation of edges creates a compelling push/pull spatial quality. […] more »
This painting was inspired by my garden flowers and antique bottle collection. Still lifes are one of my favorite subject matter to paint, and I love the bright colors of summer flowers! I decided from the start to use some of my flower sketches of our larkspur plants and fire engine red petunias. I began […] more »