Bees!

 I recently started beekeeping.  I can see some bee paintings coming up.  Scroll down for the first, a small oil painting of a bee in a crocus flower.

2021 Calendar - Christa Specht Florals

 I'm printing a floral art calendar for 2021, like I did a few years ago for 2018.

This is available in my Etsy shop.

Plein Air Checklist

I'm gearing up for another Plein Air painting season, now that the weather is warming up.

I've added a couple of events to my iCloud Events Calendar: the Lunenburg Paint Sea on Site and the Annapolis Royal Paint the Town.

I feel like I need a checklist to make sure I don't forget anything important, so here it is:

ESSENTIALS
- Backpack or bag
- Paint (Oils, Watercolors)
- Mediums (Water and container, Oil/Thinner mix)
- Bottle for waste water
- Brushes (Oil knives plus 1 or 2 brushes, Watercolor brush case)
- Support (Pre-primed panels, Watercolor paper)
- Palette (Watercolor palette, Disposable palette for oils)
- Paper towels, rags, or wet wipes, Scrap paper
- Drinking water and Snacks
- Trash bag
- Method of transporting wet paintings (box with spacers, or enough free space in vehicle)
- Small camera

OPTIONAL ITEMS
- Easel or Painting board
- Chair
- DSLR and tripod, extra battery, etc.
- Pens, Pencils, Erasers, Watercolor pencils
- Varnish or wax finish
- Sketchbook
- Hangers and glue, hanging wire, bumper pads, etc.
- Flashlight and spare batteries for after dark
- Personal items (sunglasses, hat, sunscreen, umbrella, rain jacket, etc.)
- Business items (business cards, postcards, etc.)

And another checklist of TIPS for once I'm set up and ready to paint:

- Take time to look first (The painting usually takes longer when I don't take enough time to properly look first)
- Value sketch (I need to work on getting the contrast right)
- Squint (To better determine the contrasts)
- Idea sketches (Try different compositions or color ideas, etc. in a small sketch first)
- Be mindful of contrasting elements (mostly light with a little dark, warm with a little cool, saturated vs dull, thick vs thin, hard edges vs soft, transparent vs opaque, large shapes vs small, etc.)
- Label the canvas with the title, my name, etc.  (Before it is covered in wet paint)
- Take a picture of each painting when it is finished (Before it gets dropped, or smudged, or sold)
- Relax and Enjoy (Most important part)

How Does Your Garden Grow

I've added a new time lapse video on my YouTube channel: How Does Your Garden Grow

The pictures for this video were taken from Mar-Sept of 2016, and now it is 2018 and I've finally put the video together!

I'm such a procrastinator.

More on that later.

Floral Art Calendars 2018

I decided to print calendars this year showcasing some of the flower paintings I've done in the last year or so.

 These are available at www.artbychrista.weebly.com for $15 each.  No tax, and free shipping within Canada.

A Couple Watercolor Portraits

I finished the "Mother / Daughter" and "Father / Daughter" watercolor portraits for my sister's family.

The progress photos below show the process of building up the color.