Home Portraits by Liana Yarckin

11x14 watercolor

by Liana Yarckin

11x14 watercolor 

by Liana Yarckin

Above are two house portraits I did in May and forgot to post.  The painting on top was commissioned as a gift for her husband's 50th birthday.  The timing was perfect because they had just completed renovating this home using "green building".  This means the home is environmentally responsible and resource efficient.  Aside from being friendly to the environment, the materials used and the HVAC system both protect and improve the occupants' health and productivity. 

The painting on the bottom was commissioned for a Mother's Day gift.  This house is the definition of charming.  It truly is one of my most favorite homes.  I love all of the details, the stone work, the windows, the iron window boxes, the gorgeous ironwork on the door and then the perfect lavender and white petunias overflowing in the window boxes.  

If you would like to commission your home, vacation home or a gift, please contact me for details.  I offer 11x14 watercolors or 8x10 pen and inks at reasonable prices.  To see a  collection of home portraits by me, visit my Facebook page or website.

Have a great week!

Conch Shell Abstraction Complete

Conch Shell

16x20 watercolor

by Liana Yarckin

 Painting Area one day on vacation

A lobster roll from J.T.'s Seafood, check out that claw

I finally finished the conch shell abstraction.  It was a fun and liberating experience.  Finishing it in my studio got me lost in the zone.  I continued painting in the grid with gradations, then at a stopping point, I noticed it was two equals - water and shell.  I decided to work on the shell so that it would pop out as the star.  I left the white strips because they reminded me of the sunlight reflections in the water.  I was trying to show a conch shell in beautiful clear moving water like the water in Turks and Caicos where it is so aqua, yet, see through to many several feet below.  Several shades of aqua blue with white sand far below and reflections of bright sunlight.  Please read my last post to get the full story of the abstraction process.

I am thrilled that we got to go on our annual Cape Cod trip to visit my husband's family.  Normally, we stay for a long time and I get to crank out a bunch of paintings, but, this year we did things a little different.  With my kids at camp, my husband and I went to Montreal.  This was such a fantastic trip.  The highlight was riding the rental bikes that are on every corner all over to see the sites.  We were lucky to eat delicious French food and go to the comedy festival that happened to be in town.  Then we drove to Maine to pick our kids up from camp.  Our road trip included stops in Burlington, VT and Kennebunkport, ME before ending up at the Cape.  So in other words, I had a blast, but, did very little painting.

I had to post a pic of a lobster roll from J.T.'s Seafood because of the last post from photos taken the previous summer.  I promise I am not on commission or an owner of J.T.'s, but, take a look at that lobster claw.  The best lobster roll I had this trip was at The Colony in Kennebunkport, though.  

Despite not painting much, I took several photos of cafes, sailboats, flowers and anything that made me say, "ooh, i want to paint that."  Where are your summer travels taking you?  If it is summer in your parts of the woods, that is. 

As always, thanks for visiting and your comments and thoughts make me smile.

Cafes from Cape Cod and Dallas

Lobster Rolls at JT's Seafood

11x14 watercolor

by Liana Yarckin

Selected for the Artists of Texas Fourth Annual Show:

Lunch in the West End

11x14 watercolor

by Liana Yarckin

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No matter what the temperature is outside, everyone always enjoys a meal with friends alfresco.  Here are two more paintings for my cafe series.  In order to be considered for my cafe series, umbrellas are key!  Umbrellas or a trellis of vines.  


The painting on top is of JT's Seafood.  They have the best lobster rolls.  I first saw the umbrellas and crowds of people when we were driving by on Route 6A several years ago.  The traffic was heavy and traveling at a good pace that it was difficult to get my husband to turn the car around so I could take some photos.  Photos would have to wait for another summer.  I found my way back to Route 6A and took photos of JT's and the much photographed Brewster General Store.  Little did I know that we would end up spending time in Brewster for the next two summers.  Now I have several photos of JT's from all angles taken while we waited for our food.  It is funny how things in life can make a full circle.


Lunch in the West End is inspired by the West End in Dallas.  The West End is a popular place for tourists to go when visiting Dallas.  A nice little walking area in Downtown full of restaurants, shops and live entertainment.  I really liked the shadows coming around the building here.  The red brick arch marks the entrance of the West End.

PLEASE VOTE FOR OUR FELLOW BLOGGER FRIEND

My dear blogger friend, Sandra Busby, has a chance for her painting Sherlock to be on the cover of the art catalogue, Ken Bromley Art Supply.  Sandra is such a talented artist and has a wonderful series of teddy bear paintings.  Here is Sherlock:

To vote: click on this link , Sandra's name is right under the picture.  It would make a darling cover.

Abstraction Study

work in progress 

by Liana Yarckin

I am working on this abstraction of a conch shell using a fracturing technique.  I have been wanting to create paintings of these conch shells that my husband and sons picked from the ocean floor a few years ago.  They are giant and heavy, but, it reminds me of the conch shell my grandparents had in their home long ago in which they used as a door stop.  I was just a toddler and my aunt and grandparents would hold it to my ear and tell me, "if you hold this to your ear, you can hear the ocean."  I think they would even say that, "so even if you are not at the ocean, with this shell, you can always hear the ocean."  Unless that is something I have made up now as an adult.  


I decided to do this abstraction for several reasons.  One, I wanted to capture or remind the viewer of the clear blue moving water in which the shell was found.  Two, isn't their a famous conch shell painting?  Just of the conch shell in the middle of the page.  I googled it, but, could not find it.  If you know which painting I am talking about, please let me know.


About the technique, first I drew the shell using mine as a model.  Then I used one of Pat Kochan's templates to create the abstract pattern over the shell.  She has several templates to chose from, but, when I saw this one, it felt right.  I feel like it echoes both shell and moving water.  We will see where this goes.  So far it has been both fun and challenging to paint.


Thanks for visiting and for your thoughts!  Have a great week wherever you are.

Latest Painting and a Bit of Good News

Days of Innocence

11x14

Here is a painting of where I wish I was.  On the beach with my feet in the sand, the hot sun feeling good because of the ocean breeze and the sound of the waves!  Instead, for the time I am in hot, hot, hot Dallas trying to stay cool and hanging out with my kiddos.  My precious little one did get a hold of a piece of 300lb. watercolor paper that I was going to paint on next.  He colored ninjas on one side and a force field on the other side!!!!  


For the painting above, I created the image from a photo of the two girls playing in the sand at the Dallas Arboretum.  I had the trees and shrubs drawn, but, I couldn't bring myself to paint the greens.  So I decided to turn it into the beach.


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Accepted into the Southwestern Watercolor Society 49th Annual Juried Exhibit

The big, exciting news is, I found out that Summer has Arrived (above) was accepted into the SWS Annual Juried Exhibit!!!!  If you read Carrie Waller's interview with me, one of my goals was to be accepted into a juried show.  I cannot believe I got in.  I am honored and feel so justified and inspired to paint, paint, paint!  I realize the other side of the coin is that it is just one person's opinion and if it were a different juror, maybe, my painting would not have gotten in.  But, either way, it shows how this artist (me), can be made so happy if just one person likes her work.  There is no "Buy It" button here because I kind of want to hang on it to it for now.  


If you would like to see the other selected paintings for the show, visit here.  One of my favorites is the alligator on the second page, but, I have a lot of favorites.  The physical exhibit will be in September.  I will post details for it closer to the date.  


Try to stay cool where you are.  And thank you all so much for your encouraging words!

Beach Scenes by Liana Yarckin

Pelican Sunbathing

detail

 Pelican Sunbathing

15x22

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Photo by Ophelia Kehoe

I started this painting in March and then had some real fun with it this past Tuesday!  The painting is inspired by the photo which was taken by my Aunt.  It is a pelican on a boat in Corpus Christi.

I was kind of uninterested with how my first wash came out.  I knew I needed to get darker behind the pelican.  I liked the reflections in the water, too.  I do not know how it entered my head but, I turned the painting sideways and started dripping various shades of blue paint onto the painting.  I had wax paper over the pelican to protect it from the running paint.  This was so much fun!  I like the way it came out. I truly felt like I was playing.  I like the cropped version.  The beauty of framing, you can have the mat cut to show whatever you want.

Thank you for all of your comments and emails for the last post on the water lily.  I have started a drawing for another painting inspired by a newspaper ad.  It has a boat in a marsh, however, I am adding lilly pads!

Water Lily by Artist Liana Yarckin

Water Lily I

15x22

Every time I see water lilies, I stop and take photos for a painting one day.  Well, here is the first watercolor I do from my photos.  This came about from Pat Kochan's class.  We were approaching abstracts  by applying a grid or some other type of pattern to our painting.  I created a random grid and one of my water lily photos.  I did not paint in the water because at the moment, I really like the white of the paper.  The painting is very bright in person compared to how it looks on my computer screen.

Let me hear from you.  Do you have any thoughts on this painting - done or should I paint the water?  What are you painting?

Hope you are staying cool where you are.

Liana Yarckin - Cafe Series

Lunch at Angel Tube Stop

14x18

It has been busy, busy, busy with the kids out of school for summer.  Fun, but, busy with little time to paint, much less keep up with all of the business side promoting one's art.

Here is number 11 in the Cafe Series.  I am really liking the color mingling going on in the right corner of the picture.  By doing this series, I am getting less afraid of painting crowds of people.  The photo that inspired this painting is from 2001.  I have stacks of photos of cafe scenes, street scenes and crowds of people that I have been saving for the day I had the courage to paint them.

I will mention that I have been frustrated with the quality of my images on the computer.  I am using the same camera, but, I switched to a Mac in December.  I feel like iPhoto is not keeping accurate color or sharpness that is the actual photo.  When I look at my posts before December, I feel that the quality of the pictures is so much closer to the real life image.  Does anyone have thoughts or advice on this?

Stay cool and please check back to see a new subject I just finished painting - it is NOT a cafe scene!

p.s.  I am exhibiting in 2 shows right now:  One Gallery and Manske Library.  These are group shows and the collections are quiet interesting.

Give a Liana Yarckin Original for Father's Day

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 Buy Sailboats  Framed.

 Buy Jagged Beach

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Buy Stoli Doli and Friends

or Commission your very own original

The painting above was commissioned by the daughter, the painting is of her father and her two brothers.

Excuses at the Cafe

Excuses

11x14

First, I am thrilled to let you know that I was interviewed by Carrie Waller.  Please go to her blog to read it.  I do enjoy reading her interviews because I learn interesting tid-bits about artists I follow.  Carrie's art is amazing.  My words cannot even begin to explain her unique style.  Carrie, a big thank you for interviewing me, I am honored.

Sometimes, you just don't know what is going on when you are trying to take photos of your favorite cafe discreetly.  This is Neighborhood Services on Henderson in Dallas.  I love how they have a white rose arbor over the patio area.  I was trying to take photos of this gorgeous arbor quickly since my family already left me behind headed to the car.  After I upload the photos to my computer I saw this couple in the photos.  Maybe he was late, again, or who knows.  I could just see that she was not happy with his explanation.  Originally, I was not going to paint them in my "cheerful" cafe scene, but, then I thought, why not.  Life is full of disappointments.  Sometimes we are disappointed by someone in our life.  I like the body language and wanted to recognize that life is not always made of only good moments.  Whatever happens with this pair, we know that they will encounter many more good times and bad together or not.

Today is our last day of school.  Have a happy summer everyone!  Hopefully, I will still get to paint and blog.  Oh, before I forget, I have some work on exhibit at Gallery One at Highland Park Presbyterian Church for the summer.  Another exhibit will be at the Richardson Library starting on June 2nd.

p.s. on the interview - 5 things hope to achieve, I forgot to mention camp in the Grand Canyon with my family and visit the Pyramids!

Paris Cafe

This is number 9 in the cafe series.  By doing these cafe scenes I have been able to focus on letting the colors mingle to imply the crowds and the details versus painting every tiny detail.  I have noticed that I really like painting in several washes, layer over layer.

Should I title this "Morning Coffee" or "Table for One"?  Table for One sounds lonely, but, I don't think he is lonely at all.  In fact, I would love to be him, sitting there sipping my coffee and watching everyone go off to work.  He is just enjoying his coffee and not in a rush.  Ironically, the rush is coming to an end with the school year ending and I am finding it hard to down shift out of the fast pace.  I was able to paint most of the day yesterday which is good, but, just weird adjusting to quiet and not rushing around.

Have a great week.   Thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts!

Celebrate - Watercolors by Liana Yarckin

The Party

11x14

I was so lucky to go to a fantastic party in an amazing garden.  I felt like Alice in Wonderland when she was the tiny "weed" in the garden of giant flowers.  Live oaks with large canopies were overhead and tall azalea bushes, over 5' tall, lined pathways and cozy spaces to gather.  The weather could not have been more perfect.  Japanese lanterns glowed in the night sky and the house curved around like an arm hugging you.

Thus, my inspiration to paint "The Party".  Painted from memory, this is what I saw and felt.  Of course, there were people all about, but, I decided to keep the people in the covered structures for this painting.  I painted this when it was fresh in my mind, starting with yellow paint to sketch out the shapes of the structures and then layering in light washes, building up the color.

Thanks for visiting.  Your comments make my day!
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Home Portrait for a Gift

Good news, Shirly Cohn of Allie Beth Allman just picked this home portrait up for her client. She is going to give it to them as a closing gift.  Her client is moving back to South America so now they will have this painting to always remember their time in Dallas.  


This home was built in 1937 in true Dilbeck style. It is featured in the book, "Great American Suburbs". Shirly was very proud that it sold before making it to market above market value.


I thoroughly enjoyed painting this unique home with the wonderful landscaping.  Yes, I did embellish the flowers a little.  


Thanks for visiting me!  Say hi to me on Facebook, Liana Yarckin Watercolors.

A Day of Giving

This past weekend was a busy one.  Saturday I worked with my son's Cub Scout troop on getting their Art pin.  They were required to talk to a local artist about the different occupations in the art field as well as do a variety of art projects.  I had watercolors, watercolor pencils, colored pencils, oil pastels and clay for them to use with the different projects.  Some of the boys couldn't wait to paint at an easel while others wanted to do the clay first.  We lucked out with great weather and did the whole project outside.

Then after the Cub Scouts left, I headed over to Northpark Mall for The Great Adventure Hunt benefiting Childcaregroup of Dallas.  It was a scavenger hunt in the mall.  The theme was Paris.  Childcaregroup had 4 artists painting on easels at the water/information stations.  It was a great experience.  I worked on the two above paintings.  One, a street cafe to go into my cafe series and the other with the Eiffel Tower.  As you can see, they are still stapled to the boards, I need add the finishing touches.  This would be my first time to paint in public as a "feature" so to speak.  At first, I was uncomfortable with the thought of people watching me paint and what it would be like.  But, it turned out to be just fine.  Everyone was interested and the children especially made me very comfortable.  I am pleased with how the street cafe painting is coming out.  The setting of stopping to answer observers questions and having my focus divided made my painting more spontaneous and loose - you know, what I am always striving for.

Thank you for visiting.  I just posted several commissions I am working on on my Liana Yarckin Watercolors Facebook page.  Home portraits in the pencil phase and several watercolors of other subjects.  They all have May deadlines so I need to get to work!

Digital Editing & Watercolor

Many of you know that my first solo show held at City Cafe was more than I ever imagined or expected.  Michele, Karim and the entire staff at City Cafe were just wonderful and I felt like I was part of the City Cafe Family.   I wanted to thank them and express my deepest appreciation.  Michele had mentioned that he wanted to talk to me about a painting of City Cafe because he had seen my Home Portraits.  I thought I would surprise him with a painting of City Cafe as a thank you gift.

The photos of City Cafe are above.  I wanted to capture the essence of "City Cafe", not document the location of their lease.  Knowing Michele, I knew that he would be okay with me using my artistic license.  Using Corel Photopaint, I merged, cut and paste, erased several photos to get an image that showed the front door to City Cafe with the outdoor seating.  I moved the valet stand over, too, because when I am driving by on Lover's Lane, that valet umbrella grabs my eye and says, "We are open".  I basically removed the things that were not "City Cafe" like the giant columns and the staircase going to the businesses above.

I hope you like the way I interpreted the photos.  Of course, City Cafe was very gracious when I presented them with the painting.

If I did not already mention in a previous post, consider showing your work in a restaurant or coffee shop.  The exposure and experience has been great.  Make sure to have cards with contact information available, too.

Have a good week!  Please visit me on Facebook for the latest pictures!

p.s.  I had a nice little surprise last week. Cardsdirect contacted me to buy the license for the last painting I posted!  I didn't even know they read my blog.

Amen Corner

Amen Corner a.k.a. 12th Hole

11x14

I couldn't wait to post this with the Masters just happening this past weekend.  For Pat's Monday class, we  could paint a golf course if we wanted.  Not being a golfer, I had no interest, but, then catching a glimpse of the Masters on the T.V., I changed my mind.  The images they were showing of Augusta golf course were just amazing.  My poor husband, while he was trying to enjoy to tournament, I would rewind, pause and take pictures of the scenery.  This is an image I caught on T.V.  I used my artistic license to embellish the azaleas which had bloomed early this year.  What I was most interested in were the reflections in the water.  The sun is right behind the trees to the right of the bridge.  I am just now noticing that the blue sky is not showing up as I thought.  I will go back and look at the original now and see if I need to correct that.  The blue in the water is true to how the sky looked.

Hope everyone had a great Easter / Passover.  Thank you for taking the time to email me or comment.  I truly appreciate it!

To purchase, press here.

A Call for Cafes from Around the World

The Place to Be

11x14 watercolor

This is number 5 or 6 in my Cafe Series.  I am telling you, the umbrellas do happen to be red/orange this season.  The original photo was taken in Austin, Texas on a perfect, glorious weather day on Sunday at about noon.  The sun was shining, the temperature in the high 70's and everyone was out enjoying this gorgeous day.

My ideal moments spent is sitting outside at a cafe with friends enjoying our time together and the sunshine.  I would love it if you have a favorite outdoor cafe spot in your part of the world if you would post it to my Facebook page or email it to me!  I would love to paint it and add it to my collection.  Of course, I will credit you and link back to your blog or website.  Wouldn't that be great to see the cafes from around the world!

I can't wait to see your photos!!!!!  Thanks for visiting!
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Continuing with canvas

Summer at the Vineyard

16 x 20 watermedia on canvas

Murphy's Law played a joke on me.  After hanging 25+ paintings and then taking new paintings up to City Cafe to replace the ones that sold, I thought, why can't these be canvases instead of heavy frames with glass!  Not to mention the expense of framing.  So I painted a detail from "Summer Has Arrived" with watercolor and matte medium on a canvas.  How liberating was this compared to watercolor on paper.  I am able to wipe paint off and I didn't have to "save my white".  There is no white paint in watercolor and I am a firm believer that white acrylic, gouache etc. will just ruin the luminosity of transparent watercolor, so all of the whites in my watercolors are the white of the paper.  This means I "saved" them by painting around or using masking fluid.  I still handled the whites / lights similarly.  But, if I lost some of the railing or other lights, I could easily lift it out.

Oh, so here is where Murphy came in.  I single handedly skipped in to hang this painting practically dangling on one finger because it was so light, there was no glass to break, no frame that would get chipped.  Well, a buyer called.  He wanted me to come down on the price.  I told him this was my latest work and I was happy for it to come home with me, plus I have "friendly" prices.  A few days  passed, the buyer called again.  He pointed out that all of my other paintings were framed, but, this one and that he would buy it at my asking price if I put a frame on it.  I explained the reason, but, he won.  So here I painted on canvas to avoid framing and my buyer wanted it with a frame.  Thanks, Murphy.  I do have to add, after I put it in the frame, I think I would have felt comfortable asking for 3 times the original price.  The frame made a huge difference.

What do you think?  Do you prefer watercolor on paper?  Watercolor on canvas?

Thanks for visiting!  Have a great week!

Stretching paper over canvas

Sails at Luxembourg Gardens

16x20 watercolor stretched on canvas

In Pat Kochan's class we stretched watercolor paper over canvas.  She wanted to teach us this technique for instances when your client doesn't want or cannot have glass.  It is pretty easy, but, takes more time or effort than I care for unless, of course I am requested to do it.  Just like stretching your watercolor on a board, you wet the paper on both sides, simply wrap the canvas and staple the paper down as you would on board.  You will have to use a staple gun.  Be sure to treat the corners as if you were wrapping a present by just folding them in.  When it dries, you will have a tightly wrapped canvas.  Once your painting is complete, you must protect your painting with a spray varnish.

I finally got my courage up to paint this from a photo I took in 1998.  This was a very hot day.  So hot that everyone was just sitting around the pond, nobody sailing one of these toy boats.  Well, there was no wind, either.  I took several different photos of this man and his cart.  Another painting I did from these photos was Sailing in Luxembourg Gardens, Paris, France, which is of the children sailing the boats.  I heard that they took the ferris wheel down recently.  Does anyone know if that is permanent or do they take it down every year?

Happy painting!  Have a great week and thank you so much for reading my blog!
p.s.  If you have a favorite cafe scene and you would like to loan it to me for my cafe series, by all means, please email it to me or post it on my Facebook wall.

To purchase, press here.

Portrait II

Little Sister

11x14 watercolor

Custom Home Portrait

8x10 pen & ink

How is everyone doing?  We have been having amazingly gorgeous weather here.  That has cut into my painting time a little.  I have also been working on various commissions.  Two are above.

The little girl is the sister to the boy I painted recently.  I may have done too much shading under her cheek, but, believe it or not, it was the lightest wash of Winsor Blue and some Cad. orange on top.  A little Winsor Blue goes a long way.

The second is a rendering of a home.  A realtor commissioned this rendering as a closing gift for her client.  This is the home they are moving from so it will make a nice memento for the receiver.

GOOD NEWS!!! My show at City Cafe has been extended until March 22!!!!!  I am thrilled about this.  I have sold 9 paintings so far.  I keep taking other paintings up there to replace the ones that have sold, so please visit again if you want to see the latest paintings.

Last, Facebook has made it so easy and efficient for mobile uploads that it seems I take a photo with my phone and upload right to my page - Liana Yarckin Watercolors.  For the latest paintings and news, please visit my Facebook page.

Thanks of for visiting!  Have a great week.  And thanks for all of your comments and emails.  I really like hearing what you think!  :)