Author: JohnM

Watercolor Wildflowers is studio artist business. John Meng-Frecker is a retired civil engineer surveyor - I make resin art ornaments, lighthouses, nightlights, geometric art, resin paintings, and I do other graphic arts related services like framing and hanging installations. My resin slab designs are geometric themes and color compositions. Art pieces are transparent, colorful and illuminated with LED by AC or battery power. Shipping of online purchase is free and local Installation in Omaha area is included with purchase.My resin art is unlike any other and will look incredible in your home or business. My paintings are planned, well constructed, and beautiful. Hang them on your wall or in front of a window. I've built LED backlighting which shines brightly through the colorful resin. Made-to-order and Commissions 4029437516.
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Mastering Depth and Color in Watercolor: Poppies and Thistles Painting

gold framed "Poppies and Thistles", watercolor painting

Painting secondary colors with watercolor is a challenge. Painting Poppies and Thistles is a recipe for disaster. The problem is blending. Getting the appearance of a wide hillside filled with orange and purple and green with flowers in descending size (receding distance) increases the likelihood of mud. Mud happens when you mix any two secondary colors because they are opposites. Its yellow-red, blue-red, and blue yellow. Any mixture puts a third primary into the mix, which equals what can be a horrible color.

I’ve tried to overcome the problem with green by painting a layer of blue and using a transparent overlay of yellow. If I’ve got orange and blue next to each other and I overlay yellow into the orange, that is OK. But I can’t let any of the yellow overlay the purple.

This painting, “Poppies and Thistles” took much longer to paint than I imagined. Controlling location, values, colors, and pushing and pulling to get a believable depth, were some of the additional challenges.

Poppies and Thistles watercolor painting
Poppies and Thistles in watercolor, 27″ x 16″
Gold framed landscape painting hanging on a beige wall. The painting has orange and purple and green elements in the foreground.
Gold framed landscape painting hanging on a beige wall. The painting has orange and purple and green elements in the foreground with light green and light blue background.
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Unique Framing Solutions for Non-standard Artwork | Art to Frame

AI generated scene of tiny artist with large paintbrush and abstract painting in front of many gold frames.

Framing Art can be a tricky business and expensive. I try to use standard size sheets of watercolor so that the artwork can be easily framed. Not everything is standard however. I like using Arches 10″ x 14″ pads of 140 lb cold press. There aren’t many frames out there for 10″ x 14″ openings. A solution I have found is Art to Frames Inc or arttoframe.com in Brooklyn, New York 718-788-6200.

On their website you can enter the size of the opening (next smallest integer inch) to see what your options are for frames and matting. As an example, I would enter 9″ x 13″ since it is the next smallest integer. If the paper was 10.5″ x 14.5″ then I would enter 10″ x 14″ for the opening. On the left side of the web page be sure to check Frame + Single Mat. The outer frame size will be 16.5 x 20.5 inches. This can be checked in the product information before you add to cart.

Play around with this page to see what looks best. You can even upload a photo of the image (should be same aspect ratio as the opening) to see what the frame and artwork will look like together!

Art to Frame web page
Art to Frame web page
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Weekly Watercolor Paintings of Landscapes | Order Custom Artwork

watercolor wildflowers Oregon

My business is centered on producing watercolor paintings of your vacation photos. Throughout my engineering career I cherished the couple of weeks each year spent in Oregon or at a lake in Minnesota. The inspiration which carried me through 40 years working was the vacation! We work 6 days to get one day. We work 50 weeks to get two weeks off. We work 40 years to get 10 years in retirement.

Please follow this WordPress blog to see weekly watercolor paintings of landscapes. My travels are the source of my art. Send me a landscape photo of your cherished location – what motivates you? I will produce a beautiful watercolor painting that you can hang on the wall in your office. Your inspiration. #painting

watercolor wildflowers Oregon
Oregon wildflowers at the base of Mount Hood.