Fool's Masquerade

"Fool's Masquerade". The title of a new painting that I have been working on. It is never done until after I put it away for awhile and bring it back out and see it with a fresh eye. Wanting to add to my portfolio of Venetian masks is what prompted me to work on a this new addition. I have been so intrigued with the textures and baubles that accompany these masks of mystery. Being an artist that likes detail, this has been a perfect subject for me to delve into. Hope you like it and any feedback is welcome.

 

AI Effects

 Would you believe that this is my studio?? You see some of my paintings in the background and it looks like me (Although a bit younger looking). Does it look like I live in a French Village? (This is not my studio). This is some of the experimentation I have done with AI. I gave them a photo of myself, images of some of my watercolors and voila! I put in to create a caricature of myself. It came up with something pleasant. I also asked it to make it look like my studio is in France. It also looks like a watercolor. I admit to having used AI for various reasons and it is unnerving to say the least.

Women in Watercolor 2026

 It's been a stellar year for my artwork! I received notice that my painting "the Bishop" has been accepted into the "Women In Watercolor Competition" for 2026. It was one of 254 accepted entries out of over 1750 entries from 59 countries. I will post any other information relating to this show as it develops.

Scaling Up The Subtle

Watercolor Artist Magazine did a feature article on my watercolor paintings! I received my advance copy yesterday! I am very happy with the quality of the writing and the layout. They did a superb job! 

I am grateful to Anne Hevener, Editor-In-Chief, and to Ani Kodjabasheva who wrote the article. There are several references to the area that I am from which is Detroit. Here in the USA it will be at newsstands after July 28th Fall Issue. It will be available after that date through "Artists Network". Or you can access my website and it is located in full on the Workshops Page . www.paulafiebich.com

 

 

The Best Of Watercolor 2026-Winners of the Splash 27 Art Competition!

I am proud to announce that I was chosen to be one of the best of watercolor competition in 2026! My Painting "Commedia Dell'Arte was the watercolor that I had submitted and was chosen. There are different catagories and this is in the still life & floral section on page 92. The competition was open to national and international artists. There are 150 that made it into the magazine. The magazine should be on newsstands in July.

 

Season's Farewell

Final Painting! What I added was a splatter effect just to show a dusty atmosphere a bit. Hopefully it adds an aged feel."Season's Farewell" was in my opinion a perfect title. Hope you notice the little cabbage moth on the underside of the flower. A little bit of white is always good. Hope you enjoyed the step-by-step as to how I worked on and developed this watercolor. Any comments are welcome.

 

Stage V

 Quite a bit of progress here! The rest of the leaves and stems are now complete. The colors I used for the mixed greens were Green Gold,Indanthrone Blue, Burnt Umber. The Green Gold was mixed with the Indanthrone Blue and a little of some umber to create an earthy green. The veining in the leaves were with the Green Gold. A cabbage moth can be seen. Just that little bit of white in the painting. One last step to come.

Stage IV

 On to developing the head of the sunflower. Without getting into too much detail, I wanted to do a good job on conveying the pattern of seeds. There is much sacred geometry in the design. The colors that I used were Quinacridone Burnt Orange, VanDyke Brown, some Ochre and Sepia. I had masked out the shape of the seeds first before putting down the washes and shadows of browns. The decayed pedals were painted once the seed head was complete. The last thing was do emphasis the shadows. 

Stage III

 Now at stage III, I am developing the leaves in the foreground. In order to convey the wilting texture, I have used various methods to show the decay that is starting to take place. In order to do that, I let the various shades of green and brown to run into each other and dropped in some salt in certain areas.  The colors that I used were Green Gold, Indanthrone Blue, Yellow Ochre and Burnt Umber. The leaf in the foreground that is most prominent, will be the lightest in value.

Stage II

 In Stage II of this watercolor, I have now finished the background by adding layers. Using a blue tinted masking fluid, I masked out all of the veins in the leaves and removed the outer masking that I had on the areas that would be affected by the smooth washes of the background. Proceeding from light to dark, I tackled the large stem leading to the head of the wilted sunflower. I used French Ochre and some Green Gold and Paynes Grey. All Daniel Smith paints.