Category: Karen Hilliard Art Blog

Using salt with watercolor paintings creates an amazing texture. I love the little snowflake and white bursts the salt makes while absorbing the moisture of the water. This texture is great for backgrounds if you want to make your painting look magical, mystical, or look like the winter season. Timing is very important and I suggest practicing on several scrap pieces of paper before using this technique in your actual finished work. For my examples below, I used a wet on wet technique with dark colors of paint and applied the salt generously on top of the wet paint.

For this experiment I wanted to create a winter or cold morning feel. I liked the idea of snowflakes or morning frost. I am currently working on flowers from the Nevada desert to make this painting interesting. The desert gets cold in the evenings and drops to freezing temperatures overnight. I wanted to show the magic of the desert and chose the colors Antwerp Blue for the night sky with a touch of Permanent Alizarin Crimson. I added Cerulean into the middle for an early morning atmosphere. The flower stems were applied first and I left white around them to come back and fill the petals in later. Other artists use masking fluid and paint flowers first, let the medium dry, then apply watercolor over the whole paper. After this is dry, they scrape the masking fluid off and fill the flower colors in. This is another option if you prefer this technique.

Later, I decided to practice with the salt in my sketchbook. I used Sea Salt only this time and a generous amount of Permanent Alizarin Crimson. The Antwerp blue was added later using my finger to apply it. The red was nice and a deep hue with splashes of the blue throughout it. Then I applied the salt by placing a few pieces apart from each other to see if I could get more snowflake images. I really am pleased how this turned out and will be using it in the future. The problems that occur with this style of painting are getting salt in the water cup and inside the paint brushes. I recommend using older brushes, a clean water cup or jar, and a paint set separate from your main paint set. I wish I knew this when I started. If you apply paint to any other painting after using the same materials, salt will get into your other paintings. I hope this blog helped some of you who have been wanting to experiment with salt. Feel free to contact me with any questions through my website contact page.

-Karen Hilliard

Stella’s  Bug Eye View was painted from a photograph taken at Zion National Park in Utah. I saw giant bug eyes bulging out underneath a rock. The tree had an amazing root system that twisted and turned around itself. The creature formed in my mind as a giant ant. I had flashbacks of the movie, “Honey, I Shrunk the Kids.” I remember loving the scene of the ant helping them get back to their house. I cried when this wonderful creature met its end in the movie. This painting brought it back to life for me and keeps the happy helper living on forever. I love being blessed with the gift to look at the world in different ways and see images of joy everywhere I go.

Frommer’s Whale was painted from a picture taken in Moab, Utah. I was on a climbing trip underneath a very hot sun. A giant boulder created amazing shade. I decided to take a rest, and when I looked up I saw a whale in the sandstone. The animal looked as if it was breaching out of the water onto an ice sheet or the beach. The whale looked calming and sweet and I felt the midst of the ocean breeze on my face for just a moment. I closed my eyes and the red sand between my toes became golden, then wet. Dreams of California flooded my memories and the heat of the desert began to disappear. This was an amazing experience. I love how pictures, paintings, and images can create such wonderful memories. I decided to take this rock formation and turn it into a different type of art. A painting that could hang in other people’s homes forever.

I hope you enjoy these two new prints. They are both on Watercolor Paper to show the texture of the originals. Each print is made using Giclée processing. Giclée printing is not the same as standard desktop inkjet printers. Instead this printing process uses archival inks which can last up to 25 years when kept out of the sunlight. Giclée printing does not use screen or other mechanical devices, so there is no visible dot screen pattern. The image retains all the tonalities and hues of the original painting to bring joy into everyone’s home!

Thank you for reading! Contact me with any questions or comments through the contact page.

-Karen Hilliard

I love painting small and having my original art be available to everyone. I hope the new series of Tiny Paintings about Mt. Charleston, Nevada will bring people joy. I decided to paint trees, rocks, trails, flora, and maybe some images of the mountain itself. The paintings will be centered around Fletcher Canyon, North Loop Trail, and Mary Jane Falls. If there are any spots you deeply love and would like to see paintings of, please send me an email. I paint from my own reference photos so I will see if I have any photographs of different areas. 

Mt. Charleston Series 1 Number 1 is a painting of a tree. This Bristlcone pine was found at the top of the North Loop trail on the way to Raintree. Along the mountain path lies a lane of sculptured trees. The colors and movement of these images fascinate me. I love the combination and contrast of blues mixed with orange and light white with yellow intertwined. I see the details in the nooks and crannies that were molded by the elements. I often wonder whether a crack in the wood was molded by the rain or the wind, and what the storm may have been like to cause such a shape. My mind drifts and I see creations and creatures form in the lines of the wood. This small work painting was inspired by another larger work “Rooster in the Wood” which recently sold last year. I am pleased I can make a Tiny replica piece for others to enjoy.

The next painting in the series may be a tree, or a rock, you will have to check back to see! These will be fun and imaginative pieces. Winsor Newton Professional Watercolours are my medium of choice for this project. They will be applied using size 0 and 000 brushes. No sketch of these will be done on the original before applying the paint. I like knowing that whatever comes from the paintbrush on to the paper was meant to come out. There are also some process videos of this painting on my YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok pages @khilliardart if you would like to see them. Thank you for reading and please contact me with any questions.

-Karen Hillliard

Recently, I have had the pleasure of painting these wonderful pets for clients. I decided to offer pet portraits each month. I can complete 5 a month currently and it will be first come, first serve. Please email me through the contact page if you are interested. I will paint your pet in a loose watercolor style on a 9”x12” sheet of 140lb watercolor paper. They are $250.00 each and shipping is included for anyone in the USA. Here are some beautiful pets I had the honor of painting.

The French Bulldog is a super sweet girl and very loved by her entire family. She loves to snuggle and look up at her mom for pets! She enjoys laying around on the weekends and relaxing with her people. The chihuahua mix is named Killer. His name is fitting because his bark is definitely larger than his size. He will let you know if he does not agree with you. These dogs were both painted using no pencil work in a loose watercolor style. I used various colors and tried to put blue into these paintings. For example, Mouse, the French Bulldog is actually black but the colors in the painting matched her personality. If this is the style you are looking for, please contact me. I would be happy to create a loving image of your wonderful family member.

Shwayze the boxer was drawn with a light pencil sketch and then painted in a more detailed watercolor style with a loose background. This style is not included so if you desire this type of art, please let me know and I will give you a quote based on time and detail. This boxer was very loved by her family and this is a remembrance painting. I am honored to have been chosen to commemorate such an important member in this family’s life. She will be missed and I hope the painting brings happy memories into their home. Thank you for reading and I look forward to hearing from you!

-Karen Hilliard

Vedauwoo near Laramie, Wyoming, is an amazing climbing area. The picturesque rocks are vivid shades of pink, blue, yellow, and orange. Set in the Medicine Bow-Routt National Forest are fantastic rock formations. The composition of rough granite is wondrous to climb as well as look upon. The camping areas are calm and secluded with pets allowed. While at the campground, I came across a beautiful tree. In the trunk I saw a dolphin breaching out of the ocean. It’s bottlenose cresting above the water and pure enjoyment on its face. The texture of the tree reminded me of the movement in the water as the waves break. I tried to show the feeling of the bubbles and the seaweed in the background. Vedauwoo is a magical place and I hope you all can go and see it one day, especially if you love to climb.

I got to enjoy the campground with my red heeler at my side. He was tired so I waited back at the grounds with him while my friends climbed. I leaned up against a rock to do a preliminary sketch of the tree and a giant buck came out of the woods. His antlers were massive and he came right up to my sketchbook. I was hoping my dog would keep sleeping but he did not. The mighty deer lowered his head in curiosity and my dog was super worried about me so he chased the beautiful creature away. I will always remember the calm moment before the storm. I would not trade my time with my best friend for anything but I do wish we all could have sat there in harmony a while longer. It was a magical place to visit with glorious experiences shared. 

I hope you enjoy “Dolphin Smiles” as much as I did creating it. I would love to hear about if you see the dolphin or if you see any other images in the textures created. You can reach me through my contact page on the website, or click on the word “contact” for the link. Thank you for reading!

-Karen Hilliard

Growing up in a beach town outside of San Francisco was an amazing experience. I loved walking along the coastal cliffs among the sea plants, as I called them then. The succulents were always amazing to me. I wondered how they grew on the side of cliffs and in the sand. While looking through Mandy’s photos, I came across these beautiful plants she captured on her camera. Number 8 in the series is a close up of one flower from the succulent. I love the contrast of light and dark in this painting. I used the negative space around the flower to bring it to life. The dark and light greens created the differences in colors and shades in the plant. I was able to add a touch of reddish orange to show the tips of the plant.

Number 9 is a farther away version of the many succulents together. I wanted to show the red at the top of the succulents. The subtle yellow of the plants had a beautiful color and reminded me of the sunlight illuminating the plants on the cliffs growing up. I was able to paint 2 flowers in this tiny painting but my main focus was on the intricacies of the lines in the plants. I wanted to show more of the color variations in the succulents and add the warmer colors this time. The red at the tips were darker so I added a bit more cooler colors such as purple to the mixture. This painting has a good balance of cool and warm colors. 

Number 10 in the series was a close up of the rocks in the tide pools. I really enjoyed the previous paintings of Number 2 and 3 and wanted to show the muscles on the rocks more closely. The main focus of this painting are the muscles and the sea grass atop the other rocks. The plant life on these rocks were red and yellow at the top and I found this fascinating. The texture was built up with purples, blues, and then bright red with yellow on top. I really enjoyed this series and am grateful to the photographer for such inspiring photos to paint from. If you have any questions, feel free to email me through my contact page.

-Karen Hilliard

Do you love to watch the sunset over the ocean? I love watching the sunset through the trees, and then, add the ocean for pure happiness!! Number 5 in the series was painted from a photo taken looking through the trees on a sea cliff. Mandy Hilliard has an excellent eye for beautiful photos. I am lucky she loves sunsets as much as I do! The colors in this Tiny painting were especially fun. I love the tiny details of the plants overlooking the ocean and the rocks in the distance. This was a great difference in perspective from painting Number 4 with the same rock formations in the ocean. The tree coming in on the left started out completely green in the watercolor and then I added some blues to make it darker. The photograph showed the tree as black and shadowed, but I wanted to add a bit of color to show how it may have looked in person.

Number 6 in the series is a macro version of Number 1 because I love the colors of this succulent growing at the top of the cliff. Reds, greens, yellows, and a hint of orange brings so much delight to my senses. I wanted to show the thickness of the plant and the texture. The rocks underneath it had many variations of color as well. In Number 1, I did not show the multitude of colors in the rocks so I wanted to emphasize their colors in this painting. This piece is vertical in contrast to its partner piece which is horizontal. The painting is vertical to show the height of the plant and how it grows up towards the light. 

Number 7 in the series was probably my favorite. I truly loved creating the wave and the shape of the rock in the distance. The sea breeze on the rock in the middle of the painting was created by leaving the space white and painting the negative space around the midst. These are both very subtle images and easy to see in the original more than on the photograph of the painting. Painting the movement of the water between each rock was also amazing to me on how many layers of paint it took to create such softness in the water. The painting took many hours and I am happy to write that this piece has found a home in London, England. I hope it brings happy memories of the California Coastline to the family along with much enjoyment.

-Karen Hilliard