So, I did it again and did another portrait of baby Alanna (at approx. 1 yr old) in watercolors. I couldn't resist this picture of hers especially those eyes. This one is 8x10 inches on 140 lb. Arches watercolor paper. Hope you like it!
Alanna - watercolor on watercolor paper (8x10 inches)
So I went back into the reject pile and found this old watercolor which I didn't like and decided to gesso it and paint over it in oil pastels. I'm glad I did because I like how this pomegranate looks in oil pastels, kind of painterly and 3D. Hope you like it too!
Pomegranate - oil pastel on gessoed watercolor paper (9x12 inches)
Alanna Nicole - watercolor in watercolor paper (8x10 inches)
Here is Alanna Nicole in watercolors - 8 x 10 inches watercolor paper. I'm on a roll! My 3rd ever watercolor portrait. I think I went a little too harsh with some of the lines. Next time will try a softer treatment.
For skintones I used: Mars Yellow, Quin Rose and Ultramarine Blue (with a bit of Burnt Sienna for the darkest darks).
For the hair I used: Mars Yellow, Ultramarine Blue, Burnt Sienna and Indigo for the darkest darks.
I finally took the plunge and completed a small watercolor portrait of my oldest daughter Valeria Sofia. I made the painting by glazing very light washes on top of each other using the following colors primarily: Quinacridone Rose, Mars Yellow and Ultramarine Blue. The hair uses Quinacridone Burnt Orange mixed with Indigo and the background is mostly Indigo. I wish I had gone a little darker with the hair and skintones but too "chicken" at this stage. I think overall it captures her personality and facial features. I'm so excited and can't wait to try a larger portrait of her and my youngest too.
Valeria Sofia - Watercolor on watercolor paper (8x10 inches)
Lately, I've been working on honing in my figure drawing skills. It's a lot more difficult than I thought. I found some nice pictures in the website wetcanvas and I've attempted them in mixed media (mostly watercolor but also some ink, pastel pencils and white gel pencils). For now I think I'll keep working in monochrome but eventually I want to work on skintones.
A step-by-step demo of my acrylic painting process has been featured in the Summer 2013 newsletter of the website "Paint my Photo." You can download the publication here:
http://issuu.com/paintmyphoto/docs/newsletter_summer_2013
There are other excellent tutorials in the newsletter, so it's worth checking it out!
My acrylic work featured in the Summer 2013 newsletter of the "Paint my Photo" website
Lately, I've been in a watercolor kind of mood. I have done a few sketches of flowers and bees as part of the "Paint my Photo" watercolor challenge for this month (June 2013). I tried the bee on cornflower twice trying to paint as loose as possible but I think I fiddled too much with the background. Will try again in a while to see if I can simplify the background more.
I've also painted a rhododendron in watercolor as part of the Wetcanvas "Floral's and Botanical" group June 2013 challenge. I enjoyed painting these flowers a lot.
Top: Bee on cornflowers, Bottom Bee on Eryginum/Pink Rhododendron. All are 8x10 inches on Arches 140 lb. paper.
Motivated by the May 2013 challenge in the watercolor group of the site "Paint my Photo", I've been painting some small watercolors of birds. The challenge was to paint a male goldfinch in a loose way...and I tried, but I'm just a tight painter...actually, I try to be at a point mid-way between loose and tight and I like both extremes: loose almost abstract paintings and photo-realistic paintings.
Each of the paintings below is 8x10 inches on Arches 140 lb. watercolor paper. I will say that although Arches is a decent paper, it is not my favorite. I especially dislike its "wet dog" smell when it gets wet (apparently due to its use of animal-based gelatin). My favorite paper of all time is Fabriano Artistico extra-white. Some people have recently recommended Saunders Waterford and Bockingford (wood-pulp based) so I'll have to try them at some point.
From left to right, top to bottom: American goldfinch, American goldfinch, Goldfinch, American goldfinch, Kingfisher
I've been into painting pansies lately motivated in part by the Florals/Botanical forum April 2013 challenge in the art website wetcanvas. Here are two in very different styles, both are acrylics on 12x12 inch gallery-wrapped canvas.
The purple pansies with the lighter background (on the right) was painted in my usual style. I used saran wrap over acrylic paint in the bottom to get texture and the suggestion of leaves. I think that was successful. I just wish I had moved the pansies a little further down in the canvas.
The maroon pansies (on the left) are a different style from my usual. I experimenting by starting with a black painted canvas and then building up the leaves and petals while leaving some of the black showing through. I like how rich the colors look against the black. In the future I want to use a similar technique but with reds for landscapes or alternatively, using local complementary underpaintings.
Leave me a comment and let me know which style you like better.
I've been in a bird-painting mode lately. Here are two recent paintings of waxwing birds done in acrylics, each on a 12x12 inch gallery-wrapped canvas, using two very different styles. One is more realistic (my usual style) and the other one is looser and more painterly. Leave me a comment and let me know which one you like best.
Waxwing and berries - acrylics on 12x12 inch gallery-wrapped canvas
Waxwing and flowers - acrylics on 12x12 inch gallery-wrapped canvas (note that picture is not the best and shows some glare on the bottom left)
