Here It Is ... Rose #3 - WIP

This is the 2nd or 3rd wet-in-wet wash. I didn't mask, and wish I had done so. The colors for the background are permanent rose, aureolin, quin. burnt orange and pththalo blue.

 ... and more washes ...

I've started the rose, using aureolin, perm. rose, and later some quin. siena.

I am continuing to increase depth in the rose, adding shadows and more intense color here and there.
After masking a few spots, the leaves are glazed with aureolin and  dried. Now I am glazing the local colors and shadows. The pigments for the leaves are quin. gold, quin. burnt orange and phthalo blue. I am finding the blue to give  richer and more varied shades of green. The stem is primarily alizarin crimson, with some of the lighter green mixture, and some burnt orange.
Fabriano paper and I do not get along well. I tried twice with this same image, and when I got to the point of darkening the background, no matter how I painted it, it came out streaky. So I have happily returned to the Arches.
I couldn't post for a while, as I had no camera. I had been using my sister's, but she wanted it back, so she could take photos of her new dog.  I am happy to report that she got another Boxer, after having lost her two earlier this year. And she got a rescue. Her name is Ellie, and she is SOOO sweet - love just oozes out of every pore, and her eyes melt your heart.
I can't believe it. The last time I posted it was still summer. Now it's wet and cold. Long pants, rain gear, Bruno in his winter blanket, the cat won't go outside - yup, it's winter!

Thank you so much for dropping by, and your comments are always welcome!  

The Rose on Fabriano Continues ...

Here are the results of two W/W washes of dropped in color - quin. rose and aureolin.

I then went into the greens, a mixture of phthalo blue and quin. burnt orange.

 I did a second W/W wash with the same mixture.

At this stage, I can see that it will need a lot more of the dark green, as well as colors to intensify the rose petals. I worked on it a bit last night, but stopped when I found myself becoming impatient. I had a strong urge to mask the rose, and dump on the dark green.
I was hoping to finish yesterday, but thankfully checked my inner voice - the one saying "let's get it done NOW".  And as I am working for the next two days, I thought I would post the progress today.

Thank you for dropping by, and your comments are most welcome!

A Process on Fabriano Paper

Reference - one of my landlady's gorgeous roses

Sketch I did while working at the gallery on Sunday. It was a very slow day.

Yesterday's efforts ...
I picked up some Fabriano paper a few weeks ago. It is quite different from my usual Arches - undecided as to a preference.  I always soak and staple paper, and I found it to be very soft, much more like cloth than paper. It seems to take longer to dry, but that could be because the weather is much cooler.  That is better for working W/W, especially as the paper does not allow the pigment to explode across the page; it needs a bit more encouragement to move, and that characteristic can work either way for you in a painting.
My colors for the petals are aureolin and quin. rose,  and for the leaves quin. gold, phthalo green [yellow shade], phthalo blue and quin. burnt orange. The stem is alizarin crimson and quin. burnt orange.

This is as far as I got this morning.  And this is definitely NOT going to be a "quickie"!  I find I am doing a lot of glazing. Another asset of the Fabriano is that you can more easily lift lines in the damp wash, and they stay lifted.
That's all for now. Bruno has started neighing for attention!

Thank you for dropping by. Your comments are most welcome!

Curiouser and Curiouser ...

my sketch

first w/w washes - quin. sienna and quin. burnt orange
I previously did a thin glaze of pink & phthalo blue for the shadows.
Then I tried to get as much pigment on in the washes as possible.

phthalo blue gradated wash for the sky

Curiouser and Curiouser
10.5 x 7.5 inches/ 26 x 19 cm./ unframed
$115.00
Available through my blog via paypal

quin. gold and some weird green [I don't remember the name, but it granulates nicely] for the grass
I thought "Curiouser & Curiouser" was an appropriate title. When I was taking photos of the heifers, they were all but crawling through the fence to see what I was doing.

The middle one is my reference.

Up close and personal! :)

I met with the owner a few weeks ago, and have, since then, been carefully darkening Krystie. The top photo shows more of what the background is really like, and the bottom one shows [somewhat] the darkening. If I leave the painting here much longer, I will nit-pick it to ruin, so I had better get it to the owners this weekend!

Thank you so much for visiting, and your comments are always welcome!

Finally ... a Moment to Post ...

Continuing with the hydrangea, here I have finished the petals, and done light w/w washes on the stems. Throughout the painting, I am using cobalt and indanthrone blue, quin. burnt orange and quin. violet. It seems to be my favorite color combination. I forgot to mention last time, I am using a different paper - Arches 300 lb. CP. It's quite nice. The washes are not quite as wet and wild, and it takes more force and deliberation when painting.

I did two separate variegated washes of a greyed violet mixture. I did not do one darker wash, all at once, as I was not sure what it would look like. After they dried, I wet again where I decided to place the branches, and drizzled in thin lines of dark violet grey with a fine brush.

Here it is finished.
"Beauty even in Winter"
10.25 x 10.25 inches on 300 lb. Arches cold press rag
$160.00 Cdn.

I have reached this point with my niece. It's good, but it's NOT Paulina. So I will be doing this again in the future.

I also had some time to figure out what to do with this hollyhock. The middle flower was not right. I added more of the violet in the left center area, and now it looks like a proper inverted, not everted, blossom.
White Hollyhocks
11.5 x 7.25 inches on Arches 140 lb. CP
$155.00 unframed

It's been a busy week. Since Tuesday, I have been taking care of a neighbor's menagerie [3 dogs, 2 cats and 2 horses] while she and her husband are at Spruce Meadows in Calgary. Spruce is a huge horse facility outside of Calgary, and annually hosts a large series of show-jumping events. It is an international qualifier - horses and riders from all over the world. I heard that Germany won the team event this year.
The extra animals are pretty good. But one of the horses is a yearling, and as cheeky as all get-out! I think he looks for trouble. He's taken down one area of fencing three times. It's no wonder that he is a bit banged and scraped.
And I had to take one of the chinchillas to the vet on Friday after work. He was not moving around much, though otherwise looked well. Then I noticed him limping. He is the more active of the two, and he must have banged his leg, or strained it somehow. Thankfully it was not broken, and he is gradually moving more again.
Here's hoping the coming week is a bit less busy, and I find more time to paint.

Thank you for dropping by, and your comments are always welcome.

Divertissement

To keep myself from fretting about world events, I am working on four paintings. 

The portrait is of my niece, from a photo taken earlier this summer. I am trying a different technique [for me] - painting with the easel in an almost upright position.

I am making another attempt with hydrangeas. I think the painting is half-way done.

The cocker spaniel is also getting touch-ups. Her owners and I met again last week, and I saw that her coloring is very dark, only her face has touches of white on the chin. And I have started a landscape; so far, it is only streaks of color indicating sky and trees. 

Thank you for dropping by, and your comments are always welcome!