I Think a Change in Plans Is Due for the Fishing Boat ... or ... OOPS, Too Much Pink!

I left off here the last post.

Since then, I darkened the water several times with a dark blue mixture, and then unfortunately added some pink, too. It doesn't appeal to me.

I worked on this for a while this morning, adding the net, shadows and details. I'll put it aside and take another look, and maybe show it to Gary, too. My thought right now is to enlarge the ship, put it in a portrait format, and grey down the pink!

Bright and Beautiful ... a Floral Process ...

Drawing I made for class. I decided to leave out the leaves in the painting.

I used four colors throughout - aureolin, quin. pink, brilliant orange and indanthrone blue.
I started a few of the petals to see how the colors would flow together, and then painted the cast shadows with a mix of pink and indanthrone.

The petals were all done with the wet-in-wet technique. 

Then I started working on the form shadows, again doing them w/w.

The centers were done with a dark violet.

I decided the pink in the upper right flower needed  more intensity to make it stand out a bit more. And now it's done :)
I REALLY needed something BRIGHT to paint. I may end up playing with screamingly bright colors all winter!

Thank you so much for dropping by!

Why I'm Not Getting as Much Painting Done ... and ... a Parrot's Progress ...

Can we go for a walk NOW???
As soon as the sun starts to rise, Maggie is ready and raring to go! She has SO much energy! I take her and my landlady's dog out for an hour in the morning. And of course, Bruno; on the days I ride, it's another 2 - 3 hours there. Teaching is also taking time away from painting, especially the drawing class. But I'll get all of it organized ...

This is my reference photo, taken by a woman with whom I work. I loved the pose, and the colors in the neck area.  I had planned to work those colors into the background of the painting, but got swept away in a different direction,.

I masked the cockatoo and some palm leaves, wet the paper, and  dropped in some aureolin, pink and phthalo blue.

I started drawing in more leaves, and masking them ...

... and totally lost the bright colors.

So I will try something else. The parrot will now be red. I am painting the shadows in ultramarine blue, and the parrot will be done in cadmium red. These are both colors I never use, so this will be interesting.

My color swatches - I had thought a thin glaze of phthalo green would be a good shadow, but the ultramarine blue actually looks better. The green was quite dull-looking.

This is a photo I found on the internet that I am using as a color reference only.

Thank you so much for dropping by!

{Metaphorically} Hatching a Gosling - a Step by Step Process

My reference photo, taken a few weeks ago at a nearby farm in the late evening [subdued lighting].

I masked the gosling and did several wet-in-wet graded washes, using aureolin, quin. rose, quin. burnt orange and cobalt clue. This gave me a a soft and glowing grey.

I sponged on some water on the lower left, and drizzled in some aureolin, indanthrone blue and quin. burnt orange. I wanted to create the effect of a cast shadow on the grass without direct painting, to create something a bit different and lively. I used aureolin for the head and neck, and bum and legs, and started working on the bird's feathers with greys and browns made of aureolin, quin. pink and cobalt blue.  

More feathering, and some shadows on the legs, using aureolin, quin. burnt orange and indanthrone to make warm greens. For the beak and eye, I used mixtures on indanthrone with burnt orange and quin. violet. 

I went over the bottom third with aureolin to give a "ground'.

Then did some adjusting of shadows on the left of the bird, and VOILA!
The framable size is just over 7 inches square, and the painting is available on Artfinder.

Now I'm going to do some more painting, and feel sorry for myself. I badly pulled a lower back muscle last week, helping a friend load some huge, full water containers into the back of her car. And yesterday, I was in a car accident, and wrenched [sprained] my wrist, thankfully the left one. But ... ONWARD!

Thank you so much for dropping by!

So ... You Want to See How It's Done???

Aureolin and quin. burnt orange applied w/w

Then a w/w application of a brown/black mixture, with some lifting while it's still damp

Another wet black application, with some thin orange in the lighter area ...

More lifting, this time getting serious with the Magic Eraser

Start the eyes - it looks so bizarre at this stage!

More on the eyes and nose - using quin. burnt orange, quin. violet and indanthrone. For the tongue, I am using quin. burnt orange, permanent rose and cobalt blue.

Starting his hair colors, working primarily w/w  - mostly a steely grey...

Looking a bit like Drake. I am about 3/4 of the way done.

Reference photo for pose

Using this photo for reference for the shapes and contours of his face

... and this one for colors.

This is what I am working on right now. I have to remember to take breaks, and step WAY back to look at the overall effects. One does get a bit squirrelly working on detailed painting using blacks.
I also must decide what to do with the background for the cowboy - something minimalist, maybe in soft grey-greens and yellows.  And there is a landscape I started as a demo in class ... and some azalea blossoms dying to be painted ...

Thank you for dropping by!