The Bubble-gum Pig

I forgot to take photos earlier. I did have a thin wash of an orangey-pink on the pig, and the background. I just wanted to get it finished this morning, not because I liked it, but I wanted to get it off the board so I could start another pig, or maybe the filly.

Once I started working on it, the little hummer began to grow on me! I played with some warm and cool pinks, working w/w, going all over the pig. I began to think he looked pretty good.

At this point, I believe he is "done", but you know I always love to touch up.  The name "Bubble-gum Pig" I think appropriate because of his color, and because it sounds a bit frivolous. :)

As always, your comments are most welcome!

and Now for Something Completely Different ...

... from beginning ..

... to end.
I just have to clean up some of the dark edges  around the mouth, and I am done.  I had a lot of fun painting this one - found myself smiling and laughing sometimes as I looked at it. [No, not hysterical, mad laughter!]  I think I will call this one "SNARF". I'll definitely be painting more pigs!

As always, your comments are most welcome.

FINALLY!

I started out tentatively, with permanent rose and cobalt blue.

more rose ...

I added some alizarin crimson to the warmer shadows ...

... and just kept adding more of the pink.

This is where it started to feel more intuitive, as I was putting in more rose w/w. 

I worked on the leaves this morning, and it just seemed to flow, so to speak. It felt much more natural, easier for me to get the result I wanted. I think I have finally figured out where and how much to wet the paper, and how to place the pigment.

I am at this point now. I may put in a very thin background wash of aureolin,  and drop in some of the green I have used for the leaves.

What a wonderful feeling! It sneaks up on you while you're playing with the paint, and you suddenly realize you know and feel exactly what to do. It must be part of the proverbial learning curve. I know I have felt it a few times when riding, too. It is the "AHA!!!" moment, and there is nothing like it.
I visited the gallery in Vancouver yesterday - no photos, as it was a very wet and miserable day. But the gallery is fabulous! Small, but so perfectly set up, with an unbelievably eclectic and beautiful collection of art. I am looking forward to showing there this summer, and hope they will allow me to participate in more of their displays.  

 As always, your comments are most welcome!

A Quickie

I used aureolin, quin. gold and quin. red.

A dash of quin. violet - very thinly - in some of the shadows.

And phthalo green [YS], quin. burnt orange and indanthrone blue for the leaves. I wanted to keep them very simple so they would not detract from the bud. I did this small [23 x 10 cm.] painting for the receptionist at work, who is doing her darnedest to get me booked with patients. It's a very slow time of year in dental offices.

I know this looks like a pink "blanc mange", but I'm hoping it magically turns into an exquisite pink rose. This one is for the dental assistant, who is such a joy to work with. Other than the fact that I am not busy enough to keep body and soul and horse together, it is a fabulous office in which to work!

As always, your comments are most welcome.

Home Stretch with Clementine #2

Since the last post, I have given her some skin folds, eye definition, and lips ...

more color on the muzzle, and the start of a nose ... 

I put in a background, and have placed her black markings.  There is just some touching up to do - darkening her muzzle and nose, and checking that she looks good overall. My plan is to put this painting up for sale at Daily Paintworks, and take the first one [with the painting of Tiberius, her "brother"] over to the owners as a gift.
That's it for now. I have 2 small rose paintings to paint for friends at work ...

As always, your comments are most welcome! 

Hi-Yo, Silver-laced Wyandotte!

I've done a thin gray graded wash, dried it, then gone wild with the masking fluid.
A silver-laced wyandotte is a breed of chicken.

I am using quin. burnt orange, quin. red and indanthrone blue mixtures for the body and tail.

I am deepening the dark colors, and playing with the head while the body dries. I am SO tempted to remove the masking, but I think it needs more of the darks first.

I have also started a smaller version of Clementine. I may try exaggerating some features and colors to enhance the bulldoggishness.  

Misty is at this point. I may have to put her away for a few days or weeks, and then take a hard critical look.

This is my offering to watercolor land today. I submitted some images of my work to a small gallery in Vancouver, and received an enthusiastic response. I'll have to drive into town next week, and visit at the gallery. I hope it works out - I would love to get some more exposure for my paintings.
Life in the land of Horse is pretty fine right now, too. I'm riding 4 - 5 times a week, and Bruno is coming along. I have a feeling he will always be a bit stiff, and reluctant to yield to the inside leg - all those years of racing, pulling a sulky. I'm realizing levels of evasion with him. [Evasions are what horses do when they don't understand, or don't want to do what is asked - and I do ask nicely.] There is the "I have absolutely NO idea what you want".  Followed closely by "I think I get it."  Then there is "Yes, I'm trying, but it's hard for me."  And sometimes from Bruno I get a "Not on your life. Can you stay in the saddle while I do this??? I just feel like playing HARD."  So far, I have managed to stay in the saddle. :)

As always, your comments are very welcome!

creep ... creep ...

I think I left the gray here ...

It's just a slow, fussy process of adding depth and detail using wet-in-wet technique.

While darkening the right side edges, I decided to add some drizzles of gray on the left to suggest rain falling.

I am at this point now, carefully putting in shadows and other details  in the head area.  I must admit I like the soft grays.

The babe was done, but lacked ground and depth.

I decided to do a very soft w/w wash around her head. I did not  want to get heavy, using dark shadows. To me, that would lose the freshness and lightness of her youth, innocence and fragility.

As ever, your comments are most welcome.