The Watcher in the Woods ... Class Projects

A photo I took a few years ago. I thought the old tree looming over the open area really did look like it was watching over the spot.

This was a class demo on splattering. I masked the large tree and the bottom snowy area and covered the sky with irregularly-shaped pieces of watercolor paper and tape. Then I splattered with quin. gold, quin. burnt orange, alizarin crimson and cobalt blue. I lightly sprayed to encourage the colors to mingle a bit. When dry, I did a graded wash of cobalt blue all over the painting, then removed the masking.

Thin wash of burnt orange over the large tree, and some thin lines of grey to imply some scrub trees in the distance.

Played with some lines in alizarin, indanthrone and orange to get some bark texture.

Started to shadow the tree ...

... realized I didn't like the brown color, so glazed over it all with indanthrone.

Deepened the shadows in the bushes here ...

 ... and here

Added some softened line of blue-grey for shadows in the snow ...

... and I am here now. I think the tree needs a bit more work, but overall the painting is a nice example of what can be done with splattering.

I also had requests from some students to demonstrate how to paint eyes. Like all of us [me included], the students want immediate results! I have a feeling the idea of glazing at least four or five times to achieve the result put them off. But the effect one attains is worth it!

I wish you all a Happy Easter! Thank you for dropping by!!

Now ... This Is SPRING!

Daffs are almost done ...

Lilac leaves and buds opening ...

Camellia in bloom

Japonica blooming

Narcissus looking lovely by the pond

Bruno, muddy and hairy, but naked on the lower back lawn

I just was looking at a blog I follow, and she had pictures of Spring ... under several inches of snow!!!!! UGH! But this ... THIS IS SPRING!

HAH!!! Another Process ... Rhododendron

My drawing with scribbled notes about how to handle the background [not that I listened!]

After masking the pistils and stamens, I started with very thin washes of aureolin for the leaves and some cool pink for the petals.

Some very thin and loose washes over the background using quin. gold and indanthrone.

Painted the leaves with mixtures of the gold and blue.

Again did the background wet-in-wet, to tone down the look of the leaves - they seemed to be overpowering the painting.

I still didn't like the background, so went over all with a thin wash of indanthrone.

Not liking the blue in the flower shadows, so I will glaze over with some fuschia.

I am here now, and not sure what more I need to do ... something is needed. I will play with the form shadows in the petals with some quin. fuschia, and probably give the leaves a bit more depth.

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The LAST Cat ... a Work in Progress

My sketch with some values indicated

Masked out two tiny highlights in the eyes, then did a wet/wet wash with aureolin and dropped in some orange. Started the nose and mouth with some black made of orange, violet and dark blue.

Added some pupils.

Some direct painting of the darkest areas on her face, and a thin wash of red-orange in her ears. 

An all-over wet wash of violet, made of quin. rose and indanthrone.

Then a wet wash of the black.

More glazing of the eyes - a thin burnt orange with a dark purply-brown dropped in to indicate shadows and roundness. At this point, I have done about five or six glazes on the eyes.

I had to borrow a photo from the internet, as the one sent to me as reference was almost unreadable. If I didn't know it was a cat beforehand, I wouldn't know what it was.

Another internet photo - this one for the eye color.

This was my first attempt using the photo the owner sent. UH ... NO!

More to come today. I feel I am back in a good place again, especially with painting. I have two others I am working on, and some good ideas for the dog portrait and the seiner fishing boat.

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And Yet Another Cheshire Cat Makes Its Appearance ... watercolor study of cat portrait

The model

This was my second attempt. I just flipped the paper over, and re-traced the outline, hence the reversed image. For some reason, I had to start with the striping.

First washes for the eyes [aureolin, quin. burnt orange and cobalt blue] and the nose [quin. burnt orange and quin. rose].

A wet-in-wet wash over  the face - orange and pink for the eye areas and lower portion of the face, and  a grey made with aureolin, pink and cobalt blue for the rest.

Some dry brush on the stripes

Another few glazes on the eyes - quin. gold, burnt orange and cobalt and indanthrone blue.

Yay ... ears!

Some final fussy details with dry brush, and this is done as a color study. Overall, I like the colors, and the nose and eyes. I think, for the final version, I will do the striping differently [but NOT hair by hair!]

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CATS ... Continued ...

At the owner's request, I really darkened the entire face and eyes. So this one is done.

Started one of the Persians - an all-over wet-in-wet wash of quin. burnt orange with a touch of pink. While still wet, I dropped in some thicker paint of the same color.

Masked some highlights in the eyes, then wet the area and dropped in some aureolin, with dabs of quin. gold and cobalt blue.

I did the iris, and added some roundness to it by lining the outer edge and then softening with a damp brush. Then I lined the eye with a dark reddish brown, and did some dry brushwork in the darker areas of the face. This one still needs work, and I think adding pink to the orange wasn't a great idea - I'll do the rest of the fur with a more neutral orange.

This stage was one of those times when you look at a painting and wonder what you are doing, and even why you paint. I had wet the entire grey area of the face, dropped in some thin color [mix of aureolin, pink and cobalt blue] and then added some dashes of thicker paint where she has spots and streaks. 

Once I started the eyes, she came alive. I did a thin w/w application of cobalt blue, then dropped in some blue-grey [the cobalt plus aureolin and pink]. I let that dry then wet the eye again, and added the pupil. In the photo, she was in shadow, and the pupil was softer, not as hard-edged.

I repeated the same procedure on the eyes, then removed the bits of masking. For her markings, I mixed orange, violet and indanthrone to make a very dark brown, and then applied the color with a dry brush technique. I really like how she looks so far!

Here are the three models.

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