Still Playing with Geese ...

This is one of the two smaller geese I have started this week.  I was hoping to be able to get a smoother background without using the dreaded masking fluid, but it was not to be. So I scrumbled  instead, and I think I like the effect better. The colors I am using are quin. burnt orange, quin. siena, quin. violet and indanthone blue - all Daniel Smith.

I think I'll try to get a very dark background with this goose.  I learned, from the last painting without masking, that I have to use thinner washes. 

I was in Vancouver again today. I've been going in several times this week, as my aunt has been in the hospital for over a week. It's been somewhat of an emotionally draining time. But my aunt is looking and sounding much better, and her spirits are higher, though the doctors still do not know what is wrong with her.
While in town, I picked up the chicken I left for framing. I think Liz did a great job - just a good, simple mat and frame to show off the hen.

Sadie is being re-done. I like the water, and the background in general, but the look is definitely not Sadie's.  She is much more lively and mischievous. 

So I have drawn her again, using an older photo I have of her from when she was a pup.

As always, your comments are most welcome!

The Goose Saga ... Continued ...

For the goslings, I am using aureolin, with a brown mix of quin. burnt orange, quin. red and indanthrone blue. The geese are painted with mixes of ultramarine blue and quin. burnt orange. The feet are quin. siena.

Just deepening the colors here.

I have placed the cast shadow, and a grey ground behind them  [quin. burnt orange and ultramarine blue].

A loose wash of aureolin and burnt orange to give the impression of tall grass  ...

I have darkened the adult geese. It looks like the grass needs  some darkening and detailing here an there, and the goslings will get more dark in the brown areas.
As I do not want to use masking, I have done the painting as a vignette. I was given some advice about masking alternatives [thank you, Peter] and will be trying Daniel Smith watercolor ground in the future.

I was given this photo recently by my farrier. It's his  border collie, Sadie. It is not a good photo for painting reference, but I think if I approach the project without my usual perfectionistic bent, and just play with it, it might make a cute painting. Scott is a genuine "good guy", and always there to replace and repair  my horse's shoeing.

As always, your comments are most welcome!

GOOSE-AHOLICS ANONYMOUS

GEESE #1

GEESE #2
This one wasn't working because the masking had left the white areas of the paper roughened. I'm not sure if masking fluid has an expiry time limit or not. Does anyone know???

GEESE # 3
Been working on this one, on and off,  for the past two days. I've reached the point where some background should be placed. One idea would be to do a very thin wash around the geese, with an irregular [hopefully interesting] top-line. The color would be a light greyed brown; then I would add some lines and shapes, indicating grass at the side of the path. But it's getting late, and I have to be in the office tomorrow, so best to leave this till Saturday ...

Your comments are always welcome!

Yesterday Was OOPS Day ... with a Vengeance!

Here I was, humming along, looking cute ...
Disaster struck! For Pat's liking, the geese did not stand out well.
I sent out a plea for ideas, and got three reasonable ideas - none of which I followed [to my chagrin]. Thank you very much Audrey Montoya [great watercolorist - check out her blog], Annie Bennett [lovely and eclectic blog] and of course Crystal Cook, who always answers a call for help and advice on painting and selling paintings. I really appreciate your ideas!!! 

But no, I did it my way ...

I am making the most of a bad painting, and am using it to try out different strategies. I am doing the same initial graded washes, but keeping the painting warm - the geese and grasses will be variations of yellows, golds and browns. Here's hoping it works!!!
As for Bruno and riding, same story - I was just not thinking yesterday.

As always, your comments are most welcome!!! 

Good, but ...

A ground shadow has been added. I have also darkened the geese with washes of a grey mixture. But they just do not stand out enough. The babies are fine, but the adults ... ??? They really need a darker background, and I am not keen to do that - I would loose the glowing effect on the right, and I honestly don't know if I could get a reasonably smooth look.  So ... BACK TO THE DRAWING BOARD!!!

As always, your comments are most welcome! 

The Geese Are Gaggling Along ...

I left our happy honkers here ...

In this photo, I have started on the shadows of the geese, and  have done an initial glaze of all the feet.

Here, I have added some detail to the feet. I have also gone over the goslings with another wash of aureolin and the dark brown mixture. And I have done a w/w application of a grey mixture on the goose bums.

I'll be working mostly on the adults, darkening and integrating the shadows, and adding some detail to the heads of the two on the right. So far ... so good! The background looks very nebulous, and I am not sure yet what I want to do with it.  I am thinking of just putting in their cast shadows, or that plus a dark diagonal suggestive of grass. Don't know.

As always, your comments are most welcome!

A Happy Easter to You

I wish you all a wonderful Easter. I hope the weather is finally Spring-like.

A new project is in the making. I am doing a painting of geese for a friend for her birthday.  Pat's birthday is April 5, so I HOPE all goes smoothly, or she will end up with an IOU for a gift!

Didn't want to, but I had to use masking. Here all the initial washes are down.  All the washes were graded  and/or irregular in application. First was aureolin, then quin. red, quin. burnt orange, and two separate washes of cobalt blue.

I've done a w/w application on the goslings - aureolin, then dropping in two different brown mixtures to get a soft, downy effect. I will probably have to go in again, and darken some areas, lighten others, and soften the outlines. Now for the geese.

As always, your comments are most welcome