OLD SKETCHES CAN BE INSPIRING

 I had forgotten so many sketches I’d done…and then pulled out my favorites.  Here is another and the painting that was inspired from it.

 

FROM WATERCOLOR TO GOUACHE

 After watching another video on gouache portraits, did this one.  

The model came from a photo on the Museum App that the Sktchy folks use all the time.  Interesting face.  Then added the bird alongside with the back becoming his shoulder.  (The teacher put a crane going through his head and in the upper right but I did not like that at all).  The bird is from a photo from Sweetie.  

So - first step is the watercolor underpainting.

Then the gouache over the underpainting (did not add to the great white heron except to bring back the highlights with white gouache).  I liked the man but didn’t think the heron popped enough so added a background.  

 

FROM SKETCH TO PAINTING - 2

From a life drawing open session long long ago…Just a sketch done in about 1 1/2 hours, I think, with conte crayons.

And what came from the sketch…in my mind, a bit of fun with the hair…and then…

A FEW GOUACHE ATTEMPTS

 Just a few more done while watching online lessons.

This handsome doggie started with a watercolor underpainting and I liked it more - went too dark on this and too warm.  I might try it again more blue and grey and softer colors.  

The watercolor underpainting - should have left it here but still learning about gouache and how it works.  

I like this, but it’s just a section of the face so…hope I have learned more about facial structure and shapes from all the watercolor portraits I did back when.  This was done in a freebie quick lesson from Artefacto online.  

One thing in gouache’s favor = you can go over and reshape and darken parts without it looking overworked because that’s what you do with gouache.  I haven’t learned to go in with thick paint yet and probably wouldn’t like that technique, anyway.  

GOUACHE INTEREST?

 It seems like every spring I’m in the mood for something new and turn to printing with acrylics or painting with gouache.  I have 2 books on how to learn and use gouache but haven’t really delved into it enough to know what I’m doing.  So take a few online short courses from Sktchy or Domestika every now and then.  And got a good 40% off on this lesson by a girl in Spain doing gouache portraits (also animals).  

She is not the greatest teacher and I thought I’d missed an introductory video but, no, she doesn’t talk about the colors she uses, the paper she paints on, or the type of brushes (but I learned that in other lessons so no big deal unless you’re an absolute beginner).  So I watched her paint swatches of color on the portrait she did and then did my own, using my colors.  

Her painting is light and candy-colored and mine…isn’t! Ha ha

But I don’t hate it.  Not finished yet - need to darken the left side of his face so it’s more shadowed (esp. the eye) and move on.  Next is a lion, which I won’t do because I don’t like it very much with all the colors…but I will do the 3rd one she is offering = a dog.  For some reason, I think dogs are ok in lots of colors but lions deserve more respect!

So what have I learned?  A lighter first layer is best and you can still use all the colors you want.  Shape the figure with the 3nd and 3rd layers and look for those darkest darks, lightest lights, and hard and soft edges.  Whew!  Plus, gouache dries differently…I think, if I remember right, dark colors dry lighter and light colors dry darker so…hard to keep that in mind while doing everything else, but I might be figuring some things out.  

FROM SKETCH TO PAINTING

 Another painting done from inspiration in my sketchbook.  Years ago, I took an open life drawing class (not structured lessons but a teacher there to help you and answer questions about your drawing as you went along…where I learned to sight measure for a figure drawing).  So I have several large sketchbooks of things done in the class.  Taking those out, I picked out a few to inspire me to do future paintings…here is the 2nd one.

The sketches and then one of the sketches changed to eliminate the legs and flatten the face (I mean, mermaids wouldn’t have large noses because they don’t breathe like we do, right?)

 Then, the painting.  I liked the way the Lunar Blue (Daniel Smith) created the interesting texture in the tail and hair. 

SPRING ON YUPO

 Over on my Facebook account, I started doing little things and calling them March Madness.  Just the painting or sketch without descriptions.  This is one of those, on YUPO and letting the paint flow.  

Have a good weekend!

FROM SKETCH TO PAINTING

 Another sketch I did a while back…I have a large sketchbook full of drawings done in a Life Drawing Class and other odds and ends of sketches done while watching TV.  

So the sketch is there, I trace it and then begin painting but I had to real plan for this other than making large and small sections of color.  And when you don’t really plan, you often get things you don’t want…

And you sometimes get happy surprises…like the fact that the sections/blocks of color at the lower left made me think of a colorful dress she was wearing…

Not quite done but…where do I go from here?

Sorry but the paper is very buckled so can’t get a straight-on shot, especially when it’s still wet in areas.  (Is the bright red at the left side too distracting?  What colors should I make the white arch…or, should I paint white in another area and leave that arch there - the white of the paper?)

Did add white (acrylic) and I think it’s done…

BACK TO ALMOST BLACK…BUT NOT QUITE

 

Just a little black crow looking at his reflection in the water.

I’m trying to work on something every day in March and calling it March Madness (cannot do the 100-day challenge thing…too intense).

GRANULATING ROCKS IN THE TURQUOISE SEA

Just working on some things using the granulating colors and trying to get some good texture.  Looks like my horizon line is skewed…just needs cropped differently.  The first painting is when I really worked with the granulating colors and water drops to get the textures, then I darken it a bit while still adding water drops to make the colors separate.  Tilting the paper helps the pigment and water move and separate.  Fun (small painting, only 1/4 sheet). 

 

CAN YOU HAVE TOO MANY MERMAIDS?

 Yes, you can.  I totally ruined the first one and even took a set of POSCA Pens to it…ugh.   (The mess is not shown here.)

So I started over…after revising the sketch again (the sketch was done in a live drawing class many years ago so the model did have legs).  

Just a little tweaking…

MY UMBRELLA (AFTER MARIE BASHKIRTSEFF)

 Somehow I signed up for a newsletter - I am always doing this and then find I don’t spend time to read them so unsub from them later on.  But this one was interesting and I read it.  It’s by the artist, Dan Scott, and he was talking about the painting, The Umbrella, by Marie Bashkirtseff.  Her painting was in oils and it was gorgeous - the skintones against the darks were luscious and pale.  So, in the newsletter, Dan talked about hard and soft edges, darks and lights, and how Marie lived a very short but prolific life.  

And I just had to try myself with watercolor but…

I started with Daniel Smith Lunar Black which is a VERY granulating color…could not get the deep, rich darks I wanted (first painting in watercolor).

So I tried again, using a mix of Lunar Black and Indanthrone Blue to get the “blacks” in it.  

Of course, this looks nothing like the painting by Marie, but I kind of like it.

NATURAL GREYS

 An artist who has videos on YouTube shared how she does shadows on her nature paintings and I liked it a lot.  Her name = Kelly Hoernig.  You should check her out.  She does a lot with sketchbooks and nature.

Here is my version on her lesson.  She uses Daniel Smith German Greenish Raw Umber added to Daniel Smith Lavender.  I used Holbein Lavender (which I had) and then tried out the Umber with Verditer Blue.  Both the Lavender and the Blue are opaque colors and I liked both mixes.

I added the little bit of driftwood at the bottom for my own…the single acorn and the bud was from her lesson.

GRANULATING COLORS ARE SO COOL

 Still playing with granulating colors, but not for landscapes - you can use granulating colors for everything!

READING ABOUT AND PAINTING MERMAIDS

I’ve been reading while recuperating from the flare up of the back pain…mostly escapism about mermaids.  

And that made me want to paint mermaids more.  Here are two I did prior to the back pain..

The first one is trapped in a glass container and not happy about it; one just sunbathing.  But neither are the mythical mermaids of song and sea shanty…no beautiful girls here with fish tails.

First painting on watercolor paper 140# cold press.  Second painting on YUPO paper (the plastic paper that makes your paint just slide right off if you don’t control the water).  Watercolor and gouache on YUPO - a lesson in patience and letting go of too much control!

OUCH

 Somehow, I’ve caused my back to be in some serious pain.  I have no idea how I did it or what I did (nothing out of the ordinary), but I’ve been taking meds, keeping heat on it, resting (just sitting and reading or watching t.v. while sitting with heat wrapped around me), and some mild stretching.  Not getting better so…to the doctor to see what’s going on (x-ray, maybe?).  So no painting this past week.  I can share what I’ve done before the back issue, though.

Remember when you were in school and the classroom was decorated for Lincoln’s and Washington’s birthdays in February?  I do.  And we made Valentine’s cards for every kid in class, had our own little cardboard mailboxes put up on the wall so kids could put cards inside the box and you could take them home.  I think that kept any kid from being embarrassed if he/she did not get a card from everyone in the class (which did happen, of course). I think I was somewhere in the middle - I got some cards but my mailbox was never full of cards.  I think this happened 1st - 4th grade and then ended.  

I also remember the whole class making cards (it was a requirement and was done in class - probably get them out of math or social studies time) when I was sick from school with the measles…and the teacher brought them all to my home for me, along with any homework I needed to do to catch up.  I think I was in 2nd grade, maybe 3rds, when this happened.  Do kids still do these kinds of things or is this just too uncool for kids now?  

Not sure why I’m thinking about these things.  Guess I’ve got too much time sitting around.  

Hope your week finds you well.

SOME MORE EXPERIMENTS WITH GRANULATING PIGMENTS

 Whenever I take a workshop/lesson online, I learn something - sometimes quite a lot.  But I love granulating colors so played with some more paintings of my own after taking the lessons from Yesim Gozukara online.  Isn’t it wonderful that we can take lessons from anyone anywhere in the world?

ANOTHER GRANULATING LESSON

As I posted before, I took a 2-session class from Yesim Gozukara several months ago…and learned more about this wonderful technique of allowing the granulating colors to flow…

Now, my mess looks nothing like her beautiful painting did on the video, but I did it…and I will use this technique more often on other things because I am in love of granulating colors.

Here are my versions.  (Top painting was just cropped to show the part I liked…the top 2/3; and the second painting was a total redo where I went a bit crazy with the granulation at the bottom…but I still like it.)

Will definitely do more paintings and remember to grab my granulating colors and granulating medium (Winsor & Newton) on various things in the future.  

 

TAKING ART CLASSES ONLINE

 I discovered the artist, Yesim Gozukara, from a Facebook post someone shared about workshops she did and what the artist learned there.  She didn’t give much information, but suggested we go to Yesim’s site to get more info - which I did.  

I love granulating colors and the look of her work with all its flowing, blending, melding pigments so I asked about workshops and she was having one in the next few weeks so…I signed up for 2 of the classes (she had a set of 4 at the time and I thought I’d take 2 and then the others if I thought I’d learn more or want more later).

The classes are done with especially WET paper, back and front and tilted on a board (the wet paper sticks to the board when it’s that saturated so no problems with moving the paper around while working to get the flow of the pigment.  Also, she used a lot (mostly) granulating colors - which I had to try.  I already had some but not all of the delicious colors she used.

We did mountains and seascapes as the first 2 classes and I learned a lot and also learned to get this look you really need good granulating colors, even adding granulating medium, and patience (something I lack).

Here are mypaintings from the class of the mountain scene.  

The first is the finished mountain, the second is the start of it.  I added more white (not lifting off back to white but adding white pigment - a white “ink” illustrator’s use to cover over places which is more opaque than gouache, and I kept drizzling water and granulating medium over it to get the look.  

Last Ones

 Last little sketches…

My goal this year is to really hold back on painting every inch of every painting and retain some whites to give things more energy and pop.  But I’ve been painting in watercolor since 2003 or so and haven’t learned this yet.  I don’t mind going back in with white gouache or something but I’d rather remember to leave that white untouched…