I try to play with my surfaces and my colours, make charts to see how paints react and what to expect so when I am creating a painting there are no really awful moments, but I am the first one to admit that I am not the best at this...far from it! I admit it. I am slightly on the, er, lazy side.... I envy artists who can do this and there are many of them who do it very well, are very disciplined and it does show.
But what I keeps me coming back to those doodle sheets is that sometimes your get really nice little surprises...like this one.....
So I keep at it, with color charts and little vignettes that decorate the corners. But I do admit, Have referred back to these charts a number of times, so I must be doing something right :-)
Then there are some color studies. It is pretty neat when you can look at a composition that was done in different colours. You can understand a bit better how much that color impacts on what one is trying to evoke within a painting. The "push" and "pull" between warm and cool colours. Many artist talk about it and try to explain it, but until you get the lazies out and do some, well, I think that's when you have your "ah ha!" moment.
I hated this one (below) when I was working on it a year or so ago, trying to get different daytime lighting effects, but after looking at it now, I can see how I was part of the way there in making an afternoon lightscape and an early morning one. Not quite 100% but there is something there that I like. And that, as Martha Stewart would say, is a good thing.
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| Study for afternoon vs morning light |
I begin by drawing my subject in pencil directly onto watercolour board and lay a pale red/pink wash to one side. As Bronwyn's collar is a pinky-red, I want this colour to peek through the background in places as well, for a cohesive look.
Cutting in carefully, I lay a wash of greens/blues and burnt sienna behind Bronwyn, coming back and floating in water and/or extra colour where necessary. I didn't use any masking fluid here because of the size. I can get a better outline by just painting.
After my background is completely dry, I start blocking in shadows with warm and cool blues. I also lifted some of the background colour out, as it was looking a little too dark.
Now I build up the colour of the dog with a variety of black and blue washes. Some are cool and some are warm, and I concentrate on what parts of the painting need to come forward or fade back as I apply them.
Now I just generally continuing on with washes and blending, building the colour to where it should be. When painting, I take short breaks and will often look at the painting in a mirror to see what is and what isn't working. Right now, I don't like the way her right jowl is pudging out at the bottom and I think her left ear is a bit too short. By lifting paint (with clean water) and adding washes, both these areas are corrected.
I now finish off the collar, touch up the dog overall with some additional blending and lifting. With the collar now painted, I wanted to see a few more rosy spots in the background, so I lightly laid in some small washes, and that's about it.
