Rainbow Bisque

I was afraid to turn this drawing into a painting - fearing that I lacked the chops to paint the beautiful feathers of this bird. Then I remembered back to a previous painting (that furry, pink monster) and decided to apply the technique I used to paint hair for feathers and wings. The results kind of impressed me. I opted to use a loose wet-into-wet technique for the background elements. I wanted to add a splash of color without distracting from the primary figure. I think it all flows together rather well. The flowers the bird is standing on are actually really interesting and colorful - don't be surprised if they show up by themselves in a future painting.

There's something about these last couple months of the year that really saps my energy. A combination of the cold, the lack of sunlight, and the stress of the holidays really seems to stop me in my tracks. I noticed this during my last year-long project - with the finish line in sight, my productivity slowed to a crawl. It's a strange grey cloud that seems to all-but-disappear after the new year. This is where I start to think about my plans for the next year. What should I be doing? What is the next thing? How do I stay creative and happy in 2015? I have no idea, really. I've really enjoyed watercolor painting, and I don't plan on stopping here. I think I would really like to do some more drawing, too. I can see myself really challenging myself to draw every day - maybe turn one of those drawings into a painting every week. There's a part of me that really wants to try creating a game - a video game or a board game. I have a lot of ideas, and I would be able

I've been known to buy fruits and vegetables just to paint them - pomegranates are among my favorite fruits, so I also planned on eating this one. After being away from painting for so long, I was scared to even sit down for this one. I'm glad I did, though, because this painting re-affirmed what I already knew: watercolor painting is not just a fun thing I do, but an important part of who I am. I have a brand-new tube of ultramarine blue I can't wait to try out. Maybe it will end up in my next painting...

The virtue of patience - building up values slowly from very light to very dark as necessary. Noticing small changes in neighboring values. Understanding that yellow isn't yellow, black isn't black, and red isn't red. Saving the white of the paper for the highest values. These are techniques and ideas that will take my drawings just a little further. I wanted to paint today. But again, I was frozen by the blank page. This drawing was the result of forcing myself to do something. I'm not sure how this would turn out as a painting - but it might be fun to do some little studies of its feathers and try to put something together. Tomorrow is another day. Tomorrow is another opportunity to try again.

I have no idea why the color looks so janky here. Granted, I didn't match the reference exactly, but I feel like picassa (or whatever the service is called) is being a little more liberal with the yellow than I would like. Regardless, this painting really got away from me. I mixed a pool of green and just seemed to add random shades of green. It's a bit too dark in places, it's a bit uneven in places, and it's sort of wobbly throughout. On the bright side, I really like the effect of the fan brush in the background. I think if I ever attempt this subject again, my first order of business will be to establish a solid palette. Figure out what the purest form of this color is, and dilute it as necessary. I may also try drawing the thing a couple more times before I commit it to the watercolor paper.

I think this is my first attempt at creating something furry in watercolor. That technique seemed to be something far off - something I would only get to try once I was some kind of watercolor master. That was sort of a silly thing to think. A lot of practice and study is sometimes all it takes. Since this creature was based on imagination and I skipped the research phase, there are some funky spots. Most of the time, I had no idea which direction to make the hair flow. Over all, I think it looks pretty good. I'm excited to be able to try this technique on some real life animals (though I don't think I'm done painting monsters). My least favorite thing in the piece is the lollipop. It looks fine - it just isn't as shiny as I would have liked. That might be something I have to look into soon.

Sort of a success and a failure all wrapped up in one. The concept in my head was, "what if wasps could glow?" I found some excellent reference photos of wasps - I just had to put it all together. I changed the black to a light blue and filled the background with washes of yellow (and a touch of that light blue for harmony). I wanted a contrasting darkness to surround the light wasp and make the glow more intense. This is where I messed up. I didn't mix enough of the dark color (a combination of payne's grey and purple lake) to evenly color the area. I used a large flat brush to apply the color - which created hard edges. To top it all off, I went a little too far in and destroyed some of the detail in the wings. Big washes like this have stumped me from the very beginning of my watercolor project. I have a really difficult time knowing how much paint to mix. I never seem to use enough water. If there are obstacles to paint around, I have a tough time keeping ev

After a few attempts at similar effects, I've come to the conclusion that masking fluid may not be the best method for creating certain details (like veins in a leaf). It's difficult to get a consistent line width with masking fluid. It's even more difficult to create thin lines. Maybe I just haven't found a good applicator for this, but I think I would rather just lift out the veins. A technique I am fond of is this wet-into-wet technique. If I mix my colors ahead of time and use the proper amount of water, I can fill in a complete shape and add the areas of darkness and discoloration in one go. I'm not always successful with it, but I feel like my washes look a little more sophisticated and professional this way. Speaking of mixing color - I still feel like I need a lot of improvement there. I'm not having trouble obtaining the correct hue - that's the sort of thing I dream/think about on a daily basis. I just haven't figured out the best practi

Fall is my favorite time of the year. I'm lucky to live in a place full of trees representing all the great colors of Autumn. I took a quick trip to the park and gathered a small collection of leaves to paint - this is my first one. It took some time to figure out the best way to paint this, but I eventually found something that worked.I layered in some watery washes of color to fill the body of the leaf, then I dabbed more saturated color into the edges. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it took a couple tries.I considered adding a drop shadow, but I think it stands on its own.

Conflicted on this one. I got impatient. I didn't use enough water. I didn't work on individual sections like I planned. I didn't approach this like a watercolorist. The color is pretty close to my reference though. Dry brush really looks pretty bad on the main part of the squash, but I like it on the stem. This is how it goes though. I stepped away for a week and a half. I should warm up a bit before I start tomorrow's painting.

This is an exercise taken right from a book. I don't think the style is a fit for me. None of this advice seems practical. The author is using small brushes and calling for colors I don't have in my palette. I've second-guessed myself every step of the way. I don't have the benefit of actually seeing the painting as it is created and...this just isn't the right fit for me. This book is causing me to make mistakes I wasn't even making on my own. I'm calling it a night. Painting can resume tomorrow.

This painting was created using step-by-step instructions from a book. I don't think I got quite the same result as the book, but I am still pretty pleased with the painting I got. My only real problem with this lesson is the sky - why and how does the author use a number 6 round to fill in the sky? I used a number 12 round (which I still consider small for this task) and ended up with a fairly uneven wash. I know some of this has to do with my paper choice (I use 140 lb. paper because it's inexpensive and easy to find) and some short brush strokes on the right - I just wonder why the writer didn't mention a flat or hake brush for the expanse of the sky. Weird.

This was a difficult painting to pull off. Taking another shot at glass and transparency is something I've been wanting to do for a while now. I think this attempt was a little more successful, as I've learned quite a bit since the last time. I used masking fluid to preserve the highlights, then I applied a graded wash of grey (a very rich grey I discovered by mixing purple lake and Hooker's green) to the entire painting. A glaze of permanent rose was used to fill the glass with wine and the subtle reflections of the liquid in the stem. Clean water, paper towels, and natural hair brushes were used to lift out the more subtle highlights. I fought with myself about adding more shadows and dark areas. In the end, I decided against it. The painting was finished - I did what I set out to do. In future paintings, I should try to incorporate more shading and contrast. I also need to go back and practice washes over large areas again - yeesh.

I think I've had more trouble mixing colors for this painting than any other watercolor I've done since this project began. This particular variety of seashell is a warm tan color that doesn't exist 'straight-out-of-the-tube' in my palette. With some work, I was able to create a nice approximation of the color using vandyke brown and cadmium yellow (with the occasional charge of permanent rose). The sand effect was created by masking out the seashell shape using contact paper, then spattering various yellows, browns, and greys (and some cerulean for color balance) onto the rest of the paper. Everything else that followed was pretty straight forward. The seashell was broken up into sections, and each section was painted individually. There are definitely some areas that got a little messed up. The area near the bottom where the shell opens up looks a little flat. I am happy with the places this painting went. Seashells are really interesting, and I hope to pain

I saw this video when I first started my watercolor project. The artist's style really made an impression on the way I approached watercolor from that day on. I think I have had the most success trying to break up my paintings into sections and charging color into those individual segments. There are still a number of things that can go wrong here - too much water can cause pigment to pool at the edges, and too much pigment can create flat areas without any gradation. I messed up on some of the areas within this piece. I don't think I have to point out areas where the paint got out of my control. Viewed as a whole, I am really pleased with the way everything came together (that rock is surprisingly one of my favorite things in the painting).

There is an unpredictability in using watercolor. Drying times and water saturation effect the way the paper reacts and the pigment is distributed. I've sat down to paint more times than I can count - and I still can't always predict what will happen when the paint touches the paper. I have so much respect for the watercolorists who create amazing, expressive and detailed paintings in the face of such a (seemingly) unpredictable medium. I had some fun with this painting. The colors all came together wonderfully. The directional brush strokes actually serve to describe the volume of the fruit. I set my brush down when I felt like the piece was finished - not when I felt like there was nowhere left to go. It's just one piece of fruit - but it's a painting I'm really satisfied with.

Based on a photo reference (from a stock photo website). The perspective is a little off. Composition-wise - this thing is all over the place. This isn't my favorite thing I've ever done - but I learned a lot while I was painting it. I haven't really done a lot of structures in watercolor. Admittedly, I haven't done a lot of hardcore drawing lately either. While I was sketching out the under-drawing, I really felt like throwing out the whole thing. After a lot of resistance and doubt, my brain finally gave me the words I needed: "Just go for it!" Loosen up the drawing. Paint for the sake of painting. Put down some graphite, cover it up with color. Throw some salt over there! Lift out those branches! Dry brush a few bricks. Let's see how plastic wrap works for the water... Not perfect - but I like how it all looks together. I am happy with the overall color scheme. I am starting to see how drawing positively impacts my painting and vector illustration

Flowers are an interesting subject. They are complex, natural shapes defined by the way light reflects off of their petals - and we haven't even added color to the equation. Flower painting is not for the faint of heart. This painting started out as a sketch of a carnation at my local grocery store. The sketch was moved over to hot-press watercolor paper and traced over with acrylic ink. Once the ink was dry, I was free to apply watercolor without any worry of disturbing the lines I created. I decided to try a few different ways of creating highlights and shadows throughout the painting, resulting in a very uneven look. Overall, I really like what made it onto the paper - I just need to be a little more patient and stick with one style next time.

Much happier with the results this time. It isn't perfect - but I was able to recognize one of my big mistakes and correct it. One of the problems I have been running into in recent paintings is that the paint that goes onto the paper is so transparent I have to work the surface multiple times. The solution is in the way that the paint gets mixed - I allow too much water into the mixture (especially when multiple colors are mixed together). I would like to apply glazes to enhance the shadows, but I haven't had any success with that technique yet. I'm going to call this a success for the day. I'll be doing some research and exercises to figure out how to enhance the shadows for future paintings.

I hesitated before, during and after this painting was done. Before I started, I procrastinated while I tried to figure out how to approach painting this unique fruit. During the painting my brain asked, "are you really going to paint another fruit?". And when it was all done, I wondered if I should even bother posting it. Look at this thing - it's flat, over-worked, unintentionally splotchy (except the areas where I used salt to create the splotchy effect intentionally), and the colors are completely off. It took me forever to finally just sit down and do it, and I sort of hate it. It looks like I stepped backward somehow. That's my initial reaction, anyway. If I really felt like that, I don't think I would be able to continue on as an artist. I made some mistakes here and there, and they resulted in something I don't really care for. But I want to step away for a while, mix up some fresh paint, and try it again. Maybe I'll try something different.

With a little contact paper, masking fluid and two or three earth tones it is pretty simple to create stone textures in watercolor. I used the contact paper to create the rock (masking out the area behind it), spattered masking fluid then layered color over the top (burnt umber, cadmium yellow, and Payne's grey). The goat was added in with watercolor pencils. The sky is a combination of cerulean blue and Payne's grey - I used a paper towel while the paint was still wet to create the effect of misty clouds. I am turning my attention toward a painting of a larger scale. I have an opportunity to show my work to more people this Winter, and I really want to put myself out there. I won't be turning my back on this project - in fact, I've learned so much from this experience that it would be crazy to stop. Looking back on previous paintings, I am starting to see where my interests lie. I have a strong feeling that I will be practicing painting a lot of birds, insects, and

I thought I would break from the usual posting routine to share some things I've learned. I've been trying a lot of experimental techniques to create the spatter effect above. Nearly every brush I have used for this has come up a little short - then I tried a toothbrush. So, yeah, the toothbrush is the clear winner here. Now I can create stone textures, ocean spray and the like (I just have to create some sort of spray guard to protect my poor table and walls). I have done multiple posts about how difficult it is to use masking fluid. The frustration was driving me nuts. Guess what? If you pour some masking fluid into a shallow container (I used a small yogurt container) rather than working out of the bottle, it's a hell of a lot easier. For some reason (science), masking fluid in the bottle is more like masking paste. It is chunky, fast-drying, and nearly unusable. Using a shallow dish also allowed me to spatter masking fluid, opening up even more possibilities. I

I love typography. I love illustrating words. I love how many ways there are to draw the letter 's'. Of course, I also love watercolor. Here is the result of putting all of those things together. I used a pink micron pen to outline the letters and enhance their forms. I attempted a yellow-to-red gradient on each letter - met with various degrees of success. Before things began to look over-worked, I stepped away. This is my first time attempting any sort of typography with watercolor. I believe that this is a fine starting point (with a lot of room for improvement).

Let's get this out of the way - applying masking fluid to a painting can be frustrating and difficult. I have a surplus of old brushes I can use (that I'm not afraid of ruining), but they never seem to be the correct size. In order to create the fine lines in the bottom-most orange slice, I was using a nail; the very fine, narrow sort of nail you would hang a picture with. This meant repeating the same action of dipping the nail into the masking fluid, dabbing it onto the paper to create a small line, pulling the dried excess fluid off of the nail, and going back for more. The ability to preserve the white of the page really makes the effort worthwhile!

This started out as an exercise in creating ocean water from watercolor. I started with a blank sheet of cheap watercolor paper, then I drew a little rectangle with 'legs' in the center. I really wanted to practice creating an even, streak-free wash while avoiding applying paint to designated areas. That little rectangle became a small, yellow diving man bobbing along the ocean surface. Nothing here was expertly executed, but some fun experiments and noodling have yielded some surprising results. I darkened up my cadmium yellow with purple lake (which is quickly becoming one of my favorite paints) rather than Payne's grey. I used clean water to diffuse the edges of my shadows. I used a lot more wet-into-wet techniques than usual. Most importantly, I had a lot of fun.

I sat down to paint with nothing in mind. I really wanted to try out some basic shapes and forms - putting in some practice with flat washes and diffused edges. I didn't end up with a finished painting, but I do feel a little more comfortable with the paint. As the title and picture would suggest, Cerulean is odd. Cotman brand Cerulean pigment has really weak tinting strength. Even in its most concentrated form, Cerulean is extremely light in color. Oddly enough, it is also the only hue in my palette that stains and separates on the page. I really like the effect it created on this sphere, but it's not appropriate for most things. I appreciate that Cerulean is more subdued than Pthalo Blue; it just happens to go a little too far in the opposite direction. I may have to look into French Ultramarine for something in between the two.

My short hiatus from painting was very unproductive. I took a vacation from work, and decided to do nothing. I had a pretty good time doing next to nothing - at least for a day. I get restless when I'm not making things. Today's painting is not one of my favorites. I found these interesting leaves in a parking lot somewhere last month (the moth wings were found a day later). I've been wanting to paint the leaves for a while, but I kept putting it off. The painting is a bit sloppy for my taste - I used the wrong brush for the washes, too much water in some places, too little in others, inadvertently lifted color out of some edges, everything looks kind of flat...but it feels so good to be back! I had no idea what I was doing, and I tried all kinds of random things to get the effects I was after. This piece isn't going in a gallery. It is a stepping stone. It is a learning experience.

I've taken the technique from a previous painting and re-applied it in a new way. This time, I really wanted to try adding little flourishes and details to each of the ridges. I realized as this painting came to completion, that it is important to have enough water within your surface and your paint to pull toward the bottom of the painting. It seems that I got the best results when I pulled the color along the top, defining trees and hills as I went, then pulling the pigment to the edges and bottom of the painting. There are some problems with back washes and blossoms all over the page. There are some areas that look a little over-worked (I think that's the result of cutting the paper too large for the brush sizes I tend to use). But, I would say I am really pleased with this landscape. It was really nice to go back and try something again.

A small doodle became the basis for this piece. I created a nice, swirling wash of lemon yellow, emerald, and pthalo blue. The pattern was created over the top with gold paint pen. This marks my first time using fancy 300 lb. cold press paper (which I love and need more of).

I added two new colors to my palette - Hooker's Green and Burnt Umber. I figured a nature-inspired subject would be a suitable trial. I have to say, I'm a big fan of both colors. This time, I tried layering small patches of color together. I wanted to create an uneven blend of various greens and browns to create the shape of the animal. Cerulean blue made it into the mix because...well why not?

Recent Photoshop-related issues have kept me from posting. I am very close to solving the problem, and will have plenty of new stuff to show you! Thanks for your patience!

I have gotten into the habit of collecting things with the intention of painting or drawing them later. It is because of this practice, that I was unable to walk by the mangoes in the grocery store without bringing one home. What I created is sort of sloppy, flawed, enlightening, bold, and interesting all at once. I was really disappointed when I first looked at this finished piece. The brush strokes look over-worked. The color is muddy in some areas. The overall shape seems flat rather than round. There is an abundance of blossoms and back-washes in the upper part - the result of some badly-timed brush strokes. That was when I realized something important: I really had no idea what I was doing when I sat down to paint. It was easy enough to mix the colors - a little cadmium yellow, alizarin crimson, emerald green, and payne's grey. The application of those colors to the page, however, was unexpectedly difficult. I used a lot of water and tried to blend the colors together

I recently checked out an awesome book from the local library - it's called, " Drawing and Painting Imaginary Animals ". The way the author outlines her creative process and provides a bunch of exercises for seeing and creating these spontaneous creatures makes this book an easy recommendation. It doesn't hurt that watercolor is used in a lot of these exercises. I really enjoyed the end result of the exercise - but my favorite part is where the book suggested layering unlikely color combinations on top of one another. Glazing color has really added a richness to my color palette that I am excited to explore in future paintings.

This is sort of an unexpected result. It's sort of fun to look at, but I felt so frustrated while I was painting it that I just wanted to give up. Everything on the page is sort of happenstance and chaos that I can't really take much credit for. I originally wanted to make a landscape with iridescent bubbles in the foreground. I wanted to retrain the white of the paper for as long as possible: building up a mountain range in the background while keeping a few spots masked out. That plan fell through rather quickly, and left me with three awkward shapes. I blamed myself for not really painting enough. I lamented the time I wasted with procrastination. I compared my previous work to my recent work. I did pretty much everything I could to prevent myself from moving forward. It was time to step away for a while and come back with fresh eyes.

Did these last week, but never got around to posting them. I'm still getting used to covering large areas with paint. I think that the recent heat has affected drying times in the office. Techniques I've used in the past, don't seem to be working as well. I definitely want to come back to this exercise a few more times and take a shot at the contour shadow.

Sometimes I experiment and get great results Other times, my experiments lead to less impressive things. A number of different things sort of converged to make this piece spin out of control: the drawing was a little sloppy, the transfer was a bit off, the background wash warped the paper too much, I hit the black too early and too hard, and I got impatient and frustrated. Working within the space of a negative mindset ruins watercolor. By its very nature, this type of painting requires you to paint thoughtfully and embrace the flow of the water and pigment on the paper. A bad watercolor painting (in my mind, at least), is one where the artist has visibly struggled with the paint and over-worked the brush and the paper. I stopped for a bit, then came back to the office to try my hand at some watercolor exercises from Watercolor Essentials. I had a little more success there (and I can share those next time), but by the end of the night I knew it would be best to rest and reflect.

I would call my day of learning a huge success. Practicing value scales with individual colors taught me a lot about mixing paint and using water. I also learned a great deal about the differences between alizarin crimson, cadmium red, and permanent rose. The lizard is an experiment in mixing watercolor and watercolor pencils to suggest complicated textures and shifting colors. It isn't my favorite piece; but there are a lot of things going on that I really like. That eyeball is sufficiently creepy.

I've decided to take a step back and practice the fundamentals of watercolor. I jumped into this daily project hoping to learn by doing: stepping out of my comfort zone, experimenting, sitting down, and doing the work. I've never had any formal training in this medium: just youtube videos and a few books. It's surprising to see just how far that little bit of knowledge and passion has taken me. So today is all about focused practice with color and value. I have been following step by step instructions from Watercolor Essentials . The mountains in the above photo were my first attempts. They are pretty sloppy and uneven, but I learned a lot from them. Most notably: it is much easier to lighten watercolor than to darken it. Back to work!

You are looking at a piece of fanart I did for a game called Nuclear Throne - which I've been playing pretty regularly for the last couple weeks. I have had this piece drawn out for a really long time, but I wasn't entirely sure how to paint it. Now that the finished piece is in my hands, I'm really glad I finished it. This is a combination of watercolor paint and watercolor pencils on 300 lb. hot press paper. The background was painted with a light wash of cadmium yellow. The "sun" was carefully painted with a medium wash of cadmium red. Everything else is watercolor pencil. As for the lighting - I sort of made it all up as I went along. There are inconsistencies here and there, but I am happy with the results.

Not a whole lot to say here. I worked on each segment individually - attempting properly (and smoothly) blend color to the outside edges. I think I was mostly successful on that part - it wasn't until I began adding black that everything sort of went...wrong. The black pattern is fairly accurate, but it sort of eliminates all of the work I did to establish the round forms of each segment. It is flat.

Drawing and painting small objects is a lot of fun. There are a lot of details that one doesn't really pick up on when an object is viewed from afar. Small things, by virtue of their size, are always viewed this way. As far as the painting itself, it was fun to get some use out of my tiny brushes.

It takes a lot of water to get smooth washes and even tones in watercolor. There's a strange balancing act that occurs between the water in the palette, water in the paper, and water in the brush - too much or too little in any of those areas will be met with chaotic results. Working on large scenes like this one (even at 8.5x11") will require larger brushes than the ones I have been using.

This painting marks the first time I managed to miss my own self-imposed deadline. This isn't a habit I want to get into. Painting has been such a great learning experience, it would be a shame to slow down. In my previous daily project, I would sometimes get behind when I couldn't think of anything to draw (which is a silly excuse I still cling onto occasionally). This time, I had a painting planned out, but I was kind of scared to paint the thing. I would like to go ahead and analyze that previous thought - I was afraid to paint. Resistance is a tricky, ever-changing beast; it has somehow convinced me that something I love doing is harmful. What is my biggest fear in all of this? I am afraid of doing work that outs me as a fraud. I am scared that the next painting will point out what resistance has told me so many times: that I'm not good enough, and I never will be. I don't actually believe any of that (not all the time, anyway). Good or bad, every time I sit d

I wanted to try some new things with color this time. To be honest, the only thing that I really like is in the left iris. The eyelashes and pretty much the entire right eye could use improvement. I'll bet there is a way that the lines that make up the eyelashes could each be one stroke - it would make them look less dry and labored. I could benefit from some time just practicing brush strokes.

I made an attempt at masking using laminate film. The first time I did this, it worked perfectly. This time around, it betrayed me. I like using this stuff because it is easy to remove from cold press paper without tearing. I dislike using laminate (this time anyway), because it is so easy to remove from cold press paper. I really like what happened with the color this time though. I would like to try this again sometime.

I brought you in from the rain and put you in a safe place. In my heart I knew it wouldn't be long - your color would fade and your petals would wilt. With pencil and brush I set out to preserve the memory of that beauty. I got lost in the details as every surface curled and twisted into another. Every time I thought I had figured you out, I looked at my old marks and discovered how wrong I had been. You are gorgeous without even realizing it - and my silly lines and colors could never truly describe you. Yet I walk away with a precious truth: it was good to have known you and learned about you, even if the experience was fleeting.

I cut up a Granny Smith apple for lunch today, the core seemed...um...ripe for painting. Sorry. I still have a long way to go when it comes to mixing colors. There is still a great bit to learn about glazing. Nevertheless, it was fun to mix up color, throw together a quick drawing, and paint to my heart's content.

This time I wanted to try saturating the paper with water and working with the chaos of diffusing color. The result is pretty strange. The paper I use doesn't really hold up to the stress of water all that well. My final experiment with this technique was to combine it with solid lines (black flair-tip marker). I always liked the contrast between diffused color and solid line; though I'm not too sure I really succeeded this time. Those eyes are huge.