Sand and Seashell

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 paint more in the future.

Comments

Ferret

Trying out a challenge to myself - to create "finished" pieces with a limited color palette on a consistent schedule. I am still working out the final guidelines. I think I would like to challenge myself to use a new texture in each piece as well. I've had this unfinished sketch in my sketchbook forever. Even though I'm not entirely happy with it - it feels great to finally have it done!

Ice Skating Characters

Twinbee

Trying some new ways of picking colors for my digital pieces. I was not aware that Illustrator has a tint slider. I feel much more confident sticking to a very limited number of hues with a tint and shade for each. This illustration uses only three: blue, pink, and tan. Twinbee is one of my favorite video games - it perfectly captures the weird concepts and bright colors that find their way into my work. Not sure where this pose came from, but I didn't want it to waste away in my sketchbook.

Rainbow Bisque

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