Blackberries at Break

I was really happy with the results of yesterday's exercise, so I decided to try again. It's not hard to find blackberries in the valley where I live - they grow like crazy just about everywhere. Today was a particularly great day to pay attention to the berries - they seemed to glow in fifty different hues. Five minutes. Flair tip pen. Go!

This time around, I decided to also take a picture of the area I would be drawing. This way, I could remember roughly which berries were which color when I got the chance. Even with a color reference I did a lot of guessing. Which color should I start with as a base? How should I apply water?

Looking at the end result - I am really happy with the way this one turned out. The colors are very intense. It's like a memory or a dream: far more colorful and hazy than the thing itself.

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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!

A Competent Profile

As I start to become more familiar with proportions and measurements for the various faces I attempt to draw, I am starting to wonder how to make a more complete portrait with my limited time. Do I stick to lines? Do I bring a brush and some ink? Which lines should I include? Which shapes are important to represent? Maybe this is a good time to look at the work other artists have done and try to work out some of their methods.

Rules and requirements (mostly for me)

Initially, I was taking a look at my scanner for the maximum dimensions of a painting. I realize now that archiving paintings is a bit more involved than posting 300x300 pixel GIFs. So, some of these pieces will need to be photographed. Others will be scanned (provided the paper doesn't curl too badly). Here is the rough draft of my proposed project: I will create 2-3 finished watercolor pieces every week for the year 2014 The minimum dimensions for each piece will be 4x6" (no maximum) Materials list: Watercolor paint (in tubes or cakes), watercolor pencils, brushes, India Ink, bamboo pen, white gouache, and gold paint pen. Subject matter will change with every painting. I know there is a lot a person can learn from painting the same subject over and over, but this is not that project. New paintings will be posted on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Expect extra posts to occur between those days. Since the whole purpose of this project is to learn, I plan on reading and resear...

Rainbow Bisque

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