shazam t-shirt

 I finally remembered to take photos of my watercolour process. I drew him with a 6B pencil, which allows for a dark and light contrasty line. I drew him as quickly as I could while still watching for accuracy.

 I always start the drawing and the painting with the face. It seems I need to get that down first before the rest can follow.

 I like emphasizing shadows on the floor to really ground the figure. Without them, the person can look like they're 'floating'.

12x16" - original watercolour painting

Here's the finished product. I did his portrait first (last post) then, realizing how cute his t-shirt was and how interesting his seated body language was, I decided to do this much looser full figure.
And finally, here is a close up of it.

walking man

11x14" original watercolour painting.

I painted this portrait yesterday at a Sunday Painting Workshop. The model went for walks during his break, (every 20 minutes) because it was such a lovely day. So, he returned for each sitting with his cheeks slightly pink. : ) He wore a pink/red shirt so, it all went together nicely.
Here are two more photos, of the drawing and one of the model in the background.

kindhearted

$150 - 9x12" original watercolour painting

This fellow was such a treat to paint! I added hints of blue cerulean to contrast with his warm brown and dark coat. Lots and lots of colours mixed in this one. 

Here's a close up of him:

a few more

$80 - 8x10"original watercolour painting

"mixed colours" above and "resting warrior" below are both from longer poses during two different life drawing classes. I'm trying to achieve an interesting line with lots of colour, and I think this same palette choice works with the two very different poses. 

$30 - 8x10"original watercolour painting on 90lb paper.

parallels

$60- 5x7"original watercolour painting with 8x10"mat.

Here's another piece from my last figure drawing session. Same model, same palette. 

criss cross

$60 - 5x7"original watercolour painting with 8x10"mat.

I'm finding my way during figure painting classes lately with a rose and olive watercolour palette. Since the poses are quick and I'm working 'on the fly', I find deciding on the paper size and the colours I'm going to use, before the class starts, gives me the opportunity to just concentrate on getting an interesting line then putting in select values.

side by side

$60 - 6x8" original watercolour painting with 8x10"mat

The challenge today was making a nice rich dark background to help the yellow daisies pop. Also, my side lighting was quite strong, so I tried to match the glow it created. Lots of learning still going on. 

Also, just a reminder, I do make a serious effort to insure that my paintings are as true to colour on the computer screen as they are in real life. 

whiz

$30 - 9x12" original watercolour painting on 90lb paper.

Today's life model was full of energy when posing for short poses. I think I captured his spark in this charcoal drawing as he whizzed around from pose to pose. Then I added splashes of turquoise, purple and red.

reaching sphere

$80 - 8x10"watercolour original painting

I tried out a new palette during my life drawing class this week. I added olive green, a colour I rarely use, to balance the soft pinks. For this pose, the model held a blue ball which contrasted wonderfully with my red green palette. 

true to your word

$150 - 11x14" original watercolour painting

I almost named this piece 'red sweater' since that is what first jumped out at me when the model sat under the spotlight. But in the end, it was her expression that I liked. In fact, I'm very happy that I stopped painting the sweater when I did, since any more of it could have dominated the whole piece.

Portrait in Profile

 

11x14"

Still plugging away at portrait painting on Sundays. : )

Profiles are really challenging and I think rarely done. The most famous one is probably Whistler's mother. Or, it's the first one I can visualize easily. Profile are kind of harsh and, since it's not the way we look at each other, they don't seem to capture the person as we know them. Still, I'm happy with the result.

I drew this one, took a pic of it with my iPhone, then painted it in watercolour.

the road less travelled

$60 - 5x7"watercolour painting with 8x10"mat

I created this painting based on sketches of trees in my sketchbook. So, I guess that makes it my first imaginary landscape. I concentrated on reproducing the trees interesting shapes then added lots of cobalt violet and splatters!