Color versus Black&White

They say the watercolors are all about water and colors so I painted this Autumn woodland with water and all colors of the rainbow. The scene is a place from my imagination. 

I like vibrant colors - they make me happy. On the other hand I can feel that this picture is too colorful and because of that not real. What is the point of painting real images? We can see them all around. Lately I'm asking myself a question which road should I go - realism or abstract? Is it possible to jump back and forth these two roads? 

Immediately after paining "crazy colors" I have to draw black & white. Simple drawings calm my state of being. It is right what they say about "art" that it is all about emotions. 

Pet Portrait Commisions OPEN

I paint animals in abstract way. They can be blue or green or in any other color of the rainbow. I use India ink to capture the pet's nature and then I paint over it in watercolors.
If you would like your pet to be painted in this style, I'd be more then happy to help.
Here are some simple steps to follow:

• contact me by sending a note or leaving a comment below.  We will exchange email addresses.
• Send me 2-3 good quality photos. Pictures need to be sharp, taken without flash,  and preferably outside in slightly cloudy weather, or during "golden hour" . For the best results take the photo on pet's eye level. I love to see sparkles in those little eyes. Here is a good examples of photo I took. Please, do your best, and keep in mind that I will work with what I am given.

Place a nonrefundable downpayment of $20 via PayPal. The total cost of the portrait after completion is $50 plus $10 shipping and handling to US & Canada location.

I work on 11in x 15in paper. I use 140lb acid free paper and good quality paints.

To ensure that you are 100% happy with the portrait, I'll email you a low resolution final scan or photograph of the portrait for your approval. I may also upload the portrait here or on my other websites. At this stage I can do really small changes, unfortunately watercolors and inks are not a forgiving medium.

Once the remaining payment has been made ($30 + $10 shipping), I'll send you an original. I'll pack the piece in a flat envelope and secure it with cardboard for safe delivery.

I retain the copyright and reproduction rights on the artwork created from your photo, although I will never reproduce or sell your image in any form without your written permission. 

Backyard Hare

I painted this one from the photograph.  This time I used India ink first then I added watercolor paints. Complementary tones work well here. I used yellow ocher, light brown, little bit of red, Prussian blue and deep green. 

We have a lot of wild rabbits at our backyard. Whenever I'm walking my dog I keep my camera handy. The rabbits are not very fearful. I have a feeling that they figured it out that the dogs are on leash. 

The more rabbits there are, the more foxes can prey on them, so also there are lots of foxes in our neighborhood. They are rather hard to photograph because they are extremely shy.

Keiko the Bunny

I made pencil sketch first to study color value. Then I decided to paint the bunny in watercolors. 

Hermione and Sparrow

Here is Hermione from Harry Potter with abstracted hair. I started my painting with light sketch and masking fluid. The fluid has to be completely dry before painting so I waited for a while and painted this portrait in my head only. For the first wet wash I carefully put colors next to each other and let them mix on the paper. To do so I used four colors: phthalo blue, yellow ocher, burned umber, burned sienna and little bit of vermilion red. My black was achieved by mixing blue and umber and my white is a preserved color of the paper. The time lapse of this painting process is on YouTube

And here is an abstracted pumpkin and a little sparrow. I was visiting a local farm recently and I saw these vigorous birds everywhere. They are not very beautiful but because of their cheerful character I like them a lot.

Now some of my prints are available on Fine Art America