Willow

I was in Maryland's Zoo last week and I met newborn baby giraffe. Her name is Willow. She was born 7 weeks ago and she is the first baby giraffe at the facility in more than 20 years. I guess she will have a lot of visitors this spring and summer.
Willow, I wish you happy and healthy life :)

Improving Daffodil Watercolor Painting

This is a picture that we created at AC Moore's watercolor class during 2 hour period. It is good and you can leave it like this but also you can go farther and add some more details. Below I'll show what I've done with it later at home. I hope it will help you to improve your paintings. 

I decided to darken the background and make it richer. You can see that I sketched leaves and a flower bud at the top left corner. With such helpful pencil marks I was ready to start to paint around. I used in turns Phalo blue, yellow ochre and sap green colors.

When the paint dried off I added some more leaves with positive painting this time. I used deep green and darkened it with Phalo blue. 

Next step - shadows.

Here is a finished version. Darker shadows made this picture more three dimensional. To create my gray for the shadow I used a mixture of Ultramarine blue and Burnt Umber. You can also use Paynes gray.

Beef up the Composition

In late December I visited Canaan Valley in West Virginia. It’s a very beautiful and peaceful place and if you are an outdoor person you’ll love it too. Walking through the woods and meadows was a real treat for me. Because it was too cold to stay in one spot and draw I took a lot of pictures while hiking.

Here is a scene that made me freeze for a moment. This sight had a lot of attractive features but also had a few distracting elements. In my rough sketch below you can see how I handled the components to create a more exciting composition. The drawing was done with a graphite aquarelle and washed over with water. This helped me see the tones and the lighting better.

The creek was my focal point so I decided to cheat a little and make it a bit wider and brighter. The trees along the stream had trunks covered with lichens light in color. To emphasize that brightness I positioned them in front of the darker conifers. The unbalanced tree trunk and the footbridge were grabbing attention away from the stream so I didn’t put them in my drawing at all. Also, I decided not to paint the tall trees in the background to simplify the setting.

At first I covered the tree trunks with masking fluid. I wet the entire paper and applied the diluted mixture of ultramarine blue and burnt umber for the background. I added yellow ochre to the mixture to achieve a nice green color for trees in the distance. To create the soft look I started painting while the paper was still wet. For the foreground I used burnt sienna and a touch of purple. After these first two washes I waited for my paper to completely dry. Then I painted the closer fir trees and pines with the same mixture yet more condensed. Next I removed the masking fluid that covered the trunks. I painted their edges gray and green to create a feeling of roundness. The grass was done by a lot of negative painting. I completed the painting by adding shadows behind the trees.

I really enjoy painting details and I have to remind myself constantly not to over do it. 

Go to my YouTube Chanel to see the video of painting process

https://youtu.be/-1O7356g0ME

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. 

Abstracts

Pet abstract portrait commission is now open. Please send me a note if you're interested. I'll be happy to help.

April 15th in the Garden