Sertoma CW Jan. and Feb. 2020

I worked on the face adding details and warm and cool shadows (with reddish brown and ultramarine blue).  I added lots of darks.  I also added texture to the mane and neck using a reddish brown.  I glazed the neck later with some warm yellow.  I have a little island formed near the eye that needs to be incorporated into the face.  It still has the first pass only on it.  The same for the light edge of the ear and the hair formed by negative painting.

I wet the right side of the background and dropped in various colors going from dark to medium value as it moved away from the area I wanted to highlight.  I need to add color and shift values to the left side as well as the bottom.  I then painted the red and purple grape on the left side.  I dampened each one and dropped in color.  I mixed the reds for the red grape and also added some purple.  I dampened the purple grape and dropped in a dark purple as well as some rose.  I made sure for each grape that I incorporated the hard white shapes back into the grape. Later I used gouache to add the waxy white that is sometimes on grapes (and blueberries).  I used the white gouache to also incorporate the whites and add new whites into the grapes.

I transferred the drawing and dropped in mixed skin color, LIGHT color (made with both reds, a warm yellow, and a tiny bit of pthalo blue which is not always needed).  I then dropped in the colors used to make the skin color.  I wanted a colorful, but light, background to start.

DAC MM Jan. & Feb. 2020

I continued adding values with white on the stem and leaves (have a little more white to do).  I added a bit more color and dark value (have quite a bit of dark and color left to do).

I started by transferring the drawing.  I then wet the paper, dropped in color, and then added salt.  I added the salt when the paint was still wet, but was starting to dry.  I started working on the skin with white, light peach, peach, and terra cotta.  I added some darks in the eyes with terra cotta, dark brown and indigo blue.  I am ignoring the texture as I work concentrating on the form of the person.  I would like some texture to show through.  I decide later how much texture will show through depending on if it works well or is distracting. I plan to add black ink on this one. 

I started by transferring the drawing.  I wet the paper and dropped in some greens, all very light (like the bottom of this piece).  While the paper was wet I used a technique called sanding (I used red brown, warm yellow, orange, and red watercolor pencils).  Sanding is when you use sand paper or a strainer to add finely ground watercolor pencil to the wet paint, it makes the fine speckle pattern. After this dried I used a variety of green watercolor pencils and shaded the darker greens on the top half of this piece.  I then added water to the shaded watercolor pencil, moving the color around. The red you see is from the sanding technique before adding the green.

Using colored pencil I worked on the reflection part of the water adding the darks and lights and some color.  I still have more to do, but it's getting there.  i also worked a little on the swan, still need more shadows on the wings and back feathers. In the water I used colors such as dark green, aquamarine, spanish orange, indigo, sacrlet lake (beak reflection), and white

DAC MM Jan.& Feb. 2020

I am still working on the white (I left some for future demonstrations)  I started adding color to the bracts.  I used yellow chartreuse first and then grass green/olive green, dark green, and more white as needed to lighten areas.

I am continuing to work on the bracts.  I continue to use yellow chartreuse first and then grass green/olive green, dark green, and more white as needed to lighten areas and have added spanish prnge, scarlet lake, pomegranate, black/indigo blue (used on the background).  I use the colors in layers and continue refining as i go.  I use the stump as needed to smooth some areas. 

I used a black ink pen and a white ink pen on the swans head to get bold contrast.  I added some gray to the swan in the shadows and to make textures (worked in the head and neck area so far).  I used in on the beak as well as spanish orange and scarlet lake and white to get form om the beak.  I worked on the background, upper right portion adding color and dark.  I used yellow chartreuse, dark green, grass green, olive green, and black so far.  I started work on the reflection of the swan with the same colors as above adding scarlet lake and white to the mix.  Will continue that demo next class. 

Sertoma CW Jan. and Feb. 2020

I finished the remainder of the spots at home so they would be ready for class.  In class I mixed a gray and a warm brown to shade the parts of neck and head in shadow, lightly on this pass.  I also added some darker gray to the tips of the horns and inside the ear and nostril (the nostril was too wet and dispersed, it will need to be redone).  I wet the parts that needed shading beforehand.  If you are working on a paper that lifts easily add the shadows like a glaze without pre-wetting the paper.

I mixed a warm brown and used my warm yellow and added areas of warm color to parts of the face and neck and at the same time added the mane.

I added color to the grapes and stems one grape at a time.  For the red I mixed my warm and cool reds together and also added more of one color in areas that needed to be warmer or cooler.  For the green and purple I did a variety of mixtures to show you the possibilities you have with warm & cool red, warm & cool yellow, and purple blue and green blue. Mix your colors to get the various combinations you have and remember that ratios make a difference.  The textures in the red grapes were made while wet with a little ultramarine blue dropped into the red.  The green had a little quin. rose dropped in one and a little aureolin yellow and quin. rose dropped in the top of the other.  For the purple I made a few neutralized purples and added more red to the purple on the top part. I added the stem with green at the top, warm yellow at the bottom and a little red dropped in while it's wet.  The places The ends where other grapes used to be were made with purple brown with red and blue dropped in.  The one towards the bottom was warm yellow with a little green and some red.

I removed the masking using a rubber cement pick-up. I then used water, a soft brush and paper towel to soften the edges all over the piece. 

DAC MM Jan. & Feb., 2010

This is an unfinished watercolor painting from another class.  This could be finished as a watercolor or as a mixed media.

This is the painting demonstrated in class.  This was done in two layers.  I wet the paper and dropped in yellow and gray on the bird and on parts of the background.  I also added orange to the beak and the reflection.  After that was dry I wet the paper around the swan.  This paper does not life easily so the paint won't lift when I wet it again.  I mix a very dark green and a medium green and a yellow green.  I drip these colors around the swan adding them in a horizontal direction so it will look like water.  I will add a bit more with watercolor and ink in the next class before we start the colored pencil.

DAC MM Jan. & Feb., 2020

This is the start of the colored pencil over watercolor.  The background was made at home before class (so it would be dry for the demo).  It is an old painting of a cabbage that was not finished.  I added a medium dark green over the entire paper. I do not throw away unfinished or unsuccessful watercolor paintings.  I usually make them into something else.

I transferred the drawing using white transfer paper and started adding form and values with the white pencil only.  I use a stump to blend it as I work.The entire artichoke will be completed first with values using the white pencil.  From there we will add shadows and darks and some other color.

This is the background made in the class demonstration.  It has 2 layers of paint.  I started by wetting the paper and dropping in a mixed green.  After that dried I added another mixed green that leaned toward blue.  I did not wet the paper for the second layer because this paper lifts easily.  It's good to learn the characteristics of the paper you are working on.

This is a white gouache and watercolor painting.  It is a very similar process to the start of the mixed media project.  The background was made in two layers.  I wet the paper and dropped in some green and red.  After that was dry I added a darker green and speckled it with yellows in the background behind the artichoke. Then I started painting adding form with values using white gouache.  I added some dark red watercolor on one section.  After the white is done I will add shadows and darks.

Sertoma Cont. Watercolor, January and February, 2020

I wet the paper, making it very wet.  I dropped in ultramarine blue (the color is up to you), keeping it away from the lower neck and the front of the face.  This photo was taken in class with my phone so the lighting and color are not correct.

I started working on the spots.  I mixed a brown using 3 primaries (I used my warm red, warm yellow and green blue to make the brown - Daniel Smith pyrrol scarlet, pthalo blue, permanent yellow deep, colors you have will work fine. ).  I dampen one of the spots and drop in some brown.  I also drop a little yellow and/or red and/or blue into the brown (the ones I used to make the brown).  I will work to finish the spots before the next class.  For the eye, I looked at the light version of the photo in order to save some light areas in the eye.  I mixed a dark using my darkest blue, a red and yellow.  I wet the eye around the light spots  and dropped in the dark.  I then went around the outside of the eye with a damp brush feathering it out to look like fur.  I will show what to do with the light spots of the eye in class.

I saved my whites using masking fluid (I use gray Pebeo Drawing Gum).  You can see what I saved as it is gray.  After that was dry I wet the paper and dropped in color letting it bleed and spread.  I used both my warm and cool reds and even mixed them together for some areas.  I used a mixed green and a mixed purple.  

I wet the paper, very wet again, and dropped in warm yellow all over.  I will wait to make changes to the background until later as I need to see what it will need.