Wednesday, May 15, 2013
Pet Commission
Wednesday, May 01, 2013
Background problems
In a fit of mad inspiration a few days ago, I covered the entire background in watercolor ground. After letting it sit for a few days to cure, I threw in this background wash with granulating paints.
I added another, darker wash this afternoon. I will have to do at least one more dark wash, and probably another after with some 'warm' washes to add in sunlight and stuff. Then I'll still have to adjust the peahen, or she'll be too warm for the background.
Saturday, April 27, 2013
Still alive...
The drive to get shit done is hard for me to come by lately, and when I do sit down to paint, I'm easily distracted. Despite myself, I am still getting some work done.
The heron painting is finally finished, you can head on over to my website to see the finished product. In real life, the bright leaves in the foreground almost glow, hence the name. This painting is not very large (10.25 by 14 inches or so), but it took well over twenty hours to paint.
Otherwise I've been doing a lot of writing (not as much as I should), a lot of reading (not procrastinating, I swear), and a lot of birdwatching. Saw two northern harriers last week, which brings my lifelist up to 127 bird species.
I plan to reread a lot of books this year, particularly those I haven't read since I started writing more than three years ago. I went through Brent Weeks' Night Angel Trilogy a few weeks ago. I still love them but recognized a few aspects in them that aren't perfect. Vi still annoys the hell out of me. I'm not terribly surprised. And Wise Man's Fear finally came out in mass market paperback, so now I'm going to reread Name of the Wind and then get caught up in that series. It will be my first time reading it since I started writing myself, so I'm curious as to how it's going to live up to my memory of. I loved it the first time around.
I've also started working on the peacock painting again. It's large and unwieldy and it's definitely going to be one of those where I am constantly trying to balance detail without overworking the whole damn thing.
Sunday, March 31, 2013
More layering
Thursday, March 28, 2013
Setbacks.
Not quite willing to give up, I painted in all the dark areas, one by one, and then the lighter leaves. It took a few hours (and this piece is not big). The paper is already starting to act a little rag-like, which means it is sometimes difficult to leave sharp lines and edges, because the paint likes to bleed more even on dry paper.
Now I have to adjust the lights and darks, adding detail and texture until I have the contrast and value pattern that I want. Then I'll take the mask off and paint in the heron.





