Watercolor Portrait Step by Step (Theo)

August 20, 2015 in step by step, commissions

This is Theo, the little brother of Simon, whose step-by-step portrait I posted a while ago.

Step 1. Thumbnail sketch, in color:

I use thumbnail sketches like these for three purposes:

1. This is the initial translation of a photo to an artwork that I do. It lets my collector see what I see when I look at their photo. It gives them a rough idea of the final result.

2. In the absence of a live model (not that I paint dead models...wait, yes, I do...) - anyway, most of the time, people, kids especially, do not sit for my portraits. They send me photos and these photos are the only source of information about them that I have. So, spending some time with the pictures, and making these little sketches of them, is a way for me to get to know them a little better.

3. Finally, these sketches are essential tools I use for planning my paintings. How much of the photo do I crop? Do I need to rotate things? Move something? Delete something? Which colors will I use? Which values will work best? All of these questions can be worked out in advance, in a thumbnail sketch.

On to Step 2, Drawing.

I used grid method for this drawing. I won't go into detail on how to do it here but I am including it into the bonus chapter of my "How I Paint Children" ebook, which you will be able to get very soon (and if you are on my email list, you will be the first to get it. For free.)

Step 3. First couple of layers. I keep things very wet at this point and paint runs all over the place. Yes, the green background bled into the boy's face but that's okay. Keep reading :)

Step 4. Once my first wash was dry, I lifted off some of the green on his face and began adding definition to the shadow areas.

Step 5. Adding light blue washes on his forehead, chin, and above his eyes. Defining his eyes, nose, lips, and ears more. More texture along the hairline.

Step 6. I don't always do it, but in this particular portrait, I smoothed out much of my brushwork on face. This will give the painting a more finished, detailed, and polished look. For that, I use a soft synthetic brush. Here's my favorite one:

This is a Cotman 1/2" flat brush but any softish synthetic brush will do. I originally bought it for the one and only watercolor class I took in the U.S., and it didn't take as a painting brush. It's great for blurring the edges though.

Step 7. I added another background wash to deepen the color. A little more fiddling with the details.

Step 8. The background wash left a hard edge around the head (phtalo blue tends to do that). So I softened the edge and lifted off some hairs here and there. Done!

Simon - A Watercolor Child Portrait Step by Step

July 06, 2014 in commissions, step by step

Some time last year, I had the pleasure of working on two custom portraits for Laura of http://tinyscissortimes.blogspot.com/. I painted her two sons, adding to her growing collection of family portraits created by different artists. It was fun! She let me choose from several reference photos and we worked together to arrive at paintings that made both of us happy. She is pretty much my perfect client :)

10 x 8" Watercolor on Arches cold press 140lb watercolor paper.

This is one of those portraits. Simon is the older kid and Laura wanted a painting based on one of her favorite photos of him as a toddler. I typically advise for the reference photos to have a strong light and shadow pattern, preferably in natural light and to avoid pictures taken with a flash or those with softer, diffused light, or back light. This just happened to be a backlit photo. If you are a beginning painter, it could make things difficult. The variation of values in the face becomes very subtle and you need a good understanding of facial structure to make it convincing. But it is doable and incidentally, two of my portraits I'm rather fond of have back light:

(Both of them also have step-by-step posts, here and here).

As always, I started with a thumbnail sketch:

I do this to get a general feel for the personality and mood of my subject and to give the client an idea of the end result. Sometimes I do more than one sketch, trying out different compositions, crops, colors, value schemes. Once the sketch is approved, I move on to the drawing:

You can barely see anything here because in portraits, I tend to keep the drawing minimal. I don't map out areas of light and shadows and prefer to that with paint. This drawing was made using grid method directly on the watercolor paper.

On to the next step, initial washes:

Very lightly, I mapped out main shadow areas, while leaving most highlights as the white of the paper. From now on, it's building up the layers with the general idea of keeping the color cooler in the shadows and warmer in the lights.

Some more form modeling here. Still keeping the highlights white.

Most of the time, my portrait palette consists of a yellow, a red, and a blue. Sometimes, there is an additional version of each color - a cool red (quinacridone red), a cool yellow (quinacridone gold), a warm yellow (indian or hansa yellow), and a warm blue (french ultramarine or cobalt). In this painting, I also had small areas of phtalo blue (cool blue).

Getting close to done. This image looks a bit pale compared to the previous one because of the different lighting when I took the pictures. I softened some of the edges and signed it. I felt that it was at the stage where it was still lively but not overdone. When I sent it to Laura for approval, however, she wanted a greater level of detail and depth. And so the work continued:

Working with smaller brushes, increasing value contrast (i.e. making dark things darker next to light things, which makes them pop), softening some edges.

And the finished, color-corrected version!

She loved it. :)

Day 24 - Casa Del Desierto (Barstow Harvey House)

January 24, 2014 in step by step, plein air

Finally done with this painting! I started it on a plein air outing over a week ago and worked on it in tiny pieces of time since. It even went through an ugly stage (which is normal, particularly for paintings done in multiple sessions) and through a husband-critique stage (that's how you know it's getting serious ;) ). I

Watercolor and ink on hot press paper. Original sold. Prints and cards available.

A few progress photos:

First step: completed drawing at the plein air session. By the time I was done drawing, it was getting close to sunset and windy, so I decided to do the painting part at home.

Here, I am beginning to lay first washes. The paper is hot press, so I'm getting some nice blooms!

I have some white areas left here but most of the painting has a layer of paint. Evaluating if the contrast between the white columns and dark spaces between them is too dark. So it is. Also, not crazy about the foreground.

One step further: I toned down the white areas and lightened up the shadows between columns. I also decided to separate the far right side of the building from the background by darkening the tree area. The foreground got another wash of gray-blue to tone it down and ground the building. Brick detail on the left side and a bit of cleaning up in the shape of the columns and bottom of the building.

At this point, I got a feeling that my problem with the foreground might be because it was also too large. I began thinking about the best way to crop it.

Final, cropped version. The foreground is significantly darker and quieter. I took off some of the paint first, by wetting the area with a soft brush (to agitate the paint and make it liftable without damaging the paper) and blotting with soft tissue paper (like Kleenex). I repeated the process once or twice. Then, I covered the area with a fairly uniform wash of mixed gray (French Ultramarine + Quinacridone Red + Quinacridone Gold).

And that's the story :). I think I've lived in the desert for too long (4 years!), because I am beginning to find cool things about it and even like some of them...

If you would like to see an excellent virtual tour of the Barstow Harvey House, watch this:

Step By Step Watercolor Portrait of a Child

April 17, 2013 in step by step

Another step-by-step! This little guy is my son's best buddy (on most days :)) The portrait painting was a Christmas gift to his dad.

I had a choice of several very good photos to work from. I love it when collectors trust me to make a recommendation, or even decision, on what photo would make a better painting. At this point, I can work from unimaginably bad snapshots but it's always easier to begin with a good photo reference. Out of the photos I was given, I liked the one I ended up painting right away, and the collector also suggested one with the classic looking-straight-at-the-camera pose.

Step 1. I made two thumbnail sketches based on the two photos we chose. The sketches help me get more familiar with my subject and also kind of test out my initial feelings about the reference photos. I definitely liked the one on the right more, and after a discussion with the collector, she agreed with me. The sketch on the left is your standard kid picture (minus the usual toothy grin). Any kid. The one on the right is definitely a particular kid, the one with the attitude and his own thoughts in his head, and it's Vaughn.

Step 2. Drawing using the grid method. Since I had both a tilt and a turn to his head in this portrait, it was important for me to double-check the grid drawing with a few ellipses connecting the facial features of the boy. If you have no idea what I'm talking about or want a refresher course, I recommend the free YouTube videos by Stan Prokopenko. Good stuff!

Step 3. I jumped right in! Beginning with the eyes (I felt that they were the most important part of the painting).

Closeup of the eye.

Step 4. I like to integrate the figure and the background (vs. painting them separately), so here is what it looked like after one wash. At this point, I let it dry.

Step 5. The background is left as it is. I concentrate on the face, defining the main light and shade patterns. It helps to know where your light is coming from. In this case, it's on the top left. This means, for example, that the left side of the boy's head will be a bit lighter than the right.

Step 6. More detail on the face and arms. I also decided to define the edge of his farther shoulder by placing a light background wash next to it.

Elijah portrait study step by step

December 11, 2012 in step by step

Time for another step-by-step painting? I think so! This one is also a portrait study, which means that it's smaller, less detailed and less time-consuming than my usual full-blown portraits. My grand idea is to make two largish paintings of my kids.

Step 1. Drawing using the grid method.

Step 2. First wash!

Step 3. Doing mostly negative painting this layer. I could have called it done at this point but I wanted more definition.

Step 4. Adding depth.

And the final result!

P.S. A song about apples and oranges, by Elijah:

Wet-into-wet Watercolor Portrait Study Step by Step

November 05, 2012 in step by step

Partly because of the mounting pressure (grandparents, friends, random people who make the connection between the artist and the baby) to paint my beautiful baby daughter, and partly because I just needed to paint something and enjoy it, I made this little wet-into-wet study. I call it a study because I have a grand idea to make two largish (24x24 or larger) paintings of my kids to go on our bare walls.

Here is the reference photo:

There were pretty much just three steps in this painting:

Step 1. Drawing. I used the grid method, with grid lines every inch.

Step 2. First layer, wet-into-wet (except for the highlights in the eyes, those I left dry).

Step 3. Another layer of wet-into-wet, with a few details added. I wanted to keep everything soft except for the right eye, so I left most of the edges alone without going back and defining them more. I can see so many things not quite right with this painting...especially when comparing to the reference photo - but at some point, you just have to let it go. Overall, I am happy with the freshness and softness I was able to achieve. What do you think?

P.S. Want me to make a painting from your photo? Read more here or contact me right away.

Colleen - Portrait of Little Girl with Pumpkin Step by Step

August 08, 2012 in commissions, step by step

First of all, let me say that I was immediately inspired to paint this portrait when I saw the reference photo. I love the backlit figure against the pumpkin patch background, the abundance of rich colors and, of course, the priceless expression on the little girl's face. I knew it was going to be a good painting right away.

I started with a thumbnail sketch, with a bit of color to help me plan the painting and communicate to the client what I see when I look at their photo:

After the sketch, I stretched my paper and made the drawing using the grid method.

A word about using the grid method with portraits: after you find your reference points and locate the facial features, make sure you double-check your drawing with the usual facial proportions rules. I.e, the vertical center line hits the features in the middle, the horizontal lines of the eyes, bottom of the nose, and mouth are parallel, the distance between the eyes is approximately the width of one eye, the lines from the wings of the nose to the inside corners of the eyes are parallel, etc.

Next step: wet-into-wet background wash and ultramarine blue in the shadow areas. I also put light yellow, red, and orange washes over the skin areas.

Next, I continue working on the hair and face, put a wash over the shadow side of the pumpkin and reclaim the round shape of the pumpkin on the right using a scrubber brush.

Next, more work on the pumpkin and main shapes of the face. i also deepen the skin tones using transparent quinacridone red and quinacridone burnt sienna.

Next step. I might be guilty in spending too much time an effort on the hair, but I just can't help it. I like painting hair. I darken the shadows throughout the painting, define the eyes, soften the hard edges around the hand and add detail to fingers and the girl's dress. Almost done.

From the last stage to the completed painting, it's just a matter of deepening the shadows even more and refining the important details. I also add a few spots of semi-opaque yellow to the pumpkin and, in a more transparent manner, the girl's face. These last steps seem fairly insignificant, and you may say that the main idea of the painting was already stated in the previous stage - but they often take the longest time with a lot of reflection and evaluation. When my additions and refinements are no longer making the painting better, I declare it finished.

I find it important to take it slowly at the end, so that I have a lot of opportunities to step away from the painting and come back to it with a fresh eye. It helps me catch myself before I overwork it - although, of course, the level of finish is very subjective. Some other artist would have stopped twenty hours ago, while another one might want to work it to a more realistic stage.

How to Make Watercolor Batik on Rice Paper Step-by-Step Demo

February 03, 2012 in step by step

Watercolor batik is a painting technique that has been floating around for a while. I have painted on fabric before (not batik method strictly speaking), I knew the theory (basically, you use wax/paraffin in place of masking liquid and rice paper in place of regular watercolor paper) and I kept seeing paintings done in this technique here and there. Finally, months after bookmarking a demo by Kathie George on Artists Network, I decided to give it a try.

Materials and gear:

Watercolor paints
Some kind of oriental/rice paper. I used something looking like the regular sumi-e rice paper (the one that has no sizing and makes your paint run like crazy)
Ink pen (optional). I used Pigma Micron
Brushes - your regular watercolor brushes plus something designated specifically for applying paraffin. I used a 1.5" flat bristle brush from a hardware supply store and a couple of smaller bristle brushes.
Electric griddle or some other way to keep the paraffin melted.
Paraffin - I used a candle stump
Iron
Lots of newspapers/tissue paper/any thin absorbent paper that you can use for ironing the paraffin off your painting

The process

1. Make your drawing if you plan on having the lines. If you need to make a sketch first and then trace it onto the rice paper, be my guest. I drew straight on the rice paper - I think the uneven lines are not so horrible and actually add character.

Here, I already decided what my lightest lights are (a term meaning the areas of the artwork that will be the lightest in value. In watercolor, you typically leave them untouched, no paint at all). I masked them out with melted paraffin.

2. Apply first wash of color. You will be working from light to dark, so decide what your next lightest areas are and fill them in. Often, those are going to be your yellows, as they tend to be light in value. I also painted the bright colors of the flowers on the windowsills at this stage. I wanted to keep them fresh, so no more layers of paint on top.

3. Apply more paraffin to areas that you want to keep the way they are. Paint middle values.

4. Same thing. Mask out the areas that you are happy with and move on with another layer of watercolor. Here I am about to add the darks.

5. The image below is almost completely covered with paraffin.

6. More paraffin, more paint.

7. Once you're done, cover it all completely with paraffin and crinkle the paper. Apply a wash of color on top. I chose rusty orange to match the color of my ink lines. It will bleed into the cracks and bead on top of paraffin.

This step is optional. If you don't want the web pattern on top of the painting, feel free to skip it.

8. Newspapers and iron time. Place the painting between several layers of newspaper or tissue paper and keep ironing until all of the paraffin comes off. You will need to change the layers of paper to new ones in the process.

This is what it looked like after removing paraffin. I was fine with it for a day but then decided the white spots in the bottom third of the painting were just too distracting. When I tried painting them over, I couldn't: there was still some paraffin in the paper. One extra ironing removed it and I was able to tone the white spots down.

Here is the finished version:

Detail views:

And a handy time lapse video: French Windows

Hope you enjoyed it! Questions? Suggestions? Comments?

Garden Scene with Blue Pot and Stairs - Watercolor on Aquabord Step by Step

August 29, 2011 in commissions, step by step

Ampersand Aquabord is nice. 2" deep cradled Aquabord is even nicer! You don't need to mat it, just spray it with a fixative and varnish. You don't even need to frame it. Stain the sides any color you want and it's ready to be put on a wall. The painting above was born partly of the client's wish for a smaller size and partly out of my desire to try the cradled Aquabord.

blue pot with hydrangeas reference photo

Reference photo: their very attractive corner of the yard. I love the windmill but I also felt that it would compete for attention with the pot. And, since we decided on a square format Aquabord, I would have been difficult to squeeze it into the composition.

As in most of my commissions, I spent some time doing preliminary sketches.

We went with this one.

I skipped the drawing - I typically don't feel the need for pencil lines unless the subject is complex. For the first time ever, I noticed that on the Aquabord packaging, they recommend washing it with clean water before painting. So I did. It bubbled a bit (which it is supposed to do) and behaved much more wet-into-wet than I expected. If this last phrase sounds odd to you, I just mean that the paint spread and mingled better.

That's what the 2" deep cradle looks like with a 6x6" board. I like it.

Next layer: trying to keep the flow and spontaneity of the first wash while adding a lot of detail. Not easy!

And the end result :) Like it? I do have prints and greeting cards :)

Crystal - step by step

April 22, 2011 in step by step

Here's the proof that I have not stopped painting nor forgotten my blog anniversary photo contest winners :) One of the paintings is now complete!

12 x 9" Watercolor on Lanaquarelle rough 140lb paper (actually, I forgot this was the rough paper, which isn't often used for portraits). As usual, I started with a sketch to decide on the composition and value - but I forgot to scan in the sketch : /.

Here, I already made the drawing and laid several layers down. Since this was a memorial portrait, I chose to stay away from the more expressive, impressionistic look that I've developed through A Portrait A Day.

I continued to model the form and began adding her makeup. It was quite interesting to see how the painting suddenly started looking like the reference photo, just because I darkened the eyelashes.

Lastly, I deepened the shadows, softened some edges, added more color throughout, and added blue to her clothes to echo the eyes a bit. I also got rid of most of the shadow on the side of her face (which was very dark in the reference photo but just didn't look right in a painting). I used a thin wash of acrylic gesso to cover the staining color I couldn't wash away. Scrubbing doesn't work very well on this paper, so it wasn't a real option.

The girl's parents were happy with the portrait...And I felt that it's the least I can offer to someone who's lost a child. I don't think I would be able to cope with something like that.

To learn about how you can order your own custom portrait, go here.

Ink and watercolor winter landscape - step by step

March 31, 2011 in commissions, step by step

This painting was a commission I did for someone who gave it as a thank you gift for a wonderful skiing vacation at the Okemo mountain in Vermont. As usual, I started with a sketch:

And, since the client wanted two skiers in the picture, a rough Photoshop mockup:

On to the drawing and the first wet-into-wet wash (paper is stretched on an 11x14" stretcher frame and bordered with artist's tape to a 9x12" size):

At which point I remembered that this was supposed to be an ink and watercolor painting...

And after this, there was darkening of shadows and intensifying of color here and there. I also added some iridescent medium and snow, along with the writing on the bottom, to arrive at this:

At the request of the client, I mailed the painting directly to the couple who generously let them stay at their house during the vacation at Okemo. I included one of my note cards that I think goes very well with this painting:

A Portrait A Day 57 - Nicole - step by step

March 25, 2011 in a portrait a day, step by step

It's safe to say that it's no more a "portrait a day" - turns out I can't quite afford a reliable hour every day devoted to painting something for myself - but I'll keep counting them until I get to a stopping point (the current idea is to make it to September 2, a year after I started the project).

Meet Nicole from WetCanvas Portraiture forum

12x9" watercolor on Canson Montval 140lb CP. I really needed the excellent lifting ability of this paper here. It doesn't take layers or do granulation as well as other papers do, but lifting is so easy!

Ok, on to the step by step:

I was temporarily commission-free for a day... Next week, I'm starting 5 11x14" street scenes for the Mississippi Blood Bank and, hopefully, a couple of paintings that I'm doing for free (including the Blirthday winners). Probably won't have time for the portrait-a-day : / But...I'm not really complaining :) I'm excited about the next week's paintings and I would like to get to a point where I have a reliable income from art. So...if you want me to paint something for you, drop me a line ;)

Mia - Baby Portrait Step by Step

March 25, 2011 in commissions, step by step

I do not typically post the reference photos for the portraits I paint but this one is special:

So you can see, this was more of a restoration project :) Starting with the sketch, to get familiar with the general shapes and try the values and colors that might work:

I also removed the baby seat and added the unicorn on the shirt - the unicorn has special meaning to the recipient of this painting.

On to drawing (my unfavorite stage, always takes tooooo long):

And the completed painting:

The curious thing about this painting is that the subject is the mom of another baby I painted :). Tried Lanaquarelle cold press 140lb on this. The paper is soft and has nice texture, glazes look beautiful on it. However, the paint sets in a bit too fast and lifting is very hard. I also encountered several light spots that would not take paint (almost like a resist).

To learn how to order your own custom portrait, go here.

A Portrait A Day 45 & 46 Clem and Millie - step by step

December 30, 2010 in a portrait a day, commissions, step by step

Watercolor on Kilimanjaro CP 140lb watercolor paper, 11x14." Since I'm behind on portraits-a-day, I'm going to count this as two portraits :).

Looks like I'm on the roll with in-progress photos :). Hopefully, this will be helpful to somebody. This painting was a commission as well, this time for someone I met at a local craft fair. I'm fairly pleased with the outcome, considering the quality of photos I had to work with (none in focus, poor light and/or flash).

Step 1 - establishing the main shapes

Step 2 - defining the features further

Step 3 - working on the left side of the painting

And the finished painting. Kilimanjaro, which is a brand of paper sold by Cheap Joe's, is a 100% cotton rag paper that is half the price of Arches. I decided to give it a try and got a 10-sheet pack for $24.99. Well, I am pretty pleased with it so far! I haven't tried any heavy scrubbing or a lot of layered washes, but it stretched nicely and performed well under my usual painting techniques.

Incidentally, the Richeson Lyptus Lobo easel that I have I also bought from Cheap Joe's. They had the best price and did not charge me oversize shipping (the easel comes unassembled).

To learn how you can order your own custom portrait, go here.

A Portrait A Day 44 - Christina - step by step

December 21, 2010 in a portrait a day, commissions, step by step

This painting was a commission I got through Etsy's custom requests section - Alchemy. It is a Christmas present for the person depicted. I do hope she will like it :). Since it was a custom request, I worked a bit bigger than usual (this is an 11x14, which makes her face a lot bigger than life size) and finally found use for my tube of Payne's gray (I never use it otherwise). The client said that the resulting painting was "exactly what she envisioned" - which is nice. But if you are at least a little familiar with my work, you know that working in grayscale must be pure torture for someone who loves color so much! I can't say that it was torture - and I even kind of liked it before adding the red lips - but I promise you, the next post will have COLOR! :)

This is probably not the most interesting painting to show step-by-step photos for, but I made this anyway so that the client could keep track of where I was in the process. Here they go:

Step 1 - the idea sketch. We decided on showing a bit more of her face and neck. I did the grayscale first, then added the bright red lips, and then, wanting more color, I tried adding a bit of pale color. I wasn't sure at this point if I would add the pale color in the big painting or not.

Step 2 - the drawing...what usually takes the most time. I skip this step in my portraits-a-day but I felt that I need to do a drawing here because the face was so much larger than life size. I used the grid method to establish major points in the drawing.

Step 3 - wet-into-wet. I liked it quite a lot at this point.

Oh yes! Meet my new easel! It's a Richeson Academy Lobo and I love it so far (as does my son, who thinks it's an excellent play gym).

Step 4 - more detail, deeper shadows

Step 5 - the red lips!

Step 6 - the final version, with some areas corrected, deepened and more detailed.

Here it is.. Here are also the holidays, my family, more commissions, and a lot of material to post. Hopefully, I will find the time for a couple more blog posts before the New Year, but if not - Merry Christmas and see you in 2011! :)

A Portrait A Day 43 - Allen - step by step

December 14, 2010 in a portrait a day, commissions, step by step

Watercolor on Arches CP 140lv, 9x12." Allen was actually a portrait study somebody commissioned me to do through ArtFire.com. It means that I might just hang out on ArtFire a little longer and hope for more sales to come. I do love the user-friendliness and all the available options of their shops.

Back to the painting. This one was a struggle...I was captured with the photo - the emotion, the colors, the pose, the tilt of the head - all were interesting to me and I plunged into it. Well, this is one case where I wish I had done a drawing first. My attempt #1 was failure:

So, at some point I decided I wasn't going to be happy with this painting and it was too late to fix the structure. I had to start over.

Step 1, semi-wet-into-wet. Just trying to get the main shapes in place. I actually went ahead and drew the center line and the eye line of the head with a brush, to make sure I had the angles right. I softened the lines before they were dry.

Step 2 - placing smaller shapes and building up the volumes.

Step 3 - deepening shadows and constantly correcting errors...

Step 4 - more detail and more color. The point at which I am still not happy but done. The painting doesn't look exactly like the photograph, but that's not really my objective in these quick portraits. The lady who commissioned the painting was thrilled and said that I captured the boy's spirit :) It is what I was hoping for, then!

Icelandic Lady watercolor portrait step by step

August 27, 2010 in commissions, step by step

This is pretty much a continuation of the previous post. I worked on two paintings at the same time, and it was a very interesting learning experience. Here are the progress pictures of the 9x12 almost three-quarter figure portrait of a lady in Icelandic national costume. As usual, I started with sketches. This one was only one sketch that I altered many times trying to decide on the background (the reference photo, taken in a studio, has a very boring tan-beige-taupe-bleh background). On a totally irrational impulse, I made the background red. Maybe as a response to the boredom of the background in the photo?

Well, this was the "fire" part of The Land of Fire and Ice, and most people I consulted (including those of you who so kindly left a comment to my post about it) felt that the figure disappeared in the intense red and/or gold background. So I tried the "ice" side of it, together with a mossy-medowy green:

And we finally settled on the background above, a hint at the glaciers and the grasses. On to the drawing and blocking out the lace with masking fluid:

(and no, I don't like masking.. or doing details in general. I like splashing paint.)

And the completed painting:

In addition to learning a couple more things about working small in watercolor (hands were hard!) and spending hours figuring stuff out with an anatomy book (granted, I love doing that), I expanded my knowledge about Iceland beyond Bjork and volcanoes :) a little.

Question: how do you change a large area in a watercolor painting (like the background in those sketches) without painful scrubbing out and washing off?

Answer: Cover it with acrylic gesso and paint on top!(that's what I did) Or use gouache. Or acrylics. Or pastels :)

"Let's Cuddle" - watercolor baby portrait step by step

August 24, 2010 in commissions, step by step

So I'm done with two commissioned portraits (oh the feeling of a completed project! :)) - the sleeping baby and the Icelandic lady. I was working on both at about the same time and it was interesting to compare. First of all, the baby is practically a life size painting - 11 x 14.5", and the woman's portrait is 9x12" - tiny , her whole head was maybe 2 inches! The thing is, working big is easier than working small. Most of you who paint will probably say, "Duh!" - but it's just one of those epiphanies that come to you only from personal experience (how else would you explain the fear of a full watercolor sheet?) And working big and small at the same time is a good way to figure it out. Here's a step by step sequence of pictures of the baby portrait, minus the drawing stage. Starting with a preliminary sketch:

TADA!

Bree's Striped Scarf - watercolor and gesso once again

July 01, 2010 in step by step

Another completed portrait:

This one took quite a long time to "ripen." Her multicolored scarf was what drew my attention to the photo in the first place, and this scarf was also what I had the most issues with. After completely overkilling it and having the painting on hold for months, I painted it over with gesso and re-did it in as few brush strokes as I could. I'm pretty happy with it now :) Here are the progress pictures:

As you can see, I was very excited about the scarf from the very beginning! :)

It is also obvious that I did not take the pictures at equal increments during the process.

Girl with grape-vine, and another child portrait

January 17, 2010 in commissions, step by step

Good morning...I think I would pay somebody to let me sleep in on a Sunday morning. I worked on two portraits yesterday, one commission and the other a painting of my husband's little niece. I saw a photo of her wearing a bright multicolored scarf and I just had to make a painting! :) Here are pictures at the beginning and at the end of the day. You can definitely tell which one I worked on more:

And the little girl:

Both of the subjects are back-lit (contre-jour!), and in the case of the girl with grape-vine, there is also flash from the camera, all of which makes working on it a little confusing. I find myself inventing the shadows and lights on her face, and it feels like her whole face should be much darker.