Step By Step Watercolor Portrait of a Child

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.

thumbnail sketches of portraits

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.

drawing for a child portrait

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!

beginning a watercolor portrait

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 eyes at the beginning stage

Closeup of the eye.

watercolor portrait in progress

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.

painting of a boy in progress

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.

hispanic boy watercolor portrait painting

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.

child with his portrait painting

Watercolor painting on Aquabord - March Virtual Paintout

In the last couple of months, Virtual Paintout visited a few of Eastern European countries. It is making me more and more homesick. In March, I spent hours virtually walking the streets of Vilnius (Lithuania), which is remarkably like a large Ukrainian city.

I liked using the red ink last time (in "Coffee in Bratislava") and decided to go with it again here. After painting the sky and the church, I felt that I needed some of the red or orange to continue on the left, so I gave myself the liberty of changing the season a bit and painting the trees in fall colors.

My Watercolor Painting Demo This Saturday

I will be doing a watercolor painting demo at a local art club this Saturday, April 6, at 11:30 am. If you live close, please come and say hi! For details, contact Maryann of Silver Arts Club. There is also a Facebook event you can RSVP to! :) I'm probably going to be doing a portrait demo, if I have enough time for that. Exciting! :)

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Oro Grande Antique Shops Sketch-out

I recently created a Facebook group to help local artists to organize meetups and get together (High Desert Art Meetup). On Saturday, we had our first sketch-out! I chose the location on Route 66, around the local antique shops. The place turned out to be a gold mine of things to sketch! Everyone enjoyed the outing.

I was pleasantly surprised when five people (not counting me) showed up. When I moved to the high desert three years ago, I was quite disappointed with the apparent lack of culture or any interest in art here. Since then, I have discovered a small community of people who share my passion. Some of the discoveries came though the Eclipse Art Gallery (which I watched develop and grow by leaps since it opened in 2010). Some people found me through the classes I teach in Apple Valley and now, Helendale.

I got to use my brand new handmade (by me!) watercolor sketchbook. It was fairly easy to make and performed beautifully. I might write another post just about the making of the sketchbook - meanwhile, help yourself to this video on coptic stitch that I learned from.

Vintage toy tractor sketch

We spent about two hours walking around the place and sketching. Some people took photos. The weather was pretty close to perfect, and after the sketching session, we went to a nearby pizza restaurant for lunch. I was hoping to sketch the outside view of the restaurant itself (it has a colorful uhm...statue of a cow on its roof) but ran out of time while trying to take in as much of the antiques place as possible.

vintage kerosene lamp sketch

Overall, the sketch-out was a success! I'm happy that I went ahead and organized it and I was glad to spend some time doing what I love with (or, rather, in proximity of :)) people who share my passion for art. I hope we will do it again soon!

antique telephone sketch

Venir en France avec moi! Come to France with me!

I have to trust Google Translate for the French portion of the title, so please forgive me if it doesn't sound completely French :) Now, what it's all about. A few weeks ago, a lady contacted me asking about the watercolor batik process that I used to make my French Windows painting. She was intrigued by the end result and, of course, by the labor-intensive process. So much so that she asked me if I would fancy running a workshop teaching this technique. In France! It turns out that she organizes and runs "painting holidays" at her part 12th-century monastery, part 18th-century farmhouse home in Bandouille, France.

I would very much like to run a painting holiday! As a matter of fact, I will learn French for this opportunity :) Now, if I can only find people to come and spend their vacation in France while taking a workshop from me, we're good to go! Check out France Painting Holiday and let me know if it's something you would like to do. Meanwhile, I want to create some videos on the watercolor batik technique to get you even more excited ;).

I think a Yupo workshop would be fun, too.

Watercolor Classes in Silver Lakes

Do you like learning new things in a warm and friendly atmosphere? Have you always wanted to try watercolor painting but heard that watercolor is hard? Come and have fun! My classes are for beginner to intermediate painters and include step-by-step introduction to painting with watercolor. You will learn all about the tools and materials for watercolor painting, different ways to apply paint, and will make a few paintings of your own! Bring a friend to make it even more fun!

• When: Mondays 11:30 am - 2 pm, March 4 - April 8

• Where: Helendale Community Center Suite C (by the Thrift Store): 26540 Vista Road, Helendale, CA

• Cost: $99 (for a limited time). For a suggested supplies list, click here. A basic supply kit will be available for purchase at the first day of class for $35.

• Save 10% when you register on my website. Enter discount code SilverLakes at checkout.

• Senior Discount! Email me or call (916)749-6066 for details.

[button link="http://yevgeniawatts.com/intro-to-watercolor-helendale/" type="big" color="green"] Register Now[/button]

Foggy and Clear Ocean Watercolor Painting

A little while ago, I painted a series of 6x6" painting with an ocean theme. It was an enjoyable challenge. Enjoyable because I passionately love the ocean, even more than I have once loved the Black Sea. I really miss living in Oceanside and seeing all the different moods of the big water from my window. Of course, in Oceanside, I missed living in Berkeley, and in Berkeley, I kind of missed Ukraine. The grass-is-always-greener effect.

Anyway, these seascapes were also a challenge. First of all, because I don't paint many landscapes in general (I see a potential for another 30-day challenge here) and because of the simplicity that I had in mind and was able to achieve. I had to force myself to stop and walk away. If you're an artist, you know how hard it is to stop (unless you hate the painting, of course! :)) I think I was mostly successful and I wouldn't mind keeping these little gems for myself. They remind me of all the wonderful places in coastal California: San Diego, Monterey and Carmel, Point Reyes, Santa Cruz, San Francisco, Ventura.

On Impressionists, Cellists, and Cool New Website

Okay, I'm back from the break that I had to take after the intensity of the 30x30 challenge and daily blogging! If you are following me on Facebook, you know I haven't really fallen off the edge of the Earth :).

I did drive to Sacramento to visit my family, with both kids...An 8 hour drive, which was not as horrible as it sounds. I have pretty well-behaved kids :). The trip was good. The week I spent not cooking or doing housework or even watching the kids that much was worth it. The grandparents and all the other relatives got to enjoy the babies, I got my fix of art stores. I even slept in on most mornings! Really, this was as close to a vacation as I've been in a long while. I did have plans to go to San Francisco and see the Vermeer exhibit at DeYoung but Elijah (my 3.5-year-old) got sick, so I had to adjust my plans. Instead of going to San Francisco, I stayed in Sacramento a few extra days and caught one of my favorite events - 2nd Saturday Art Walk.

As in most similar events, the majority of the art was so-so, some was blatantly bad, but a few pieces were pretty great. I visited a couple of places new to me and enjoyed the work of a wide range of artists. I noticed that, even though I am drawn to abstracts, particularly color field ones, they seldom keep my attention for longer than the initial few seconds. Oils and acrylics dominated, as usual; not much watercolor.

I also visited a used book store, Time Tested Books, and got two art books. One is on the Russian Symbolist artist Vrubel (in Russian, which is extra cool), the other on the Impressionists (The New Painting: Impressionisms 1874-1886. ). This second book I liked for the pictures but it turned out to be quite entertaining to read, too. It documents eight of the original exhibitions of the Impressionists, with painting images, descriptions, and essays. I think the best parts of the book are, however, the quotes from the contemporary reviewers of the exhibitions.

For example, this famous painting by Gustave Caillebotte is criticized for its odd composition (I don't really like that lamppost in the middle, either), unimaginative treatment of figures, and ABSENCE OF RAIN :). Caillebotte is also praised for his drawing abilities, which, apparently, few Impressionists possessed. It seems like not very much has changed in the last 130 years and that even the Impressionists were your normal everyday artists.

While browsing the books, I enjoyed listening to a duet of cellists who were performing at the book store. I semi-discreetly snapped a couple of photos with my phone and last night, made the sketch on top of this post. Look out for the video of me making the sketch. Speaking of videos, I will soon be launching a new website dedicated to my how-tos, step-by-steps, videos, tutorials, and all that educational stuff. Eventually, it will become the platform for my online painting courses. Yay!

Walking the Dog

For additional information about the prints, please visit our product info page.

My artwork is now on checks!

In early December last year, I was approached by a check printing company, CheckAdvantage, to see if I was interested in creating several sets of checks with my artwork on them (shout-out to Skinny Artist, I was found through their artist directory!). So I said, sure, and last week, we launched my CheckAdvantage products. I am tempted to buy my own address labels and checks :) (good sign, right?). There are nine themed sets with four images each, featuring my favorite artworks. Seascapes, cityscapes, flowers, trees, California, Europe, and even a separate set of sunflowers :). I'm pretty excited about all this. I always look for something artistic and, preferably, unique when I order checks and I love writing a check and thinking of the person receiving it and how they would say, "Oh, this is a very cool check! She has a great taste." Or something like that :). I can't wait to run out of my current boring checks!  

Yevgenia Watts Checks

Yevgenia Watts Side Tear Checks

Yevgenia Watts Address Labels

Yevgenia Watts Checkbook Covers

A look back at 30 Paintings in 30 Days challenge

It's over now. 30 days of experimenting, and brainstorming, and creating, and daring, and pushing through the daily life, and seeing just how much mom and house work I can get out of before my family hates me. It was intense. I want to step back now and reflect. Analyze. One of my favorite things to do, analysis. You know the phrase "paralysis by analysis"? It's about me. It's how I never had my projects in architecture school done on time. There was just so much more to do with them.

Anyway, back to 30x30. Here is what I think about it:

1) It was great to try new (or just forgotten) things and experiment. It definitely freshened me up after non-stop commission painting. I should do it more often. Maybe, something like first five days of every month, I get to play with whatever art supplies strike my fancy.

2) I loved the virtual presence of all the other artists who participated in this challenge. I found some extraordinary artwork, followed about a dozen of blogs, and connected with quite a few awesomely talented people. Artists are such a friendly bunch.

3) It was also very cool to have a buddy closer to home. One of my former students did the 30x30 challenge with me! He doesn't have a blog yet, so we kept in touch on Facebook.

3) I had very little difficulty coming up with stuff to paint. It may be because I opted out of having a theme or limiting myself in any way.

4) It was a fragile balance of pushing through with the daily painting and not being too tough on myself.

5) The "work-life balance" did not work at all. I felt very frustrated. I need to be "in the zone" when I'm making art and it's impossible with the kids and lunches and dinners. I only have a few hours a day after the kids go to bed and I'm usually wiped by that time, so...need to figure something out here.

6) I liked blogging every day and seeing increased engagement both here and on my Facebook fan page and Google Plus. It made me feel loved (or at least liked :) ) and motivated me :)

7) I did not make 30 paintings. And I'm fine with that. I lowered my expectations at the very beginning of the challenge. I still pushed myself, but when I had days when I just couldn't fit a painting time, I let it go. No reason to stress yourself out, you know? :) I liked Crystal Cook's setup, with scheduled weekends off. Smart thing to do.

8) In the middle of the challenge, I took an online Right Brain Business Plan course. It should be a 30 day challenge in itself. I spent quite a lot of time on it and two of my "painting days" turned into collaging-for-RBBP days. My work on the business plan is in full swing now.

That's pretty much all. Would I do it again? Oh yes. But not this month :)

Last Day of 30x30! Tub Animals and Crabbiness

Yesterday was a bit of a crisis. Not a huge midlife crisis (any day now! ;) ) but one of those "I'm-exhausted-and-frustrated-and-I-don't-need-extra-helpings-of-stress" kind of crisis. I seriously wanted to paint a crab because I was feeling very crabby. I even looked at photos of crabs but couldn't find one that would inspire me. So, instead, I tried to work on a scene from this month's Virtual Paintout location (Isle of Man). I was going to paint the Laxey Wheel. In bits and pieces throughout the day, I did paint it. And it looks bad. Unblogably bad. I am probably going to throw it away.

When I realized there wasn't much to do about it, I put it away, made myself a cup of tea, wasted a few minutes on Facebook and Google Plus, and decided to switch gears and work on my Right Brain Business Plan instead. I could probably have spent the whole night doing that (it's pretty exciting at this point, and my head is about to burst from all the ideas). But then my kids would be up, all bright-eyed and energetic, and with no rest for me, it would be the beginning of another crabby day. So I took a bath instead. I love my jet tub. It's my favorite place in the whole house :). So there I was, lying in the tub, letting the hot water relax and de-stress me. Not reading, as I usually do, just letting go. And then I noticed that my kids' tub animals were arranged in an aesthetically pleasing composition on the other side of the tub. I had to sketch them.

And that's how I almost painted a crab.

Day 28 of 30x30 - The Kiss

For you, romantic souls :). Happy Valentine's Day ahead of schedule! This little painting did not cooperate at first. It can be a bit hard to draw things with a pen and get them right on the first try. So this was try number 3. Interestingly, I am used to drawing with a pen, and when I did a portrait sketch with a pencil recently, I just couldn't get it right. I kept erasing. It took me four or five tries to get a decent sketch. I think a pen makes you bolder. You know there is no turning back (other than starting a whole new drawing) and so you 1) draw better and 2) accept minor mistakes.

Here is the reference photo for this painting. Have a go at it if you'd like, with a pen :).

Oh, and I think I feel like giving away a card with this image. To enter the drawing, leave a comment below. I'll announce the winner this Friday noon-ish.

Day 27 of 30x30 - mother (WIP)

Some work in progress for today. The image this painting is based on was another winner in my November Gratitude Giveaway. Such emotion! I am back to watercolor, as you see :). I discovered that working in other media, in addition to being challenging and interesting in itself, also refreshes my love for watercolor.

In other news, my artwork will very soon be gracing checks, checkbook covers, and address labels that you will be able to order for yourself. Stay tuned for details!

Day 26 of 30x30 - Values collage

Not the kind of values you are thinking about if you're in tune with the world of art-making, but very much important kind nonetheless. These are concepts that are important to me as a person and as a businesswoman (yikes! I just called myself a businesswoman 8-O ). It's another exercise from Right Brain Business Plan. The prompt is to think back to a time in your life when you felt on top of the world and fully alive. The goal is to identify your core values. Once you have an understanding of what they are, you create a collage for each of them. I did it on index cards. The image above is actually six index card collages combined.

As with the previous exercise, I discovered (or, rather, uncovered) a few things about myself. One of them is the fact that respect is extremely important to me, which is why I can't stand bullying and condescending attitude. Apparently, only a few people (excluding my own husband) are aware that I like me some adventure. Now, I did put motorcycles and plein air painting in the same category here, but that's because plein air painting can be quite thrilling. Try it :) Also, I like my adventures to come with basic necessities of life, like hot showers.

I'm not sure I'll get to finish a painting tonight so I'm posting this instead. It kind of counts, no? I definitely spent quite a bit of time on and put quite a bit of thought into it.

What are your values? Please share in the comments! I would love to know!

Day 25 of 30x30 - little car

Another scene from my backyard (the first one was the IKEA chair). Once again, I became inspired by the afternoon light hitting the things I see every day and making them appear special and beautiful. The inspiration caught me on the treadmill, of all places :) We have one next to the window looking out into the backyard. No, I didn't paint on the treadmill...though there is something in the idea...I paused it and snapped a picture with my phone.

Day 24 of 30x30 - Milk, Cookies, and Palette Knives

I got myself a set of palette knives probably about a year ago, with the intention of using them with some kind of heavy-body medium. That's pretty much the only way I like working in oils. But somehow, I still haven't pulled the oils out or bought a set of water-soluble ones...So, here I gave it a go with acrylics. It was fun, and I'm pretty sure I work faster in acrylics than I do in watercolor.

The subject is from a photo that I took a few days ago. My sister-in-law sent us this charming set of handmade (by her!) blue cups. I filled them with milk and threw in come cookies :) I probably ate the cookies afterwards...Maybe :)

Day 23 of 30x30 - Energy

I guess I am quite partial to sunflowers. I find them a joy to look at and a pleasure to paint! I am cheating today and posting a painting that I did last year...I did not have time for a daily painting yesterday as I have commissions that people actually pay me to paint, so...I got to do that. Tomorrow is my official (as of three weeks ago) studio day. What that means is that my primary source of inspiration time-sucking parental responsibilities goes to preschool for the whole day and I get some time to myself. Mind you, I am still left with a baby but she's easier...

Day 21 of 30x30 - Starbucks sketch

Today, I met up with one of my former students and current friends. We spent some time talking about art stuff and sketching. It was great and I really hope to be able to do this more often in the future. I would love to have a local group of artists to hang out like that, go for a plein air session once in a while, do critiques, visit each other...That would be so awesome. And I'm pretty much on the very edge of toppling over and actually organizing something but I know I can't pull it off with the kids and the commissions and everything else. I feel overwhelmed as it is...

Anyway, this is the sketch I did at the Starbucks we met at. The girl with blue hair really had big cobalt blue hair and the guy with the laptop was typing with his index fingers :)

Day 20 of 30x30 - Right Brain Business Plan!

So I don't know if this qualifies as a piece of art but it's what I worked on yesterday and I'm pretty proud of myself for making it :). On Friday, Saturday, and Sunday I attended Jennifer Lee's Right Brain Business Plan online workshop via CreativeLIVE. Both Jennifer and CreativeLIVE deserve a separate blog post each, but I'll try to manage it with one.

First of all, I've had Jennifer's book for a year. I bought it after reading someone's excited review of it, and I liked it right away. I read it up to the point where you are asked to actually do stuff, and even a little bit past that point, and then I put it away until I had time (which, as you know, never really happens). I did sign up for her newsletters (which are awesome, by the way!) and when I saw her offering a free online video workshop, enrolled right away.

That was the first time ever I've heard about CreativeLIVE. Their main idea is offering great video courses online, with the opportunity to watch the streaming videos on the day of the course for free (plus, you can participate in the chat). If you want to re-watch it later, you have to pay. I loved Jennifer's class (although it is very challenging to dedicate the whole day to something like this, while also taking care of the kids). My head was spinning by the end of each day, from the amount of information given in both the course and the chat accompanying it, and my own ideas. I made quite a few connections with creative people of all kinds of professions and I am definitely going to attend more CreativeLIVE courses.

Now, back to the Right Brain Business Plan (abbreviated as RBBP). The main feature is the connection between your creative, intuitive self, and the real world of business and money-making. These are some of the questions Jennifer asks on her website, and it's a "yes" to all of them for me:

     Do you dream of making a living doing what you love?

     Does the very thought of writing a business plan make your skin crawl?

    Are you looking for a fun and accessible way to map out your business success?

Right now, I am at the very beginning of it. I created my vision collage. The process was very intuitive and soul-searching in itself. I think being in my current creatively-adventurous-30-paintings-in-30-days mood helped quite a lot with letting go and seeing what I come up with. And what I came up with is this accordion book you can see below and, in flattened-out version, at the top of the post. I made the book itself out of a manila file folder, by cutting it in half horizontally, gluing the pieces together, scoring and folding the pages. The stuff I glued on it came from magazines, catalogs, and internet. And prints of my own artwork :)

I had quite a few revelations while I was working on it. My MAJOR revelations were 1) that the work/life (im)balance is the source of greatest stress for me right now and 2) that I really need a support group. The latter was surprising, because I've always thought I would be glad to just lock myself in my studio cave and paint my life away. Turns out, I need a little bit of good people now and then :)

Here is a little summary of the ideas in the collage:

- Get more of my art into more homes.

- Have a dedicated studio outside of my home, one that can also serve as a gallery and a teaching space. See if you can find my "Artist's Butler" :) Hey, a girl can dream...

- Travel.

- Teach. I want to launch an online painting course this year!

- Get a mentor. Become a mentor. Find a support group.

- Have work/life balance. Easier said than done, but I guess naming the problem is the first step to solving it, eh?

- Enter and win shows and competitions. Get featured in magazines and online.

- Travel more!