Watercolor Seashells

I spent the morning playing with some seashells and taking photos of them for a still life painting I am going to start soon. I have an awesome SLR camera that seems to be much smarter than me as I could not get it to focus on all 3 shells at once. I know there is a setting for this but where is it again... so rather than read the manual again I put two photos together.

I liked the angle a bit better of the back shell in the one photo where the focus was crisp on the back shell and softer on the first two shells. Then I grabbed the first two shells from another photo where the spiral was the focus point. I put them together and just loosely touched up the photo to make things a bit smoother.

I bought these shells last year when I was christmas shopping and have been trying to find the time to paint them, whew, just under a year! I was going to do a mix of different shell types but these ones just seemed to fall together so nicely, so maybe a mixture for next time.

Feb 3 - 15, 2009 - Federation Mixed Medium Show

My painting Room For Two was selected for the Mixed Media show at the Federation of Canadian Artists which will be on from February 3 until February 15, 2009 at the Granville Island gallery.

March 26 - April 25, 2009 - Solo Exhibit at Place des Arts

I will be having a solo exhibit at Place des Arts entitled Beneath the Layers. It will be a selection of roughly 35 paintings done in watercolor and graphite.

Watercolor Architectural Detail Painting - The Guardian

This is the completed painting. It was alot of fun to paint and the textures turned out really cool which makes the face seem like it is really coming out of the wall.

Watercolor Architectural Detail Painting - Update 2

The darks have been built up more and things are starting to look pretty cool I think, I love this statue :) The darks still need to be pushed a bit further and maybe a touch more color added.

Watercolor Architectural Detail Painting - Update 1

I have started to build up the tonal values using two of my favorite colors, French Ultramarine Blue and Sepia. They have such a nice texture together and depending on how much of each you add and how much water, a huge range of tonal values and hues. I continued adding thin layers until the tonal contrast was nearly completed on the face.

I then used a neutral gray for the background to add texture and interest. Sprinkling a bit of salt on the wet background paint adds additional texture and helps the pigments to separate giving interesting edges and a larger range of hues.

Watercolor Architectural Detail Painting of Grotesque

This is the reference photo that I will be working from for my next painting. I found it on WetCanvas and it stopped me in my tracks I just love it! It turns out the reference photo was taken by a very talented artist, Amie Roman.

As it turns out she also belongs to the Federation of Canadian Artist and I bumped into her at the Christmas Party at the gallery recently. She explained some of the printmaking process to me...it sounds very intriguing, I just wish I could clone myself to find more time! Check out her website as she has a great gallery of her work and also teaches classes if you are so inclined.

I have stretched the paper and transfer the outline drawing to the paper. Next I applied a wash of New Gamboge to give a bit of glow later on. I forgot to take at photo at this stage so will post an update tomorrow on the progress.

Watercolor Column - The Corinthian

I thought this was still not finished so I added some more darks and warmed up a few areas and I am much happier with it. I liked it before but now I think the contrasts really work nicely and the textures are more pronounced.

Watercolor Dog Memorial Portrait of Nikki Completed

The portrait of Nikki is completed. I painted a few highlights around her face and muzzle and then warmed up a few areas to balance things out. I think her portrait turned out quite nicely and is going to look very nice framed.

Watercolor Dog Memorial Portrait of Nikki - Update 4

The portrait is really starting to come alone. The sparkle is starting to really show in her eye and her fur is getting much fuller. Still more detail to add in her muzzle and I will likely add a few more highlights just to add a bit more depth and fullness. The darker blanket helped ground the portrait more and it has a nice texture to it.

Watercolor Dog Memorial Portrait of Nikki - Update 3

Different shades have been painted to the portrait to add more depth and shape. Nikki is a very dark dog with lighter patches of fur so the darks need to be quite dark to get the resemblance.


Once the darks are fully established I will then glaze over them so they read more as brown than black to maintain the monochromatic portrait feel. She is really starting to take shape now :) The blanket needs to be darkened so I will do a bit more detail to her muzzle and will then save the whites with masking fluid and paint in the blanket again.

Watercolor Dog Memorial Portrait of Nikki - Update 2

More of the layers of fur have been built up by painting many more thin detailed layers of color. I could probably have added more of the darker colors in washes and then added the more detailed layers over top but I just find adding the thin detailed layers, although time consuming, gives such a richer level of depth and texture. Nikki's portrait is starting to take shape!

Watercolor Dog Memorial Portrait of Nikki - Update

The darks have been mapped out and some of the texture has been painted in. The layers will be built up slowly to add depth and texture to her fur.

Although this is a monochromatic portrait, several colors are used to give a push and pull effect and achieve the darks without a chalky or flat appearance.

Watercolor Dog Memorial Portrait of Nikki - Sketch

This is the sketch of Nikki a sweet dog that recently passed away. This pet portrait is being commissioned as a Christmas Gift for her 'grandmother'. The portrait will be monochromatic, painted on 11 x 14" Arches watercolor paper.

Demo Drawing Nearly Complete

Still a few more tweaks to her eyes, mouth & eyebrows to nail down the likeness. Just little bits off that are throwing things off...I think :) Bunny is complete, wew, what a lot of fur!

Update on the demo drawing

Here is an update of the portrait I started at the demo at the Outlet in November. I did not get too much done at the Outlet but I have gotten a fair bit done now. The resemblance is still off a bit but it is getting closer. The portrait will be a christmas gift and the background will be very dark as it is in the lower right hand corner. I want to leave the darks until the end to prevent smuding but I wanted a bit done to better judge the tonal range for the portrait.