Another Version of Cardinals

Remember the pair of Cardinals done in watercolor? One of my students had requested a cardinal design. Here it is again. My colored pencil students liked it so much, they asked to do it, too. I think I like the colored pencil version better. The curved lines at the bottom of the photo are because I developed this small version of the design for a lamp shade that fits over the top of a wine glass to make a candle holder. This is the prototype, not the finished lamp shade.

Many designs can be adapted to different surfaces and mediums. Use your imagination and wonderful things can happen.

Goldfish

This is the first in a series of goldfish paintings. It is done in colored pencil on hot press watercolor paper. The size is 7x6. The goldfish is a Ryunkin and the painting is based on a photograph used by permission of the owner. If you are going to work from a photograph that is not your own, ALWAYS ask for permission to use it. I am thinking about all the other ways a goldfish can be painted. Look for more of this series in future posts.

Pears and Luggage

Here is my latest colored pencil project. It is from a still life drawing that I did several years ago and just hadn't been inspired to turn it into a painting by any of the mediums I was working with. It is painted on cardboard-colored cardstock. The pears are underpainted using complimentary purples as are the brass buckles. In order to keep the pears and brass buckles from disappearing into the cardstock, the first step in developing this piece was to put a light wash of white over those areas.

Same Design, Same Surface, Different Palette

This rose is one of my favorite designs and it is very adaptable. I have done it in watercolor, oil, and colored pencil. Here is an example of how you can take the same design, change the palette and still get a beautiful end result. Both of these roses are painted using colored pencil on suede mat board. In each case, the color of the mat board dictated the colored pencil palette that was used to paint the piece. Both were developed using the underpainting technique with Prismacolor Premier pencils. The pink rose was underpainted with Indigo Blue. The yellow rose was underpainted with Violet which is the complimentary color to yellow.

The Good Old Summertime!

I was asked to paint something on this fabric cooler/lunchbox. I've had it for almost two months and I've been trying to figure out what to put on it. It needed to be something summery. After all, you could carry a small picnic in it. The areas available for painting were pretty limited. I finally sat down with a bunch of books hoping for some inspiration. Here is the result. I used DecoArt Americana acrylic paints. Once the paint is cured, it will be permanent and will hold up well to daily use.

A Watercolor Request

I have a student who requested a cardinal project. She wants to paint a gift for a friend and her friend loves cardinals. So, here it is. Male cardinals are not my favorite birds to paint. While they are colorful, they are pretty much one color and it is challenging to create his form. The female cardinal, while not as bright and cheerful looking as the male, is actually much more fun to paint.

A New Watercolor

It was time to work on a watercolor or two. I have students who need projects to work on. So, I put my pencils down and picked up a paintbrush. Here is a new watercolor--spring tulips. This piece is 9x12. It is painted on 200 pound cold press watercolor paper using MaimeriBlu paint.