Tulips In A Bowl WIP

Sketch Stage
Background wash in to offset yellows and ochres in tulips. Bowl painted completely.
Starting to paint tulips.
Continuing with painting tulips. Purple under-painting done for bugleboys.

This is the WIP of a replacement painting I'm doing for my mother for her birthday. Her original painting was a victim of the postal system and never found it's way to her. At first I was a little saddened by this because of the fact that I worked hard on the other painting and because she would have to wait now for her birthday present. Then when reality set in and I realized she'd never receive it, I started working on this and realized this one was 10 times nicer than the other one and that maybe it was a sort of blessing in disquise, because now she'd have THIS particular beautiful painting instead. I still miss the other one and wish I would have thought to take a picture of it before I sent it out in the mail. I just figured I would have her take a photo and send it to me. Oh well. That was another learning lesson. Now I take frequent pictures of my works, including their processess, that way I'll always have a record of my work. =) Hope you all enjoy! I'm hoping to have this finished soon...and it's further along than the pictures above show, I just haven't taken an updated one since the last was taken. The tulips are all completed now and I only have the bugleboys to paint now.

La Bella de Rosa WIP

Pay no attention to the blue shadow my arm is casting over the painting, my studio has horrible lighting and trying to get a good picture is like trying to pull alligator teeth. Here is a picture of the full painting after the skin tone has been placed. It's looking a little flushed in this shot, but don't worry, it looks normal IRL.
A detail shot from the above so you can get a better shot of the skin tone and the face. I'll have to go back and fix her eye later, the paint was starting to get a little too wet and I a little too impatient.
After laying the skin tone in, I tossed in the underpainting for the red dress she's wearing so that her skin wouldn't continue to look so flushed. I then went in and added the background using ultramarine blue, paynes gray, sap green, and ultraviolet.
I've started to go back into the face and add a few more of the color details, particularly in the lips and neck. I've also placed down the mid tone for her hair as well as blocking out where my shadows there will be.
Please pardon the graininess, my camera has issues. This is, as above, a detail shot albeit not a very good one. Anyway, you can see I've got a way to go yet on this painting, but it's starting to really take shape.

I've never worked on a portrait in watercolor before and am only making the attempt because some of my "fans" have asked me to try. I needed a break from the flowers for a bit, so I surfed around for stock photography that I might use and came across this image posted by LockStock. I thought it was absolutely beautful and that it would be something that fit in well with my floral work because the girl herself displays a natural beauty...and she reminds me of sort of a fairytale character like Beauty or Snow White. Thus I named her La Bella de Rosa...which I'm hoping is correct spanish...I was never very good (probably if I'd actually made it to class and not gotten detention I would have learned more.) Anyway, there you are, the newest work in progress. I'm hoping to have this done before Christmas, but my schedule is pretty full, so it may be early January instead. Thank you all for viewing!

Old, But New.

This "White Iris" painting was done back in August for my sister-in-law, Hillary's, birthday. Unfortunately I didn't take a picture of it before I gave it to her. Fortunately, my mother-in-law forgot to send it with Hillary when they were down last so I got to take a photo of it tonight since we're visiting for Thanksgiving. I really like this one, and it's a tie for first place between this one and my "Rose" painting. This painting, like all my others, is watercolor on arches 140lb cold press watercolor paper and took me around 7 hours to complete.

Now this is AMAZING!

I'm still working on art over here, just haven't finished anything. However, because I'm always looking for something inspirational I'm posting this for your viewing pleasure! I found this on YouTube and was just baffled and amazed! This video is about 6 or 7 minutes long, so make sure you allow time to watch it! =)

Dallin Complete

I've tried the best I could to get a decent scan of this with my scanner, but this is the best it could do even at 300DPI. The colors are not quite as rich as the original, nor can you see all the variations of the skin tone. Oh well. I think this will have to do though, and I'm happy with the piece as it turned out. My next project is a color pencil drawing of some peonies. I will post WIP pics of that on as soon as I can. =) Until then, enjoy!

Not All Watercolor Papers Are Created Equal

As an artist, I like to use the best materials I can. Sometimes though, my thrifty money pinching side decides that though I know one brand of watercolor paper is better, this other brand comes in a bundle that will save me money and I end up buying the lesser brand bundled pack. This of course always ends horribly and makes me remember why I spend the money and get the single sheet of the better brand. I had that realization...again...for probably the millionth, and not the last time. I should have gone to Art City and bought my preferred Arches 140lb cold press watercolor paper for $7 bucks a sheet...but instead I rummaged through my old college portfolio of left over paper and pulled out some cheap brand bundled watercolor paper. I knew it was going to be a disaster before I even started. As soon as I felt the paper I knew. But I wanted to save money, and I wanted to paint now and that cheap paper was available. So I set my sketch up on the paper and prepared for painting. With the first stroke of alizarin crimson I realized my error in judgment. The color didn't spread, but absorbed right into the paper looking like someones bloody nosebleed dropped on the spot and smeared. On the second stroke it became worse until I finally just waded the paper up and threw it in the trash.

Do you know the definition of insanity? It's doing the same stupid thing over and over, but expecting a different outcome! At least, that's what I've heard. The moral of the story? Don't be stingy with quality art materials to save a buck. There's a reason the good stuff is more expensive and the not so great is so cheap.

Dallin WIP Udate

Wow, the color on this is horrible! Anyway, just an update to show the progress I've made since the last post. The skin and sleeve are now complete. I will be completing the background next and then this piece will be finished! When I finish this I will take a better scan of the piece rather than just a camera photo. =)

Dallin WIP in Color Pencil

After 3 hours, the shading on the front of the shirt is nearly complete, and the sleeve is starting to get it's darker areas blocked in. I am still saving the face for later to make sure the skin tone isn't too harsh a contrast with the colors in the rest of the drawing. My next step will be to complete the sleeve and start on the background.
I put in the basic color for the shirt, which right now is only magenta, but will add more colors later to give depth and richness to it. The face will have the same undertones of blue that the shirt and hat have, so I have already blocked those areas in to give some definition to areas that will be richer later. At this point, the drawing is just starting to pull together.
My basic sketch completed (which you can't see here because I draw it so light that the camera can barely pick it up) I start working in the area that has the most color to it, which in this case is the hat. It looks mostly blue on here, but there is actually yellow and green and some burgundy in there as well. I also start with the area that I know I will probably flake out on most later because it has the most detail.

This drawing is classified as a "sketch" in my sketchbook. It is mostly a practice run with color pencil to get back into the grove of working with that particular medium. As of the last few years, I've been primarily working in watercolor and neglecting the very medium that got me interested in art in the first place. This drawing is being complete with RoseArt color pencils in exchange of my Prisma Color Pencils simply because my Prisma pencils have mysteriously disappeared since my recent move. The work is taken from a picture from a friend's blog of her son. I thought it was adorable and would make a great piece of art. This drawing is not being sold or redistributed and no infringement of copyright is meant. I will post a picture of the completed piece soon. =) I am currently starting a project called, "Mothers and Children", based off more realistic ideas of what it is to be a mom. No glamorized make up and glitz, just the raw everyday aspect of motherhood and what it is to be a child. This drawing is sort of a warm-up to that series. If you'd like to submit ideas and/or photos to reference for this series, I'd be appreciative! Feel free to email them to me at marianneguymonart@yahoo.com Thank you!