Moody Portrait - watercolor and eatercolor pencil

Recently bought a watercolor book that teaches different techniques. The book teaches you to experiment with different mediums, techniques and tricks. The above portrait is one of the excercises that teaches you how to create your own tone paper.

I used watercolor pencil mainly but the base started as a wash of cerrulean blue and burnt sienna with yellow ochre.

this was my first try. I used chinese white (gouache) for opaque effect. On the right is just a wash effect using watercolor pencils (Derwent) which I like better. I like the way the texture of the paper and some of the unwashed pencils are see n here, although I don't think the portrait was very good ( no reference)

Painting Flowers

I bought a book at National bookstore, painting flowers using photographs. I love all the paintings! Unfortunately, almost all of the paintings require me to use a masquepen or masking fluid for the veins of the flowers and to achieve the intricate  details of the flowers. The painting above and below are just a few of the watercolor projects that does not require any masking fluid.

But the books teaches the techniques needed for flower painting, as well the colors you will need to build your palette.

 for this painting, I made a few alterations and I did not stick with the colors used in the example ( simpky because most of them I dont have ) so I just used whatever is similar. I find that the green stems over powered the flowers abit so I lifted the colors. Maybe I will just correct some tones next time.

 Now for the above paintig, admitedly, I painted itin a hasted. I used a sponge (man made ) to create the effect of the flowers. I was a bit lazy and distracted at that time with my son so I just wanted to finish the painting right away.

Mixed media-watercolor pencil,watercolor, pen and ink. I just googled images  in the internet, so I just wanted to see if this style is for me. My hubby likes it. Honestly, I was not able to capture the essence of the original artwork. It has full of emotion..and thats what I want to paint. I want to capture the emotion.

By the way, all my paintings ARE NOT FOR SALE ( as if there is somebody who will buy it.hehehe)
painting is just a hobby for me and it relaxes me.

Till my next post!

Another grapes??

Another painting of grapes. I venture into watercolor realism. To tell you honestly, i paint every grape and its not that difficult, but time consuming. Its sort of a therapy really. Although after painting a few grapes, which felt like forever :-) I just wanted it to be finished!

But patience is a virtue. Next time I will take my time and just enjoy the process.After all, I dont need to finish painting right away.

Hope this picture makes you hungry.. :-) just like me!

Till my next post, enjoy your day!

Fascination with grapes

The above painting shows the progression from light to dark --I added more pigment and washes to achieve a slightly darker color.

I saw several pictures/paintings of grapes in the internet and I got soo hooked.  I will definitely paint more still life, particularly grapes! One of my fave artist, David Lobenberg painted a lot of grapes, so I got so inspired. Its not as easy as it looks!!hahahaha

This one is really a disaster!LOL but I guess I will post it too! I always tell myself that if I crew up a painting, better keep it to see my improvement.Where I did wrong and how to improve.

The wonder of Watercolor Pencils

First time I used watercolor pencil and ink to create a painting/artwork. I guess when I want a fast, easy way to paint, watercolor pencil is a best bet. Im not saying that all artwork made of this medium is easy..but for me, when I want a loose style, I have found a good medium. I copied this from the internet and only took me 2-3 hours. though I guess I need to improve on my strokes.

It came from the artwork of D.Lobenberg. His artworks inspires me a lot.

 The above sketch was from my old sketchbook. I guess you can say its more of a coloring book. I found a sketch I can color, so I went ahead and colored it.

I find that coloring relaxes me. Hope to make better sketches next time.

Christmas Gift

I made my drawing based on a reference photo, freehand. I should have scaled it because I had difficulty drawing my sons expression!

Last Chistmas I was shopping for gifts for family and friends but I could not find a gift that I think my Father in law will like or need. So my husband suggested why not sketch a picture of papa with Rune?  At first my fear was that I havent sketched for like months. Honestly, I only started painting sketching again, about the time I started this blog.

This portrait was the reason I found my love for drawing and painting again. It made me realize that I can make my love ones happy thru my drawing/painting and share my love for the arts!

Me and my hubby with my father in law. Glad he likes it.

Hamlet

Meet my wonderful son Rune. Rune and my husband are the source of my inspiration and renewed passion in painting.

Almost everyday I practise painting. This time I wanted to do a portrait but give the painting a twist by using a more deliberate brush strokes. I wanted it to look loose and quite unfinished but knowing how OC I can be, I worked on the detail too much.

Also, I left too many rough edges and painted in wet on dry. The paper should at least be damped enough to take in the layers of color and still retain the transparency.

Analyzing what I did wrong, I figured I should have used a wet and wet technique.Dummy! This way the color transition is more fluid and the effect is still transparent.

I also used too many warm colors. After I photographed the painting, I noticed I used too much orange, both on the subject and the background.

Anyways, I will of course try again but will probably take a break from doing portrait and continue practising on still life and landscape subjects.

Till my next post!!

Yikes!! I used too  much orange!! dont know what I was thingking!! hahahahaha.Oh well!

ANother Portrait in watercolor

Ok, after my last failed watercolor paintings, I decided I wanted to paint something Im more familiar with.

So I surfed the net and came across several impressionist watercolor artist. Unfortunately, I forgot the name of this artist. But I will go back and edit this post once I get her name. 

Above painting is still drying (Im just excited to post it!! ) will add highlights once it dries and will just re-post the finish piece.

I was drawn to this picture because one, the style was exactly what I wanted to do. Im still studying how I should do my signature strokes. In my previous portrait below you will see my first experiment on this style

So first step is to sketch, choose my colors, then tape my paper on my board then paint!

I will experiment more using this style and do a series.

Please feel free to leave comments. Till my next post!

My progress in painting still life and my renewed passion for it.

The above picture was my reference . A flower arrangement from our living room. I love the bright colors so I figured this will be a good watercolor project.

The above painting was done using Winsor and Newton watercolor, 200gsm paper. I used salt for the texture  but was not able to finish the left side. First time I used this technique.

I was not happy with the washes because initially I wanted a transparent effect but ended up with opaque finish.The color wash was not as bright as I want it to be. Also the charging effect for the lower petals was not as succesfull as Id hope.hehehehehe.

So the very early the next day, around 6am, I decided to the project again.
 I was abit distracted because my husband and son woke up minutes after and came out the room looking lost (hahahaha) probably looking where the hell I was at 6am Sunday morning!

Anyways, when they went back to bed and fell asleep, I went back to my painting session. But again, I was not able to really focus because of so many distractions.

Usually when I sketch for a painting, it will only take me 10-15 minutes tops. Seriously. Im quite fast and use to using pencil. I dont even scale, I just draw freehand. But this morning, I was like sketching for more than 30 minutes. Whew. So clearly , Im not a morning person.Hahahaha.

So the first I sketched the form, then I more detailed sketch below.

The above picture was my second attempt to paint the same subject. Again, Im not very happy with it.

Below was a painting I did around August last year. It was a dissaster. I dont know what to do or how to start. I keep on re working the washes that the colors bled out of the paper. What a shame.

The next painting was my second attempt last year, gosh, and I call myself a Fine Arts graduate! I totally forgot how to paint!!

Honestly, I lost my passion to paint many years ago. Even in college, I really wanted to be a journalist so painting was not really my passion then but I got thru college and passed anyway. I got good grades for my artworks but it was more like finishing an assignment more than enjoyment.

When I began painting and drawing again last August, I didnt know that I was pregnant at the time. I was painting Day and night.    I dont care if it looks good or not, I just want to paint.

Then a bad thing happened. I lost my baby. For a months I cried. At night I will wake up and cry even more. I stopped painting and I thought, I will not paint ever again.


Then one day in December, I just found myself painting again. I thought for sure I was pregnant again.

 I  took a home pregnancy test  8 times before I finally gave up. But I didnt stop painting this time. Somehow painting gave me this hope that maybe if its Gods will, I will be blessed with another angel.


This time, when I paint, I paint because I enjoy it. I want to share my Art and help those to find their passion again.

Till my next post

Landscape painting # 3 .Failed!

Watercolor used: Windsor & Newton
Paper: 200gsm, coldpressed


I made these two paintings pretty much at the same time. The above painting was done while I was waiting for the first painting below to dry. As you can see the first paiting is not done yet and colors are opaque,and I didnt get the effect I want.

The paper I used is the cheap kind I bought at National bookstore (P255.00). It does not absorb water very much so Im still quite trying to learn how the watercolor will flow as I begin to paint. Secondly, I used two different brands of watercolor. The above picture was painted using Winsor and Newton while the paiting below was done using Reeves, again, another cheap alternative at national bookstore. I used Reeves paint with my Monotone portrait and it came out fine. Mainly because the Paper I used, which ran out was a soft pressed I believe. Because it takes on a lot of water and when I glaze the subject, the effect looks very nice.  Also, the colors  I used, green, red and blue created a sort of blue-green-gray color, so the effect is not very transparent as well.

But I will continue to use Reeves and this paper just to see if it will continue to dissapoint me ot surprise me eventually :-)

Unfinished painting...

I  stumbled upon an online watercolor painting website. The Artist is V.Pappas and her website is www.create38.com. She also offers a paid online watercolor class ( I wanted to do an on-line makeup class before when I was still studying makeup! hahaha ) The above was my first attempt to paint the same subject from her Free watercolor lesson.

 I dont if its the paint I used  or because I did it the second time, but the second painting is definitely better.


Anyways, for those who dont know what brand of watercolor to use yet, I hope I helped.

If you are just starting out like me, Prang and Reeves is a good paint already for practise.Winsor and Newton is good too. I will try other brands and other colors and will post a review as well. Also, will show you my favorite colors/watercolor palette. Based on research brands like M.Graham, Daniel SMith, Newton, Schmincke,Old Holland are suppose to be really good!

Haha, being a  Makeup Artist, I have several palettes as well! hmm.. that gave my an idea for my next Videoblog in you tube.

Till my next post!

My first Monotone portrait-Failed step by step

This is my first monotone painting..ever. I have been doing a lot of research on watercolor paintings and one of the important tips I read about is that beginners must first master monotone painting before graduating to color.  This is from  David Lobenberg ( he has a blog and teaches watercolor in the US )

So I decided to do my first monotone painting. Using my green, red and blue colors (first time I used this brand of watercolor tube, Reeves because usually  I just use Prang ) to mix this sort of a grey color.

Looking at it now, it looks like blue green to me, so maybe next time I will add more blue in the mixture.
I used my usual 150 cold pressed paper. Hopefully I can do more monotone paitings for practise..

oh and I took a photo of the sketch because I wanted to record my step by step process just to give me a referrence but then I got caught up with my painting that I forgot! Oh well, maybe next time!

Till my next post!

FRuits anyone?

Another watercolor study.First time I painted still life. Maybe next time I can try painting a single fruit just to familiarize myself with the shadows and texture. I purposedly left out the pencil marks and I got a little lazy the lanzones is a bit unfinished!hahahahaha.

Till my next post..

My 2 landscape Paintings

First painting- In actual the colors are muddy and not transparent like what I wanted to achieve.

Painting above was my  3rd and last try.

Now this painting was my second try. When I over analyze I get too careful, almost always the outcome is bad. Instead of feeling the colors I concentrate more on the making a great picture rather than enjoying the experience.

Again, I just copied the above painting from the internet.

 Im still unfamiliar with the type of paper  and paint brushes I should use. Right now, im using old brushes  ( synthetic )  and bought 2 new sable brushes. In the end, I  always end up using my old brushes.. I guess its just habit. I also tried using  an old makeup brush for the background. LOL.


 My husbands likes my landscape paintings but I prefer doing portraits . I just love the different expressions and how the light touches the face & the shadow it creates.


Any comments? I will appreciate it a lot.

Till my next post..

Sketch of My hubby's baby picture

  The left picture is my sketch. I used 4b and 6b for shading and HB pencil for the outline.

It took me 3 hours to do the sketch but this was and old drawing from before, but was unfinished ( i just did the outline with no shading and details)

My mother in law likes it very much :-) smiley face!

Random art-Experementing with watercolor

For me the above painting is a failure.but some friends actually like it so I decided to post it here.

This was shot indoors...

Above picture was shot outdoors..

The above was inspired by a watercolor portrait  I found in the internet.Again, im not very happy with it. Im tryng to fnd what my style is and I have been trying several styles to see which one I like.

For the last three painting, I honestly dont know how it will end. I just start sketching and just paint..feeling my way thru not knowing wihch color or style I will take. hahaha, maybe thats why these paintings look like I didnt think about it..lol.