This brings back fond memories of the beginnings of water color. This was the first of the landscapes, I believe, when I started to loosen up a little. This one probably took around 20 minutes (my goal was 10). As opposed to the previous water colors I had done, this had more confident strokes, and I let the paint have more freedom. I like this one because I was able to convey detail without going in with a tiny brush. I also like the pairing of the jagged tree contours and the soft background. I was in the middle of learning how to get saturated, dark tones with relatively thin paint.
If I were to go back and paint this one again, I would get even bolder with my colors and dark tones, eliminate the awkward, dark horizontal stroke at the bottom, and get just a bit more detailed with the grass.
Photo realism was fun, but it was a little rough going from the new found freedom with water color, back to such a tight method. It was pretty close to my comfort zone though, as I often like to try to be a copying machine more so than the interpretive artist. I learned how to successfully tighten up water color with this piece.
To improve this one, I would probably make the water droplets a tad more contrasty, and I might make the bottom of the bottle more blue than green, but I am pleased with it over all.
This is a memory portrait of my dad, developed from two sets of sketches. I chose to use green accents because of the depth and intrigue they create, and because I could take as much artistic license as I wanted with this piece. I also tried out scribbly line as value, which I haven't done much at all in the past. I still tried to be directional with the line work. I think it turned out pretty well, and it works to create more of a wrinkled face texture. First, I did a gesso/matte/water layer, then the line drawing, then water color. Though I chose one particular sketch to follow through on with style, I referenced all of my sketches to choose the features that would best represent my dad.
To improve this painting, I would eliminate a lot of the outer contour lines, it looks a bit cartoony for what I was going for. Also, I would have liked to have pushed the colors a little further, making it more dramatic and stylized. I also would have been more intentional about what happened in the outer edges, where I laid down less primer and the paint stuck better.
Here is my final DMV comic, scanned in and colored with Photoshop. I learned to complete my drawing lines before scanning, because selecting an area becomes difficult when shapes are incomplete. I enjoyed figuring out how to color it, and I got inventive in coloring the highlights in their hair. I generally just did 2 colors (a medium tone and a shadow) for each area, but I used a third for hair highlights. I used gradients to create depth. The characters are fun, I think, but I would make them more exaggerated if I did this project again. Also, my favorite character would not be the second character in line... I might also make the characters in the background a darker gray.
This is the gouache 3-image montage. With this painting I used my feather brush for the first time, on the tree. I think it turned out well. I also enjoyed making water drop marks in the sky/water areas. I thought the goldfish turned out pretty well, but I think he could be more vibrant, he should have some turquoise accents, and his eye could be better. I am fairly happy with the person, but the arms should have more detail and darker tones, and the neck is so dark that there is hardly any information in the shadows. I also want more turquoise in the arms. The painting is actually very close to the marker comp. In printing the final, I learned more about how printers don't print what you have on the screen. I had Photoshopped the scan to where it looked almost identical on screen, but the print was too dark, contrasty and magenta. It should be better next time, but overall, I'm happy with it.
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