Reds

A sunny pot of red flowers to warm the winter chill! 



Painted in gouache on Canvas Paper, 2.5" x 3.5".

~Deborah

Dog: step-by-step

Another step-by-step for you to see. This is 5" x 7" on Arches 300 pound cold-press watercolor paper.

I painted it from my own photograph, taken in natural sunlight indoors, that has been carefully composed and cropped. Since this is a dog I know and I wanted it to be a faithful rendering of him, I made a one-to-one print of the image in order to be able to carefully measure for accuracy.


1. First I did a pencil drawing, then I mostly erased it so that I could still see the placement of the features.

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2. Then I used a loose, watery wash of colors over the top, transparent enough to see the drawing underneath. I already like the curves and angles of the composition.

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3. I started with the eyes because I needed them to work most of all. It helps me feel like the animal is alive when the eyes are at least resolved, if not finished. The rich golden browns and blue-whites have given this dog a relaxed, warm look already.

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4. I used thicker applications of gouache, working out from the eyes on the face, establishing the general shapes of light and dark, the pattern of the white and brown fur, and the overall direction of the hair growth. I also worked on the couch, pillow and shadow shapes.

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5. After getting most of the head and face resolved I began work on the paw above his nose. It's a difficult set of soft shapes that took some time to see and render properly.

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6. I worked on the hair to complete the soft look of this dog, adding strokes with a 'crazy' brush that is quite wonky. It's one that has been damaged over the years and now gives the perfect strokes for such details. I also did soft suggested 'detail' on the pillow behind the dog. I didn't want the details there to compete with the animal.

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7. (Close-up.) I emphasized the edges of the dark and light above his nose, stippling the tiny hairs there to form a pattern.

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Finished painting.

I hope you've enjoyed seeing this step-by-step demonstration. Please feel free to ask questions.

~Deborah

Soft Sunset

There's a story with this one. I painted it quite boldly, with lots of really loud, glaring colors. It was just too...something. There's a place for bold, and you know I love bold, bright colors, but sometimes you have another goal in mind and this wasn't it. Here's a small peek at what it looked like before:

So I decided to be brave. I mean, it wasn't bad but it wasn't what I wanted. So, I wet a brush, just damp, not sopping, and lightly drew it across the sky. It transformed it! Gouache always lifts when re-wet, so some of the colors were drawn across with the brush. I didn't make a lot of passes, just a couple, softly and subtly. Suddenly there was this soft haze of atmosphere draped across the evening sky. I added a bit more bright yellow gold where the sun is peeking through, but left the rest alone. I love it's softness and the sense of depth now. Sometimes you try something and it really works!


Painted in gouache on Bristol Vellum, 2.5" x 3.5".

~Deborah

Sidelit Sunflower

Okay, the title is lame, but I like the painting. How can you miss with purple and orange? Well, at least for me. Favorite little bit: where the light *blings* on the petal at the middle left. Ya gotta love the small stuff, you know?


Painted in gouache, again on Bristol Vellum, 2.5" x 3.5".

~Deborah

Mountain Lake

This is from the Watercolor Challenge over at WetCanvas. I liked the original photo and thought I'd crop, spindle and mutilate it a little. Take a look and you'll see how different it is. I like the contrasts, the swooping composition, and the reflections. You know how every painting has a little something you really enjoy? In this one it's the way I got the top of the pine tree against the snowy bit on the mountain. *bling* Made me happy.


Painted in gouache, again on Bristol Vellum, 2.5" x 3.5".

~Deborah

Evening Arrival

This one was just an explosion of rich color, totally fun! I had in mind a goal to stay relatively loose and simply dash in the pigments, rather than trying to over-think or excessively control the marks. I've been inspired to return to more spontaneity in part by the paintings that Maggie Latham has put up on her Small Works blog. Beautiful stuff--take a look.



Painted in gouache, again on Bristol Vellum, 2.5" x 3.5".

~Deborah

Shining Sunflower

I've painted this sunflower multiple times but this time I was influenced by some paintings I saw on Nathan Fowkes' blog, where he used very dark, almost black, backgrounds for some flowers. (If you visit his blog you'll have to search through his posts for the flowers. He doesn't have titles and there are no labels.) I found this deep blue inspiring, and while it's not as dark as his grounds, it pleases me. You have to admit it has visual *pop*.


Back to my usual small size, 2.5" x 3.5", on Bristol Vellum.

~Deborah