Last home portrait finished

Watercolor on 140# Arches hot press watercolor paper using a combination of Sennelier and Holbein watercolors because each brand seems to have strengths in different areas. I also have to admit, I had to resort to using a white colored pencil for a dab of highlights that I just could not manage with even my smallest brushes so technically this is a mixed media piece.  

I was watching a demo on watercolor this afternoon and it occurred to me I should probably point out in order to get this kind of detail in any given piece I rely heavily on the dry brush technique.  What that means is I typically remove excess water so I'm applying pigment much like I would with colored pencil - only it's faster and covers the paper more completely.  It took me forever to figure it out because it's not commonly taught anywhere versus the wet applications. 

I'm now caught up on my backlog of home portrait commissions but there's no rest for the weary.  Moving on to my next project. Stay tuned.  

Another home portrait finished.

 

Watercolor on Arches 140# cold press watercolor paper.  

Normally I paint with Sennelier watercolors.  I actually only own eight tubes of Sennelier paints - their introduction starter set.  You can imagine how much mixing goes on to get the color range needed for any given painting.  I have to admit it has been a great experience for working with a limited palette because the by-product is all of my paintings have a similar color thread between them as if it was intentional.  

On this painting I dabbled a little with some Holbein watercolors.  It all started because I'm not sure I like the yellow I have in my Sennelier set.  It's a little to opaque for my liking which is a weird thing to say about transparent watercolor but it is what it is.  Maybe it's a solubility thing.  Either way, it's the first time I played with Holbein and I was very much impressed with it so far.  

The mountain is calling prototype

 

Working on a design for a sticker or magnet (or both).  

Happy holidays!

First of all, thanks for tuning into my blog.  This year has been one of those super challenging years when I thought I had everything planned out only to have all those plans turned upside down during the pandemic.  It actually turned out to be a good thing because it opened new opportunities that I would not have been looking for had it not been for this years events. As a kid my mom used to tell me when times seem dark, look for the silver lining. 

These are the brushes I work with pictured with a pen for size comparison purposes.  Well there you have it, the secret behind all of my paintings... along with cotton paper (hot and cold press) and excellent watercolor paint.  Everything I use is archival quality.  

Hopefully it won't be too much longer before I can get out there traveling to our national parks again and back to working on the series I had started before all this bruhaha started.  I'm working on a plan A and plan B (and a plan C just in case) for when it's possible to go safely.   

Stay safe and think positive. 

Another home portrait commission

 

I had several home portraits in various stages of completion so I’m trying to finish them before the holidays - making for LONG days. Watercolor with gouache highlights on cotton paper.  

For the holidays

The colors are not actually this "perky" - my scanner seems to be having issues with the green/red combinations and is skewing the colors. I tried taking a picture of it with my cell phone and decided it must be those particular color combinations that are a challenge because that version is way off too on the other end of the spectrum. I thought maybe it's the inside lights. Nope, even outside it's off too. It's really not neon-ish green, nor does the red jump off the page like this. So consider this a facsimile. Watercolor commission for the holidays. 

#watercolor #homeportrait #bonnywagoner

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