Testing a new transfer method

I've been thinking on this for a while now, because sketching directly on a canvas with watercolor ground is not a very satisfactory experience. Especially with fine point mechanical pencils. It works a little better with a more blunt softer lead. But it makes transferring sketches difficult.

I decided to try something I did long ago in college, back when I was doing intaglio printmaking. There's a technique called Chine-collé where you take some lightweight paper (like fancy Japanese rice papers) and bond it to a heavier surface for support.

I dug up some rice paper I bought a long time ago when my husband wanted me to teach him traditional Chinese brushwork. It's light, very porous, and extremely absorbent. I traced and refined my sketch on the rice paper.

I then took my canvas and with a wide flat brush applied a layer of watercolor ground over the whole surface. 

While everything was still wet, I laid my rice paper sketch directly into the watercolor ground, making sure there were no air bubbles. I gently wet the upper surface. Can't brush it because the moistened rice paper was so delicate it tore and wrinkled very easily.

I let it dry overnight, and was very happy with the way the rice paper had adhered. I then took transparent watercolor ground (I've only used the White before. This is my first time using the Transparent) and painted a thick layer over the top of everything. This is where I am currently, letting that layer dry. I'll be applying another layer, and then sanding it smooth before painting.

Here's a smaller mini 3x3 inch canvas where I followed the same steps as I did on the larger canvas, in parallel. It's my test, to see how the paint will sit on the final surface. I only did one layer of ground on top of the rice paper for this small one, and There is a lot of absorbancy of the pigment, I think because the rice paper might still be exposed a little too much. But in general I'm pleased with how it's working out. I think the secondary layer of ground on my larger piece will fix any excess absorbancy.

Illuminate

Illuminate

Size: 10 x 10 inches
Medium: Watercolors, inks, metallics on canvas

Prints ($16.95) and detail closeup images -available here-

I had been planning to do this piece for a while, based on the miniature 3x3" canvas painting I did a couple of weeks ago. And that in turn was based on a photo of my daughter. I don't often stick this close to reference photos, but in this case it was so nearly perfect that I strayed from my usual.

 

This painting was my first attempt at doing watercolors in larger scale on a canvas, prepared for that purpose with watercolor ground (produced by Daniel Smith). I prepped the canvas by painting two thick coats of the ground onto it, waiting 24 hours, then taking medium-fine sandpaper to it to get a nice smooth surface. I have always preferred my canvas to have minimal texture. I then sketched my image onto the canvas.

 The first layer was painted with a 1 inch flat brush, very rough. Lots of liquid. Lots of ink. Lots of pigment. Lots of MESS! This is basically just blocking in some rough areas. I then let it dry overnight. The waiting is what I really hate. Because at this stage it looks horrible. Half my sketch lines get obliterated (because I forgot to lightly spray with a workable fixative before starting to paint), and I have no clue if things will work out or not.

Next morning I was able to start in on the finer details.

With a small brush, I started picking out whatever shapes and edges jumped out at me in the background chaos. 

Worked my way around to the figure. Pale and luminous white under the trees. I waffled for a long time on whether to give her black hair like my reference, orange/red like the mini, or to leave it ghostly white.

Gold leafing.

And building up some thick watercolor ground on the lotus to give it a slight relief texture.

Bad lighting in this photo, but you can get a glimpse of the whole canvas.

Effervesce

Effervesce

Size: 9x13 inches

Medium: Watercolor

Prints ($16.95) & Detail closeups -available here-

She is a creative force, coaxing forth growth, both the physical evidenced in the unfurling leaves, and the spiritual, embodied by the butterflies. She bathes in the life-giving warmth and light of the sun. She is partnered in her dance and song of creation, with the sun. She IS the sun.

"Effervesce" is a commissioned painting, meant to be a companion piece to "Lightness".

* * *

Some of the in progress sketches:

Initial figure sketch & some various thumbnail ideas for the background and composition. The figure came pretty easily for this piece. Sometimes I have to struggle with the concept a lot more. Her pose is an echo of Shiva's dance of creation (and destruction).

Client wasn't really going for the background proposals, so I had another thought, which is what we ended up going with.

Scanned and pieced together sketches in photoshop to get the rough idea of the placement and proportion of various elements.

Final sketch ready to paint.

Travel Sketches - Kaua'i

Sketchbooks, pens, and paints came out with me on a trip to Kaua'i last week. In between swatting mosquitoes who decided that I was a sitting duck when painting (sitting tasty duck at that), I managed to do a few drawings and paintings while out and about.

Out at the beach while some clouds gather at the peak of the nearby mountain. Showers were on and off, but it was never very cold even when raining.

Even with mosquito repellant, they found me too tasty to resist. The price of this lower right sketch was 3 bites. 

Managed to find a spot up on a ridge where the windiness kept most of the bugs away. Only a few lone dragonflies winged about. Huge ones, 4 inches long.

Experimented with a quick brush pen sketch too.

Ships Passing in the Night

 Ships Passing in the Night

Size: 11x23 inches

Medium: Watercolors

Detail closeups, Original painting ($1500.00) and Prints ($16.95 & $26.50) -available here-

Lately, I've been fascinated by painting skies defined by inversion of negative space....

* * *

This was was sitting in the sketchbook as a thumbnail for a long time. Forgot about it, and then came across it the other day when I was flipping through wondering what to paint next.

 Fleshed out the dragon sketch.

 Digital composite of the thumbnail and the more detailed elements of the ship and the dragon. At this point I had the idea to turn the ship into a dragon-ship so that the juxtaposition to the dragon is all the more striking.

 Refined finalized sketch on the painting surface.

 Photoshopped color rough to use as a guideline when I started painting.

 In-progress scan. At this point, I compared it to the color rough and found that the water was much lighter than I wanted it to be. Sometimes it's hard to tell, comparing something on a lighted monitor, to the actual page. The light from the screen throws off your judgment of color and contrast, so it helps to see them both on the screen side by side instead, for a true comparison.

So, after that I went back and sprayed workable fixative on the bottom half of the painting and glazed some more greens and yellows and purples over the water to darken that whole area.

Luminous

 

Luminous

Medium: Watercolors

Size:18x11 inches

Prints (8.5x11@$16.95 and 11x17@26.50), original painting ($1500.00), and detail closeups -available here-

Plunging through the woods like a white shadow.

* * *

Some of the in progress shots:

Here's what the thumbnail looks like. Not much, but it gets the ideas down from my brain. I actually scribbled this a while back, and had been meaning to elaborate on it for some time. This is what sketchbooks are great for! Anytime you have even the inkling of an idea, take a minute and scribble something, and then when a dry spell comes along, a flip through the sketchbook provides a wealth of ideas waiting to be explored.

From that rough scribble of a concept, I developed it into this finalized sketch.

 And then in photoshop I messed around to determine a color scheme. Initially I started out with the green tones, but then shifted it to the blue for a more dream-like quality. I had to sit on the colors for a day though before coming to an actual decision, as those of you who saw my post of facebook noticed!

 

Started painting. Started with the background.

 Moved onto the figure.

 And then further development of the ripples in the water.

And finally the fish and the leaves.

...to the finished piece.

Be sure to visit Shdowscapes to see the full size piece and closeup views! -available here-

Avalon

Avalon

Medium: Watercolors, India Ink

Size: 16x22

Prints ($16.96 & $26.50), Original painting ($1650.00), and closeup detail views available -here-

The Isle of Apples. Mythical island in the mists. The final resting place of King Arthur.

The name of Avalon invokes magic and mystery. 

* * *

I began with some scribbled thumbnails. The structures of the buildings, I wanted to be reminiscent of the ruins that can be found today in Glastonbury. 

 The final shape of the composition at first was a very centered piece.

 But I found that to be a bit dull, and on a whim, pushed things over to one side (in photoshop) a few inches, and shifting the boat a little bit to fit that new alignment. That turned out to be just what was needed.

 The final pencil sketch that was ready for painting:

  The initial colors I had in mind were for a ghostly night scene, with the tree glowing in the darkness. I tried to be lazy and just use photoshop brushes to sketch in the colors. But it really looks nothing like actual watercolors, and so it's hard to get a good feel for how the colors will actually work out when using the paint.

So, reluctantly I went through my much lengthier color roughing process, that involves cutting and pasting large areas of color and texture from my collection of other scanned paintings, and then tweaking color balance and contrasts in photoshop. This gives a MUCH better approximation of what a finished piece could look like, and gives me a basis to decide colors and values. 

Using that above color rough as a guide, I  started painting.

The final results: