Zodiac - Gemini

"Gemini"
Medium: Watercolor
Size: 10x14.5 inches
for Llewellyn's 2011 astrological calendar

The twins. The higher and lower mind joined by recognition of duality, social and enjoying the company of others, thought and communication.

To view the walk-through of this piece:

The Sketch
Part 1 (background)
Part 2 (painting skin)
Part 3 (main figures and foreground)
Finished Painting

Zodiac - Gemini in progress (part 3)

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...continuing from previous posts...

The Sketch
Part 1 (background)
Part 2 (painting skin)

Shadows in the hair

With a small brush, I paint the shadows in the hair and wings with a mixture again of Elder Purple and Red Cabbage Blue. Not painting the actual strands, but the negative space around the strands.

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Color to the hair

Adding some color to the hair now with a glaze of oranges and yellows. I try to vary the concentration of the glaze around the contours to add depth.

I leave highlighted bits of unpainted white.

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The wings

Along the outer right edge of the wings, I use Stinging Nettle Yellow in thin glazes, being sure to leave thin veins of white showing through. Roughly this is sort of based on a dragonfly wing as a model, though with a different shape. Very thin, translucent, and iridescent wings. I vary the colors as I move towards their bodies, adding more blues and purples to the mixture, and periodically swiping the whole thing with a large brush of clear water. This serves to lightly blend and soften the edges (as long as it's done when all the colors are dry. If done too soon then it just blurs everything together and you lose all delineation).

Also, I finish up the gems in their hair, round spheres, basically using the same colors I've been using throughout. The darkest areas I dot with Payne's Grey.

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The swarms

And finally the butterflies. I had a hard time figuring out what colors I wanted these to be. I waffled between golden oranges, bright crimsons, or deep blues.

In the end the oranges won out. A little variation from to distinguish from the rest of the scene, but not enough to distract from the semi-monochrome look I wanted the piece to have.

To paint these little guys, I started with a base of Stinging Nettle Yellow glaze.

Over that, I layer Gardenia Orange while leaving thin veins of the previous layer of yellow showing through.

Then with a mixture of Elder Purple and Red Cabbage Blue I blend in darker colored patterns, still maintaining the pale yellow veins. The neat thing about doing this is that at the blended edges, the blues start to layer with the yellows/oranges, creating some interesting interplay of layered tones.

And then finally the centers of the splotches are emphasized and made darker with a touch of Burnt Umber and Payne's Grey mixture.

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Finished Painting

Painting Skin

...continuing from previous posts...

The Sketch
Part 1 (background)

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Painting skin can be tricky. Here's an example from my current painting, "Gemini." This basic technique can be used for a variety of other skin tones by experimenting with variations for the shadows, and the main glaze.

Most of the time I use combinations of cooler colors for the shadows. Greens, purples, blues. For the main glaze, I use yellows or browns, mixed with a touch of red and diluted.

In this example I'm using some non-standard pigments (Kremer) which were being used throughout the rest of the painting as well. The WinsorNewton colors (WN) are fairly standard and can be found in other brands as well.


Base layer of shadows
With a mixture of the Red Cabbage Blue and Elder Purple, diluted, I paint the shadows. I find it easier to do shadows first because when the main glaze is laid on top, the shadows get smoothed out nicely. If they are painted on top, you might run into problems of lifting and splotchy looking skin.

Main Glaze

When that has dried, I mix together the colors for my main glaze and swipe this on top. I make sure to leave some edges of white showing for highlights. Also it can be useful to leave bits of the shadow layer showing through as well. The cool shadows and the warm main tones side by side make for interesting contrasts that really bring out the depth.

For this particular image I did mix a bit of opaque white into my main glaze mixture. I don't often do this, but I wanted the chalkiness that this would add to the glaze. These two figures are almost like statues, and a semi-opaque glaze over the purple tones adds to this effect.

Over the warmer main glaze layer, I also did some light glazes of Stinging Nettle Yellow, which has a faint greenish hint to it. This provides a more bronze touch to their skin as well.

Emphasizing the Deepest Shadows
With a fine brush, I go back and emphasize the deepest shadows with a more concentrated mixture of the original shadows color, also mixing in a bit of Burnt Umber or Payne's Grey needed for the darkest areas.

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Part 3 (main figures and foreground)
Finished Painting

Zodiac - Gemini in progress

The Background

After the initial sketch, I start with the background of the piece. I start with a Lemon Yellow glow around the butterflies, and work my way outwards from there to lay in very light washes of mixtures of blues/purples.

In order to keep the yellow glows from just turning into sickly green tones, the purples are kind of used as a buffer zone between the two. Because I'm working in such thin and gradual glazes, you don't really notice the purple so much, and the transition from the yellow light to the blue skies is even and smooth.

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Leafy Background

I work my way into the details of the background foliage now.

The general color scheme that I have in mind is for most of this to be an almost monochrome golden tone, with the blue of the sky offsetting that. I don't plan the colors too much, but I have some vague ideas in mind. Sometimes if a client insists, I'll do a very quick color study in photoshop; or if I run into indecision and can't choose between two options on a personal piece. Most of the time I just pick colors and run with it, letting each choice dictate what comes next in a sort of natural progression.

The more distant foliage becomes darker shadowy blue/purples - darker versions of the sky. As I approach the foreground, the leaves are more Lemon Yellow, Cadmium Yellow, and Naples Yellow. Filling in the shadows first, then lifting out bits of highlights. Leaving random watermark textures in some places without overworking them.

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Walls and Arches

Continuing towards the foreground. Next up is the lower wall area. I can't finish the winding branches in those areas without painting the walls a bit first since, some of the branches twine around in front.

Again, most mixtures of yellows, with shadows of blues, violets and Payne's Grey. Mostly the same shades as what I had thus far been using for the foliage. On the upper walls laying in a base coat as well, but having yet worked the details up into that part yet.

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More Walls

Throwing in some salt for texture along the walls. Keeping the areas around the wings of the twins brighter. More Lemon Yellow there, to have a nice glow, while the shadows fade to Raw Umbers and purples.

Haven't yet decided what color the butterflies will be, or for that matter, the wings on the twins. But starting to get some ideas at this point. Maybe a bright warmer yellow, or even orange for some contrast. Don't want to stray too much from the almost-monochrome look, but want a bit of sparkle and attention grabbing, since the butterflies really provide a lot of motion in this composition. Birds and winged things are great for that.

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The Twins

Finally getting to the main foreground.

Pale, gold-ish skin. Underlayer of shadows with purples. Overlaying that with Naples Yellow, mixed with opaque white, and a touch of Alizarin Crimson. Not enough to make them rosy, but just enough to differentiate their skin tones a bit from the walls they are perched on.



Enough for one day. Finishing up (maybe?) tomorrow!

The Sketch
Part 2 (painting skin)
Part 3 (main figures and foreground)
Finished Painting

Zodiac - Leo

"Leo"

Medium: Watercolor
Size: 10x14.5 inches
for Llewellyn's 2011 astrological calendar

The lion. Loyal, proud, generous, outgoing and with a flair for drama, glories in leadership.

Now that I've gotten to the painting part of this project, things are much more relaxing!

So finally something not-green. Well, at least not predominantly green!

There used to be a time years ago when I didn't like orange and yellow. But after forcing myself to paint the full spectrum of colors when I chose the color themes for the tarot, the windows were thrown open.

One thing I like to do when looking at other artists' work, is to identify the characteristics in the paintings that I would normally steer away from in my own paintings, but that work really well in their cases. Sometimes it might be the strong use of a color I don't like, or an odd compositional element. Identifying those pieces, figuring out why I steer away from it in my work (fear of "ruining" a piece? never thought to utilize something that way? old preconceptions that have become habit?) and then figuring out how I can incorporate it into a future painting, is one way of pushing myself. No need to attack problems all at once though. Picking small elements and focusing on that one thing for a piece is a major step.

Zodiac - Cancer

"Cancer"
Medium: Watercolor
Size 10x14.5 inches
for Llewellyn's 2011 astrological calendar

The crab, water, nurturing, the reflective surface of water, focus on the family, protective, sensitive.

Here we are, the first of 12. At last, after all that sketching, I can get down to the painting. It's a relief. I haven't had the opportunity to really paint since before Gencon, and it feels like forever since I've had a chance to take the brushes in hand.

Somehow I'm still in green mode, but that will change soon enough as I get to the fiery and air elements. I was actually toying with the idea today of (after finishing the 12 and cover for this calendar deadline) going back and doing second male (or female) versions of each of the signs. Because 12 paintings isn't enough, and I have to go and double it...yeah, 78 pieces for the tarot has made me a sucker for more pain I guess.

Monterey Bay Aquarium

A bit of late August heat spell hit the past couple of days. As if to remind that summer wasn't ready to lift its grip yet despite what had been for the most part a remarkably cool season this year. I had been slowly mucking about in the garage and basement attempting to clear out some semblance of "clear space" among the piles of boxes and packing materials to make room for the shipment of books I'm supposed to receive this coming week. The upside of hiding in the dusty basement is that it's actually many degrees cooler than the oven the house turns into on sunny days. Dust? or Heat? Take your pick.

So it was with not a small amount of relief that I hopped into the car with Dana yesterday for our trip down to Monterey that I had planned with my brother and his wife a few weeks ago. We couldn't have picked a better day for several hours in an air-conditioned car and an outing to a breezy seaside town, and the special exhibit "The Secret Life of Seahorses."

I managed to get many good reference photos for my upcoming zodiac paintings as well during our aquarium excursion. Jellyfish and crabs and fish! Great for Cancer and Pisces.