I got a new watercolor sketchbook the other day, a Pentalic spiral bound with 140# paper. I took it out to the patio and painted one of my Christmas cacti to see how the paint and paper responded. It’s pretty nice paper, and it was pleasant to sit outdoors for a bit before the rains hit tonight. This is also a study in direct watercolor – brush, paint, paper, without lines.
We had a leak in the house, and the result was scurrying around doing everything else but find time to even think or go to work. Finally, the leak was contained yesterday. Towels and such could be put away. Now we wait for insurance and contractors!
And finally, I can get back to drawing and painting. This morning, more tulips, done with iron gall ink, prior to applying some paint. Here ya go!
Today my Instagram account is making its debut! I uploaded a picture of this sketch by phone to Instagram, but a phone picture is not the same as a scan. My Instagram account is (what else): journeybypaper. Not sure how it works, but it is here, to the right.
Done with daffodils, and moving on to other spring bulbs! While we don’t have the snow to enjoy melt as the flowers emerge, we still enjoy their seasonal appearance.
Tulips were always my winter favorites, along with hyacinths. We never had daffs or narcissus. So, homage to a childhood favorite, the first tulips of the season.
I tried to make an orange using Quinacridone Gold and Alizarin Crimson. Not sure how well it worked. The ink is iron gall in a Hand Book.
More daffodils! This time I did a value sketch before I began to paint. I think it did help me with the final painting. The sketch is not to scale for the picture, but it does give the areas of light and dark. You can see the light is sort of to the left, and perhaps a bit to the front.
Next, the basic outline of the daffodils on the paper.
Finally, the painting itself. It’s better in some ways than the earlier ones I did, but it just isn’t what I want to accomplish. Parts of it look forced – specifically, the flowers. Still there is a better sense of painterly-ness here! And, the value sketch helped a lot.
Currently I am using Canson XL paper, which is a student grade paper. For really wet washes, it doesn’t work that well, yet I find it quite to my liking as a practice paper for the most part.
Ink, Yarn & Beer 