Student Work - Pansy

by JoAnn

by Sharon

by Nannette

by Peggy

Pansy

After I did the drawing, I did each petal of the pansy separately.  I wet the petal and then painted in permanent rose mixed with cobalt blue.  If you don't have these colors, use alizarin crimson.  Some of the petals are almost a solid color, some have a lot of white.  Since you are painting wet in wet, you should have a soft transition between the purple and the white.  If you can, try to leave a white edge.  I drew the edge in to remind myself to leave it white.  I did not wet the edge.   Then LET IT DRY.

Next I mixed alizarin crimson and ultramarine blue to make a really dark purple, and painted the darker areas of the petals.  I painted on dry paper this time, although I tried to use a damp brush to soften the edges a little.    I also painted the yellow and orange center.

Now for the background.  I wet an area about a quarter of the paper and used sap green for the lighter areas, and sap green mixed with ultramarine blue for the darker areas.  Because the paper was wet, you get a nice soft blending of the darks and lights.  As soon as I finished I wet another section around the same size and did the same thing.  If you work fast enough, they will all blend in without any hard lines.  I turned the paper as I painted each section to make it easier to see what I was doing.

Student Work - Eagle

by JoAnn

by Nannette

by Peggy

Eagle - Finishing

Next mix a black from ultramarine blue and burnt sienna, with less water than before.  Paint the dark around the eye and then lighten it to a darker gray and add some darker feathers, his eyeball, some light feathers on the top of the head, darken the line of his beak, etc.  Any finishing touches.

Eagle Step 1-4

I've had this eagle for a while.  I was going to wait until we were back at the senior center, but I came across it today and decided that I wanted to do it this week.  

I'm sorry that my drawing is so hard to see.  I tried to lighten the background and make the sketch darker, but this was the best I could do.

I painted the yellow on the beak and eye socket first, using cadmium yellow.  Then I mixed ultramarine blue and burnt sienna to make a blue-gray, and put some on the beak and eye socket, and then painted shadows and feathers.

Next I painted the background.  I know some of you have trouble with this.  We need to practice more.  In fact, you might want to take another piece of paper and just quickly draw the outline of the bird, no need to be accurate, and just do a practice run of the background.  Mix up a BIG puddle of blue - any blue will do.  I used cobalt.  Turn the paper sideways and start behind his head, keep the paint wet so it makes a "bead" of paint that follows you all the way around.  Paint around his head, turning the paper as you go, until you get all the way around.  Wipe off any paint that has beaded up on the tape, so it won't run into your backround while it is damp.  LET IT DRY

Student Work - Stained Glass Daffodils

by JoAnn Jennings

by Sharon Cubicciotti

by Nannette

by Peggy

Stained Glass Daffodils

This is a photo of a stained glass panel with daffodils.  It looked like it would make a good watercolor subject.

My drawing was done with pencil first, and then I went over it with a Sharpie.  The Sharpie is WATERPROOF.  If your pen is not waterproof, do not use it right now.   Start painting with just your pencil lines, and add the black pen at the end.

This is just straight painting, almost like a coloring book page.  The flower petals are cadmium yellow, and the tube shaped part of the flower is cad yellow + cad red.

The leaves are Sap green with some ultramarine blue to darken some of them.

The swatch in the background is yellow ochre.  

When that dries, use cad yellow + cad red, burnt sienna, some darker brown to make random blotches and shapes, and a thin line black pen, and/or the Sharpie to make some line thin and thick lines to finish the painting.

Student Work - Flowering trees

By JoAnn Jennings

by Peggy Mallon

by Nannette

by Sharon Cubicciotti

Flowering Tree/Another lesson in Pointillism

I thought a pretty spring tree would be appropriate for this time of year.

Pointillism would be the perfect technique to use for the trees and the foreground.  So, start by making lots of pink dots, some lighter, some darker, and leave a few "sky holes".

After the pink dots dry, you can paint in the sky. I used cobalt blue, but you can use any blue that you have.  Don't forget that a little bit of sky can be seen under the canopy of the trees, and in the sky holes.  (oops, I forgot to take a picture after I did the sky).

After the sky is dry, make your dots for the foreground.  Use cadmium yellow, sap green, yellow ochre, a bit of burnt sienna, and a darker green made of sap green and burnt sienna, and then an even darker sap green and ultramarine blue.

The last part is the "details", the tree trunk and branches, and the people.  You can skip the people if you want to.

Don't forget, you can click on any of the photos to make them bigger.

Student Work - Clown Fish

by Peggy Mallon

Clown Fish

I thought you might like this one.  It should be fun to paint.

This is just straight painting on dry paper.  Nothing fancy.  The colors for the fish are cadmium yellow mixed with cadmium red.   For the anemone (I guess that's what the vegetation is) I used yellow ochre.  I mixed yellow into a few and brown into a few for variety.   I will darken anything that needs it after the background is done.  I think I will go with a blue background, even though it is almost black in the photo.  Blue is the compliment of orange.

Here it is with the background filled in.  The only thing left is to paint the black edges on the fins and tails, maybe a bit of shadow on the white stripes, and put in the eyes with a fine black pen.  Then, see if there is anything to fix, darken, lighten, etc.

Final painting.  Black (alizarin crimson + thalo green) are in, fan lines in the tail and fins, and I darkened a few of the anemone.

Student Work - Tulips

by JoAnn Jennings

by Nannette

by Sharon Cubicciotti

by Peggy Mallon

Tulips Part 2

So I started to do the background wet-in-wet, and didn't like what was happening.  Weird backruns!!!  So I quickly washed most of it off.  While it was drying, I painted the dark spaces between the leaves.

 Now to give the background another shot.  It's too big to do it wet-in-wet, so I'm going to let everything dry first, and then mix up a big puddle of sap green and start from the left side and turn the paper as I go until I get to the right side.  I'll be back!

Hmm...better..or not?.  I also added a few more leaves to close up the gap in the center.

I'd like to try to add those blurry flowers in the background that I tried to add before.  This may, or may not work.  We'll see.

I made some light pink shapes, and some slightly darker green shapes in the background, and softened the edges with a damp brush.  Not what I had originally planned, and not as good as the painting I was seeing in my imagination, but good enough.

Hope you have fun with this one.

email me with your results.   mhimeswc@hotmail.com