Camelia on Clayboard- finished (finally)

I finished this little painting last night- that's 3 evenings of "daily" painting if you are counting. Clayboard just takes longer for me to build up the depth of color. 6x6 inches.

You can go back to the previous blog posts to find the reference pic and steps. Click on the photos and they will enlarge a bit.

Charity listing for Sundown Surgery Fund at UGA teaching hospital. Click here to bid.

Camelia on Day 2

I swear I worked on this for at least 4 hours last night. American Idol was on, then the news, then something on E . . . Before I knew it, it was 12:30.

Clayboard gets much lighter as it dries. What seemed close to correct last night, needs more glazes this morning. You really have to overpaint it to compensate for this fact.

It also doesn't help that I am painting at night, in a room with dark paneling, with not the best lighting (too yellow).

Camelia and Clayboard- much better - wip, 6x6 inches

I started this over again, but using textured clayboard rather than yupo. Clayboard behaves more like watercolor paper allowing smoother value changes (the transitions from dark to light). I have included the ref pic.

This has one glaze of color on it. It's a little difficult to see on a monitor. I started a dark on the lower right hand side- it makes it easier to gauge the middle values.

Camelias and Yupo don't Mix , 6x6 inches

I took some photos about a month ago at Massee Lane Gardens, home of the American Camelia Society, located in central Georgia. It was freezing that morning, but I managed to photograph a few rolls. The reference image is from the day. This camelia was glowing in deep shadow with sunlight hitting it from the side and behind.

Yupo isn't the best surface for capturing the glow, maybe. You can get great color, and texture, but not smooth values. Got to have the darks to make the light shine. There is one little blip on the bottom right hand side that I really like. I cropped it out for a close up.

I did experiment with this a bit. I used fluid acrylics to try and underglaze some areas. Once the acrylic is dry it doesn't move as watercolor does. It is worth more experimenting. I was using quinacridone rose, and ultramarine blue, mix with a touch of payne's grey to get a purple, bluish, grey color. Interesting that the quin rose and ultramarine seperated on the paper. I had a purple area that I touched with a damp brush. The pink was absorbed leaving the blue behind.

Most of the color that you see is watercolor glazed on top.

Maybelline- finished Yupo painting

I finished Maybelline's painting last evening. If you scroll back to the previous post, you'll find the ref pic and the first scan of the painting in progress. It is 6 x 7.75 inches on Yupo paper.

It is listed on ebay as a charity listing for Sundown Surgery Fund at UGA Vet Teaching Hospital. SOLD- going to Shreveport, Louisiana

Maybelline- A Work in Progress

Several people have asked about my cat paintings so I decided to post one as a WIP. I try to finish these small daily paintings in a few hours, but I can already tell this one is gonna be spread out over about 3 evenings.

It is painted on Yupo paper using transparent watercolor, the size is about 5.5 x 7 inches or so.

The bottom photo is a pic of one of my hospital cats Maybelline. Maybelline, and Leon, both like for you to move this little kid's play couch in the hall way when the sun comes through the door around lunchtime. The photo is very dark, which is some concern. It is SO difficult to get good reference pics of dark cats. Black cats are the worst. They turn out looking like black holes with beady eyes, but I digress. . . .

I worked on this for a few hours last evening, starting with the basic shapes and building up the colors and values. The values have to be quite dark for the light parts to read as "sunlight".

Watercolor on Yupo paper moves. That is both good and bad. You do get great textural effects that are difficult to control and predict. Check back in a day or so to see the finished image.

Grey Cat Perched in Window- Yupo

"Perched" is painted with transparent watercolor, and a little acrylic, on yupo paper. Approximately 5x7 inches- comes with a mat and foam core to fit a 8x10 or 11 x14 frame (your choice).
Unframed.

It is listed in my ebay store as a charity listing for Tabby's Place, one of the charities sponsored by ArtHelpingAnimals. It is a store listing, not an auction, and available immediately- click here.

It is a "do-over" from the study last week.

Grey Cat on Window Ledge- Yupo

This little study of a grey cat sitting on a window ledge is
painted on Yupo paper, 5.5 x 7.5 inches.