Daisy Painting Part 2

I've finished the background for the painting.  I definitely went a little crazy, and far out of my comfort zone with this one.  The end result though, was worth it and I really like it.  I'm still a little nervous, because obviously it isn't finished yet so it is still kind of in the "ugly stage".  Once I start painting the flowers, I will feel a bit better! 

First, I wet the whole paper with a large mop brush.  Then I picked some blues and purples and just started putting them all over the paper, and since it was so wet, I picked up the painting and moved it around, causing the watercolor to move around. I've never tried that before and it was really cool! The colors run, mix and blend in a way you can't get with pushing paint around with a brush.  So I let it dry, and repeated that process a few times, giving it several layers of paint. 

When I was turning the paper all around trying to spread the paint, it started dripping over my masking and into the flowers.  I decided to keep the spontaneity and let the paint drip through the flowers. Why not?! This is an experiment in loosening up, after all.  The drips and splatters will show through even after I paint the flowers, but it will give it some interest, I think. (Hope!) 

I then decided to add some texture, so using the back of my paint brush I just started scribbling into the paint like cursive writing.  I didn't write anything legible or of any significance, just scribbling because I like like look of cursive writing, but I didn't actually have anything to say lol.

I figured at this point, the masking is pretty irreverent, so I removed it.

After the scribbling, I did more layers of paint and let it dry. Then I started just using a wet brush to move some dry paint around, hoping to cause some blooms in the paint. I thought it still needed something, so I mixed up some very dark versions of the colors already used and started flinging paint at the paper randomly.  Some got in the flowers, but again, so what?! :) Flinging the paint was the most fun!

So now I have this crazy background and I hope it doesn't turn out ugly, but we will find out! The background is done, and onto the flowers! Stay tuned ;-)

A step by step daisy painting...

I want to start another painting of gerber daisies, and I've had this particular one sketched on watercolor paper for about 8 months.  I had been busy with commissions and now I have some time to work on my own projects. So I'm going to post step by step as I work on it. I forgot to photograph the drawing before I started masking, but you'll get the idea. I'm using my own photos of gerber daisies, three different photos and made them into one painting. So first step, I had to go buy some masking fluid because I left mine at home in the US.  Then I got out my ruling pen so I would have nice, even lines and not worry about using a brush. 

Also, you might notice the ripped tape around the borders...I want it to have an uneven, kind of ripped paper looking border, hence the strange tape job ;)

I'm going to mask only around the outer edges of the flowers, since I'm going to work on the background and I want to keep the edges of the flowers crisp and visible and not worry when I'm busy splashing paint around.  I'm using the ruling pen carefully, to avoid gouging the paper.  You don't need to press hard. 

I really love the ruling pen, it gives you such clean lines! I highly recommend it!
So now the flowers are all masked...

And I wait for it to dry, then have fun with the background!
With this painting, I really want to try loosening up and not do my usual tightly rendered style. I want to splash paint around and not worry about a lot of detail.  I want to mask the flowers to keep the shapes while I go nuts with the background, but after that all bets are off. We'll see how it goes! More tomorrow...

More Wedding Gowns!

A few more wedding gown drawings I've been commissioned to do. 

Technically a front view, but I did it from an angle here to show the train a little bit. 

This dress I did a front and back view.  This is the detail of the front, of course.

 Back view...

And one more front and back view...

If you're interested in a gown drawing for yourself or a friend/family member, please visit my Etsy shop! I'd be happy to make one for you as well. 

Here's the most recent painting I did, another commission for my neighbor.  He had asked me to do a painting for him to give his wife for Christmas, and after I completed it (sorry, I forgot to take a picture), he asked me to paint their Christmas card, which had pictures of all of their animals on it, seven dogs and three horses. 

His wife does dog shows with some of these guys, and the grey dog on the far right is like a national champion pure breed or something.  I don't know much about these things, but it's pretty cool that they have one of the top show dogs in the country. They get on tv! So this is the painting I produced from the card:

Acrylic on canvas, 16"x20"

The black and white dog, 2nd from the right, was in a different position on the card, but he had sent me a couple of photos of her for the other painting I did, and I liked her better in a different photo. The way she was cocking her head and the adorable expression in her big brown eyes was just calling me to paint.  I'm not really a dog person, I prefer cats..but this little black and white girl, Eva, is the cutest dog ever. 

This painting was probably the easiest painting I've done in a while. Most of the commissions I've been working on in the last several months have had me  in a fit of nerves and some tears because I just couldn't get something right and they took me a long time to complete. This painting almost painted itself. It took about eight days total, which for me is lightening speed for a painting. 

I have to say, it's pretty funny that I've been getting all these commissions in the past 6-8 months. I never had that many before, maybe one or two in the last several years.  Then, this summer, I opened my Etsy shop for custom wedding gown sketches and bouquet watercolor paintings, and suddenly everyone wants me to paint.....animals (mostly dogs) and landscapes! Two subjects I don't actually paint, which is why I had a little trouble with some of these projects haha.  :) I'm grateful for them though, for the extra income and the experience in painting things I hadn't before. And everyone was very happy with their paintings, which makes me happy too, of course!

Landscape Commission

     Finally, a new post with new artwork.  I'm sorry I've been neglecting my blog for so long, I've been crazy busy with commission work and haven't had time to sit and write about them.  I'm the world's slowest painter and it's been taking up all my time.  But I'm very glad for this commission work because my "day job" has had no hours for me. Literally. I haven't been to work since before Christmas. No good.  So earlier this summer, I had a family friend ask me to paint her dog, (see blog post Portrait of a Dog)  another person we know ask me to paint a landscape (kind of a re-do of a painting she already has and loves), one sale on my Etsy shop of a wedding bouquet (see blog post First Sale From My Etsy Shop!) and my neighbor asked me to do two paintings for him. The first one I forgot to take a picture of, but I have pictures of the second one I just finished yesterday, and I'll write about that one in another post. 
     Here is the landscape.  I actually call it the Moonscape.  Acrylic on canvas, 16"x20". 

And here is the original painting she had:

She loves this painting because she grew up somewhere that looked a lot like this painting and it brought back happy childhood memories.  The painting is very 80's though and very pink.  She asked me to re-do it, and I chose to do it at kind of twilight, which she was thrilled about, since it is her favorite time of day.  I also made the moon much larger and dramatic, because I love the moon.  I changed the format as well from a panoramic to standard size canvas.  She chose the size, the original was too large and she wanted it a bit smaller.  
     She was thrilled with the final painting, I wasn't home when she came to pick it up but my parents told me how happy she was.  She had written me a check and wrote lots of "thank-you!"'s on it.  That is my favorite part of doing art for other people, knowing that they're happy with what I did.  It's a relief too! :)

Neglect

I realize it's been about two months since I last posted on my poor, neglected blog.  I haven't forgotten about it but life has been so hectic and I haven't had the time to edit (and by edit I mean basically just cropping) photos of artwork I've done. There was Hurricane Sandy (bitch!) that kept my power off for a week and I had to get done a commission (which was the last thing I posted), then Thanksgiving, Christmas and my trip to Hawaii, from which I just got back (unfortunately).  I have been working on other commissions and I will post about them soon! 

First sale from my Etsy shop!

I've finally completed and mailed my first sale from my Etsy shop!  On Etsy, I started out with my custom drawings of wedding gowns, and then someone suggested I paint bouquets, too.  I thought that was brilliant, since flowers are some of my absolute favorite subjects.  My first customer contacted me in mid October and asked if I could get it done and to him before November 12, his first anniversary with his wife.  Sure!  Then Hurricane Sandy hit and I was without power for a week here in New Jersey and managed to finish it anyway, sometimes painting by candlelight! (Which, by the way, is not a fun way to paint!) But I finished it in time and he gave it to his wife yesterday.  He told me that they loved it, which makes me so happy!  I'm always nervous doing commissioned work for people for fear they'll see all the little mistakes and things that bother me, plus all their expectations...So when a customer is happy, that makes me very happy. 

I even remembered to take pictures of the painting in progress so I can share them here.  When I paint watercolor, I usually paint wet into dry, which is how I did this painting.  It's more precise and when you have a lot of detail work, I find wet into dry works best. 

The first steps I took were to paint the parts the customer told me were important.  He really wanted the peacock feather to be highlighted, since they were special to his wife and came from her family farm. He also wanted the cloth around the flowers stems to be visible.  I painted the fabric first, since it was a pretty pattern and looked fun to do.

Next, of course, came the peacock feathers. I was a little scared to paint them, but they came out pretty well and I had fun mixing the dark blues and greens in their centers. 

After the fabric and feathers were done, I started to paint by color.  I did the little green berries and some leaves.  I figured going by the colors was an easier way to paint then being all over the place, mixing all different colors and being fairly disorganized (in my opinion). 

I then started in with my reds and purples. I painted the first layers of the red flowers, then went in with the purple flowers. When the first layers of red paint were dry, I went in and finished the red ones. I find red a tricky color and it needs several layers and a lot of attention to be just right. 

Finished the red flowers, and a few more pink and purples ones. 

Starting to put in some of the white flowers as well.  The painting is really starting to come together now and it's exciting to see it looking like an actual bouquet of flowers!

Almost done!  I put in the blue ribbon and finished all the flowers.  All that's left is some detail work with the wispy pieces that are sticking out and finishing up the larger leaves on the outside edges. 

And here again, the finished bouquet.  Watercolor on cold pressed paper, 9"x12".