A Watercolor, Beginning to End

~ I did this little watercolor yesterday ~

The model is my Afghan 'Dazzle' at age 10 months,

when they are fluffy all over and you wonder how they see

through all that hair over their eyes.

This pose is called a "play bow" and she still does it

at age 4. I think she will always be fun and puppy-like!
(which also involves being a destroyer of shoes and a shredder of paper)

-

~ The beginning stages ~

First, a pencil sketch, then I apply watercolor washes

to get some color down, painting around the light hair.

I'm using my little watercolor box, although I often use

my larger plastic palette. Since this is a small 8x10

and I'm using limited colors, this works fine.

And a glass tea cup holds the water.

I'm working on Arches 140 lb. cold press paper.

-

~ Dazzle and Dazzle ~
Oh my, she is so amusing! There's times she barks and

wants to play with a doggy on my computer screen.

Sometimes I work from a printed photo

and sometimes just look at one on my screen.

It works great to blow it up to see detail.
-

Here we are halfway through, adding depth through

more washes on the grass and sky and dog hair.
-

Below is a close-up of the finished painting.
-

The white areas are the white of the paper.

In watercolor you usually save the whites this way,

an oil painting is done a bit differently.

She was actually chewing on a plastic chicken toy

but since there's no way it was recognizable,

I have replaced it with a red ball.
-

Next a mat and frame and ready to hang!

-

(This painting will be available soon as a print on my website)

-

It has been fun sharing my painting process with you!

If you haven't tried watercolors, just give it a go!

You may love it!!!

~ Violet ~

______________________

-

A bit later... okay, so I am picturing my friend Martha

rolling her eyes at my previous paragraph.

Yes, I know, it took me some time and much practice

to get to the point of creating a (successful) watercolor.

-

And one needs the right tools for it,

good brushes, high quality paints,

good paper, and probably an artistic leaning.

And study, and practice practice practice!

(People usually don't see the ones I threw away!)

-

There is a lot to find out about the various pigments

and how they mix, from transparent to staining colors,

how to keep from making the color of mud

(but one needs mud sometimes too)

-

But everyone has to start somewhere.

One thing that helped me the most when I was learning

watercolor painting, was to study books that showed the process.

How you get from 'here' to 'there'.

( Classes helped too. )

So, to see a painting from the beginning stages

up through the final result, can be such a learning experience.

-

If an excitement builds in your heart

when you view a painting

(or whatever else makes your heart flutter!)

If something stirs within you

and you hear yourself saying, "I want to try that!"

-

Well, just start at the beginning.

-

T R Y