May 1, 2010 - Day 264

Ink & Watercolor on 250gsm Stonehenge 100% Cotton Vellum Paper

Just a girly unicorn for today's painting. I didn't want to do this painting in a realistic way which is why I chose to use pinks, blues and purples for the shadows and mid-tones. While I was searching for reference photos I came across some horse paintings from the 1500's that were beautiful. It would be wonderful to do fantasy paintings in the style of the old masters but I don't have that skill level yet. I thought maybe I should do series of paintings where I "copy" some of the great works of art so that I can see how they did it and then adapt it to my own style. Oh well, maybe next year.

April 30, 2010 - Day 263

Ink & Watercolor on 250gsm Stonehenge 100% Cotton Vellum Paper

I would have liked the colors to be brighter and contrast sharper on this baby dragon but I am just too tired tonight to continue. It is the first dragon I have painted in approximately 10 years though so overall I am happy with the results.

April 29, 2010 - Day 262

Watercolor on 250gsm Stonehenge 100% Cotton Vellum Finish Paper

I forgot to use ink on today's painting. I did a pencil sketch and then put watercolor washes over the pencil. This painting lacks the definition that I achieved using the pen and washes. It doesn't have that crispness. I think it is because I once again didn't get my shadow areas dark enough the first time and ended up over working the painting. The smooth finish doesn't hold up well to multiple washes.

April 28, 2010 - Day 261

Ink & watercolor on 250gsm Stonehenge 100% Cotton Vellum Finish Paper

Not much to say about today's painting - Horseman of Famine except that I don't like it as much as yesterday's painting.

April 27, 2010 - Day 260

Ink & watercolor on 250gsm Stonehenge 100% Cotton Vellum Finish Paper

For today's painting - the Horseman of War - I sketched it in pencil and then with a black gel ink pen in the shadow areas. Once that was dry I added watercolor washes. I like this one a lot better than yesterday's brush and ink painting. The only thing I don't like about today's painting is that the horse doesn't stand out as much as I would like. It seems to blend in with the flame in the mushroom cloud.

April 26, 2010 - Day 259

Ink & watercolor on 250gsm Stonehenge 100% Cotton Vellum Finish Paper

Moving on to something new. I thought today I would start a series of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. The first horseman is "Pestilence" or disease and rides a white horse. I painted it with ink first and then added a wash of dark blue watercolor to the back ground and a touch on the shadow areas of the horse.

I had a lot of problems with this one today. I couldn't figure out how to paint the horseman's cloak and over all the painting lacks sharpness. This is a recurring problem that I have with my work. I am working on another larger painting today and I am having the same problem with it.

I wonder if the fuzziness is occurring because I don't go dark enough in the first layer and then I end up over-working the painting to try and darken it or if it is that there just isn't enough contrast between the highlights and the shadows.

It is very frustrating to have a vision in my head of what I want to achieve but not being able to achieve it.

April 25, 2010 - Day 258

Ink on 250gsm Stonehenge 100% Cotton Vellum Finish Paper

Once again I almost but not quite achieved a likeness in my star portrait - today was George Clooney. I think that it is almost time to admit defeat in this area and move on to something new. I started the star portrait series on April 1 and after 25 paintings I still have not achieved the ability to create an accurate likeness. I think that this is something that I would like to practice more in the future but I would create pencil portraits so that I could erase the shading where needed. The ink does not allow any lifting of color at all.

I do think that my skill at painting faces has improved and that I could create paintings with people as long as the people did not need to look like anyone in particular. Perhaps book covers or illustrations. Maybe paintings that focus on the "human condition". My studio is called Follow My Heart so I will just have to see where it leads.