self portrait

I have never really attempted a "self portrait" painting.  For some reason, over the weekend, I decided to give it a shot.  I am pleased with the rich colors (not to mention that I excluded a few fine lines ;O).

After adding the flowers in my hair, I decided to carry out the theme in a new shop banner for my shop on Etsy:

It has been a nice change of pace painting more whimsical designs, rather than realism.  I am going to start a series of portrait paintings similar to the "Self Portrait", which, coincidentally I have titled "Irish Lass".  These paintings, as most, started out with a quick sketch just to get my proportions.  Next, I added the base color.  In the portrait, it was my skin-tone which was achieved by mixing quite a few colors, actually.  I used some light yellow, rose madder, and Naples Yellow.  While this was still wet, I added a thicker mixture of the same color over my cheeks, nose and forehead.  Adding a bit of burnt umber to that mixture, I was able to find a nice color for my freckles.  My hair has many of the same colors, with the addition of raw sienna.  For the background of the portrait I used Ivory Black which covered the paper so well, adding almost a velvet texture.

Off to paint.  Happy (almost) Friday!

https://www.etsy.com/shop/DustyShamrockStudio

Elephant close up

I have been working on animals lately, and this is the most recent addition to that collection:

Years ago, before I began painting with watercolors, my artwork was really limited to graphite.  In this painting, I sketched the head of the elephant for only a few minutes, to get the proportions.  The rest of the time was spent sweeping the paper with my brush- emphasizing the darker areas, and adding water in other areas to thin out the paint.

The tusk is just peaking out at the bottom of the page.  I used Cobalt Blue, Burnt Umber, and Ivory Black in this painting.

I love painting animals with watercolor.  After I sketch out the animal, I wet the entire surface of the page.  I love to use the brush as if it is a pencil- sketching almost with the brush, reapplying paint as necessary.  Once I learned to not be afraid of adding lots of paint and lots of water, my paintings felt right.

In this painting, I constantly re-wet the paper.  I used thick applications of paint, and if it was too dark, I added more water and spread the colors out and used them to shade and give the horse depth.

Learning to not shy away from the water aspect in watercolors.

Off to paint an elephant...

Mother's Day Paintings

Wonderful Mother's Day

Today was a very nice day.  Spending time with family, and of course, lots of time to paint. 

Latest watercolors: "Running Horses" 8x10
https://www.etsy.com/listing/150995433/horse-art-horses-running-8x10-watercolor?ref=shop_home_active

My mom requested Pansies for Mother's Day.  She gets the originals, but I do have prints available:

"Purple Pansy" 5x7 Watercolor
https://www.etsy.com/listing/150943512/pansy-print-purple-pansy-5x7-watercolor?ref=shop_home_active

"Red and Violet Pansy" 5x7 Watercolor
https://www.etsy.com/listing/150945767/pansy-print-red-and-violet-pansy-5x7?ref=shop_home_active

Wildlife ACEO series

Just finished a series of ACEO art cards:

Wildlife series

http://www.etsy.com/shop/DustyShamrockStudio?section_id=13542996

 

 

My mom's favorite animal is the Giraffe.  Perfect in time for Mother's Day!