How I Paint

Just for fun, I thought I'd show the painting process for this painting:

This is a painting I did for a friend and it measures 22in X 30in and is done in watercolors (my favorite medium).
So first, I started by sketching it out and then masking of the birds and the branch with watercolor masking. This lets me paint the background without fear of getting paint on the foreground.

You can just barely see the birds masked off. The paper is also taped down to keep it from warping too much (which paper likes to do when wet from say . . .watercolors).
Next, I did my first wash of color:

Very light and basically just doing some color blocking and deciding what colors I wanted to use.
Second wash:

A little darker now, more brilliant colors used.
Third wash:

I actually did another wash after this and forgot to take a picture of it. Oh well! I let it dry completely and then removed the masking. Next came painting the birds, again, done in washes.

This is after 2 washes. You can start to see some details.

After another 2 washes. Time to paint the branch!

The finished painting again - did 2 washes for the branch and touched up the sparrows. I hope my friend likes it!

OWLS!!

A friend of mine has just purchased her first home and she has a thing for owls. So, as part of her house warming gift, I'm painting her owls! I've done 7 so far and may do a few more if the muse hits me ;)
I quite love this barn owl, let's be honest.

This green owl looks very contemplative. Maybe he needs to take a dump and he's deciding which car hood would be best . . .
Both are done in water colors.

New Sparrow Painting

My friend asked for a sparrow painting as she apparently loves how I paint birds. This is her sparrow. The painting measures 6in X 6in, done in watercolors. He took less than an hour to complete. And she happens to love him! (though lets be honest, I hoped she didn't so I could keep it!)
Part of A Study in Sparrows.

House Sparrow

A male house sparrow painted with water colors! Part of A Study in Sparrows.

Another Sparrow!

My third sparrow painting, and another contender as my new tattoo. Gaaaaaaa! I can't decide which one I like more!!!!

Watercolor!

New Artwork :)

Hooray for new artwork!!!

These are 2 concept paintings for my new tattoo. Which, obviously, will be a sparrow and cherry blossoms.

This one is colored pencils and ink.

And this one is watercolors, done in a style similar to a Chinese brush painting.

I actually LOVE them both!!!! I have another idea to try as well, but I'm not sure how I'll choose. Any preferences that you have?

Project 365: Enjoy the Silence

A self portrait. :D There's TONS of symbolism in this piece. Though yeah, I'm not going to explain it. This is vent art! Did ya read the previous post?

Project 365

This pic is actually for yesterday (Saturday).
My new painting, titled "So Close, Yet So Far"
It's a painting representing bipolar disorder (which I have). There's a TON of symbolism in this painting.
Of course, I'm too lazy to explain right now XD

New Art!!!

This is my latest painting. Took me about 2 hours on Saturday, from start to finish. It's coffee, watercolors, ink and colored pencil on watercolor paper.

A self portrait entitled "Empty. . ."
I'm very happy with how it turned out. And, as it's a very personal painting, I will be keeping it! Probably will be hanging in my studio shortly . . . .

(c) 2010 Icky Dog Creations

Project 365

My budding artist. Appears he likes abstract art . . . . . . . :)