Superwoman

I was straightening up my studio yesterday and ran across this drawing. It was one of my early attempts when I was learning to use watercolor about six years ago. My "model" was Angela Bassett.

Picture book illo

Still needs some work, but for every paint stroke I make, I have to make 50 more to fix it. Again, this is black gouache with watercolor.

Looking for bugs under rocks

This is another painting for a picture book proposal. I used the same technique of first painting in grayscale with black gouache. I have to work a little to get rid of the color-tinted-photograph look, but it seems to be working. It allows me to then concentrate on the color without worrying too much about losing the original look of the drawing.

The boulder was a pain in the wazoo. I spent quite a bit of time trying to make it look like a rock. Eventually I got the right contrast, but what seemed to pull it together was using a small piece of sponge to get an interesting texture.

It's often hard for me to know when to lay down the brush while painting. It could probably use some more work, but if I go too long, I just end up spending time fixing things that I've fixed.

Painting Alex Ross Style

I'm working on a picture book proposal. I decided to borrow Alex Ross's technique. I first painted the scene with black gouache on 12" X 12" cold press watercolor paper.

Next, I started laying in color with Van Gogh watercolor paint. The overall effect isn't too bad, especially considering I haven't picked up my paints in at least a couple of years. Not surprisingly, smoke is difficult to paint and took up most of my painting time.
It helps to have a great model as well (my son).The superhero uniform is thermals, Spider-man gloves, Mama's snow boots and masking taping.

I couldn't decide where to paint, so I bought a 2X2 sheet of 1/4" plywood, sanded it, and used it as a mobile art desk. Worked great, as I could move the board around while painting instead of contorting into uncomfortable positions like I used to. This probably took around 6 hours.

Apple Picking - Color

I decided to paint the Apple Picking drawing (see below).

Frosty Underpants

Ink, watercolor on Cartiera Magnani, Pescia.

Jump!

Birthday Gift

I painted and framed this for my niece for her birthday.
I went with a thicker line style, since I wanted to frame it in a colorful frame that would look fun hanging on the wall in her room.
She loves soccer and got a new puppy, so I tried to work those into the drawing. I'm happy with the way it turned out.

She's always sending me drawings and things she's colored, so I thought I'd return the favor and give her something to hang in her room.

Happy Birthday, Kiddo!

Sitting in a Tree

Ink and watercolor on 140 lb. cold-pressed Strathmore Gemini watercolor paper

Pile it on

I tried something new. I set out to watercolor a complete disasterous mess. And it worked.
I piled paint layer on top of paint layer until I had muddy chaos and if that wasn't enough, I crosshatched the smithereens out of the drawing.
Since I didn't care how it turned out, I was able to try new things without worry.
It's pretty fun making a mess.

7" x 10.25"
Watercolor and India Ink on Aqvarelle Arches, Rough, 100% Cotton

Mail Bag

Q: For someone interested in learning about how to get started working with watercolor, the way you guys do... where would you recommend one start?

A: Here's how I got started with watercolor. (I wanted to get into children's illustration and that's why I decided to torture myself). With hope, Wes and Stacy will chime in with some words that are actually helpful.

I went out and bought a pad of cheap 140 lb watercolor paper and a half-dozen or so W&N tubes. I had no idea what to paint. This coincided with my (I think) suggestion on the Wisenheimer cartoonist board to do a cartoon postcard swap. I decided to do all my postcards, some 40 of them, with the watercolors. I did all kinds of stuff, just experimenting and not worrying too much about it. The result was that I got a lot of experimenting out of the way, learned a little about how the paint behaves, what the brushes do, whether to ink first or after, etc. I think otherwise I would have tried to sit down and do a "real" painting and gotten very discouraged.

I also subscribed for a while to The Artist's Magazine, which I recommend. I see that they now make a magazine called Watercolor Magic which you can get a free issue of at their site.

(I had scanned in several of the postcards before mailing them and I found them on my old hard drive. Here they are, warts and all.)

Stacy:One day, I decided I wanted to do watercolor illustrations, so like Ted, I just jumped into it. I got some tubes of watercolor & some watercolor pans and a decent watercolor block and just started reading and studying from a step-by-step watercoloring book I got from the bookstore.
Eventually, I felt I knew how the paint was going to behave and I put the book away and started developing my own watercoloring style.
I think every artist has a watercoloring style, just like they have a drawing style. Sometimes, I'll see an illustrator do a drawing and the watercoloring style just kills the drawing. Your watercoloring style has to compliment your drawing style.

My advice is to read up on watercoloring, look at the step-by-step books, as Ted suggested-read some watercoloring magazines and DON'T be afraid to start putting paint to paper. Start with some watercolor postcards if you like, but don't be afraid...dive right in!