Watercolor Artwork

16x20" Watercolor

The girl who commissioned my first painting (outside of the friend/family circle) actually advertised for me and sent me a friend of hers. I got a message from a fellow wanting something for his girl who just lost her beloved pet rabbit, Buns. He had an image of a silhouetted dandelion blowing in the wind, and the bunny and I morphed them together.

I started out with the bunny since I felt that was the most important and then I expanded from there. I left the seeds and dandelion for last because with watercolor it's very difficult to go back and fix things around other things. I worked a lot wet-on-wet, but I used a 'negative' painting technique to make the seeds stick out more.....I should stop talking though cause it's really not that exciting unless you actually wanted to know how.

12x16" watercolor

This image has been in my head since the summer. I was driving back with the Howard side of the family from the beach and we passed this tree that was cut down but strangely sitting on it's limbs, kind of hovering above the ground and retaining many of it's leaves. I thought how it would translate into a cool painting with a small girl with ringlets next to it with a large ax. I also knew I wanted an old plantation looking house at the top of a hill behind.

I have actually been enjoying the watercolors. Usually they frighten me a bit because mistakes are not as easy to cover up. I tend to paint too lightly and have a 'finished' product that looks less finished because there is a lack of contrast. God is teaching me to trust him and the skill he will provide. I actually prayed about it this morning that I wouldn't be timid in my art work and use of rich color.

Watercolor is so interesting because it's an ongoing learning process. You are working with forces such as water, wet/dry paper, wrinkles and curves that pop up, and the paint habits which change with every variable. I just keep learning new things and improving, and that's fun.