Title: Twitter / Dimensions: 5″W x 7″H / Medium: Watercolor
We call her Twitter because she chirps like a little bird when she is asking for food or attention. She is quite insatiable.
For this piece I tried several new things. First, I used the Artist’s Grid App to draw a grid over the image and used that for a guide in sketching. I usually do my sketching freehand, but it can be time consuming when you want to get all the details right and when you want to blow things up from a smaller image. The app helps to speed things up.
The second thing I tried was a different painting technique, one I observed on watercolorist Laurel Hart’s YouTube channel. She starts with a light wash of primary colors over the entire painting, leaving only the purest white or highlit areas without paint. Then she goes over the painting again with a another darker wash of primary colors and starts to paint in more details but still painting loose.
I found the process quite enjoyable and relaxing, more so than my last two paintings where I was focused on details. It also helped that I was prepared to make mistakes and end up with a failed painting.
It’s not my best: parts of it could use more contrast, the colors are muddied where I forgot to just let the paints mix on the paper instead of on the palette. I was going for a more impressionistic look but couldn’t resist going in for detail with a smaller brush. But overall, I do like it and enjoyed loosening up some. I will definitely explore this technique more.