I am really happy with the Garuda above!
I wanted him to come alive, and not be a statue on a dais
as he is shown in my post from earlier this week.
I began with a pencil sketch in Pentalic 2B. . .
and inked over that with a Platinum Carbon pen.
I was determined to be patient with my wash layers.
I began with the yellow ball behind his head.
I let that thoroughly dry, then applied layers of blue together.
I didn’t let that completely dry, because I wanted just a bit of run,
when I added a very pale Hematite/Sepia wash and Quinacridone Gold.
I let that completely dry (patience, patience, not my virtue) before coming in with a darker hue of the Hematite/Sepia wash, adding a little Quin Gold as I played the edges.
Mitchell looked over my shoulder and said the moon was distracting
(drew the eye) so I also softened the bright yellow with Quin Gold.
I let the him dry completely, then added many layers of basically the
same colors in varying depth, except for the green wash created from
Sap Green/Serpentine and whatever was left in the trough.
One of the things I’ve learned from listening to so many good watercolorists is not to worry about purity of a color, but to let other pigments mix in these deep washes for interest.
Splish-splash, I loved him. But he needed to pop!
I added DeArtramentis Document ink for just a bit of definition.
A slide show from statue to final Garuda, below.
Strathmore journals, with a Pentalic 2B woodless pencil,
Platinum Carbon pen, Platinum Preppie Pen, De Artramentis Document ink,
and Daniel Smith, Holbien, and QoR watercolor paints.
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You should be happy, Katie! He is awesome – so alive with movement, muscles twitching, facial expressions, sounds emanating – very very different from your statue. Nicely done (esp patience 😋)
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I am happy, which should also dispel some thought that I never like what I do. I like things that begin to approach where I was heading in my mind’s eye . . .
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I love him! and I love seeing your process, it’s fascinating as a non-painter to see the magic process unfold.
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Thank YOU! I love him!
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Wonderful depth and blend of rich color! Happy PPF 🙂
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How did I miss this comment? Thanks!
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Thats cool, My dad showed you to me, and I got exited!
That looks kind of like a cross between a human and a bird.
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