What are you working on?
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Claude J Greengrass
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I agree with you on the limitations of watercolour. Try adding gouache. I'm amazed by what can be accomplished with the addition of just white and black to watercolour. Unless you need saturated colours, white gouache added to watercolour pigments helps with it's limitations.
Acrylic is a no no for you but it allow me to paint over and not worry about lifting if I add a wash, which you have to be careful if just using watercolour + gouache.
Desforges
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It is 4’x4’. It is on a thin board. My problem is the water, not sure how to do it. I painted it green but need to find a pattern for the water to recreate movement. I still want to cut out a paddle.
Can I see your girl on a boat?
I love the idea. When I was a kid, we had a yard with no grass, only dirt. When It rained the yard was a lake (I thought). I would stand in a little red cart on wheels and push myself across with a hockey stick. Those times when I thought that everything was possible. I still think that way, except that I would prefer a kayak now.
PaintBoss
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That is a very good thought Claude. I have used gouache on some cards with watercolour. Really enjoyed the medium. I have 30 year old French fine gouache which makes Windsor Newton look dull and very inexpensive. I can’t believe how much they cost now. But the colour...pigment load, is EXQUISITE! 
company has been making artist paints for 300 years as I recall.
Linel Extra fine gouache
Looking at all your projects is wonderful. A window into your worlds. Such good stuff happening. The creativity and execution of ideas...love it!
Desforges...are you meaning to paint more of the water or use patterns from other canvases/ paintings? If painting, there are really good examples of artists painting water patterns on Instagram.
I think we should all paint/ draw someone in a boat! Whatever context. And compare! But maybe I am just craving fun with other artists. So fun and inspiring to be around!
StLuke, Gorgeous start. My goodness that heat sounds unbearable. I am a night owl and that helps working in the heat sometimes. I cannot go without aif conditioning any longer. The heat is breaking records and starts in spring and barely breaks. High humidity here in Ontario. We use to have more moderate weather. Very hot only for a month. But now, no one is out. It might as well be winter.... We have very hot muggy nights too. I feel bad for anyone without A/C.
company has been making artist paints for 300 years as I recall.Linel Extra fine gouache
Looking at all your projects is wonderful. A window into your worlds. Such good stuff happening. The creativity and execution of ideas...love it!
Desforges...are you meaning to paint more of the water or use patterns from other canvases/ paintings? If painting, there are really good examples of artists painting water patterns on Instagram.
I think we should all paint/ draw someone in a boat! Whatever context. And compare! But maybe I am just craving fun with other artists. So fun and inspiring to be around!
StLuke, Gorgeous start. My goodness that heat sounds unbearable. I am a night owl and that helps working in the heat sometimes. I cannot go without aif conditioning any longer. The heat is breaking records and starts in spring and barely breaks. High humidity here in Ontario. We use to have more moderate weather. Very hot only for a month. But now, no one is out. It might as well be winter.... We have very hot muggy nights too. I feel bad for anyone without A/C.
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Artyczar
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Desforges, my girl in a boat is just starting. I've only drawn it out really. It comes from an older drawing in a small sketchbook I made a long time ago, but I'll be altering it. I'm still messing with it in Photoshop to get the basic composition mapped out before I get oil to canvas, so there isn't much to show yet. I only just decided that it was going to be on a square format at 34 x 34 inches. but here's the basic idea:
Artyczar
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Thanks PSA.
Lately I've been busy trying to get another piece of news out to my mailing list - an online exhibit I created. Trying to scrape up some dough while I'm getting through a bad infection. Sorry I haven't been around for the last couple days, but I'll be back soon.
Lately I've been busy trying to get another piece of news out to my mailing list - an online exhibit I created. Trying to scrape up some dough while I'm getting through a bad infection. Sorry I haven't been around for the last couple days, but I'll be back soon.
Artyczar
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Here is how you join my mailing list:
https://esart.com/contact/join/
Here is the email I just sent out:
https://mailchi.mp/f93e9ff4a661/important-news-from-carol-es
Here is the online exhibit:
https://esart.com/pandemic-35-sale/
https://esart.com/contact/join/
Here is the email I just sent out:
https://mailchi.mp/f93e9ff4a661/important-news-from-carol-es
Here is the online exhibit:
https://esart.com/pandemic-35-sale/
stlukesguild
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Cross-posted from Pastels:
I haven't had a lot of time in the studio over the last few days. We had the plumber out and then I was tied up with a lot of petty business issues that just ate far more time than I'd thought. I finally got back to this WIP... Athena? Or Freyja?... Not sure yet. And I had to deal with the eye... (and I'm still not satisfied with how it looks below... but I'll have more time to deal with that when I really begin to work on rendering the face). Beyond that, I'm still not sure about what I'm doing with the torso, arm, and hair at the bottom/right. So I focused on the halo around her. I'll deal with the bottom of the painting when I raise it higher up on the wall.
The tessellations took some time... partially because I need to pick up a new long rule at the hardware store. I was using a studio partner's for years... and now all I have is a metric rule which is fine a straight edge... but I'm not fully comfortable with using metric measurements.
I will also need to paint over the vertical and horizontal guidelines because these can bleed through the pastels... especially the white. I need to do the gold leaf in the trim before I start with the pastel. Here (above) I've laid down the adhesive which will rapidly dry... yet remain tacky enough for the metal leaf.
The gold leaf is the most miserable part of these paintings in the Summer because the fans must all be shut off and the windows closed due to the fact that the slightest breeze can blow the metal leaf away. Especially as I am working with the painting hung vertically. At this point (above) the gold has all adhered and now I need to brush the excess away. The gold will only remain where the adhesive was at.
Considering the fact that I haven't really completed a new painting in a year... and considering I am dealing with a new format and scale... I decided to employ a similar color scheme to the last painting I completed so that I can more rapidly complete this work and really get back into the flow of painting again. The top half of the halo will be gold with some sort of design. I'll be working on that today... In a few minutes, actually.
Even the most basic colors are not simply a single color out of the box. I always employ a reddish matte primer that sparkles through across the surface helping to unify the painting as a whole. This technique is rooted in Venetian Renaissance paintings which were often rendered over a reddish underpainting as well as the common use of colored paper for pastels. There are three blues used in each diamond and three whites. Sometimes I'll use 5 or more colors. From a distance, the colors appear flatter and more polished with a slight vibration... but up close you can see the individual marks which I feel is essential to me.
I haven't had a lot of time in the studio over the last few days. We had the plumber out and then I was tied up with a lot of petty business issues that just ate far more time than I'd thought. I finally got back to this WIP... Athena? Or Freyja?... Not sure yet. And I had to deal with the eye... (and I'm still not satisfied with how it looks below... but I'll have more time to deal with that when I really begin to work on rendering the face). Beyond that, I'm still not sure about what I'm doing with the torso, arm, and hair at the bottom/right. So I focused on the halo around her. I'll deal with the bottom of the painting when I raise it higher up on the wall.
The tessellations took some time... partially because I need to pick up a new long rule at the hardware store. I was using a studio partner's for years... and now all I have is a metric rule which is fine a straight edge... but I'm not fully comfortable with using metric measurements.
I will also need to paint over the vertical and horizontal guidelines because these can bleed through the pastels... especially the white. I need to do the gold leaf in the trim before I start with the pastel. Here (above) I've laid down the adhesive which will rapidly dry... yet remain tacky enough for the metal leaf.
The gold leaf is the most miserable part of these paintings in the Summer because the fans must all be shut off and the windows closed due to the fact that the slightest breeze can blow the metal leaf away. Especially as I am working with the painting hung vertically. At this point (above) the gold has all adhered and now I need to brush the excess away. The gold will only remain where the adhesive was at.
Considering the fact that I haven't really completed a new painting in a year... and considering I am dealing with a new format and scale... I decided to employ a similar color scheme to the last painting I completed so that I can more rapidly complete this work and really get back into the flow of painting again. The top half of the halo will be gold with some sort of design. I'll be working on that today... In a few minutes, actually.
Even the most basic colors are not simply a single color out of the box. I always employ a reddish matte primer that sparkles through across the surface helping to unify the painting as a whole. This technique is rooted in Venetian Renaissance paintings which were often rendered over a reddish underpainting as well as the common use of colored paper for pastels. There are three blues used in each diamond and three whites. Sometimes I'll use 5 or more colors. From a distance, the colors appear flatter and more polished with a slight vibration... but up close you can see the individual marks which I feel is essential to me.
Artyczar
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Well you 've been busy
Thank you. Some of them are not my most favorite, but I picked every 20 and rounded them up to the first available. Otherwise, I couldn't possibly pick them, nor discount them depending on the work. It's hard to discount the work because I'm with a gallery. It doesn't make it easy to do "rock-bottom" prices, but I would love to get rid of some of those, which is why I made a link to my email instead of PayPal. I'd work something out if I could.
stlukesguild
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I'm taking a break. The pattern in the halo above is drawn and actually primed (I'll show that later) and I'm waiting for it to dry.
While painting, Raphie (Raphael) came to visit and check on me.
He checks out my last painting... but doesn't seem too impressed.
He started barking at me: "Come on Daddy! Let's go downstairs where the air conditioning is at!"
He's rather insistent, isn't he?
stlukesguild
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I've primed the halo and painted on the adhesive for the gold leaf.
Here the adhesive has dried but remains tacky. A bit dripped down on the trim below but that will take all of 15 seconds to repair.
Fans off! Apply the gold leaf!
Fans back on! Brush away the excess gold... and scrape away any leaf that won't come off with an X-Acto blade. 6:20... that's it for today.
I wish I had documented the process of more of my paintings.
Hermes2020
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Thank you for the clear set of instructions. It has made me itch to try gold leaf in a paining. Have you had any experience with imitation gold leaf? What is your opinion of it?
I once saw a stunning ceiling done in silver leaf squares, which is something else I feel like trying.
I once saw a stunning ceiling done in silver leaf squares, which is something else I feel like trying.
stlukesguild
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Yes. I use "imitation" gold leaf. It's metal but not gold. It's quite a bit less costly and you can get copper, bronze, silver as well as variegated. Like real gold leaf it is incredibly light (the slightest breeze can send in swirling away) and incredibly fragile. I know Musket has used the real stuff, and I used it for a short period when I was working with a guy who was making altarpiece paintings for a church. I can't make a direct comparison of the two. The stuff I use comes in 4" squares and holds up well. The color darkens slightly a few months after it's applied but I have a few paintings using the stuff that are 10+ years old and there's no major alteration of the appearance. I have played around with alternatives: acrylic gold, enamel gold, etc... but only the metal leaf and real gold leaf have the reflective look of real metal that I am after.
Hermes2020
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Thank you for enlightening me — I assumed you were using real Au in the demo above, because it looks so good. I will put it on my list of things to try.
Artyczar
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I always wonder how much the difference in price was. I imagine it's quite a big difference. It sure looks good though. I would not know it was imitation. If it darkens, I would think it was copper maybe, which is still cool.
I have used acrylic gold enamel on a couple of paintings and really wanted it to be gold leaf. It was reflective enough though. I never got good pictures of those paintings, but I can post them. They are old, so please be aware! Ha ha ha. Stand by.
I have used acrylic gold enamel on a couple of paintings and really wanted it to be gold leaf. It was reflective enough though. I never got good pictures of those paintings, but I can post them. They are old, so please be aware! Ha ha ha. Stand by.
