"Confetti from the Sky" Redraw

I've been in bit of an art rut lately. Many ideas have tried to form in my mind but I haven't been able to complete any of them. I thought it might do some good if I tried to recreate an older piece. This way I wouldn't have to come up with a new concept and it would be fun to see the improvement. These to pieces are almost a year apart.

"Confetti from the Sky" October 2016

"Confetti from the Sky" remake August 2017

I've learnt so much in just one year I can't wait to see what the next will bring. It might be fun to repaint this exact same artwork again in 2018. 

Now to the walkthrough of this painting. 

I always start with a light sketch. Then using gouache I painted the tiny bunny.

Painting the cap of the toadstools was one of the best parts of this painting. Blending the reds was just so lovely. I've found that some colours are more fun to blend then others when painting with gouache. Reds, oranges and yellows are some of the best colours while I find pink quite difficult. It might just be the paints I use so it could be fun to experiment and see if I feel the same with other brands.

The bottom part of the toadstools caused me a little more trouble but that might be due to a very fierce battle that was occurring in my audiobook. 

I then added all the small white dots to the toadstools and painted ladybugs on the bunny. Using masking fluid I protected some of the paper in raindrop shapes.

Now it was time for the background. I used liquid watercolour and tried my very best to avoid the bunny and the toadstools. 

Once the water colour layer had dried I once again used the liquid watercolour but this time to add splashes. With an eraser I removed the masking fluid and outlined the raindrops, the bunny and the toadstools with pen to make them pop. 

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Gouache: Royal Talens

Masking fluid: Schmincke

Liquid watercolour: Royal Talens

Pen: Pigma Micron

Yurmby Colour Wheel

I feel that art theory can be pretty confusing. You're trying to express your thoughts and feelings through a creation all while you try to remember some "rules" that you haven't quite grasped yet. That's how I feel nevertheless. However I've discovered a colour wheel I think will be a big help for me: the Yurmby colour wheel.

I painted this colour wheel myself and it's not spot on but it will definitely still be helpful. You might have noticed that this colour wheel isn't like the classic one. The so called primary and secondary colours aren't on their "right" places. This colour wheel therefore won't help you in the sense of colour mixing but it will help you create beautiful colour palettes for your paintings. 

The way to do this is by choosing some colours for your painting and with these limit your palette. I just choose some random colours and limited the colour wheel to see how it would look. 

Once you've decided on the part of the colour wheel you'll be using it's time to name some new primaries and secondaries. The corners of your limited area are now your primary colours and the colours opposite are now your secondaries. The colour in the very middle of your triangle is your neutral colour. Even though it might be a purple or green this colour will now look neutral in your painting.

You can use these limited palettes to create beautiful artworks with a simple colour range. Paintings with a simple colour combination are often more appealing than paintings that are too busy plus it's easier to handle. It's a win win.

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Gouache: Schmincke

"Another World" Step by Step

For this painting I started with a sketch and covered the orcas with masking fluid to protect them from paint. I used washi tape to make clean edges.

Then it was time for a wash. Using a lot of water I created a gradient with watercolour. I started from the top and worked my way down. When I was about halfway I put a piece of plastic wrap on the still wet water colour. I laid something heavy on top of it to hold it in place. I continued the gradient to the bottom and put another piece of plastic wrap on the wash. Doing this in steps is to make sure the paint dosen't dry. If it dries too much the plastic wrap won't have an effect.

I then painted the orcas with gouache.

Using coloured pencils I made the background colours more intense.

For the last touches I used liquid watercolour to make splashes and outlined the orcas with pen to make them pop.

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Masking fluid: Schmincke
Watercolour: Winsor & Newton
Gouache: Schmincke
Coloured pencil: Faber-Castell
Liquid watercolour: Royal Talens
Pen: Pigma Micron

Art Through 2016

Sometimes it's hard to see if your style has changed or if your art has improved. By viewing all of your works side by side it's a lot easier to spot the transformation. It's fun to walk down memory lane. This is most of my art through 2016:

My artworks from February and March were meant to be part of a portfolio to apply to art school. I had put a lot of thought behind each piece. The four skeletons from March I called "It's What's on the Inside" and were suppose to represent; that you cannot judge a person based on how they look but only from who they are. The four different plants, flowers, leaves, branches and cacti, tried to impersonate different types of personalities. 

The first time I ever tried gouache was in April 2016 and I fell in love at once. My parents gave me some paints for my birthday and I had to get started right away. The day after my birthday I did some small studies of Hayao Miyazaki's movie "Spirited Away" in gouache. 

I decided that art school, and an art education, wasn't really what I want in life. The next couple of months I did a lot of thinking and not a lot of painting. 

My piece from August, the panda butts, was a gift for my brother. He, and his girlfriend, wanted something a bit cheeky with a color explosion for the background. Playing around with this colourful mess was loads of fun and I had to experiment more.

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Coloured pencils: Faber-Castell

Gouache: Royal Talens

Watercolour: Royal Talens

First Time Plein Air Painting

For a very long time I've been dreaming about painting outside in nature. That dream finally came true.

Painting outside from observation sure isn't easy but even though you have no idea what you're doing it's terribly hard to get frustrated. The fresh air, birdsong and the occasional curious passersby creates a wonderful atmosphere where frustration is long gone. 

I was quite surprised with myself; it was my very first time painting plein air and somehow I had everything I needed. I was certain that I would find my spot, unpack and be about to start just to realise that I had forgotten something as crucial as paint. Oh well, I'll have plenty of opportunities to do that some other time.

It started to rain which was very fortunate because I had bitten off more than I could chew. For this little plein air study I used a limited palette of gouache: cadmium yellow hue, ultramarine deep, burnt sienna and titanium white. It was really helpful to only have three colours to work with because it simplified the whole process. 

My body is already aching to get out there and explore plein air painting some more.

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Pochade pocket box: Guerrilla Painter

Sketchbook: Pink Pig

Gouache: Schmincke