"It Smells Like Autumn" Step by Step

I just started school again and suddenly all my time and energy has just vanished. It's a whole new place, with all new people and on top of all that I need to concentrate and learn new things. For me that's quite draining. Thankfully already after just one week I can feel some of my energy coming back.

One thing that's certainly helping my energy get restored is the lovely cold autumn weather we've been having lately. Autumn is one of the best times of the year and I'm so happy it's upon us. In celebration of this amazing season, and that I found a spare couple of hours, I've painted a small autumn painting.

I'm sure it won't be the last autumn inspired piece I do in the nearest future.

I started off with a light sketch and taped the edges with washi tape.

Then using gouache I painted the bear. I probably could have been a bit more detailed with the fur but I just felt like doing a small and quick painting so I didn't want to spend too much time on it. 

Again using gouache I painted the little bird and the falling autumn leaves. 

With liquid watercolour I painted the background. I was trying not to add paint to the bear, bird and leaves but still get very close to their edges.

For the final touches I used liquid watercolour to add uncontrolled splashes to the painting. I then used pen to outline the bear, bird and leaves to make them pop. I also added some small details to the leaves using coloured pencil. 

-----

Gouache: Royal Talens

Liquid watercolour: Royal Talens
Pen: Micron
Coloured pencil: Faber-Castell

"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.

-----

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.

-----

Coloured pencils: Faber-Castell

Gouache: Royal Talens

Watercolour: Royal Talens