Booker WIP

REALLY going slow on this one! 

 I so need to get motivated and get this done!

But it's been just sooooo nice out and my garden keeps calling....

and Cooper needs walks........

and yard needs mowed.......

collars and camera strap orders needed made.......

and Cooper needs walked, oh, did I say that again?

well, he does love his walks!

Pickin' up PawPaws

Where, oh where, Is dear little Nellie?
Where, oh where, Is dear little Nellie?
Where, oh where, Is dear little Nellie?
Way down yonder In the pawpaw patch.

Come on, boys, Let's go find her.
Come on, boys, Let's go find her,
Come on, boys, Let's go find her,
Way down yonder In the pawpaw patch.

Pickin’ up pawpaws,
Puttin' 'em in your pocket,
Pickin’ up pawpaws,
Puttin' 'em in your pocket,
Pickin’ up pawpaws,
Puttin' 'em in your pocket,
Way down yonder
In the pawpaw patch.

I remember my Grandpa singing this to me.  Imagine my surprise to find out I have a PawPaw Patch of my own down by one of my creeks!  Whenever I go down there I'm always reminded of him and our walks in the woods when I was young.  

Every spring they are covered with these deep burgundy blooms.  They bloom in early April and IF they get pollinated and IF we don’t get another frost ( that’s BIG IF’s, seems  we almost always get a killing frost) there’ll be some of the most delicious fruits about Oct.!   

I know, they're really weird looking! 

Sooo, I came across one of my photos of a bloom and decided to take a break from Booker and do something with a little color.  Sometimes I just have to get away from a piece and come back to it to keep from getting bored and getting sloppy.  This was a nice little distraction.

 I started with a grisaille using Tuscan red and Marine green.  And I did not use any black!!  That was my challenge for myself, to do a painting without using any black.  That's very hard for me!  I want to grab that black pencil sooo bad.....

  All CP (can you believe it no watercolor!)  

  This is a small one, only about 6x6

140lb. Arches Aquarelle

 

And now back to Booker.

 

WIP-Booker, Horse

OK, back to a more normal subject! (well normal for me anyways)

10”x13” Colored pencil over a light watercolor underpainting on 300lb. Fabriano Artistico

Here's my messy watercolor layer. (should've made it darker)

The first pencil layer.  And of course I had to start the eye.

It's kinda hard to see but I embossed some of the hair on his mane with a small stylus.  Not sure if I want them to be this light yet but now's the time to do it.   I normally use this technique for whiskers but thought I'd try it for this.  

And here's my attempt a getting a photo of the embossed lines.

A car with no name

I finished this one a few weeks ago but it still doesn’t have a title.  I was going to call it “Straight 8” until I learned that Ford never used the inline 8, so now I’m at a loss for a title. I’m open for suggestions! 

The watercolor underpainting:

 

 I went a little heavier on the watercolor this time intending to let more of it show through. 

  

 

 

 7 ½” x 10” Fabriano Artistico, 300lb.  Watercolor and Prismacolor pencils.

For some reason I really like this one, it’s different than my usual nature/animal type subjects. 

I have access to some really great models!  I'm just totally fascinated with these old relics, so this might be the first in a series of old cars.

Avatar Painting

I've neglected my blog (among other things) for way too long now.  That's a story for another day.  So to get back into it I'm going to start with showing you my avatar painting.  I get questioned about it so much that I thought this would be good place to start.  This is colored pencil done over a light watercolor under-painting. Prismacolor pencils, Fabriano Uno 300lb. hot press watercolor paper, 7" x 8 1/2".

First off the under-painting, ha, doesn't look like much now does it?  That eye kinda looks spooky and his nose looks like it belongs on a pig.

This is after the first wash of pencil, I just had to do something about that eye staring back at me.  (besides I think I almost always do the eyes first anyway, if I screw them up there's not much reason to continue on)

   A few more layers of pencil, I think I used mainly Warm Grey's. Weimaraners are the most unusual color.  He's a Blue and depending on the time of day he can be either cool (blue) grey or warm grey toned.  In fact in some pictures he really does look blue. 

Here I've started defining the nose and veins in his ear along with deepening some of the shadows.

a little more work on his nose

All done!

I think I must have gotten busy and forgot to scan between the last two but there are several more layers of pencil.  I don't normally like doing a "straight-on" view, but I think it works for this one. 

This is Cooper, my Blue Weimaraner that is a Rescue from Midwest Paws and my Shop's namesake, my lifesaver, and best friend.  Note-cards and prints of this are available in my Etsy Shop