Friendship

Friendship, watercolor, 28 x 38 cm

This is based on a picture of my mother and Sunny, taken several years ago, when the dog was still alive. He was not allowed to climb on the sofa, so he cheated by getting in my mom's lap when she would sit on the sofa. Of course, he was too big to fit in her lap, so his hind feet would still be on the floor - cute and somewhat funny.

Two portraits

Dreaming, watercolor  38 x 28 cm

Confidence, watercolor 38 x 28 cm

These portraits are based on images from magazines that were not entirely the conventional pretty face in an artificial pose. Of course, even I couldn't hide the fact that both women were quite pretty :)

Below is a picture of the enchanted crystal trees we have all through the area. This is the only positive thing about the freezing rain storm on Saturday, which left hundreds of thousands of people without power, heating and hot water for days.

Having a coffee

Self-portrait with a coffee, watercolor 38 x 28 cm

We, artists, have the option to paint ourselves as young and good looking as we want. This portrait is based on a photo from my last year's vacation. I didn't bother with small details like wrinkles and fine-lines :)

I'd like to share some recent observations with paints. For years I have been using DaVinci artists watercolors, as their price is at least twice lower than W&N. I have read different reviews, which confirm the high quality of DaVinci in terms of light-fastness and concentration of pigment. Lately, when I ran out of some pigments, I decided to try Winsor&Newton artists colors, to see how they feel, as they seem to be considered one of the best brands in watercolor painting. 

After using them for a couple of months, I am quite disappointed. They seem very gummy. When I reach to pick some pigment with my brush, it doesn't come out easily from the blob.When it eventually does, I have to work it for quite a while into a homogeneous substance. Even a very short time in the palette dries the pigment and makes these problems worse. Also, at least with the colors I've tried, it seems that the pigment is not so concentrated and I need more color to get the desired saturation. The W&N colors I have been using are Burned Sienna, Raw Sienna, Brown Madder and Cerulean. It seems to me, that the gum in the paint is too much and this is causing the problem. I wouldn't presume to give advice on which brand is better, but for myself, I will stick with the paints that I am used to, and that cost less, as an added bonus.