A watercolor portrait

Portrait, watercolor 11" x 15"

 Back to watercolor for an attempt at a portrait from a photo. While the proportions and features are more or less correct, the expression evaded me. So, no name. But I'm not unhappy with the result.

Portrait sketches

Portrait study in graphite and crayon

I am trying to stick to my decision to paint or draw something every week. While dedicating a few hours to that this weekend seemed like a tall order, I opted for  doing these sketches over coffee. I am starting to really like drawing on tinted paper and using white crayon for highlights. It brings instant dimension.

Lest we forget

Today is Remembrance Day. In memory of those who fought

A watercolor from a few years back

And few sketches with graphite, charcoal and crayon:

Girl with hat

Girl with hat, watercolor 23 x 30 cm

A woman's face

Portrait of a woman, watercolor 23 x 30 cm

This is just a face from a magazine, not anyone I know. I wasn't trying to achieve resemblance, just focused on the washes that can bring up the features and was enjoying the process. This had an almost therapeutic effect on me, helped divert my thoughts from the nagging replaying of unpleasant situations. Creativity brings positive thoughts. So, friends, do go for it!

Sketching people

I'm back from a longish trip, but haven't got back to painting. So, here are a few more pages from my sketchbook of people who happened to sit in the same place long enough to finish a sketch.

Jamon Iberico

Cutting ham, watercolor 28 x 38 cm

One of my pleasures in Spain was tasting freshly sliced ham.
The challenge here was to simplify a very busy scene with many colors, objects and light sources. The obvious way to go was to use just a few colors. In this case:  ultramarine blue, yellow ocher, quinacridone red and burned sienna. I ignored the actual background and also tried to use only four or five values. A preliminary charcoal sketch helped me figure these out. I like the contrasts that this produced.

Another beach scene

At the beach, watercolor  on Arches 300 g, 56 x 37 cm

We had a "heat-wave" yesterday, when the thermometer reached 0 C. Today it plunged back below -10 C and so this endless winter continues. And I continue to be in denial, imagining warm and happy times...

Cravings

At the beach, watercolor 38 x 28 cm

It is bitterly cold outside. The temperatures have not risen above -5 C for the last  ten days. At night -20 C is the norm. Add the strong winds and it gets dangerous to be outside. So far, this has been arguably one of the coldest winters in the last few decades. No need to explain, why I dream of hot, sunny days at the beach...

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

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.

Tea Culture

These are several scenes from Turkey, where contrary to popular belief, the national drink is tea, not coffee. You can buy this strong black tea in a small curvy glass practically everywhere - from restaurants and cafes to road-side boots. And everyone there drinks it. I quite liked its taste and still make it at home now and then.
In the small towns men do not gather at the pub, but rather at the tea house. This is where they discuss politics and the latest football game while playing backgammon.

The Tea House 1, watercolor 38 x 28 cm

The Tea House 2, watercolor 38 x 28 cm

Serving tea, watercolor sketch

Two men, watercolor sketch

... and the last two days

The workshop finished a few days ago, but I've been busy catching up with a whole lot of things, including work. So, here I am again with the second part of the story.

I really liked the workshop and learned a whole lot. I also hope that it helped me gain more confidence. Despite that at least half of the group were professional artists, I found that I din't suck, in fact I was doing quite well. 

Unfortunately the weather during all four days was quite cold. Alvaro was disappointed that we can't go to the hustle and bustle of downtown Toronto and decided to settle for the centre of Oakville, where the workshop was taking place.  It was so cold and windy that everybody was freezing, even Alvaro himself, who doesn't seem to care much about the weather.  

Alvaro painting en plain air in the cold

... and the result

The scene that he chose to paint...

One of the most amazing things he did was to paint the classroom. We all wondered how he will simplify the rows of tables and all the clutter on them. He used a few lines and some dripping water through them to create the tables. Then a few spots of bright colors and some scrapes with a credit card finished the task. The focal point was the group of people around the easel at the top of the painting. This is one of the main things he was constantly emphasizing - pick a focal point and make the painting about it, put your brightest, lightest and darkest colors there. Simplify the rest by blurring, omitting, dry-brushing, etc.

Alvaro with his painting of the classroom

One exercise we did was painting figures in a loose way. Turned out that I don't suck at it and Alvaro, who can be pretty critical, liked my little humans below

Blaga's figures

in the process of painting a night scene

Due to the non-cooperating weather, he ended up painting a few demos from photos. This is the next best thing, because one of my goals was to see how he interprets actual scenes. 

Blaga's version of "Paris in back-light", watercolor 38 x 28 cm
This is one of the paintings from photos that we did on the last days. For the first time I used rough paper, which makes smooth washes harder, but dry brush is much easier

What else did I learn:
- big brush, small piece of paper;
- start with an under-painting of a very smooth wash. Cross-hatching the brushstrokes helps to avoid straight lines in it;
- values are the most important thing!!! It is ok to use black (neutral tint) when you need it. Also, white for highlights. Forget the stupid rules!
- back-runs, "cauliflowers", spills, spatters, all these things that happen with watercolors, give it character. Learn how to use them, instead of avoiding them;
- don't paint the scene as you see it, change it as it suits you

So, now I plan to re-do a few of my previous paintings, applying my new knowledge....

Flamenco dancers

Flamenco dancers, watercolor sketch

One more memory from Andalucia, and another quick sketch. I'm not thrilled with the composition, but I like how the female dancer turned out. The deep and sad flamenco singing really caught my imagination. No way to paint a song unfortunately :)

Music is in their blood

I've been doing these quick direct sketches and really enjoying them. When I don't do a pencil drawing, I feel that I'm really just sketching and the result is much looser and more spontaneous.

Flamenco guitarists, watercolor sketch

With the first one I did everything wrong - started with the figure in the back and had to leave white space for the white of the foreground figure. But in the end I quite liked the result.

Street musicians, watercolor sketch

The second doesn't have a particularly good composition, but I remember I liked the music these guys were playing.

Accordionist, watercolor sketch

The first attempt on this subject produced a man with such an enormous head, he looked like a cartoon. This is the second try.

Figure sketches

I did these small sketches directly with the brush, without pencil drawing, so there are some problems in proportions. But I so enjoyed painting them. Although, I took  the reference photos in the andalucian villages, these people could be anywhere along the Mediterranean. 

Man sitting, watercolor sketch

Man standing by the wall, watercolor sketch

Man standing 2, watercolor sketch

Maya faces 4

Los Voladores 3, watercolor 25 x 30 cm

Maya faces 3

Los Voladores 2, watercolor 25 x 30 cm

In the previous post I said that the face was overworked. But while working on this one, I realized how much I enjoyed examining all facial features and trying to depict them. So, while part of me would like to finish a painting in a few expressive brush-strokes, another part, the one that takes control, finds pleasure in the details. One day these two will probably come to an agreement. But for now, it is what it is. I'm happy with the result.

Maya faces 2

Los Voladores 1, watercolor 25 x 30 cm

I couldn't sleep last night, maybe due to the time change. So, instead of tossing and turning, I went to my "studio" and painted for an hour, until I felt sleepy. When I got back from work today, I was eager to continue. Here is the result. The face is a bit overworked, but I think it isn't bad.
The photo is of one of the "flying men" (Los Voladoers), whom we watched performing an old Mexican ritual. It starts by dancing at the top of a very high post, after which four of the men launch down on ropes, spinning until they reach the ground. I was surprised to see that the performers were not young at all. And I was happy to be able to take a few good shots of their faces, which seemed so interesting to me.