However, it was a very good first exercise in trying to get my hand 'limber" again. If you have the book or the DVD you can compare mine to hers and you will note that I have intentionally omitted the few stucco "nubbins" that she had. I didn't like them. Also, my wall is quite a bit darker than hers is. While it wasn't planned, I actually think it works better than the lighter wall since the contrast with the black bit on the left is not as stark. Of all the flaws, the shadow is by far the worst. It arose because I did not follow her instructions to paint around the shadow with the wall colour and then wait till dry and paint the shadow next. Instead, I painted the wall colour right over the shadow area and when dry, I then painted the shadow shape over the previous layer. From past experience I thought that this would result in a cleaner edge with less build up of edge ridges in the watercolour. However, those ridges are really needed here to create a nice crisp edge. Should have listened to Judy. Throughout the piece, my greatest issue was impatience. I just couldn't wait for things to dry enough, even when using a hairblower,
Sitll, this was a great exercise.
Susan I love this drawing so much.. you captured the natural pose of these dogs perfectly to create an intriguing piece of art.
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Thanks Shirly and Shelley.
ReplyDeleteShirly in the original photo the dogs were way at the back of the steps. I placed them close to the viewer instead where the steps had been empty. It was a bit of job getting the perspective right. Thanks so much for the kind comments.
Shelley, I can't take credit for any drawing skills in the watercolour since it is a straight copy from the lesson in the book. I too was charmed by the picture and thought it would be a great practice exercise.