Volcano, animal skull, hydrangeas

  Experimenting with prompts. I think these go well together.

  

Pink peony with frame

 

Emily Hydrangeas

 

Flower pots

I have to confess, I did something a little naughty... I traced over a photo for this picture. Don't worry, it's my own photograph! Mostly wanted to test out some coloring and toning techniques without starting something from scratch. I'm slowly building up a technique that works across both digital and traditional mediums.

Here is an artwork from last year, based off the same photograph. I like both versions but this one is my new favorite. The colors are much moodier and more exaggerated. 

Blue flowers, touched up

I painted this in March - April of 2020. Just recently I was looking at it again and felt it could use some more detail. I used a green posca marker to add definition to the leaves, and glazed the painting with a layer of phthalo blue. I used q-tips for the wispy sfumato look. 

Once this layer of glaze dries, I plan to add a few more details, then call it a day - for a second time!

View the rest of this post to see some progress pictures.

Balloon flower

Digital color glaze.

Click Read More below to see previous versions of this artwork.

Mini flower painting

A small practice piece featuring some coral-pink flowers. Once this dries, I would like to add some additional detail to the flowers. 

Mini practice paintings

These were drawn during a slow day at work yesterday. Setting up a good drawing gives me something to look forward to later in the day. The bigger one is 5x5" wood coaster from Michaels. Got a big pack of them for a decent price and I thought why not. The little one is a 3x3" canvas. The arts and craft store tells YOU what to buy. 

I alternated between the two drawings but focused on the flower. It is my second attempt at the trumpet flower, and this came out much better than the original. Credit to using new brushes (they had discounted Princeton brushes at Michaels!), actually using my reference photo this time, and being more mindful of matching colors to value placement.

Paint colors used for the flower:

• Titanium white (W&N)
• Persian rose (Cobra)
• Grayish blue (Cobra)
• Dioxazine purple (W&N)

Colors used for background:

• Emerald green (Cobra)
• Phthalo blue (W&N)

For now, the eye painting is still in the underpainting stage. I haven't decided which colors to use yet. I am thinking of doing a series of eye paintings in fun colors.

Five-minute September studies

I haven't done any digital photo studies in a while, much less my beloved five-minute grayscale studies. What better time than now? I took a different approach this time. Treating it like a sketchbook page. Just start drawing and see where it goes. I started off at 5 minutes per sketch before moving on to the next picture. But after that I took a few extra minutes to fine-tune the details. 

These are all based on photos from early fall of 2010. Ahh, what a time!

Bee-teor shower

Devil's trumpet

This isn't really my best work but I do love the colors. The underpainting was done in shades of neon yellow and orange. Ultramarine blue for the backdrop. I used cooler colors to paint on top: titanium and zinc white, mixed with hints Persian rose, titanium buff, and king's blue. For the backdrop I painted over it with emerald green.

The main reason this didn't come out to my liking is because I didn't consult my reference as much as I should have. But it's all just practice. Instead of going back to make changes I would rather just start over completely.

10.3.23 update: Click here to see my second attempt! 

Waterfall WIP

A progress update on my Maui waterfall. This is not my most recent update as I've made significant progress since then. But I will save the final update for later! 

The goal was to keep the palette as limited as possible. Introducing new colors into the mix comes later. I'm having a lot of fun with this.

< Previous update

> Next update

Pink hydrangea

During my summer vacation I encountered some big fat lovely hydrangeas. Later I drew this in my sketchbook over the summer and colored it on my ipad. Took a while just because I only take out the ipad when there's absolutely nothing to do. But I quite like how she turned out. I have a Procreate timelapse that I'll post later. 

The dust is starting to settle over here and I'm ready for some new art adventures!

Road to Hana: Waterfall (WIP)

I haven't done much art in the past couple weeks due to moving and general stress, but the dust is starting to settle. New art, digital or traditional, is always a good sign! 

Yesterday I started coloring this sketchbook drawing of a waterfall in Maui. The goal is to approach this as if it were a physical painting. My program of choice is Paint Tool SAI version 2.

Some fun things I did to increase the painterly effect:

• Painting with a textured marker brush. I chose the marker brush because it maintains whatever opacity you set it to - it does not build up unless you start drawing on another layer. This allows the drawing and underpainting to remain visible.
• The grainy texture also helps the vibrant colors of the underpainting show through. 
• Added a subtle rock crystal texture to the entire layer. 
• Lastly, adding a subtle fringe layer effect gives it character. 

The goal is to paint everything on this one layer to give it a solid foundation. The intention of this layer is to establish color and important forms, but still look as finished as possible. This is my digital equivalent of painting alla prima. The marker brush blends heavily and picks up other colors. 

I am aiming for expressive colors and forms. I don't want a photorealistic picture of the waterfall. I want to show you what a photograph cannot. It is an exercise in design, creativity, and curation of elements. 

> Next update

Bee-teor shower

She's coming along well. Next I will decide which details to emphasize. The coloring is fairly 'realistic' style but maybe I can take it in a funkier direction.

Bee visiting a meteor shower

I know next to nothing about flower or plant identification. I could point out a pineapple maybe. Everything else I need to google. Apparently this flower is called verbena bonariensis, aka, Meteor Shower! Love it!!

Here is my first coloring attempt. I have not been doing much digital in general lately. Things are hectic and I'm not doing well mentally, but once the dust settles, I should have the proper energy and focus for digital art again. Right now, I feel antsy and listless with digital art, just because it's not tangible like my oil paintings. It just doesn't seem real, and right now I need something to ground me in reality.

So, here's a work-in-progress of version 2. I've learned a lot of lessons from painting in the past several months, and am applying them to my digital methodology. This includes being more deliberate and focusing on specific spots. Usually I will messily paint over the entire image and fine-tune later. But this new approach is more like painting in real life: in a physical setting, paint is limited, and there is more strategy involved. I want to bring that slow, deliberate consideration to my digital artworks. 

Maybe I am bored by digital lately because it feels too forgiving if you make mistakes. You can Ctrl+Z. You can experiment with different colors and effects, all just a click away. Meanwhile, I would liken traditional art to a brain teaser puzzle: you have to carefully consider every move you make, or else it's game over!

Pink hydrangea

This was colored in Procreate on my ipad. Using the underpainting method has made it much easier to do digital art on my ipad. It's cool, but so clunky. I definitely prefer doing it on my computer with a tablet.

 I was hoping to finish this before September but that just did not happen. So here is some documentation of where I'm at. Because I'm coloring this on my ipad I only make progress when I'm in a waiting room or having a really slow day at work.

Oh, since this is in Procreate, that means I will get a timelapse video at the end! Yay!

Mini rose painting

 Finished this third rose painting (for now) and enjoyed a banana strawberry smoothie.

Flower practice paintings

Some small practice paintings inspired by a visit to the Chicago Botanical Garden in 2018. I got a nice opaque pink paint (Cobra permanent red violet light) that would be perfect. 

The goal is to keep a limited palette. I wanted to stick to three colors if possible, and only introduce other colors if they are particularly necessary.

Once this dries I want to add another layer of color depth.

Colors used:

• Cobra red violet light
• Cobra Persian rose
• W&N Indian red
• W&N alizarin crimson
• Cobra yellowish green
• Cobra emerald green

I think this one is a dinner plate hibiscus flower.

• Cobra red violet light
• Cobra Persian rose
• Cobra titanium buff
• W&N yellow ochre
• W&N phthalo green (yellow shade)

Here's one I started last night. I primed the surface with yellow ochre acrylic paint and drew on top. Then I toned it with burnt umber and pale rose blush. 

Orange lilies

 Finished my digital scenery painting of the orange lilies. Here is my earlier progress.

I really enjoyed experimenting with textures and abstract shapes. Since the lilies are the focal point, they get more attention to detail. I'm happy with how colorful she came out and I'm looking forward to more. I've been feeling burnt out with digital, but experimenting with traditional art has inspired me to look at art in a new way. It is a constant back and forth conversation.