Watercolor Sketches

For the piece I painted multiple watercolor sketches. A sketch gives the art more of a spontaneous look and in some cases looks better. I first started by sketching the picture out in pencil and going back in watercolor filling in the picture with different color values and textures. The first picture is of a capital building. I used blue for the building because it gives the building contrast as if shadows were casting down. In the second two I sketched flowers trying out different colors and sizes. For the final piece I sketched a farm house with a variety of colors. 

Blogs: 

http://www.timgossconsulting.com/watercolors/

http://susancornelis.wordpress.com/

http://boingboing.net/2011/02/22/james-gurney-whats-i.html

Night Life

12' x 14'

In this piece of art I used watercolor and created a contour drawing of a city at night. I first covered the bottom half on the paper with different colors creating the landscape. After that I outlined the different buildings. Behind the buildings I put a bridge that gives it more of the feeling of a city. In the background I covered it with blue then went back over it in a violet, orange, pink, and yellow to give it the sunset/night look. 

Water bound

5' x 7'

In this piece of art I scratched out a picture geese. I was able to create a central point of interest placing the geese in the center of the picture making the viewers eye look directly towards it. Against some parts of the geese I made the grass lighter to emphasis a darker color on the geese themselves. I also highlighted different parts in the grass to create movement and color value within the picture. 

Finally Home

17' x 9'

In this piece of art my medium was watercolor. This is the last piece of my concentration which is the Missippii River, showing they made their way home. I tried showing with the varity of oranges, reds, and yellow that the sun was setting. Also reflecting these colors on the river. A fun thing about the paper I used was it can be "earased" or watered back more easily than most watercolor paper. 

http://splashingpaintblog.com/category/painting-demonstrations/

http://www.rolandlee.com/sequence_virgin_beauty_in_zion.php

http://www.rolandlee.com/sequence_rock_and_snow.php

Pastel Waterfall

10x10 1/2 

In this peice of art I used both Pastel and Watercolor for my medium. I first painted the watercolor on to give it more color and contrast as a base. I did not use detail in the watercolor but only plane shades of colors. On top I detailed the watercolor with pastel in different colors such as violet, dark blue, brown, different shades of green white, and gray. For the waterfall I made the water look like it was cascading downwards with the different shades of brown, blue, and green I mixed into the water. This is a picture of a spring along the AT.

http://vimeo.com/7336736
http://vimeo.com/12844249
http://www.artistsnetwork.com/category/art-blogs/pastel-journal-blog

Wild flower

7x8'

In this peice of art I used pastel pencils. I chose this medium because I wanted to try something new and the colors blend well the the different color values in the flowers. These flowers are called rhododendrons which grow in east Tennessee along the Appalacian Trail, which turn pink and purple by spring. In this picture the flowers are starting to bloom, showing their shades of pink and purple. The background consisted of dark leaves which I blurred togerther to create more emphasis on the flowers, making them the center of interest. 

Half way point 2

11 x 10

This piece of art is the same picture as the one before but done in a diferent medium. This is done is watercolor. Personally this piece of art is more lievely and shows more texture than the watered charcole.  The colors show more movement that the hiker is actually going upwards. In watercolor it is easier to shade with the different values of colors. I used more of a blue tint type color for the mountains because the trees in the mountains don't appear green but a darker color.