more figures

Figues and people just draw me like a magnet to look at people i a coffee shop or a mall, and watch the light catch a colour in the hair or the skin tone ad transrer the scee into a magical hing that begs to be painted, at the same time catch a special emotional moment at the same time ...   Usually I start without a sketch and a very diluted wash and drop in colours ... and have so much fun

7 by 11 bockingford 140lb CP in watercolours  

                    

7 by 11 bockingford 140lb CP in watercolours

11 by 7 bockigford 140lb CP i watercolours

WIP portrait

Hello all
A quiet thank you  to everybody who is so kind as to follow my blog ... and to those who left the sweet thoughtful comments...
I have been asked many times about how I paint portraits without any under sketching,  and about my techniques ... well ... I haven´t settled on MY technique yet ... like many out there I am experimenting with the many many techniques in this magical medium ... watercolours ... and every time I pick up my brush I learn a littly or discover a new trick that might or might not work.

I this portrait I used a vry wet wash of cad red mixed wirh a little burnt sienna ad a touch of yellow ochre for the skin tone ...  I drop in some ceruleu blue for the part of the face that is in the shade ...

I start with midtones because I usually leave the lighter tones as white paper. At the same time I start to paint negative shapes to define the other side of the face which is the backgroud.

Now I start to paint the features ... eyes,nose and lips ... painting away from the whites that I want to preserve ... at the same time just hinting at the glasses ... I try to copy the shapes without too many details.

Here I also drop in more colour in the skin tones .I let it dry completely

I put in the darkest tones, and shadows ... it looks  terrible at this stage ... but I lay a wash of clean fresh water all over the face aroud the features to soften the brush marks... and tweak in general

The final result

11 by 7 bockingford 140lb CP in lefranc et bourgouis artist´s wtercolours

portraits

As you know I am trying to improve my work in portraits ... I believe it will improve work in other subjects as well... these were done for a portrait paint along challenge on Painting friends here

11 by 7 arches 80lb Block in watercolours

11 by 7 bockingford 140lb CP in watercolours

11 1/2 by 7 1/2 daler rowney 140lb CP in watercolours

Twenty Minutes Warm Ups

They didn´t take twenty minutes... the idea is to focus on shapes and shadows and really learn how to see better and improve your painting ...

  

Street artist in Paris

This is another image posted by ScattyKat in the WDE last week and it just blew me away ... another memory from Paris It was also done without a preliminary sketch like all my work ... it let me see things as shapes and shadows and I really focus to see all these lovely shapes around me ... rather than follow pencil lines while working

7 by 11" bockingford 140lb CP in watercolours

PARIS

For me Paris is a very beautiful lively city with  art and artists everywhere good food and lots to see and enjoy
I have some of my best memories there...
When Scatty hosted the WDE on Wetcanvas last weekend I couldn´t resist painting many of the references ... Here are  some of the street scenes and architecture

                            Entrance to the Louvre 11 by 7 bockingford 140lb CP watercolours

                                     Sacre Cor 11 by 7 Bockingford 140lb CP watercolours

                           A scene from the Seinne 7 by 11 Bockingford 140lb CP watercolours

still life

Hi Eveybody

these were done from images posted by Scatty Kat on her trip to Paris

7 by 9" bockingford 140lb bockingford CP watercolours

7 by 11" bockingford 140lb CP in watercolours

these ae from Monet´s garden

                   

Figures

Hi All

It has been a lazy week for me ... Taking a real break so my overworked body and soul get a chance to recharge for the upcoming few projects of costume design, coming my way... the best thing to fill my time is painting ... and viewing my friends´blogs and learning.

I have been painting a lot of scenes with figures lately ... it was unintentional but when I looked through my files I found quite a few...

I paint figures in a painting without any facial features ... to me the body language is what makes a figure say it all from a distance ... and this gives me a chance to study the posture and focus on form and darks ... I literally paint only shadows and most times I leave the highlights as pure white paper ...

from a phot posted by Li Newton7 by 11 bockingford 140lb CP watercolours

from a photo posted by doug 7 by 11 bockingford 140lb CP watercolours

a compo of two photos posted by DOug 7 by 11 ockingford 140lb CP watercolours

More Fun With Watercolours

Hi All Thank yo to all who joined my blog and to anyone who makes the time to drop in and leave a comment These were donefor the WDE on wetcanvas from images posted by Bunny back on 30th april As always I benefit from these events by practicing and stretching my skills ... I try to develop my style and find a style that is mine ... I focus on shapes and the shadows only sometimes leaving the highlights as pure white paper ... without doing a preliminary sketch first The first one was of Bunny´s dad from an old sepia photo, I used a sepia watercolour and painted wet on dry literally painting the shadows in leaving the white of the paper white and putting in the dark values at the end.

11 by 7" bockingford 140lb CP watercolours this second one was done in the same style but I masked the whites on the butterfly to have more movemet in the washes

7 by11" bockingford 140l CP watercolours

7 by 11" bockingford 140lb CP watercolours

Desiree´s Grandaughters

these two portraits are done for e WDE hosted by Desiree she posted a photo of her twin grandaughters together, but I chose to paint each one alone ... there was no strong lighting in th photo, so I decided on a soft pallet

11 by 7 bockingford 140lb CP watercolours

11 by 7 bockingford 140lb CP watercolours

Man, woman, and child

Here are some more portraits ... I think I am on Portrait mode...  they are done from references posted on Painting Friends, for a portrait paint along

I was trying to use different skin tones on each, the first one is my third attempt it wasn´t working on the bockinford , I used raw sienna mixed with a touch od allizarine crimson adding coeruleum blue for the cooler side away from the light source. I also used the same raw sienna and coeruleum blue for the hair adding burnt umber on the darer areas ... I worked wet on dry wit juicy colours to enable me to drop colours in,

11 by 7 arches watercolours

the old man was very easy to capture ... I was just laying colours easily with brushstrokes that knew were to go

I used burnt sienna mixed with allizarine and sometimes cadmium red then dropping in cobalt blue in the cooler areas, I masked some of the hair around his face and beneath his mousetache and whiskers

11 by 7 bocingford 140lb CP watercolours

As for the little girl I used cadmium red with llizarin crimson dropping in cobalt blue in the cooler areas painting away from the preserved white areas on her cheek to indicate strong lighting ... I added purple to the shadow areas on the face

11 by 7 arches watercolours