Tag Archives: metal

Old Bicycle Watercolor Painting

Old Bicycle Watercolor Painting - 15 x 20 inches

Painting this old bicycle watercolor is really fun.  It is complicated in a way that many of the areas are divided by lines either from the background or the subject itself.  I have tried to paint the shadow using layers of watercolor wash starting off with light mixture of French Ultramarine Blue and Alizarin Crimson.  Then after it is completely dry, another layer of the same mixture is added on top.  Then I added Windsor Green to the watercolor mixture to get it into a darker shades of grey.  Another two layers of this darker color is painted after the layer is dry.  It takes about six layers of watercolor wash to get to this stage I have show above.  I need to darken the shadows but come to a point where I need to ask myself what color of dark do I want with this.  The background was a white painted brick wall covers about two thirds of the wall and the upper part which I have not painted yet is a color of red brick.  Shoud l leave the shadow alone now and paint other areas first.?   I finally decided to leave it, look at it and think about it before I go any further with my old bicycle watercolor painting.

Old Bicycle Watercolor Painting

Old Bicycle Watercolor Painting - 15 x20 inches

I have continue the painting of the old bicycle which I have started last week.   Over the weekend, I have painted the brick background which I found quite time consuming.  I started with a thin layer of wash on the light color walls and then apply the various dark areas when the first wash is still wet but loose it’s sheen.  Before it is completely dry, I sprinkle some salt on otp of areas I wanted texture.  After the watercolor painting is completely dry and all the salt has been brushed away, I painted the bricks with a dry brush.  Then I use a tooth brush to spatter more colors on certain background areas of this old bicycle watercolor.  Bigger drops are then spattered on other areas using a brush.   Areas that shows rust in the fenders of the bicycle also get some spatter from the tooth brush with a more intense black.  I think I will come back to this brick background on my watercolor painting after I look at it for a few days and after other areas are painted.  It will give me an idea of how it fits into the overall watercolor painting.  As usual, I value  your comments on my daily painting.

Old Bicycle Watercolor Painting

Old Bicycle Watercolor Painting 15 x 20 inches

I have continue and painted more of the old bicycle last night.  It was a challenging piece of watercolor with the details of the drawing and complexity of the shadow and the subject.  Lots of time is spent on distinguish between the subject and the shadows especially in the bicycle spoke area.  All the bicycle spokes has to be determine if they are on top or below of the other.  It turn out to be a time consuming process for this watercolor painting.

Watercolor Painting – Garden sheep sheer hand forged

Watercolor painting - Hand forged garden sheep shears 7.5 x 10 inches

Watercolor painting - Hand forged garden sheep shears 7.5 x 10 inches

I have finished doing the watercolor painting on the hand forged garden sheep sheer.  If you have read my yesterday’s blog, you know that I have done painting most of the sheer plus a layer of very light wash on the background.  Last night I have added anther wash to various area of the background where the wood grains are and use a darker color to do the shadow outline of the wood grain.  The knots on the wood is also done by applying several washes and finally with a darker color using very fine liner brushes.  Shadow on the wood was painted with a mixture of Burnt Sienna, Alizarin Crimson and French Ultramarine Blue in several watercolor layers.  Each one is added after the layer is completely dry until the desire darkness is achieved.  Then the highlight is lifted off the painted shadow area and also darker wood grain is added.   Picking the correct watercolor pigment is important so that it can be lifted and not too staining.  It was lots of fun doing this wood texture background in watercolor.  It is also very important to find a place for your signature so that the finished painting is well balanced.  When it is time to sign the watercolor painting,  I found that it is best to turn this watercolor painting in a vertical position and sign on the lower left near the sheer.  Although it takes a while to do the wood texture background, I think it is lots of fun and I haev learned a lot from doing it.

Watercolor Painting Daily – Garden sheep shear hand forged

Garden Sheep Shears Hand Forged 7.5 x 10 inches watercolor painting

Garden Sheep Shears Hand Forged 7.5 x 10 inches watercolor painting

This is an unfinished painting of a used pair of hand forged garden sheep shear.  I like the texture of the shear and it’s rustic color.  I hope I can convey that through my watercolor painting.  It is 7.5 x 10 inches watercolor on 140 lb cold press watercolor paper.  The shear itself was done by layering a mixture of French Ultramarine, Burnt Umber and Alizarin Crimson and other pigments.  It was done using layers of flat wash with some lifting on the less intense spots before the paint is dry.  All the outlines are drawn in pencil before the start of the painting.  I have also paint a very light watercolor wash for the wood grain background so I can let it all become dry and hopefully I will finish it tonight with a wood grain textrure.  Should be fun and a learning experience for me doing the wood grain texture for the background.  I have try to learn by reading books on watercolor texture but each uses their own technique and are quite different.  I think I will just try out my own and hopefully will turn out nice.

Watercolor Painting Daily – Antique Corkscrew #3

Watercolor Painting - 7.5 x 10 inches corkscrew
Watercolor Painting – 7.5 x 10 inches corkscrew

This is an old corkscrew watercolor painting I painted last night.  It measures 7.5 x 10 inches and is on cold press watercolor paper.  There is flickering technique involoved with an old toothbrush where watercolor is being applied on the tooth brush and is being flicked on to the taped surface.  The corkscrew is done on gradated watercolor wash and the background in a gradated wash as well.  It was fun to do this small objects just to get warm up for painting something larger.

Watercolor Painting – Old Cork Screw #2

7.5 x 10 inches Watercolor Painting - Cock Screw #2

7.5 x 10 inches Watercolor Painting - Cock Screw #2

My watercolor painting today is a 7.5 x 10 inches corkscrew.  This is a simple cork screw and it has a wooden handle.   I painted the background first with a wet in wet wash.  I use light blue on the top which changes into a yellowish tint at the bottom.  I carefully paint around the cork screw with clean water making sure the watercolor paper is wet.  Then I apply the paint on top of the wet wash and let the paint mix itself on the paper by picking up the paper and rotate it so the color will mix well with each other on the watercolor paper.  After the background has been dry, I painted the wooden handle of the cork screw applying layers of watercolor paint and be careful to leave the highlights.  I have problem with the watercolor paint drying too fast on me so after painting several layers on the handle and when it is completely dry, I use wet on wet technique on my last layer.  It gives me more time to do the dark part of the handle and some lifting of the highlight in this watercolor painting.  Then it comes to the metal part of the cork screw where I use a mixture of blue and grey for the shadow and carefully painted the highlight with clean water as I go along and make sure the blue grey shadow on the round metal does not have a sharp edge.  I really have to work fast on this.  Last but not least, the shadow is painted with a mixture of red blue and grey color.  It was quite challenging and I found that I have to work really fast and loose.

Watercolor Painting – Old Corkscrew

Watercolor Painting - 7.5 x 10 inches - Old Cockscrew

Watercolor Painting - 7.5 x 10 inches - Old Corkscrew

Painted an old corkscrew last night.  I am attracted by the wooden handle contrasting with the sharpness of the metal.  It is done on a 7.5 x 10 inches sheet of cold press watercolor paper.  The texture of the wooden handle gave me the most trouble while trying to get the right color and shade in applying the watercolor to it.  The metal part needs lots of patience on painting it and have to leave white area of reflection where necessary.  I also use a dry square oil paint brush to apply dots of color on the metal shaft of the corkscrew as well as on the screw part.  A toothbrush is also use to flick watercolor paint on to the wooden handle to give it an antique effect.