Tag Archives: still life

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 – Two red chili peppers

Watercolor painting - two red chili peppers

Watercolor painting - two red chili peppers

My daily watercolor painting is  a 5 x 7 inches painting of two red chili peppers on cold press watercolor paper.  This time I try painting a flat blue wash as the watercolor background before I painted the peppers.  I like it better than just a white background as I have with most of my previous chii pepper studies.  It seems to have soften the background and is not as harsh.  I shall try some other color as my background later on.  After the background color is completely dried, I painted the two red peppers and later on the shadows.  It was lots of fun.  After I have finished, I found a pencil outline for the shadow of the red pepper which I have missed.  This is the shadow where the top chili cast onto the backgound and the pepper below.  I seems ok without the shadow but I will put that in tomorrow just to see how it looks.

Abstract Watercolor Painting – Flower

Abstract Watercolor Painting - 5 x 7 inches

Abstract Watercolor Painting - 5 x 7 inches

This is a 5 x7  abstract watercolor painting I did last night.  It was done in Arches Cold Press Watercolor Paper.  It was quite a fun exercise practicing my basic watercolor technique using flat wash, wet in wet, paint on dry paper and spatter and letting the watercolor paint run by holding the paper at an angle.  Salt is also used in areas of the flower.  One of the difficult thing about doing this watercolor is to  decide which way the watercolor should be up or the top.  I will look at it daily and may be it will inspire me to make some changes and decide which way the painting should look.  I will sign my abstract watercolor painting after I determine that.

Watercolor Painting – Flower Arrangement

7.5 x 10 inches Watercolor painting - Flower

7.5 x 10 inches Watercolor painting - Flower

I have finished this 7.5 x 10 inches watercolor painting this weekend.  The dark background is quite a challenge and I found that painting background is just as time consuming as doing the subject.  I have used gradated wash on most of the background with layers of watercolor to get it to the desire color and effect.  I need to practice more on the flat wash which I have use mostly on the background of this watercolor study.  Gradated wash is also used and it the the intensity of the dark color that I have problem with.  The mixing of various colors to get the right dark grey or black watercolor is so important.  Also I found the watercolor texture I try to do for the background is very challenging to me as well.  I should practice more on the basic of doing texture in watercolor painting.

Watercolor Painiting – Flower arrangement

Watercolor Painting - Flower Arrangement 7.5 x 1o inches

Watercolor Painting - Flower Arrangement 7.5 x 1o inches

Last night I started a watercolor painting and the subject is a flower arrangement.  I painted from the pictures I took last Sunday at Church.  It is s nice arrangement in a brown beige earth tone pot.   I saw sunlight hitting a few of the pews and took the arrangement and sit it on the edge of one of the pew with the light shinning on it.  It was quite nice as the light hit part of the pot as the background receive no illumination at all.  I took many shots turning the arrangement around for future reference for  watercolor painting.  The one watercolor I did last night was drawn on a 7.5 x 10 inches Arches cold press water color paper.  I started on the top left hand corner painting the green stems and work my way through to the bottom right hand flower bud.  It was a good watercolor exercise involving wet into wet wash as well as gradated wash.  Although there is still lots to be done on this flower arrangement watercolor painting but I am quite happy with the progress and I cannot wait to put on the dark wash for the background so that the flowers and buds will stand out from the white paper as they are suppose to.

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.

Watercolor Painting – Two Chili Peppers

Two Chili Pepper Watercolor Painting

Two Chili Pepper Watercolor Painting

Last night I did a 5 x 7 inches watercolor painting of two chili peppers.  One is red and the other one is orange and yellow.  It is a good exercise to practice the color wash and the use of watercolor pigments.   The red chilli pepper is done with a mixture of reds and is put in layers.  Highlight is done using clean water on the paper before the red layer is applied.  Later on the highlights are lifted with a wet bristle brush.  More darker red is applied to the shadow side of the red chili pepper.  The yellow and orange pepper is done the same way with different pigments of watercolor.  Shadows is then applied as layers of blue purple watercolor on dry paper and then other more intense watercolor layer is put on top.  A little fun exercise.

Daily Watercolor Painting – Papaya Still Life

Papaya watercolor painting - 7.5 x 10 inches

Papaya watercolor painting - 7.5 x 10 inches

Last night I did  a 7.5 x 10 inch watercolor painting of a papaya that has been cut in half.  It was lots of fun and not as easy as I thought.  The difficult part was getting the right color intensity on the seeds and the skin.  Shadow always present a problem for me and this one is no exception.   First I painted the skin with Winsor Yellow from Windsor and Newton.  It  is a transparent cool but towards green watercolor paint.  I added a touch of green for some part of the papaya skin for the shade.  After it is dry, I painted the yellow outline on the fresh of the papaya.  This part of the watercolor painting is the most difficult because I try to use wet in wet wash and when I apply the orange color of the fresh after the yellow outline, the outline disappear into the orange hue.  For the  orange color I use Cadmium Red mixed with Alizan Crimson both of Winson and Newton Watercolor.  It took me a third wash to get the desire orange color on the flash of the papaya and some lifting of color on the outline to get back the yellow color underneath.  After it is dry, I continue painting the  seeds of the papaya.  I mixed Winsor Green (Blue Shade) with Alizarn Crimson to get the grey color for the lighter color seeds.  But before I painted the seeds, I painted the yellow color around it with Winsor Yellow mixed with New Gamboge.  The darker or shadow of the seeds were painted with a mixture of Winsor violet and Winsor Green which gives me a black.  It is a fun watercolor exercise after all.