Final? Harry & Patty

Ok here is the final watercolor, (I think) at this point I usually mat it and let it sit for a couple of days and then look at it with "new eyes" I'll probably make some minor changes, well see.

Harry & Patty Watercolor WIP

A little further along Adding more color and detail...

WIP adding color

OK, here’s the scoop, I've never taken a watercolor class in my life so I always feel a little like I may not be doing things the "right" way. But, then again this is art and there is no "right way” right?

So here is my next step. I add some pinks to all the areas I need to warm up or where the fur is thin. I also color the eyes, just because I don't like to look at their empty eyes.

Color! I finally start adding color; at this point I am about half-way done. It is actually starting to look like something. The background may not stay this way about half the time I put another wash over it to change it.

More Harry & Patty

*Whew* What a weekend!

The kids were out of school ever since last Wednesday for Easter break. They finally went back to school today. They had three of their cousins at our house for two of the past few days so I had seven little boys running around. Plus Easter egg hunts and family dinners etc. I did not have any time to work on the painting of the cats "Harry & Patty" But I do today!

Here is the next step in the painting, I lightly draw the cats on Arches cold press watercolor paper and begin to place the darks. I can't find my frisket to mask the highlights in the eyes and I don't trust myself to not mess it up so this is all I'll do until I run to the store to buy more.

I sure hope this painting works out or I'll feel really silly having to start over after I have shown it to everyone.

Work in Progress

I’ve thought about doing a “work in progress” for a while so here it is my first installment of a work in progress. I am doing a commissioned portrait of 2 cats, Harry and Patty. Here are the photos I was given:

This is a sketch for the composition I will work from. It is a composite of three of the pictures. I like to work from as many photos as possible so I can get a feeling for the subject. Often I can see little details from the reference photos that I could not see in just one image.

I will post more photos tomorrow as the work progresses.