Year of the...

 First time playing with gouache.

Rabbit footprints and a dragon door knocker (so you don't have to try to figure out how to politely ask what it is)

Last year was rabbit.  This year, dragon.

This is himi gouache which is a very affordable paint set.  Over 1 kilo of paint for what a small 15ml tube would cost of professional gouache.  But I'm already unsure if I like it as my mind is firmly enjoying watercolour style of painting.

Generic hen

 I don't seem to be very good at keeping things in frame, but meh, maybe it's my style.

She's a pretty hen.  I don't know if I did her justice or if it's a bit abstract.  But I'm happy. 

so begins generic hen

 her name is actually "generic hen".  Not to be confused with "generic red hen" and "other generic hen".  I wish they would have more creative names.

so begins the first wash.  Back to mass manufactured student and professional grade watercolours.  I'm running out of student grade, especially yellow ochre.  That one seems to evaporate or something.

coffee in charcoal

 First attempt at charcoal.  Not bad.  Not great.

But also from memory.

What this means is that my homemade charcoal can draw coffee.  

mmm... coffeee... can't blog, need coffee.  

One day I will paint this

 I haven't the courage to try.

The thing is, these colours are far more vibrant in person so it's pretty hard to make it look real.

charcoal - way easier to make than it looks

 This is willow charcoal I made.  The willow trees need coppicing (chopping down) each winter and I took some sticks and pealed the bark off them.

This is an old tin something, maybe chocolates?  With a nail, puncture the hole in it.  fill it as tight as possible with sticks (green is fine, dry is better) and wrap some stiff wire around it to make sure it stays closed.  Toss it in the woodstove at the end of the day.  It's ready by morning.

Considering, with shipping and stuff, it's about a dollar a stick to buy this kind of willow charcoal, I expected it to be more difficult to make.

I painted a house (or a small part of one)

 There is more than one kind of painting going on these days.

I like the other kind better

light, shadow, lopsided

 Playing with opaque watercolours, lights and shadows.  I don't really like it, but it was fun to paint.

the one that got away

 Here's one that didn't get very far.  She's a tricky hen and I thought maybe the colours beneath the feathers... 

Nah.

Need to work on brush control more.  

Sometimes the chicken works, and other times it's just not ready to be painted yet.

armistice day

 

Today is Remembrance Day as they call it here.  

It's a bit of a shit day now.  It doesn't mean much except everyone under the age of 19 has to know the poem about the poppies.  Everyone gets a holiday unless you are in the military then you have to either work or go to stand in the cold for whatever ceremonies (unpaid) for hours.  It feels more like punishment to those who serve.

And I can't help but think how important their work is.

Here in Canada, the forces do more than practice with guns.  They are involved in search and rescue, medical evac to the remote artic when conditions are too cold for civilians, they help with floods and fires, they even go into old age homes and change dirty nappies when the government fails.  

To give a country the best years of their lives, only to get tossed aside at the end?  It's getting better for those retiring these days, but they still fail those who retired before.

Sorry.

shitty day.  

not a day many people remember except to take one of the 'free' poppies at the grocery store and have a day off work.

Also, I forgot to paint (or steal) a poppy.

still a mystery

 

I only saw her on photo day.  But yes, she was that mean.  I took her photo, she bit me.  Seems like a fair exchange.  

who is this hen?

 I don't know this hen.  I've never seen her before.  But she showed up on picture day.  And was never seen again.

Oh well.  I'll begin with a wash.  

golden zorn

 I wonder if I could paint goldy in Zorn?

That's pretty!  I wish I could remember how I got the different shades of red.  I want to try this again. 

tutorial failure

 

I don't know why, but tutorials are probably the worst way for me to learn.  I feel like I'm copying a painting or even steps of a painting.  I think I would do better if I could have the steps but work from life or a phot rather than follow someone else's painting.  

Anyway, this never amounted to anything.  It's also the wrong time of year to be thinking of cherry blossoms when I'm having to keep the frost off the humming bird feeders.  

Goldie

 

Painted him for a friend.

First time using caput mortuum (beautiful rich, granulating opaque watercolour, earth red) but I lost some of the glow so I used some gold paint to give him back some shine before the final layer.

I tried a thing, it kind of worked.  

Trick or Treat

 

You know how I worried I bought the wrong colours in the last post?

Well, it gets worse.  This trio is secondary colours - what a crazy challenge I set myself to paint something with this.  

Same lifting problems as last time.  I tried to use it to my advantage, but I just couldn't get the deep darkness I wanted.  Adding layers to make it darker, lifted the old layer and made it lighter.  It's like opposite to what I would expect watercolours to do.  

The reference I used for this is a photo I took a few years back in the local park.  Dappled light through the leaves and a face that caves in on itself.  Brilliant.

After Halloween, thousands of pumpkins, carved, melted, burnt, and rotting, appear in one of the local parks.  It's a marvelous thing to see.

We like to pretend wildlife eats them all, but in reality the tax dollars clean them up.  Money well spent.  I wonder if the weather will let me go with my paint set instead of just a camera this year?  

deceptive handmade watercolours

 These should be so beautiful.  I had such wonderful results buying handmade watercolour so far, that I thought I would try a different seller on etsy.  They get great reviews.  

They swatch beautifully!  

Not sure this is quite cut out for a chicken.  How about one of my other obsessions?  A hobbit-ish house?

The first layer started off well.  Blending is lovely.  Got some good strong colour right away.

The problem comes with the next layer.  See that window on the right.  Smudge city.  

The paint lifts like crazy.  One layer painting is fine, but I like to layer.  sigh.  They feel like they aren't bonding to the paper like regular watercolours.  Some watercolours lift a bit, but it usually needs more than a hint of water.  These feel like they don't have enough binder.  But maybe I just choose the wrong colours?  

I wonder, how about this limited palette?

 Again with the Beam Paints - more and more I fall in love with them.  Lucky for me the price is about equal or less than most big name paints in the local art shops.  

And my new favourite limited palette.  

Timberwolf (paynes grey)

Mars (caput mortuum)

and Fall Popular (hansa yellow)

For this one, I included a bit of graphite, but meh.  It's not the right addition to this trio.  

(and yes, this is totally a variation on Handsome - glad you noticed.  I use him to try out new colour combinations but mostly I give him back his comb points because poor fella) 

Forever handsome

He used to have the most beautiful comb!  But alas, he's not the wisest when it comes to battle.  But the hens love him and that's what counts in the end.  

I think this is one of my favouite examples of how much personality handmade paints can add to the picture.  I don't think I could get the feathers half way close without it.  

Painting feathers are hard (is hard?)

Handsome grows stronger

 

The thing about watercolours is layers.

Painting light to dark and using the natural texture of the paint to help discover the chicken.

Still, he would look better with a tail.