It’s Pumpkin Time!

I’m slowing dwindling down my currently inked fountain pens. I still have a handful of pens that I’m writing dry and they will eventually make their way into my cleaning bin.

In the meantime, I’ve been creating a few pieces of art using my graphite pencils to keep my artsy muscle memory flowing. I’m also happy to say that I’m back to painting with my watercolors. Here’s my first attempt at drawing pumpkins!

This was a fun practice piece to get the creative juices flowing and moving my paint around the paper.

My Watercolor Pumpkins

I’m not ready to stop using my water brushes. I’ve mentioned before that I use separate water brushes for different art mediums. I have a set that I use with my fountain pen inks and another set for my watercolors. To help identify the brushes, I’ve labeled each brush for the medium I’m using. For this watercolor medium, I’ve been using mostly “large” and “medium” size brushes.

I’ve been finding the need to use permanent ink in my watercolor drawings. The permanent ink lines adds a bit more interest to my drawings.

I add additional inky lines to show additional depth and add to the areas that need some shading. I remind myself, the light is coming from the upper left of my paper and the shadows should be on the right side of the pumpkins as well as underneath.

Now, it’s time to add the base colors. I’ve decided to create the pumpkins in different colors instead of painting them all in the typical orange color.

I start my painting by creating layers of colors going from light colors to dark colors. I wait for each layer to dry before painting the next colorful layer.

Here’s the first layer of colors in yellow, orange, and green. At this moment, I decide to do something different. My plan is to use the initial light layer of colors as the highlights instead of the white of my paper. We’ll see if I can stick to my plan.

My plan is working. I’m letting my creativity flow and see where it takes me. My pumpkins now have three layers of colors.

For each of the stems, I’m mixing a combination of burnt umber, a small amount of yellow, and adding a bit of the pumpkin color to the mix.

Here’s my final painting. I just have to remember to breathe and let my creative juices flow.

I’m starting to feel a bit more comfortable using my watercolor paints. I’m having to re-learn a few techniques from past years. I also have to remind myself that I’m not using fountain pen inks which has its own set of techniques.

I’m also having to re-learn how much water I need while mixing my watercolor paints. In addition, having to adjust to using a water brush which naturally holds a small amount of water on its tip. Practice. Practice. More Practice.

Here’s how my pumpkins look in my watercolor journal.