Note: This blog post was published late in the evening and of course the next morning I find quite a few paragraphs with bad grammar and basically bad writing where my thoughts were not flowing right. I’ve updated this blog post and hope I fixed most of my errors. Just so you know, I’ve been doing that with my previous blog posts. Reviewing and fixing. Thanks for your understanding and patience.
I’m temporarily moving away from creating floral paintings in my sketchbook. I’ve been wanting to create a few whimsical pieces as I continue to explore my watercolor painting style.
I went back and looked at my pen & ink wash sketches that I completed the last few years. I was looking for inspiration and found a few lovely sketches. I decided to recreate a few pieces with my own watercolor interpretations.
One of the pieces I was most interested was when Hubby and I were visiting Fort Lauderdale, we stumbled into a fun clothing shop called Maui Nix. Inside the front entrance was a lovely enormous statue called Maui Nix. I took a few pictures and I knew it would become a future sketch or two.
I’ve talked about creating my “coloring book” of sketches. Well, here’s an example of what I’ve sketched so far.
I leave them as incomplete sketches until I’m ready to apply my permanent lines using my permanent ink pen. This gives me some time to think about changes I might need to make before applying the permanent ink to paper.
Once I completed my pencil sketch of Maui Nix, I immediately wanted to paint this piece. I went ahead and painted the first layer of colors or light washes.
My sketching lines are a bit off, but that’s okay. This is a part of my whimsical watercolor pieces. For the face and belly I applied a light wash of Yellow Ochre and then went back and dabbled a tiny bit of Quinacridone Rose. I painted a combination of Manganese Blue Hue and Prussian Blue for the shirt and shorts. I went with a light wash for the shirt and then painted mostly Prussian Blue for the shorts.
I had lots of fun painting the flower necklace and lei. Just mixing colors and going with my flow. One of my the mixes I’m working on is the right mix for the shadow color. I’ve mixed Prussian Blue and Burnt Umber to create a darkish blue/gray color. It looks a bit dull to me. So, this is a work in progress. I should probably go back and look at my fave fountain pen ink Thunderstorm and see if I can recreate that color using my watercolor paints.
I wanted to point out that I purposely sketched Maui Nix in the center of my sketchbook. I’m still in awe of my Luchetti Sketchbook and how it handled the large amount of water and paint I used on the paper. I wanted to see how the gutter would handle all the layers of color mixes. Once I applied my layers of watercolor washes I hardly noticed my Maui Nix was sitting in the middle of my two page spread. There is no evidence soaking through the gutter when I flip to the next blank page.
Here is what my whimsical two page spread looks like. I’m also giving you a glimpse into my next painting piece and one of the props I’m working from.
I also started painting my left piece which I’m calling the Boot House. Since I’m using the same watercolor palette for all three pieces, I’m okay with not finishing one piece before I move onto the next one. I’m taking my time. Figuring out what details I need to add and knowing when to stop overworking a piece.
For now, Maui Nix is not finished. I still need to add more details to his hat, mustache, jacket, and feet.
All is well in my creative world.
Pencil: Lamy Studio pencil with 0.5mm HB lead
Pen: Uni PinFine Line in 01 size with Light Grey ink
Paint: Daniel Smith Extra Fine Watercolors in Yellow Ochre, Indian Yellow, Quinacridone Rose, Pyrrol Scarlet, Manganese Blue, Prussian Blue, Hooker’s Green, Burnt Sienna, and Burnt Umber
Brushes: Rosemary & Co R13-Sable Blend Pointed #8. This brush can be found at Art Toolkit at this link.
Journal: Luchetti True Flat Sketchbook. Mixed Media. 100% cotton. Cold Press. 8″x8″ with 22 sheets/44 pages. 600gsm (300lb). Archival. Acid-Free. Gelatin-free vegan sizing. Vegan PU leather covers. The sketchbook can be found at this link.
Palette: Winsor & Newton. There is an empty palette with an included small travel brush available on Amazon.
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