All art is but imitation of nature.
- Lucius Annaeus Seneca
Since yesterday's watercolor experiment worked out better than I'd hoped I decided to retry an earlier attempt at painting a kingfisher. The photo above is used with the permission of my Mum. Thanks Mum :)
The image below was painted the day I bought my first set of tube watercolor paints, on the 2nd of May this year. I didn't water them down enough and tried to use them like acrylics, rather unsuccessfully.
I wasn't very happy with the results from my first attempt but I figured it was a first attempt after all. So we learn and move on.
This was today's result without any pen detail. (above)
This is today's result after the pen detail was added. (below)
I still think the pen is way too thick, I'll have to buy a .1 or .2 pen sooner than I planned but I definitely think the second painting is a vast improvement on the first though I'm glad I took a scan copy before I added the ink. I forgot to do that on the thrush yesterday.
So what do you think?
I really like it, animals are on my TODO list.
ReplyDeleteWhat I think is, second attempt looks better, more like a watercolor. I had the same issue treating WC as an opaque paint, although one may use it that way.
It looks a lot better (bright and saturated) when used less than about 3 color layers and properly thinned paint.
Thin pens may help too, but I would create another copy to add more contrast using the watercolor. Few subtle strokes in shadow, paint doesnt need to be to thick, just another layer.
Picture with ink added looks a bit heavy as you said, you could use it as before on thrush, where some places are free of the ink.
Waiting for more great paintings!