Happy 4th of July

I love holiday weekends because it means extra time in my studio cuz lets face it unless you're going to a BBQ or the beach  then there isn't much to do on 4th of July weekend.
I managed to finish a bunch of pieces that just needed a few more details.  Sometimes I have a hard time finishing stuff.......

Fennec Fox

African Buffalo

Mandrill

Zebra

Rhinoceros

Lion

There's color versions of each also but I'm waiting for a grayish day to do some photographing.

The Making of a Hyena

Since the process is usually the most interesting part for me to check out I thought you might enjoy the step by step making of the Hyena.

First up- the sketch.
I do a lot of my sketches on tracing paper.  Two reasons I like doing my sketches on tracing paper -  I don't have to use my light box and it's very easy to transfer the image onto the heavy watercolor boards using just graphite. The boards I use are Canson Montvalo watercolor art boards.

 On a side note I recently went to a Golden product information seminar and was introduced to a lot of interesting products this company offers. The most intriguing one is a gesso called absorbent grounds that once applied to your wood board or canvas acts almost like watercolor paper.  I can't wait to try this on the regular wood panels I usually paint on.  But that will clearly be another future blog post.

 Back to the sketch so.....I'm kinda obsessive about the image being symmetrical so after an initial rough sketch (not shown cuz its really bad) I fold the paper and repeat design.

Then comes the ink version.......

 B&W Finished!

Now on to the color.......

so the first thing is I do is transfer the image on to the board with the tissue sketch and pencil.  

I go over the pencil lines with a quick ink outline so that I can erase the graphite.  

I use a soft lead for the transfer so it can get messy in a smudgy way.  

My erasers are pretty much my best friends at this point.  Once the ink has dried and 

set for about an hour or so its then waterproof which is very important for the next layer of watercolors.  Nothing ruins my day more than my ink bleeding when I start painting.

Figuring out my color scheme is next

I'm going with browns obviously but adding some reds and oranges.  

I think it fits the Hyena's intriguingly uncomfortable and scary persona.

Once the base colors are laid out I often add a metallic watercolor glaze over parts of the face.

The metallic water colors are this neat cheapo set I probably picked up a Michael's store.  They're kinda fun to play with and add a neat sheen to the base colors.

Then the inking starts again........

and more paint this time in the form of metallic acrylics and golds.

I have like 10 different shades of gold acrylic paint and I will often mix up more depending on the project.  I clearly like gold since I'm almost positive every painting I've done has had some gold in it somewhere.  Not sure where the obsession comes from since I actually don't even wear gold jewelry.  I'm a silver or white gold girl.  Maybe it's a Gustav Klimt influence.

I can often go back and forth with the ink and acrylic for days.  Sometimes its hard to know when to stop.  Other times I'm kinda shocked how fast I make my decisions and execute them.

The Rhinoceros for example - I knew exactly when I was done and I worried that it would show that I didn't hover and nit pick over it like I've done on some of the others.  Interestingly it has turned out to be the one that has been getting the most positive feedback.  Maybe there's a lesson here for me.......

Anyway back to the Hyena

After a few late nights 

We are done!

my relationship with my rapidographs

So....what is a rapidograph pen you ask?  Its a refillable ink pen that comes in many sizes.  Some of the nibs are so small you can barely see the line.  People who have used rapidograph pens either love them or HATE them.  Most seem to dislike them.  They can be persnickity.  They get clogged easily especially the smaller nibs that make the really fine lines.  They can be messy since they are basically giving off a wet line of ink and they can also be messy when they decide you have not cleaned them recently enough for said pen to feel happy and content with its life so it will decide to explode ink out of places on the pen that ink should not come out of.  Rapidographs are delightful little creatures but like the obnoxious 9 million year old senile, deaf and LOUD  cat that I live with i love them anyway despite their idiosyncrasies

The aftermath of a pissed off pen below

And that's what was left AFTER I washed my hands 

However cleaning them can be kinda entertaining 

My animal mask series

So my latests project is a series of African animal "masks".  I do two versions.  A purely black & white ink version and a colored version.  The b&w is my beginnings.  Its where I figure out the design and details.  Eventually I want to take all the b&w and make a coloring book or series of colorable cards.  Then comes the colored version where I start with watercolor as my base color.  I then add ink and more metallic paint highlights.  The end result is something that looks awesome in person but is very difficult to get a good picture that shows the details.  Currently working on my method of photographing my art in order to get a really good reproduction.  My paintings have always been difficult to shoot due to all the metallic paint.  Of course I had to make my life challenging......

So the first in the series is the Lion king. His b&w version was done a few months ago.  I was never 100% happy with the design. When I decided to try a colored version you can see I changed alot of the design.

Next up came the Gazelle

Next up zebra 

then rhinoceros

and hyena

and water buffalo

and cheetah

Clearly I have a lot of work to do

I'll keep you posted on the works in progress