Coconut Tree: Watercolor

Having just got back home from where I work (well I gotta have a job as an inspiring artist right? Well, I can't hardly sell my paintings, the one titled the study of hand and foot, please...even my little nephwew can discern what is my foot is when I asked her whether my painting "pretty" or not, she just said : what is that, auntie? Is it an elephant? Wew, while I was so proud with my foot painting ha ha), anyway, since I can't hardly only paint my hand and foot while I only have two hands and two feet that of course identical (I hope they do identical, well maybe not the creases), so I have to find another object to paint. So I gather up my painting equipment and headed to the garden (well not really a garden more like inhabited plow of lands where everything grows and where neighboring chickens or my chicken neighbors or whatever eat). I always wanted to paint a coconut tree, so no matter how scary the weather is (the wind howling, the sky looked scary with gray fat clouds and thunder, until I have to send my two little nephews whose I took to accompany to paint inside), and how the drizzle makes my watercolor pad wet, I sit on that concrete at the side of my house and paint.

Wew, painting something outside (that you imagine would be beautiful) is not easy. I was using layer by layer technique (a layer of wash on another layer of wash), but still something missing. I was using wet on wet (I spray the paper first) but it only make the paints gone awry everywhere. In the end I was so frustrated I want to give up, until I realized I was not paying attention enough when I was painting, I guess like drawing, you have to pay attention to detail and started to paint while you are doing it so you can shape the paint like you want it to be.

Well, I know the painting I did is not the best of coconut tree painting, at least I enjoyed it so much I am going to do the same again tomorrow, well not tomorrow because I gotta do some my work first to keep the kitchen running so they say, or just to find extra money to buy some watercolor paper and stuff. Oh, anyway I am not using any pencil. Cause they say, it's better not to use pencil before you paint, do not know why maybe just to practice your hand with the painting flow or something?

Study of My Hand: Watercolor with no Preliminary Sketch

Still confuse what to paint so rather than thinking too much and then get more far away from my goal, that is to paint and practice as much as I can, I decided to paint my hand.

The same ways I use in painting my foot, the different is just that I did not sketch it using pencil, I just use my brush to form the swept of the hand and then form the hand using a light was of red, then add ultramarine blue on the darkest place on my skin and on the creases and wrinkles and then add red and yellow to form brown, the color of my skin.

I had problem when I am trying to make it more visible like a hand, and how to paint the nail realistic, in the end I just try to form the hand with adding Prussian blue (the dark blue). Then I just wash a very light red on the nail, while not painting at the little white you usually found on your finger located at the base of the nail.

The problem is, it does not look like a hand to me, rather it look like a misplaced alien hand on my bed.

I am Stuck: Can't Find any Object to Paint

I am stuck, I really am. I've already decided for now on I am just going to focus on practice and practice and now I run out of object to paint, I've already paint my own face, my own foot but thinking about painting lifeless subject make me...said No, I don't want to paint an object that had no life in it, they are so boring, the colors they exuded are lifeless, think about when you want to paint a television set, what a boring subject to paint.

Maybe a trip to my book self is needed after all...

Watercolor's Satisfying gives

Study of my foot (Wet-in-wet).

I was reading Understanding Comics from Scott McCloud (I am also an inspiring comic artist, ha ha but never have a comic made yet) when I see one of the comic panels in his book that said that as a painter or artist who want to succeed everyone have to work really hard, as hard as any writer who want to publish a good book, as the same as a comic artist you have to work really hard, only focus on your work, practice, practice and practice, that's why then I tried to to treat my watercolor journey the same, practice practice and practice, and because I already experience the harsh condition when drawing and painting outside, and rather than delay it any longer I choose my foot as the object of my painting, so here it is. At first I was so dissappointed, well because it does not look like a foot and it looks flat, so then rather than swallowed up in my disappointment, I laid it down on my carpet and let it dry, expecting it to be really bad, and what a surprise, when it all dried up and the paints merge up with one another, wow, at least it looks finally like a foot to me, he he...I was so excited, that's true what expert say, watercolor give you such a satisfying and exhilarating feeling when you never gave up!

Anyway, first I sketch my foot lying prone on my single bed at night before I went to sleep, and because sketching and drawing with the right or accurate proportion always elude me, before I tear the watercolor pad, I put my finished foot sketch and went to sleep. The next day, I grab an eraser and tried to loose the lines that help me to sketch and after I am quite satisfied (I am not satisfied at all as usual, but because the point now is to paint and not to draw) I then take my watercolor pad to paint in my own bedroom-turn-studio to paint, I put the palette on my bed after spraying on with the spraying bottle at the left-off paints (I put half from the tube straight at my palette so I won't have to squeeze paint now and then) to water it down, and then I started to put the first light wash of red (very light) to indicate the sole of my foot, and then because it looks weird so I wash all the foot with light wash of red, because I would put a darker wash anyway. Oh I spray on the watercolor pad, so I was working wet-in-wet, wow I do sound like a watercolor artist now ha ha, anyway after the light wash of red still wet, I dab the usual ultramarine on the shadow (the tip of my foot and the how do we say the part of foot visible from an open shoes when you walk? instep?) and then because I have a dark skin just like any Asian who live in the line of the tropic, I add a wash with more red paint on my round brush and then dab it with yellow (a lot of yellow on the brush), so I could achieve the brown looking mix I am suppose to have when I mix red, blue and yellow, but as usual, because watercolor so unpredictable, I only got dark green to grayish green that not a natural color of a foot, so I add more blue and red. In the end, still not satisfied I try to fix it, add yellow here, add Prussian blue on the shadows, try to make wrinkles with a rigger brush, but does not work so I dab it and with a damp brush loaded with water to merge the so garish line from the rigger from the wrinkles, and then I add a yellow wash on the bed my foot lying upon, and then put a very light wash of ultramarine blue or was it darker blue I was never sure to make the spread green, but because I was not brave enough afraid that I would not be able to distinguish the spread and my foot (because I was using practically the same color, yellow, ultramarine and red on the spread and on the foot) I only add a very light wash of blue and in the end because the yellow are already dried, the spread still looked yellow instead of green when I added the ultramarine wash.

And then I worked on the fingers, I use load of ultramarine blue on my brush (again I am using no. 10 Lyra synthetic brush) to define the toes, and then I use Prussian blue (the darkest blue for you) to paint the nails, because same on me my foot's not very pretty and the nails broken and looks black, so I use the darkest blue for it. And thank god, the dark blues I use on the toes finally define my toes finger...

2D againts 3D models, Practice Drawing and Sketching makes Perfect

--> from two dimension photo, it looks good because I use two dimension photo as the reference, not a real life person, that's why it looks good. But I haven't been able to draw portrait or real people from the real person, because of I am afraid they would run away before the picture finished I always rushed and feel rushed when drawing straight from the real people and they are in front of me posing a little weirdly sometimes making eyes to laugh at me, and in the end they look more like a child and mangaish (I love drawing manga-Japanese comic). I'll find the example of ruined portrait when I can find it among all the stack of papers on my littering (or littered?) multifunctional messy-bedroom.



Let's jump to another topic, I was just waiting on my desk staring at nothing untill my boss could give a job in my office (I am a typist or jack-of-the-trade ordinary workers in a small office, still a temporer, so does not have enough income) when I realized I could draw rather than lolling my head tried not to look sleepy. So I drew this motorcycle from a magazine (although I much rather draw it from the real motorcycle because drawing a 3D motorcycle or real motorcycle gives you much more detail that make the motorcycle look more interesting), and then I just realized...Drawing is all about practice actually, stack of drawing and painting textbooks would not do shit (sorry, I just want to make an impression) if you don't practice drawing. In fact, without too much engrossed and thinking about how to's and rules in the books, your drawing could be much much improved if you just throw away those books and those rules and just pick up your paper or your drawing book and start drawing anything and star pay attention or start painting anything from your own face on the mirror (like I did).

TO Sketch or not to Sketch: Painting in Watercolor without adding sketching first and My first try using Watercolor to paint my Self Portrait

Watercolor is hard...and every time I try it, well when I follow the rules instead of my guts and instinct, they look so bad it hurt! anyway, then I decided to just use the painting without using any pencil or pen to help me define the outside of the object and then paint it, kind of doodling, and although the result are not definable whatever that means, at least I tried it, it's just too bad I am using ordinary paper and Winsor and Newton Cotman watercolor series in tube, using oh what the name on the tube? OK I just know blue and then I add a little yellow ochre (it's really hard for me to remember the odd names, since we only know yellow, so whatever ochre means I guess it means it's darker than yellow (and have you ever heard of lemon yellow? wow the names of the paints boggle me!) I guess because I never live in US or anywhere in the world beside my small town or at least my undeveloped-yet-in-the-art country, so the name of paints are just sooo not-familiar. Anyway, here is the painting

Yeah, it's not really good, I paint it in a splash of inspiration when I want to go to bed and I suddenly have this inspiration to hone my skill in watercolor and just grabbed my pallete and and my drawing book (my drawing book not my watercolor pad) and then just jab at those left of paints on the well and dab and dab on the paper, to create leaves, and I left it off to dry and I just close my blanket over my sleeping bod and sleep, without looking at the result (my bedroom dark as a cavern). The next morning I was surprised! (well watercolor always surprise you, one of the book in Watercolor Tips and Tricks by David Norman once said what's so rewarding about pursuing watercolor painting and never give up even how hard it is at first, is because watercolor painting are so unpredictable, means what you see before the paints dry and what you got when the paint completely dry or on the next day is completely different one another sometimes it surprise you so much, while painting in oil color, what you see is what you got, no matter after a week I guess nothing change much, means oil painting is predictable, I guess, sorry because I am not a real expert here, I am just beginning to paint, anyway, the same thing happen to my doodling here, and I am just surprised the result is quite good the next morning, well until my Lil' Aisha who just found out the use of a marker and mark my leaves painting green!

Anyway don't stop trying, (to myself too) and just experimenting, well I am not experimenting much at the moment, hey wait! I remember, I am just experimenting, see it here in my self portrait using the same watercolor from W&N Cotman series, Lyra No.10 Round brush and 200 gsm watercolor pad.

I am using 2B Rotring pencil to sketch my self by looking at the mirror and then after I am satisfied with the sketching (or at least I forced my self to be satisfied with it because it does not look like me on the overall), I grabbed the pallete and the the round brush and started to put yellow wash on the highlight of my face, I am working wet-on-dry anyway because I hate primping my paper, and then I started to add a darker wash of red (not really dark, I dillute the paint with water and tested it on the clean surface of pallete before I put it on my face or the paper on the shadow and the darker part of my face like in the crest of my cheek the one that show off my face plumpiness, and then under the nose, the forehead and on the shadow under the neck. Next, while everything still wet and the yellow wash swallowed up by the darker red wash, I started to use blue (Winsor ultramarine I think) to add dots (not a wash) on the red because my face look bloodied and the red run amok on the paper surface to balance it, and then because it make my face look weird with the dark ultramarine patches, I try to fix it by adding the heavy mix of red and blue (to make a purple) and dab it on the face again, next I also add the yellow ochre on the ultramarine and alizarin crimsone (the red I use in here) to make a the brown skin of my face, I fail though because it just look like the paint I mix is more suitable for a leaf then on my face, so I stopped using the mix when I try it a little on my face, nex and the last I use the orange (I'll look at the tube later to see what's the official name, because all I know it's orange because I put it side by side with the red) and dab it right under the bottom lips, but what a disaster, because the orange so bright it hurt, I try to correct it using red, then I use prussian blue (the darkest blue I have) to paint on the eyes, the hair, the eyebrow and to distinguish my face and the neck, and then I just dab there right there and there to correct mistakes (although completely fail) and then because I left out the lips the last to paint, I try to paint it with very light red wash, but it looks not right because I have a dark lips almost darker than my skin, so I add a little purple, but still light wash, because I don't want my lips look to pronounce, but still fail, because I have to dab the paint and absorb it with tissue and in the end I just give up and let the lips be (as you can see on my painting). I put it on my facebook to share it with my family and a few friend I have and all of them Laughed Out Loud! LOL.

Pen or Pencil works?

Always interested in drawing, and I am most good well I mean I did and do best at drawing when I am using pens. I do not why, I guess because every artist have his or her preferences. Lately, I've been trying using watercolor, pencil colors, and poster color, yet although the others produce a colorful images, but pen works are always the best.

But the first time I knew about blind contouring (drawing just following the outside edges of your objects without looking at the paper, solely just looking on the object), I try to like pencil and try to practice in pencil. It was difficult! I hate how the pencil got more friction from the paper, thus make the blind contouring much more difficult, but WOW...using pencil and more efforts to give make my drawing ability increased tremendously, well not tremendously, but because more friction on paper from the graphite make my drawing run much much more slow like a snail walking, I got more time to pay attention on objects or subjects I draw, and then right there and then I just realized that drawing is not just about how you love to make scratches, lines and everything on paper, but drawing is all about how to pay attention on something and deliver what you observed or got from the observation on papers!, whether it was wrinkles, or shadow usually always present under your nose, or how the upper lift connected to the under of the nose have kind of wave like, light and dark hills, and much much more noticable things!, and once you listen and follow this things you see when you pay attention, you are well ahead on the road to become a good drawer I mean a person that could draw beautifully or at least more accurately...

ok, here is the result:
Pen works:
1. Have a easily flow-like and easily manageable
2. The result sometimes more astonishing since the pen of course much more visible than pencil, and since you can't erase it, it has some kind of how do we say it? more enthusiasm in it then a pencil work would be, but...
3. Of course you can't erase the wrong turn of a pen
4. Pen work is much much more suitable to use in a contouring works

Pencil Works:
1. Erasable ha ha of course
2. Well, if you want to publish it well I mean to show it to people, you have to face the hustle and bustle of penning it thus you have to work twice for an art work
3. If you don't like drawing using pencil, once you try it instead of pens, it will open a new horizon for you and increase your drawing ability tremendously

So...pen or pencil work? Well, I choose pen works over pencil, but...Increasing your ability drawing using pencil when you usually use pen won't hurt I guess, well like I just said or what everybody said, every artist has their own preferences.

Winsor and Newton Rocks!

I was a newbie in a watercolor, because of that I googled everything on watercolor and one of the advices I remember so well, that I have to buy the goods the best I can afford (in my mind, means no matter how expensive the best available, I have to have it!) so then the journey of surfing through local internet art store begins...What a headache, since I live in a developing countries when expensive hobby pursuit is not normal, hence an online store provide the best in watercolors (papers, paints etc etc) is a rarity indeed in here, considering I still live in a town where forest still live between the row of inhabited houses, I have to depend solely on it, and it took me almost a week of sleeping well late after midnight and hanging on internet cafe for hours and have to be threatened to go back home immediately or locked away outside (since at 11.30 pm I am still sitting on a smokefilled, small chamber in internet bad-designed cafe rooms), until I've a site that offered "professional" art tools, and since the store still using html old code, since I cant order directly through the homepage, but I have to go through hassle and bustle of copying email address, composing new messages of the chance that the might delivered some goods to my still-sleep small city, waiting two days so they send me a brochure of brushes and papers and la la in a Microsoft excel no less, and have to wait a week to complete the order. So After I send the money and they send me the goods, a Maimeri professional watercolors, I was so thrilled and agast at how expensive it was, I cant even dare to open the tube and put some paint on the pallete, let alone use once-in-a-a-lifetime first try on real watercolor paper, I have to wait two days and so many "help!!!" asking for advice on my yahoo group untill I decided I have to try the expensives I bought or I would never use them forever. And I love it, at that moment I believe Maimeri was a God sent, to give me signal that I do meant to be a watercolor artist and I am going to exclusively use Maimeri Professional Artist watercolor and no others, until I met...Winsor and Newton "cheap" watercolor grade...


Gosh! They are beautiful! The vibrant colors, the easy flow of painting on the paper, the finished painting after it dried, ...it make my barney-and-friends painting seemed like a (what do you call a painting that looked like it painted by a true artist?) well...look watercolor professional, like I saw on watercolor-illustrated children books, I even astonished my self with the result, and I do recall again, its true, that you have to buy the best you can afford, because the result and the reward are just...awesome...too bad I can't upload it here since I do the painting well after midnight through 2 o'clock in the morning my sister would go away to her home bringing my Barney-and-friends painting I made for her baby can't have the time to be uploaded so you can see how well is the Winsor and Newton Cotman watercolour series are...

but you can see my Maimeri. here. because the picture above is my first watercolor painting using a professional Artist watercolor grade (using My Maimeri).