For the Love of a Good Dog
This beautiful girl is a dog that belonged to my watercolor guru, Louise De Masi. She gave us a lesson in using black watercolor with a painting tutorial of her. Sketching and painting this picture taught me a lot about black. I started off by using the lamp black that I had in my palette. I put on the first wash, then the second wash and it still looked dull and flat. I hated it. So, I took the advice of Louise and many other watercolor artists and mixed my own black. And oh what a difference! Now I could see depth, shadow, and reflection. The painting started coming to life. I was glad that I hadn't given up and pressed on. Here is a quick video that demonstrates different ways to mix watercolors to come up with a pleasing black:
Paint colors used for this painting were winsor violet, burnt sienna, french ultramarine, lamp black, sepia, winsor lemon, scarlet lake, and permanent rose. To make the black I mixed Crimson, Phthalo Blue, and Winsor Green. I used white ink for the eyelashes, small hairs and whiskers.
I painted on hot pressed, 9 x 12 inch, 140 lb watercolor paper.
All in all, she was a pleasure to paint. I loved watching her eyes come to life. Sweet girl.
If you would like see a bit of the tutorial on how she can be painted, check out the video below:
For all the dog folks out there, give them a hug...for me.
Helen