Sea Life Series-Octopus

My Octopus Teacher

If you haven't had a chance to see the documentary on Netflix titled "My Octopus Teacher", please put it on your watch list. The cinematography alone in this film is well worth it. I have included a 2:27 minute YouTube trailer for you:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3s0LTDhqe5A

It's brilliant, breathtaking and beautiful.

Watching this documentary reminded me of a Book on Watercolor techniques that I had somewhere in my collection. I remembered seeing a chapter on sketching and painting an octopus. Off to my bookshelf I went in search of this book and here it is: (link to Amazon provided at bottom of photo)

I followed the guidelines outlined in this book by painting the background first using the following watercolors: Prussian Blue, Cerulean Blue, Burnt Umber, Raw Sienna, and Phthalo Blue. Using the wet on wet technique, I painted the colors in various patterns around the octopus to show the rocky coral and water. Once I had my colors in place, I went on to use water color blooms and sea salt to create textures. As the watercolor blooms and salt dry, they disburse the pigment which creates a nice textured background. I then turned my attention to painting the octopus once the background was completely dry. Paper used for this creation was Arches 140 lb cold pressed Watercolor Paper, 9 x 12 inches. Many hours later and over the course of a few days, you see the finished painting above.

It was a challenging and fun painting and I would like to try more paintings using sea salt. This was the first time I had been able to achieve any success with the sea salt technique. I hope to do more sea life watercolor in the future.

As for the documentary, I recommend seeing it. It reminded me to take nothing for granted. It reminded me to take time to appreciate the beauty which surrounds all of us.

We live on such a beautiful planet. Enjoy.

Take care my friends,

Helen

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Birds of the Garden Series: Tufted Titmouse