This painting is inspired by a picture that a friend took in Australia. It is done in watercolor pencil so the color is perhaps not as brilliant as with full strength watercolor. I am also working with limited tools -- just the pencils and a single brush -- since I have been traveling overseas (in snowy London) and carrying non-solid paints is not easy these days.
Anyway, there are layers of color here with some edges softened while others left with pencil marks intact. The idea is to convey a painterly rather than a drawn in feel to the picture.
Lotus in Full Bloom, Watercolor pencil on 140lb paper, 4"x6", $25 (unframed)
Claude Monet painted many scenes of water lillies each one as enjoyable as the other, but the most impressive one -- not least because of its size -- is the one at the Museum of Modern Art in New York city. Reflections of Clouds on the Water Lily Pond is a triptych measuring approximately 6ft x 42ft. The complexity of composition and the depth of color are absolutely astounding. Many hours of study will continue to reveal intricate detail and the layering of transparent color indicating what effort went into creating this piece.
Artists have ever since replicated water lily paintings partly in a genuine desire to understand the masterful techniques of Monet but also because lilies are just fun to paint. Although I have done a water lily acrylic painting before, this time I tried it with watercolor pencil. Not having worked with this medium very much before, I am quite pleased with how the painting came out. Though I softened out some of the pencil marks and hard edges with a wet brush, most of them were left in to let the “artistic look” remain!
Sunshine on Water Lilles, Watercolor pencil on 140lb paper, 4’x6’, $25 (unframed)
This painting is inspired by a picture that a friend took in Australia. It is done in watercolor pencil so the color is perhaps not as brilliant as with full strength watercolor. I am also working with limited tools -- just the pencils and a single brush -- since I have been traveling overseas (in snowy London) and carrying non-solid paints is not easy these days.
