Watercolor Wednesday

Last Wednesday, I participated in a watercolor tutorial offered by fellow art association member Cheryl Bryan. We were to paint a koi swimming near the surface of a pond. While she had a nice reference image, I preferred to use this one from Unsplash by Jason Leung.

https://unsplash.com/photos/macro-photography-of-koi-fish-7rR_WSk4HM0

Subjects in water are very appealing to me, especially creatures such as fish.

Here is my sketch of Jason’s photograph after I had added masking fluid to reserve the whites of the paper.

I am using Arches 140# cold press paper. The masking fluid is Incredible White Mask liquid frisket. I recently learned to apply this messy stuff by using a small paint brush that is first dipped into a solution of water and liquid soap. To apply little dots, I used the tip of a wooden knitting needle (!) Both worked great.

Here is my painting at the end of the 2 hours tutoring session.

I had the background mostly complete and the first wash on the fish. The next day I painted more color on the fish, added shadows and a glaze of highly diluted Phthalo blue. After the paper dried completely, I removed the mask and added highlights.

I’m pretty happy with the result. The fins, tail and ripples came out well. You can tell that the head and mouth are poking through the water’s surface.

I’m less happy with the shadows and my color mixes. Perhaps I should have chosen different pigments.

Anyway, I have dipped my toes back into painting after a long hiatus. The dry spell is over, for now. (puns intended.)