Two Nights in Calgary, Watercolor and mixed media on paper

Two Nights in Calgary, watercolor and mixed media on paper, 15 x 22 inches

A new cityscape with watercolors, I used a reference picture I took last summer when we did a road trip from Vancouver to Drumheller and stopped in Calgary on the way. I used watercolors, watercolor crayons and gouache.

Here are some of the steps I took.

The drawing on Canson paper cold press, 140 lb. I did stretch the paper and left it to dry before.

I apply masking liquid to the areas I want to leave white.

I start painting the buildings with washes. Here a gradated wash from blue to yellow where the light is hitting the building.

When using a color in a part of the painting, I try to use it in different places as well in the painting.

I continue painting areas in the painting directly with washes.

Still trying to use a limited number of colors all over the painting.

I am almost done with the first stage of painting.

Now I am removing the masking fluid all with an eraser.

Now I will go over the picture, softening edges with water and a stiff brush and redefining over edges with watercolor crayons.

In the center is an example of the hard edges you get after removing the masking fluid.

Here the edges have been softened by brushing off the paint.

I will then splash the painting with water and water mixed with watercolor.

The paper is buckling even though I did stretch it. I take off drips I don't want with a tissue paper.

Looks like this.

Once it's dry, I want to make some of the whites brighter.

So I am painting washes with gouache in places I want to make lighter.

Two Nights in Calgary, watercolor and mixed media on paper, 15 x 22 inches

 

 

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Some Flowers bloom in Winter: India ink, watercolor and watercolor pencils. Messing up watercolor portraits part 2

Some Flowers bloom in Winter, India ink, watercolor and watercolor crayons on paper

My latest watercolor portrait, I used India ink for moat of the face, then watercolor for the red areas and added the patterns with a watercolor pencil, here are some of the steps I took:

This time I used Canson cold press as my paper (140 lb), I stretched it before starting to draw.

I did draw a rough outlines of the face.

Here I start painting with India ink, going from light to dark.

I did reserve a bit of the white with masking liquid in the iris highlight and corner of the eyes.

I start working in watercolor with a mix of 3 reds : scarlet, carmine and madder lake red, with a bit of emerald green for the darker reds

I paint a loose background.

When I am happy with the painting, I go to the scary drip and messing up stage.

I let it dry, then will remove unwanted stains and add definition to the flower. I am then drawing patterns on the background with a watercolor pencil.

Some Flowers bloom in Winter, India ink, watercolor and watercolor crayons on paper

Links

If you live in the Vancouver, BC area, you can check my rental program, a stress free way to rent or buy original art: http://www.mixed-media-paintings.com/artrentals.html

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Tags: artists, canada, colors, demo, demonstration, demos, drips, girl, india, inspiration, mess, messing up, mixed media, painted, painting, paintings, paper, portrait, portraits, realist, realistic, sandrine pelissier, step by step, technique, tutorial, water, watercolor, watercolors, watercolour

Steveston wharf, watercolor on paper

Steveston Wharf , watercolor on paper

One of my latest watercolors inspired by a picture I took while visiting Steveston, (Richmond, BC) on the wharf. This is a great place to visit and you can buy fish directly from the boats.
Here are some of the steps I took, I used Arches hot press 140 lb paper:

After making a precise drawing I apply masking fluid on the areas I want to keep white.

Even though I am going to paint in a direct way and not separate colors I like to start with a layer of ocher, here I paint 2 washes, one solid and one graduated

I start to apply colors directly, trying to use each color in different parts of the painting

Adding more colors, I painted a blue wash on the water area.

Still adding colors. I then remove the masking fluid and soften edges with a stiff brush.

I paint the areas that were masked with masking fluid,and adjust the colors a bit to increase the contrast.

Steveston Wharf will be exhibited at the Granville Island Gallery for their Landscape show February 21- March 9, 2012
1241 Cartwright Street
Vancouver, BC Canada V6H 4B7

Links

If you live in the Vancouver, BC area, you can check my rental program, a stress free way to rent or buy original art: http://www.mixed-media-paintings.com/artrentals.html

James Weldon column on the North Shore News always cracks me up, I liked this one about art, refreshing honesty and funny :
http://www.nsnews.com/entertainment/picture+worth+less+than+thousand+words/6131708/story.html

Like me on Facebook to be updated about the latest news: https://www.facebook.com/sandrine.art

Tags: art, artist, artists, boat, canada, colors, demo, demonstration, demonstrations, demos, landscape, landscapes, layer, media, mixed media, painting, paintings, paper, realistic, richmond, sandrine pelissier, seascape, step by step, steveston, technique, tutorial, watercolor, watercolors, watercolour, wharf

Recycling Life, Mixed media on canvas

Recycling Life, Mixed media on canvas, 46 x 46 inches

The biggest canvas I ever painted, it is 46 × 46 inches and barely fits in my car. I painted this from a picture I took earlier this year at Spanish banks beach (Vancouver-BC) with India ink, newspaper collage, acrylics and graphite.
Here are some of the steps I took :

I started by drawing with graphite a rough outline of the elements in the landscape. I did with the canvas upside down to try to be more precise.

I make a collage with newspapers on the foreground, I tear little pieces and glue them with acrylic medium.

Here is a close up.

I paint with white acrylic paint on top of some parts of the collage.

I avoided the area that will be the trunk of the trees with my collage.

On the lower part of the foreground I paint on top of the newspaper collage with India ink

The ink and the white acrylic are mixing in some parts to make a light grey.

I am trying to have a gradation of paint with darker areas at the bottom of the painting.

I am painting the sea and the mountains in the background, still using a mix of acrylic paint and India ink.

I add a thick layer of medium on top of my collage to make it waterproof. If not the India ink will lift if wet.

I am painting the sea and the mountains in the background, still using a mix of acrylic paint and India ink.

I splatter the red paint mix on the foreground.

I then trace all the trees and branches, the drawing is so complex and detailed that I used graphite paper and worked one small area at a time

Once an area is drawn, I paint it with india ink.

Here is a detail of all the intricate branches.

I add a light wash of acrylic paint on the trees for added texture. I did fix the india ink before with Krylon workable fixative.

Recycling Life, Mixed media on canvas, 46 x 46 inches

This painting will be exhibited at the Granville Island Gallery for their Landscape show February 21- March 9, 2012
1241 Cartwright Street
Vancouver, BC Canada V6H 4B7

Prints are available on my Etsy store 

Tags: painting, acrylic, mixed media, abstract, paintings, step by step, demonstration, demonstrations, drawing, canada, colors, paper, black, media, red, technique, tutorial, art, graphite, canvas, collage, medium, demo, demos, artists, artist, white, tree, india ink, paint, newspaper, trees, tracing

Messing up watercolor portraits

Drawing on my Notebook works better with my Lucky Hat on-Watercolor on paper

With Watercolor and especially with watercolor portraits I have a tendency to be on the tight and controlling side. It is fine but I also like when watercolor is doing its own thing. Splattering the painting with water after painting it allows me to obtain the effects I like with watercolor and still paint the way that is natural to me. Here is a demo:

Here is my drawing on watercolor paper ( Arches hot press 140 lb)

I start to add colors, directly on the hat , and with a yellow ocher underpainting on the face

I continue to add colors around the face while it is drying.

I add texture with a dark grey mix on the hat.

I add more colors to the face a wash up a few highlights with a stiff brush and water on the face and coat.

Time to mess it up ! I add water with a spray and drips and let the watercolor do its work, When I have colors moving to an area I don't want them, I just take them off with a tissue paper. I can also wait until they dry and brush them off.

Drawing on my notebook works better with my lucky hat on- The finished painting

Tags: art, artist, artists, canada, colors, demo, demonstration, demonstrations, demos, drawing, girl, layer, layering, layers, painted, painting, paintings, paper, portrait, portraits, realist, realistic, sandrine pelissier, step by step, technique, tutorial, watercolor, watercolors, watercolour

Early this morning- Watercolor on paper

Early this morning Watercolor on paper

After reading about artist Tim Saternow in the Winter 2012 issue of American artist Watercolor magazine, I really liked his cityscapes and wanted to try adding dips on my watercolors. Watercolor is a very technical and precise medium and I have a tendency to get very controlling with it and I though adding drips afterwards might be a good way to loosen up a bit. I will try that same technique on a watercolor portrait see how it works.
Here are a few pictures of the painting in progress.

After drawing on my paper, and adding bits of resist where I want the paper to stay white, I make an under painting with mostly yellow ocher and a bit of green

I add dark greys to the picture and define a few windows with washes.

I start removing the resist and softening a few edges. I keep on adding darks.

I add more definition, mostly to the cars in the foreground. Paint a few bright colors for the red lights and street lights.

Here the fun begins, I splash water, then water mixed with watercolors randomly and wait for the paint to move and dry.

I remove some of the stains where I think they show too much, and here is the final painting.

Tags: artist, artists, cityscape, demo, demonstration, demos, drawing, landscape, layer, painted, painting, paintings, paper, sandrine pelissier, step by step, technique, vancouver, watercolor, watercolors, watercolour

Hens and Chicks- Acrylic on canvas

I painted this painting while volunteering for 3 shifts a the Brustrokes Gallery in North Vancouver Lonsdale’s Quay ( for the North Shore Artists Guild) . I was painting next to the display window and it was fun to see a few curious people take interest in watching the process.

Here are some of the steps I took to make this painting:

A red acrylic under painting.

Drawing an outline with a pencil crayon.

Then I redraw my outlines with a thin brush and white acrylic paint.

I start to paint with contrasting colors, here white on the darkest areas.

Blue on orange areas, this will show later mostly on the edges.

Still painting with contrasting colors.

Here I add some reds where I see them on my reference picture.

Then yellow and oranges. I took that picture last summer in my backyard.

Still adding layers.

Here I add some white, diluted in medium to bring back some light.

adding more layers.

Hens and chicks, acrylic on canvas

The finished painting : Hens and Chicks

Here are some details of the textures and edges that might not show on a smaller picture.

Complex edges.

Tags: acrylic, art, artist, canada, canvas, demo, demonstration, demonstrations, demos, layer, layering, layers, painted, painting, paintings, step by step, technique

French countryside- Triptych

The Anonymous Art Show is a great concept, this exhibition is organised by the North Vancouver Arts council consist of 641  8x 8 inches paintings.

No artist name or title is visible and all the paintings are at the same price of 100 dollars . So this is a great mix of artist that could be well-known or just starting and people will choose what painting to buy only by looking at the work itself: a great idea!

So this year, my inspiration came from the pictures I took on my last trip to France. If you are interested in seeing more of them, click on the image below to go to the Red Bubble collection:

And here is the triptych with 3 small 8 x 8 inches canvas.

And here is a step by step review of the painting process:

I taped the 3 canvas together so I could work as if it was one.

Here is my pencil drawing.

I start with watercolors in bright hues with lots of water.

Working mainly with nuances of orange, red and green. I let the paint dry.

At this point I start adding acrylics on top of the watercolors.

Here I start adding pastels for texture and for experimenting with different colors.

I continue with layers of acrylics until I am satisfied with the result.

The finished painting

Tags: acrylic, art, artist, canada, canvas, colors, demonstration, demonstrations, demos, exhibition, exhibitions, juried, landscape, landscapes, layer, layering, layers, media, medium, mixed media, north vancouver, painted, painting, paintings, sandrine pelissier, step by step, technique, tutorial, watercolor, watercolors, watercolour

2011 : A year in paintings

2011 has been a busy year, moving to 195 Pemberton has been very good to get me spending more time in the studio, here are some of the paintings that were done in 2011 (most of them have a step by step demo on this blog that you can find by typing the title of the painting on the search at the top of the page):
You can vote for your favorite painting at the end of the page if you wish to.

Downtown Lights, acrylic on canvas	From Vancouver to the mountains, acrylic on canvas
Tofino surfers, Watercolor on paper	Tofino surfers, mixed media on canvas
Ferry Dock, watercolor on paper	Under the Granville bridge, watercolor on yupo paper
Fields in greens and blues, acrylic and mixed media on canvas	Road Trip, Acrylic and mixed media on canvas
Through the Rolling Fields, acrylic and mixed media on canvas	French Countryside, acrylic and mixed media on canvas
Farming Landscape, mixed media on canvas	Hens and chicks, acrylic on canvas
One Tree, mixed media on canvas	Spring at the Cabin, mixed media on canvas
Week end escapade at the beach, mixed media on canvas	Les cabines de la plage en Bretagne, mixed media on canvas
Poppies, mixed media on canvas	Poppy Dance, mixed media on canvas
Peony exuberance, mixed media on canvas	Blooming Peony, mixed media on canvas
Hellebore, acrylic on canvas	Bouquet de printemps, mixed media on canvas

Tags: abstract, acrylic, art, artist, artists, canvas, exhibition, exhibitions, landscape, landscapes, layer, layering, layers, mixed media, north vancouver, painted, painting, paintings, paper, sandrine pelissier, watercolor, watercolors, watercolour, yupo

Hands and feet to yourself

Hands drawing

It might have happened to you, you are at a life drawing class and feel relief because for the next pose you won’t see the model’s hands or feet, and even better not his face. Then start to wonder what is the point of avoiding difficulty and what would be the best way to improve that particular skill.

Hands in particular are one of the most expressive part of the body, essential to body language, so very important in life drawing. One of the best advice I read in a drawing book was to draw hands and feet as much as you can until you feel comfortable with it. Draw them everyday, and do so for a long time.

As I believe sometimes the best way to overcome a difficulty is just to practice,  I started trying to draw at least a few hands and a few feet watching television in the evening, either mine or my kids and I think I am starting to see improvement just after 2 weeks, at least I draw them with more confidence at the life drawing classes. Here is a selection of those hands and feet (click on the pictures to see a larger version) :

Hands drawings

Feet drawings

Tags: difficulty, drawing, feet, hand, hands, life, model, practice