Paint Seven Paintings in Seven [or more] Days

Two fellow artists/friends (Margie and Sylvia) challenged me to paint seven paintings in seven [or more] days. I added "or more" because sometimes life takes over and swallows the time I'd set aside for drawing/painting. Here is No. 1 of 7 (or more) titled Model with Blonde Hair I:

Model with Blonde Hair I • Watercolor

I decided my seven paintings will be portraits in watercolor. Edward Betts states that we get clues about our individual painting "strengths and obsessions" by examining what direction we've taken in our work. My sketchbooks are filled with drawings of people, faces, figures. My bins are filled with paintings of the same. Betts states the second step "is to cultivate those strengths, to push the work even farther in its natural direction toward whatever end it seems to be headed." We'll see where painting people in watercolor goes in seven days and beyond.

My process while painting Model with Blonde Hair I: Using a value sketch/drawing of this model as reference, I drew (free-hand) the shape of her face and features on the watercolor paper. In this particular painting, I laid a light cobalt blue wash over the pencil lines and let it dry. I angled my paper upright about 80º then using a flat 1-1/2 inch brush laid washes of yellow, yellow ochre, cadmium red light, and cerulean blue. After this wash dried, I loaded my round brush with mixes of the same colors (triad) and painted a shadow shape on the right side of her face (our right), then painted her eyes, nose, mouth, neck, and hair.

While this is the first of seven that I'm posting, it is my fourth painting of this particular model from the value sketch. I re-drew her free-hand each time. It's interesting to view similarities and differences among the paintings.

Girl in Pink

Girl in Pink • Watercolor on Unknown 100% Rag Paper

This is another in my series #Playing With Paint. I drew the initial sketch (inspired by a black and white photo in a book). After placing a smaller piece of watercolor paper on my Masonite board, I wet the paper on both sides and began flooding it with color — warm and cool. After mopping up drips, I began the process of lifting paint to find her face. I painted in, lifted out, going back and forth as many times as needed. I scraped out highlights in her hair, emphasized lines in her face and dress with a watercolor pencil.

Color Sketch of a Girl • Painting with colors from The Old Masters' Palette plus Cobalt Blue

Color Sketch of a Girl: painting w colors from The Old Masters' Palette + Blue

Last week while painting I ran rampant with color. Today I limited colors to those employed by the Old Masters: Burnt Sienna, Yellow Ochre, and Payne's Gray. And I added Cobalt Blue.

To start, I did a pre-painting drawing directly on the (dry) watercolor paper. I firmed outlines with a rigger brush using cobalt blue watercolor, then reaffirmed some lines with a Derwent pencil in Dark Indigo.

Because the flip side of my paper featured one of my unsuccessful (very colorful!) paintings, I immersed the sheet in a basin of cold water and placed the paper unpainted side up on a Masonite board. I soaked excess water with a large natural sea sponge, picked up a flat brush, loaded it with Yellow Ochre and launched into placing paint on the wet paper.

Exciting! It's always fun to watch what happens. A brush stroke loaded with a particular color might work — or it might not.

The Girl, Steps 1 and 2

Color sketch of The Girl

Step 1: I drew a head shape, penciled in eye sockets, tip of nose, and line of mouth. I wet the paper (student grade, purchased for my grandchildren) and dropped in a wash of pale yellow, red, blue, and tipped my paper, adding water to encourage flow and melding of color. After this dried, I wet areas in shadow (light coming from our left, top) and dropped in yellow, then red, then blue.

Step 2: After the shadow shapes dried, I wet the hair area, dropped in yellow, red, blue – letting and helping colors run together. I scraped highlights with my painting knife. Student grade paper does not hold a scrape very well; the area filled in with damp paint. But I like the linear effect. I darkened the eye shapes and mouth, dampened the background and ran in red and blue to create purple.

Next, I will draw and paint The Girl on Arches 140 lb. cold press. My aim will be to paint an entirely new painting.

Roses in her hair

Harley's Law:

1. A painting should have a dominant color that is readily evident.

2. Complementary color may be introduced, occupying much smaller space. . .

3. Discord colors . . . may be added, sparingly. . .

~ Harley Brown (from his book titled Harley Brown's Eternal Truths for Every Artist)


Me: All rules are open to interpretation. I was trying out various features of "Painter" (application).