Gardens are full of beautiful irises at the moment and this had to be the inspiration for my new creation. I started by outlining the girl with graphite and with tranfer paper. I tried to match the shape of an iris with the body of the model…Once satisfied with the overall result, I painted the flower and added some leaves for the skirt and onto the shoes. I used watercolour and ink for the background.
I created this painting with the idea of using a plant called physalis for inspiration. I thought the shape of the fruit with its cocoon were very striking to start designing an outfit.
After several attempts on drawing paper, I came up with the idea of a fairy creature with pointy ears and wings using watercolour and acrylics for the background.
As for how to get the real plant here are a few steps :
Physalis is planted indifferently in Autumn or in Spring.
You can find physalis planted in shrub or flower beds, in pots and also in the vegetable patch.
I was inspired by the fashion style of presenting this “mermaid”. I added the doodles to represent water and the girl looked so much from the 1920 s that I felt the monocle was very much of that time. This painting was done with mixed media on watercolour paper.
I started drawing this girl with her hair and then her face and out of my imagination, I saw an Indian girl appearing. I accentuated her looks by painting a red dot on her forehead and used dark skin tones for her face. I left the garment flowing as it could be interpreted as a silk gown. I decided on an Indian inspired patterned background.
I went along this week to an open painting afternoon with other artists where you bring your own art material and paint what you want . I realized once there I had forgotten in my stash to bring some pencils and I wanted to paint that girl from a reference photo.Well I thought instead of asking for a pencil I would challenge myself to draw with the paint. It was a liberating experience as I realized you can easily erase your line if you keep your paint very watery and faint. The other advantage is a gain of time! I managed to do the whole painting in one session!
I did the portrait of this beautiful African woman wearing a blue dress using gouache and acrylic. I painted the pattern of the dress in a more subtil manner to keep the focus on the gentil and attractive face.
A doll is the subject of my mixed media painting today. I love her fancy hair and attitude. I painted my own version of a doll using paper collage to dress her up. Gesso added texture to the background.I kept a limited palette to unify all the different elements.
I used lots of different techniques to achieve the bubble bath effect.
The baby was painted with gouache and the rest was made with different paints and gesso, plus the bathroom wall was done with washi tape and acrylic. I loved the fact that the chubby baby had only one tooth. I worked with 5 photo references and created a new scene. Super playful !
I will be exhibiting several watercolour and mixed media paintings with a group of other artists .You are invited to the private viewing on Friday 25th January at 11 am.
Looking forward to seeing you there !
Portrait of a Spanish woman done with mixed media on watercolour paper. I used pattern and shapes for the background to add interest and unity.
Hobby Sketcher 