This assignment proved to be much more difficult than I expected. As I already knew, I had a lot of bad paintings to from. If it's not already obvious, watercolor is a little rough for me. Going through, I ran into oh so many choices to blog, and I couldn't choose just one to exemplify my evolution as an illustrator. Even though I can't say I've had that "ah-ha" moment I've been waiting for and anticipating, I've had slightly less dramatic "Oh, okay," type moments.
So, here it begins:
Believe it or not, that's a cloudscape. I was experimenting with the idea of using white paint, which I now realize doesn't really do it. The tint of my white is yellow-ish, and against blue looks really awkward. At this point, I also had this huge fear of over saturation, because I don't like when everything runs together and gets crazy and muddy, whereas I'm coming to realize that the interactions between colors is the beauty of watercolor. Obviously, this isn't translating at all, and I am going so far to say as this is because of fear.
Here's another one where I used not nearly enough water, and I was a little tight. I think that tended to happen when I got a little thick with the line art, because I felt like I had to stay inside the lines, which in the end doesn't look that great, especially with my skills as an illustrator being where they are. And, again, I had this thing about the white paint... thank goodness I have the ability to whip out a gouche pick-out now.
Final "bad" one: where to begin? Aside from the if-y composition, my cloud looks like a cotton ball. I was still figuring out that clouds really don't have dark outlines... and with that, I continued to ignore the fact that interactions are actually a good thing-- all of my colors are so starkly separate and contrasting... dislike. And, again, I'm not using close to enough water. It's such a control thing, I know, but all the same, it looks ridiculous. I was so afraid of interactions on the bottom, I didn't even allow the gray of the pavement to touch the brown of the much of the lines of the building. All of this is just bad news bears.
So now that that's out of the way, I'll shift into the good ones. These were even more challenging to choose from, but for the opposite reason of the bad ones. I had some that I think turned out pretty good, but they all have parts that aren't quite perfect, so, again, I went with three, so I could emphasize some of the good that has come out of all this watercolor practice.
I'm actually a pretty big fan of this rooster. I really like some of the interactions one the red face: this is when I discovered the way to layer watercolor in a way to create more value. I'm also really liking some of the interactions on the tail: this is the first time I used differing colors to get an affect (as seem in the blue I threw in there) and it really went well, I think. It added a really cool dimension.
I'm contemplating whether or not to mention what I dislike, since I know these are supposed to be the good part, but I will... it's not like it won't be recognized anyways.
To improve this, I would mainly change the background. I really like what the green is doing, but I wish I would've allowed it to interact with the rooster a little more. I also think the hay looks a little overworked.
I also really am liking how the fish turned out. I think some of the interactions between the orange and the black are really neat, and the sheen of the fish is really cool. I also allowed a little more interaction between the fish and the background, and that is very beneficial.
However, the brown is bland, and the background may be a tad overworked. In the end, though, I still can't deny that I really am liking this piece.
Finally, the sushi. I was surprised when this turned out, to be honest. I was trying to use a lot more water than I usually do, because I know a lot of my paintings come out far too tight. I love the interactions between the different saturations of color on the plate, it adds a really interesting aspect, while at the same time, I like the dripping in the shadow and the other cool water coloring actions. I only desire that I showed depth a little better with this one.
But I do love that I'm starting to understand what you are doing when you let the water color do its own thing, because it really can create some fun and painterly things that look really cool and artist like in illustrations.
This practice is definetly paying off. I can't wait until this get to the point where I can actually create something that I think is worthy of professional use.
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