Day: June 9, 2018

Two cranes on a pine tree branch

A quick go at two cranes on a pine tree, based on a mural I photographed in China in April 2016:
I chose a sheet of beige Canson paper, used a Pentel black brushpen for the outline and the black feathers of the cranes, and watercolor for the rest. I added white watercolor for highlights on the branch, and a white Posca pen for the cranes’ neck line and beak:

Here is the resulting painting, framed (30×20 cm) and ready to give as a present:

Reproduction of Hokusai’s ‘Sparrow & Magnolia’

Having put a coat of white paint on a couple wooden boards that were framed and that used to represent some rather ugly and soulless floral representations, I set to reproduce Hokusai’s ‘Sparrow & Magnolia’.

 

I sketched it rather precisely, a somewhat tedious endeavour given the texture of the layer of white paint:
Then I started to paint with gouache. Here, the sky and the wood of the magnolia branch:

Then, the sparrow in shades of orange and light milky orange:

Purple and red for the dark petals of the magnolia blossoms:

I added white to my burgundy mix and enhanced the magnolia blossoms. Then used dark and light green for the leaves:

Then I focused on the sparrow, using blue and white, and black:

With a Pentel black brushpen, I outlined everything and creating details on the tail of the sparrow, the branch and leaves.

Here is the resulting 20×50 cm framed painting:

Reproduction of Hokusai’s ‘Cuckoo & Azalea’

Having put a coat of white paint on a couple wooden boards that were framed and that used to represent some rather ugly and soulless floral representations, I set to reproduce Hokusai’s ‘Cuckoo & Azalea’, some work that I had drawn and colored before (notably using watercolor during Drawvember 2016).

 

I sketched it rather precisely. We see the texture of the layer of white paint on the wood, as I used a foam paint roller:
Black gouache for the strong strokes on the cuckoo, shades of blue and white gouache for the sky:
Then I painted the bush of azaleas, and used some grey for the shadows on the feathers:
Finally, I used a Pentel black brushpen for the bush outline and the details of leaves and flowers:
Resulting 20×50 cm framed painting: