Can Tho

...And we continue with the Holiday posting catch up.  


This one is of Cần Thơ, a city in Vietnam named from "cầm thi giang" - river of poems.  It is especially recognizable for it's "floating market" - vending accomplished solely by small barges along the river.  This is the first scene I've drawn of my native country; someday I'd like to return and spend some leisurely time creating artwork of the cityscapes.


I used Fabrino Artistico extra white watercolor paper for this and the best word to describe it is "yummy!"  Sometimes paper is a preferential thing but this was the right amount of absorbency, durability and cost for my style.  I received some Arches CP for Christmas so we'll see if it lives up to the hype. Sorry the scan isn't great.

Watercolor on Paper, 7.5" x 9.5"

Can Tho, Framed

Can Tho, Closeup

Ampersand Aquabord

I had some Ampersand Aquabord that I purchased a while back lying around so I broke it out as a support for my Aunt Tran's painting.  I don't think Aquaboard is much different from the previously labeled Claybord, also by Ampersand.  That is...it is a hardboard coated with a thin layer of clay on one side.  It sounded promising enough - a durable watercolor support that didn't have to be protected behind glass, can mounted like canvas and able to withstand rigorous working over.  Alas, I was very disappointed.


Perhaps it was an inexperience with the material and the expectation that it would behave like watercolor paper (such as the promo described) but I was thoroughly frustrated with it.  Instead of absorbing the paint, washes merely laid on top of the board until dried.  This made washes nearly impossible for me.  Color gradations would run into each other and create a dirty mess.


Grazes (a staple for me) were out of the question as each successive layer attempt would just lift the color below it.  Pigments are more opaque on this support and does not dry to the intended delicate transparent hues.  The texture is grainy much like coarse sand paper thus lacking the usual watercolor paper finish.  This affected how granulating colors settled or not. The only positive thing I found is that colors tend to be bright and saturated if not overworked since they sit atop the support.


Overall, a disappointing trial.  I am not encouraged to continue with this product since I spent so much time working and reworking the art, never achieving a satisfactory finish.  One should probably consider that this negative impression is in relation to my style and technique.  I worked on a small canvas, no doubt affecting how much material I could put down and control.  A larger support would have been easier and probably resulted more favorably.  Also, I can see how Aquabord would complement gouache much better than watercolor.  Finally this support encourages bold purposeful movement and color.  It appears detrimental to be tentative or uncommitted.


Despite all that I've mentioned...I have seen some beautiful paintings by other artists painted on Aquaboard but even they admit their frustrations with it.  This makes me sad since I very much wanted a great painting of a much beloved Candie and was excited to be using some wonderful violets and gold on her.  It doesn't help that I forgot to get a decent scan either.  I will ultimately have to do a do-over on Candie.

Watercolor on Aquaboard, 5"x7"

Aquabord

Pooh Bear

It's not through any planning on my part and I'm not sure why but I think I've drawn more dogs than any other subjects.  I'm in good company because I read once that canines are the 5th most common painting subject sold.  People either love their dogs or they love their children and in my case...these people love their dog children.

This is Pooh.  She showed up on the doorsteps of my in-laws one stormy day as a young pup and quickly became their surrogate child.  She is very loved so I thought that her parents would appreciate a painting.

On another note - I am very impressed with Daniel Smith's original line of watercolors, especially the quinacridones.  I will not do a full review since they are very popular and one can find reviews quite readily on the web but  I am now using the brand exclusively.  This painting is the first time I've had the opportunity to try out some new hues including french ultramarine, cobalt violet, cobalt violet deep quinacridone burnt orange (replacing burnt sienna), and quinacridone gold (replacing yellow ochre)...the latter two more transparent than the earth pigments.  Can't wait for another free shipping promo to order some more triads I've been hankering for.

Watercolor on Paper, 4"x6"

Pooh, framed

*Please excuse the bad iphone photo.  I forgot to snap a picture so had to do so on the fly after the gift was unwrapped.

Taryn

Taryn's first birthday was this afternoon at Ali Baba's.  She is Connor's younger cousin by about 2 months and her actual birthday was 5 days ago.  I started this as a small study months ago but kept developing the piece with the intention of gifting it to her but I couldn't seem to get the watercolor washes down right.  Kinda shot myself in the foot because: 1. the small size is not ideal for portraits, 2. not enough real estate to lay down complex color washes and 3. didn't use 100% rag paper.


I finally had to adjust my technique and work with the materials at hand instead of against it.  The product resembles more of an egg tempera painting than transparent watercolor.  The hues are laid down thick and opaque.  The scan picked up much more of the paper texture than the actual painting in which the colors appear better blended.

Watercolor on Paper, 4.4"x5.7"

In reality, the hardest part of the project was matting the finished piece.  Once more, I didn't think to start out with a standard size of paper so I could just purchase a pre-cut mat.  No problem right?  I've always matted my own artwork.  Long story short - an hour before the party, I was still wrangling the mat cutter with no time left to run to the framing store.

It's been an uphill battle with this one.  Here are the photos of mat and frame:

Matted, 8"x10"

Framed, 10"x12"

Daisies - Weekly Sketch

I'm busy making preparations for Halloween this week - most notably for the Colossal pumpkin carving contest.  The competition is extremely stiff  but I think I have a pretty solid plan this year.  Pictures to come next week.

This week's theme is Fences and Flora.  I wanted to work on some different techniques and atypical subjects for me.  I also wanted to get back to participating in the WC Weekend Drawing Events regularly.  

Pen & Watercolor on Paper, 4.5" x 6"

Atilla - Weekly Sketch

Since the last weekly was late, this one is early.  Hopefully this will leave me with some time to finish up some of the WIPs that are still hanging.  So far I've drawn or painted all of the dogs currently in our household except for Atilla.  I picked her up as a puppy at the city shelter 10 yrs ago.  Poor girl is the oldest of the bunch and even in her prime, never won any beauty pageants with her problematic Shar-pei coat but she can be handsomely soulful at times. 

Watercolor on Paper, 4"x6"

Malaise - Weekly Sketch

Just a tad bit late getting this up for the week.  A quick burnt umber wash for a piece I'm considering in the future that started because I had too much paint left on my water brush.  Profound. 

Watercolor on Paper, 5.75"x4.5"

More Dogs - Weekly Sketch

I knocked out a couple more dog WC sketches for this week.  I'm slowing becoming more satisfied with the way some of these watercolors are coming out but there's still so much learning left that I'm seriously contemplating taking a painting course.  It's a tricky slope because as hard as I am on myself, I still find that most formal art classes do not meet my skill level.  The best way to grow artistically would be to participate in a professional creative group.  I think I may just be a little intimidated though.  

I'm now off to the Texas State Fair.  Hopefully, I'll be able to get a few good sketches and/or photos in.

Watercolor on Paper, 4"x6"

Pen & Watercolor on Paper, 4"x6"

Daniel Smith PrimaTek Watercolors

It's been a rough start getting back into the swing of things but I managed to finish another piece in September.  I've been using the Winsor & Cotman watercolors exclusively up until now and was satisfied enough, especially at this stage of my technical skillset.  Some peers have never the less encouraged me to sample better paints and after doing some research, I started eyeing Daniel Smith's brand of watercolors.  While not prohibitively exclusive like some other brands, Smith's paints are still on the upper tier of price range but they are raved as one of the best paint lines available. I found that buying them in sets will often halve the price yet I hesitated ordering due to the high shipping cost.  Freight usually would not have been so problematic but for the competition of Dick Blick (and their deep discount + free shipping) on my art budget.

The happy ending is that I generously received three sets of Daniel Smith triad sets from my MIL for my birthday this year.  I've heard from other artists that DS shipments take a little longer to arrive (another point for DB) but MIL ended up having to re-order as my shipment got lost.  My booty consisted of: Cadmium Orange Hue, Cobolt Violet, Cobalt Violet Deep, Isoindoline Yellow, Quinacridone Fuchsia, Terre Verte, Tiger's Eye Genuine, Sugilite Genuine and Mayan Blue Genuine. The majority is new to my palette with the last three within DS exclusive PrimaTek line (earth tones rendered from semi-precious stones and minerals). 


DS paints only come in tubes so I purchased another W&N travel set, emptied out the pans and refilled them with the DS paints.  Most of the colors were thick and buttery smooth except for the PrimaTek line which appeared lumpy and coarse.  Tiger's eye genuine had separated but I was able to blend it back together.  The synthetic colors didn't shrink too much overnight, however, the PrimaTek colors had dried to only about 1/3 the original volume...somewhat disappointing since this is generally an indicator of more fillers and less pigments.

My mother always complains that whenever Chris calls home, it's usually to ask about his dog which inspired me to test the new colors on a postcard of Rev.  As it turns out, I ended up solely using the PrimaTek hues supplemented by cotman yellow orche, ultramarine and burnt umber, which means I can't speak to the standard line of DS colors at this time.


Let's start with the positive.  Working previously from such a limited common palette, I was pleasurably entranced by the new colors in the Primatek line.  The Mayan Blue Genuine is an attractive deep turquoise hue.  The Sugilite Genuine has a lavender iridescent sheen...subtle but coyly enticing.  The Tiger's Eye Genuine is a very subdue brown, more yellow than burnt umber, not exciting but versatile.   It's probably a personal preference but because they're based on earth minerals, the hues are generally muted and incorporated well into my neutral aesthetic. They're rich without being vibrant, complex but not loud.  I didn't feel that I had to work at toning down the colors to achieve a natural likeness.  Conversely though, I felt that the pigment load was rather low. It took quite a bit of paint to achieve a strong tint.       


The other problem that I experienced was that the PrimaTek colors tend to lift fairly easy making glazing a difficult task.  This is probably due to the rather large particles of natural minerals vs. the microscopic particles of synthetic compounds.  I don't think this should be a deterrent from using the line, but the artist should be aware and adjust his technique accordingly else risk some annoyance as I did at first.


My overall impression is that Daniel Smith's PrimaTek line is worth sampling but it's probably not the best bang for your buck.  The low tinting strength and higher cost makes it economically unattractive especially when you consider that most of the hues can be replicated.  In essence, you're getting a little paint for a lot of money.  Now how much mileage you get from selling paintings created with semiprecious lapis lazuli, garnet and turquoise is another matter.  It seems like the PrimaTek line, as with a lot of commercially successful art, benefits from good marketing. 

Watercolor on Paper, 4"x6"

Percy's Picnic

For anyone that does not yet know,  my brother is a writer.  A witty, brilliant writer.  He's also a bum.  A very happy and well adjusted bum, mind you...but make no mistake about it...he's a Le through and through.  While he was born with the literary talents, he is unable to draw a decent rendering to save his life.  (His stick men however, are commendable).  I on the other hand, through years and years of training in scientific academia, can write a logical thesis like nobody's business which is all fine and well, but there are very few people with the fortitude to endure one of my dissertations.    


We have (had) grand visions of collaborating on the greatest children's book ever created.  It was to be epic, dazzling, a melding of two genius creative minds for a toddler masterpiece, that serendipitously, whose audience would not have the verbal aptitude or manual dexterity to criticize our work.  Didn't I say it was genius...save for one factor.  My brother is a bum and I, in all fairness, a quasi-bum.  


Fearing a chicken or egg scenario that would ultimately thwart our plans to conquer the world one alphabet book at a time, I began some preliminary character development.  Granted, I didn't entirely conceive these characters from scratch as they, by happenstance, were referenced as some of this week's sketch subjects (previously mentioned in my last posting).  Still it's something to take a squirrel, a meerkat, some lavender, some other kind of reddish flower and weave a compelling story around one delightfully whimsical illustration of the combination.   Admittedly, 'delightful' might be tooting my own horn but given the choices (lemur, llama, orangutan...dog), I think Percy came out alright.    


Introducing Percival S., the squirrel.  He's British by the way.  Imagine him with a cute squeaky little British accent.    Click to see larger version.

Monkey Business - Weekly Sketch

This week's subjects are again from the WetCanvas forum - the theme was zoo critters with some flowers,  shrubbery and a domestic pet thrown in for good measure.  It's usually a dog or cat...always a dog or cat I've noticed.  People really like them.  This time it was a dog.  I didn't draw the dog.


The first piece is a quick pen and watercolor wash I did as a warm up.  Monkeys.  Three monkeys to be clear.  The second, a lemur.  Just one.  The third which is in the next post for reasons that will become apparent includes said zoo critters,  flowers, shrubbery...but no dog.  Have I mentioned yet that I didn't draw the dog?

Micron & Watercolor on Paper, 5"x8"

Watercolor on Paper, 5"x8"

M. _ Water Garden & Cockerel - Weekly Sketch

This week's sketch is a 'two for the price of one'.  I frequent a pretty neat art forum that has some awesome artist (mostly traditional) and some not so awesome ones.  Some days I'm humbled while one other days I get a nice ego boost.  It's a learning opportunity either way.   They have daily, weekly, monthly events/challenges that I've begun to participate in.  It lets me hone my skills, paint subjects I usually wouldn't consider and lets me explore beyond my comfort zone.  I also like the help and suggestions available from other professionals.


This week's references were irresistible to me for their sheer potential.  I chose these two because well...I've never drawn either ever before and felt it would be a challenge to paint them in watercolor.  Boy, was it ever.  Watercolor is a beast that takes some planning.  While there is some measure for corrections, you can't simply paint over as you would acrylic or oils.  Still - I'm having a blast even if I'm not entirely pleased with the results.  Would like more contrast and I probably need to expand my color palette as it feels a little dull.  What do you expect for the bargain deal price of 2 weeklies for the price of one!


Almost forgot!  There is an easy challenge attached to this one.  First person to tell me the location (city) of the subjects in the paintings gets a print of my next piece (not going to say what it is just yet though).  Bonne chance!

Watercolor on Paper, 5"x8"

Watercolor on Paper, 5"x 8"

Heather Skies - Original Postcard Giveaway

In appreciation of Anthromorphologie Facebook followers, fans, likees or whatever is the terminology these days, I will be giving away free stuff from time to time.  Cool stuff like prints, art supplies, custom portraits, original artwork and perhaps even a certain little baby boy if he doesn't stop crying right now and take a nap.  All you have to do is be a fan and follow directions.


I did this piece as a warm up after my extended hiatus and to try out my new Winsor & Newton Cotman colors.  Truth be told...of the 45 additional colors in my new palette, the only debutante to make it into this exercise was Cerulean Blue.  I don't often do landscapes but I'm trying to incorporate more into my repertoire if only to break up the day.


This quaint hillside scene is painted on 140 lb Strathmore CP postcard size watercolor paper, sealed and ready to be mailed out to one lucky fan.  Wouldn't it be nice to open your mailbox and get something other than bills and solicitations.  Of course it may get a little wear and tear courtesy of the USPS but I'm sure it'll only add to the charm*.  Just comment or "like" this posting.  I'll draw a name from the respondents and post the winner on July 10th. 

Watercolor on Paper, 4"x6"

*I cannot be responsible for lost or stolen mail. In the event that it is lost or stolen, artwork cannot and will not be replaced as it is an original.  Additionally,  there is no refund since it is free.

Il lettore - Weekly Sketch

A little over a year ago in a rare act of sibling solidarity, my brother and I agreed to get matching themed tattoos if I design them.  We decided on Roaring 20's sparrows.  Maybe it's my aversion to pain or my knack for procrastination but to this day no birds yet.  I think it's some deep seated psychological issue because really...surely even the most tardy offender must be able to knock something out in 18 months.


In an effort to get inked sometime this decade, Chris went solo instead and asked for an image of a fox reading a book; I suppose because he lives for books and fancies himself clever.  I envisioned something dark, gothic.  Mr. Fox in a heavy velvet robe sitting in the armchair of Poe's library.


This is what came out.

Watercolor on Paper, 5"x8"

It's probably because of my recent submersion into watercolors yet somehow, this actually reminds me more of my brother - light, whimsical, skinny legs?  I'm still working on the tattoo but this nevertheless is dedicated to you Brother.

Winsor & Newton Cotman Watercolor Pan Set

I needed a watercolor pan set for plein-air painting and sketchbook journaling.  Most of the artist sets were priced higher than I wanted to pay considering I didn't want a double investment in both tube and pan colors.  The opposite end of the spectrum just didn't pass muster so I was happy when I came across Winsor & Newton Cotman colors.  WB artist line is highly popular with watercolor professionals and the student line is reputed to be quite good.  The variety of palettes, from compact cases to all in one field boxes, also attracted me - in the instance, it was their sketcher pocket box set.

Winsor & Newton Sketcher Pocket Box Set

This particular set consist of 12 half pans with most of the essential hues and a collapsable brush.  At around 2"x4", it fits nicely in a pocket or purse.  The case is made of sturdy plastic and although perhaps not as attractive as metal tins, certainly is more robust for the field.  However, unlike traditional sets that clip into rails, the pans sit in the molded wells of the case which causes them to rattle and sometime fall askew when transported.

While it can be observed that some of the colors were not as intense when compared to the best artist colors, it was nevertheless highly satisfactory and better, with many single pigment colors, than most any other student set.  The discrepancy was mostly found in the 'hues' that were used to replace some of the more costly colors although they do also make real cadmiums and cobolt colors (none were in this set).  

Overall - the price, quality and size were perfect for my intended purpose.  Have a handy waterbrush loaded and this set is perfect on the go.  My only complaint was the lack of black in this pallet on an outing to the Arboretum last weekend, but in the future, I intend to refill the empty pans with my choice of artist tube colors.

I tested the set out on an illustration of my brother.

Ink and Watercolor on Paper, 5"x8"

More Dancers - Weekly Sketch

Some flirty dancers. Practicing a variety of styles and techniques for each of my weeklies.

Watercolor on Paper, 5"x8"

Moleskine Watercolor Notebook

I think from time to time I will try to do a product review because I like to experiment with different products and from my experience found that there's a scarcity of comprehensive information readily accessible.  My inaugural review will cover the Moleskine watercolor notebook. The Tombows that I have been using were adequate in the Moleskine classic but they neither blended well as watercolors on the paper nor was the nib fine enough for my inking taste.  I was therefore impressed to try the watercolor notebook as most enthusiast recommend it for journaling and field studies. 

Moeskine Watercolor Notebook

The books come in a pocket sized 3.5" x 5.5" and a larger but still extremely portable 5" x 8" landscape. With 60 and 72 pages respectively, there's an ample amount of creamy, thick 200gsm, 25% cotton cold pressed paper and unlike some other thread bound sketchbooks, I like that the pages lay flat for use when open.  The cover has an elegant yet professional leather texture with an elastic closure similar to the classic series. 


I purchased my large notebook from the University Co-op art store for $19.99 but subsequently found them for much less from online vendors such as Dick Blick.  Tragically, a quick assessment of my art cache revealed a shortage of any decent watercolors paints so for this demonstration, I was relegated to using the Tombows ABT duel brush pens and some Fiber-Castell watercolor pencils. 


Voila! A quick study of barn owls.

Mix Media on Paper, 5"x8"

The owl on the left side was painted using the pencils while the pair on the right, a combination the brush pens and micron.  I primarily used a #5 Royal Aqualon round that I purchased in a variety 3pk on clearance for $0.01.  For that price, I couldn't resist trying them out and found them quite favorable at least for this application.  The watercolor pencils are a scholastic grade so it was hard to get the intensity and pigmentation to do proper gradation and blending.  I found this frustrating to the point of turning me off to watercolor pencils but I will definitely try a better grade and see how I fair.

The versatility of the brush pens became more apparent when using the proper paper.  I was able to easily blend using the colorless blending pen or a brush, control the intensity of color by dipping the tip in water and building up hues by glazing.  I liked them enough that I ordered a set of 10 beyond my usual shader colors.

The paper held up extremely well even with heavy washes with no bleeding whatsoever.  There was only minimal warping and doubtful any with lighter applications.  The slight tooth of the paper is also ideal for techniques with other media such as charcoal, graphite, and pastels that cannot be achieved with the classic smooth paper.  Needless to say, I am extremely pleased thus far with this notebook and suggest it as an companion to those who already love the classic Moleskine.

On a related note, I just ordered my first Kolinsky sable brushes and of course some artist quality watercolors.  I am beyond giddy.