“INCOGNITO” An Original Watercolor on handmade paper (deckled edges) by Shanti Marie 11 by 14 inches $120.00 Plus $5.50 for S & H.

“Incognito” A quick look at how Glazing can change a watercolor

This is a painting that is ready to be glazed.  It is completely dry  (more than 24 hours)  and will accept a new layer of paint very well.

The final finished painting is at the bottom of this post.

This is how the painting looks before I have glazed it.  Take a look at the painting and you will be able to see how different a painting can look after glazes have been applied.

You may also see area or shapes of some things which haven’t been painted yet.   Some direct painting or glazing with the same color will also need to be done to bring the values in line.  Values are difficult to determine unless you can see how  all the various colors and glazes effect each other.   Often an artist should go back and take a look at anything that has been changed just to make sure that anything that needs tweeking gets tweeked.   This means perhaps darkening an area previously thought to be OK.

Above you will see a section of the painting.  Look at the light green leaf here in the middle, I will glaze over some burn’t senna and  then some green and  last some pink which should push the leaf back a bit and look  like a shadow.

You can see this in the next photo below.

Under the bright orange leaf there is also an area which is not defined, look at this area and see how it will be redefined by direct painting & glazing. This photo above shows how I changed the shape of this area (under the large orange leaf).

Next look at the photo below… there was a very light  shape which was only painted a light grey blue but was left mostly white.  You can also see the blue leaf’s edges (in the corner) was given a blue and purple glaze .

 Here is the that same area and you can see it has been painted around (negatively painted ) also a few direct touches help to bring a little critter to life.

 

Below in the next shot there is an area of the painting I had to grey up a bit while defining the finger like shape.  I glazed over this area with Phatho blue.

Then I decided to scumble in some Andrews Turquoise and some Cerulean blue  Both are a bit opaque and can be layered rather then glazed. Opaque paint will sit on top of the first layer of paint, in this case the dark blue paint.

  This is the right hand lower corner of the painting, You can see I put in various colors as glazes to give the butterfly shape some dimension and I also added some colors to his body for a little more emphasis. 

 Here is the final painting.  Notice I also painted the little vine like branches again so they would stand out against the background.  I also glazed the big brown leaf at the right hand bottom corner with bright red so it looks a bit brighter.  These things are subtle but often these little tweeks are all a painting needs.

 

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Tips for Glazing over a layer of paint in Water Color

This painting is about ready to be glazed. See my next post to see the various ways I used glazes to change this painting.

Glazing is a very simple thing to do but one must always remember that the
First tip: paper has to be bone dry before a glaze is attempted. Often I wait 24 hours for my paper to dry but a blow dryer seems to work for most. If you are a beginner, I would also recommend that you….
Second tip: glaze over pigments (colors) which are more likely to stay put. example…. rather than glaze over cobalt blue try painting a color over pathlo blue. Cobalt blue is a great color when you need to pick up color…
( something to remember when you want some white or light in your blue sky) and because of this it has to be glazed over very gently.
Third tip : When Glazing over one pigment with another its good to use transparent pigments so the two will look like a stained glass window and what you will see is a third color created by the two… If you use thick paint with a lot of opacity the result will be less dynamic.
Fourth tip: don’t plan to brush over the first layer more than 2 times (later you may be able to but only with experience) … If your third color (the color you created by painting over the first with the second) isn’t dark enough try to paint over the first layer again after you have dried the paper again.
Fifth Glazing tip: Your brush should not be sopping wet with the second color and water…this very wet mixture may reactivate the first layer and you do not want to pick the first color. The brush needs to have enough paint to get the area painted with as few strokes as possible. After you have wet your brush, pick up your paint, then remember to lightly touch the base of your brush against dry towel (paper or cloth ) to remove any excess water.

When inspiration is low, rather then trying to paint a painting… try to learn more about your color palette by creating a Glaze test box.
A fun exercise for learning great combinations or what a glazed color will look like is to make up some small 3 by 5 cards you can keep in a recipe box with notes. You will find your favorites and will also be able to see which colors are easier to glaze or more difficult to glaze over. I used a large 1 1/2 inch flat brush and just painted (usually in one stroke) squares of color on each card, allowed them to dry, then painted over the squares with a second and often a third color.
TIP
Writing down the specific brand of paint used and the color combinations is important. I also put in a note for myself (I have no memory) as to which layer (or order) the colors were painted in.

Without the struggle it wouldn’t be worth it! Keep painting.
Shanti Marie
ARTIST

“The path” 6 by 8 watercolor 45.00 USD

“Pleasant memories” 6 by 9 inches watercolor $50.00

All dogs go to heaven series #38 Daddy’s Home $35.00 5.5 ” by 7″ watercolor on paper

“Daddy’s Home “

Another fall day 11 by 14 $120.00 Watercolor

All dogs go to Heaven #37 4 by 6 watercolor $35.00

Grandson Ryder

This is a photo of my grandson “Ryder” I took him with me this am on my dog walk. The woods and Meadow were so beautiful, I wanted to share it with him.

“Koi babies” watercolor on home made archival paper 11 by 14 $120.00

Living Jewels #19 19 by 33 inches Watercolor $1800.00

This painting is NOT a daily painting but a part of a series called  ”Living Jewels” .  I thought it would be nice for those folks who see my daily paintings to see some of my more challenging and artistically complicated watercolors of which I’m known for.

As many of you know I have a koi pond and I love them as pets. Well pets might be the wrong word but I am their care taker. I love watching them because they comfort me and while sitting or standing by the water’s edge, listening to the water fall, I feel a sense of overwhelming serenity like no other thing I’ve ever experienced. Some folks say it meditative, others say its similar to watching a BIG fire on a snowy night.  Seeing how much I love Koi you might think it strange that I would eat fish but I don’t think its odd at all but of course I wouldn’t eat my own Koi.
Don’t get me wrong I love all animals and of course fish too and yes I eat both fish & meat.   I came to terms with that decision many years ago.  I decided that I can’t be vegetarian on the grounds of cruelty unless I also gave up using all animal products. This included everything from Jello to  thousands of  leather products  like shoes, belts, & furniture just to name a few. Don’t forget  feathers, fur  and lots of health products.  Knowing it would be too difficult to eliminate all these things I choose to eat meat and fish.  I do find it interesting that so many vegetarians eat fish and will not eat meat. A vegetarian diet is a very healthy way to go and it’s good for most people.

If healthful living is the reason for you to be a vegetarian, I agree with it 100%.   But…. Vegetarians who feel its unfair and cruel to animals to be used as food but think its not cruel to fish bothers me.  Its difficult to know what is right, but I have been around fish for awhile and from my experience as a angler and as a pond enthusiast I think they feel pain.  I didn’t always think this and my opinion evolved form fishing with barbs to catch and release to not fishing at all.

I was indoctrinated in the catch-and-release ethic that was growing around 1990. (The idea of catch-and-release has been promoted by the conservation group Trout Unlimited and other fish sporting groups since the 1950s, yet there are still many parts of the country where fishermen think it’s ridiculous.

Back when I started fishing, most folks I met on the banks or out on the lake liked to catch their daily limit of fish and eat them.) I did too on occasion but as I started to really watch the fish and fell in love with them, I wanted to learn ways to avoid hurting them, to catch and release the fish properly. Usually I would use a net with a soft mesh rather than the BIG string like net so as not to pull off any scales.   I would wet my hands before handling any fish (so as not to take off the protective slime coat), then gently  I removed the barbless hook from its mouth, and swish it back and forth in the water only letting go when it appears it had its bearings (though fish usually just flit away at the earliest opportunity). Like many fishermen/anglers, I had the experience of catching the same fish twice, and it bothered me to see them thrash about but using my softer technique it appeared as if really I wasn’t hurting them; it was as though we were wrestling. After several years of this type of fishing with my husband  I decided to do a bit of research and found that the latest studies indicate fish feel pain but can tolerate being caught and released. and their movements are not knee jerk reactions.
Research studies backed up the my intuition that catch-and-release worked. Generally, if you don’t deep-hook a fish, exhaust them on the line, hold them out of the water too long, or bash them on the head, they have a good chance of living to fight another day.

Most fishermen will admit fish caught and placed in a boats holding tank don’t seem happy thrashing about in the water, and some fish make an unpleasant croaking sound when you’re trying to get the hook out. Seeing them gasping for air, it’s hard not to feel like a jerk sometimes.

Finally  the 2003 Edinburgh study confirmed that trout have polymodal nociceptors around their face and head—i.e., they have the ability to detect painful stimuli with their nervous system. After reading a bit more I found I would rather keep fish in a pond then try to  catch them for sport or food.

“Batik Koi” Watercolor on handmade 100 % archival paper 11 by 14 $85.00

“All Cats go to Heaven #2″ watercolor on paper 4″by 6″ $30.00

All dogs go to Heaven # 35 6 inches by six inches

This little painting is painted in watercolor and would make you or a friend a great gift.

As a kid people would say to me that they took their dog out to the country to live on a farm where there was lots of room to run.  Maybe this was the farm. 

All dogs go to Heaven #34 Watercolor on paper 5 by 9 ” $55.00

All good dogs go to heaven?  What about the bad ones?  I think they  get to go too because if they are bad its because some person/s  mistreated them.