The Crest Theater here in Sacramento is indeed a jewel of a structure. It hosts both fims and various live performances. This was a GREAT exercise in VALUE control. I worked from a reference photograph and painted on a half sheet of 140lb. cold press watercolor paper.

Go See Saul

 

I teach part time at a local two year college here in Sacramento, and yesterday (top photo) I posted my painting start of him (second photo). Today, you see my finished watercolor (third photo at bottom). In yesterday's post, I wrote that I was absolutely, positively not going to paint anything else in his semi-unfinished left eye. I did plan, however, to render his mouth more fully. Upon doing that today, I saw that Saul's left eye needed just a little more of a tonal wash to balance with his mouth detailing. I am  very happy with the result.

But what about that top photo you ask. That was watercolored about a month ago, and I feel it is not up to my standard of watercolor portraiture. I over painted it. Not enough value contrast No pop!  Here is a good case study of doing more than one painting of the same subject. It's like rehearsing a stage play. You deliver your lines with much more conviction and nuance after a number of rehearsals.

Dare I ask for comments on this California Vibe watercolor portrait?

Instead of shamelessly fishing for sympathy comments as I did in my previous post, I now am seeking comments in the form of opinions. This is one of my loose, colorful California Vibe portraits that I am well- known for. I worked on this last night (whilst listening to French Fry Radio on Pandora). I have fixed in my CA Vibe mind to not do any more painting in the sunglasses . . . zippo. But I do want to render the mouth and teeth more as well as his top knot of hair. That's it and nothing else. This watercolor portrait will have a partially unfinished look. What do y'all think of my plan? I really want some opinions, pretty please with whipping cream and a cherry on top!

By the way, that black thingy on the bottom left is the dangling headphone cord that was plugged into my iPhone that I was using to photograph this piece (I was still listening to French Fry Radio - love their music). 

I poured my heart out and only one measly comment!!!!

I wrote in my previous post "OMG, my bicycle painting died!",  and all I got was ONE comment. A very complimentary comment BUT ONLY ONE!!!! Well, my blog readers, I tore up said dead painting into a zillion tiny itsy bitsy pieces whilst a steady stream of my tears rained over them. Here is my second painting. I beg you, pretty please with whipping cream and a strawberry on top, send me a comment, any comment -  good, bad, or butt ugly. Anything. Fingers crossed. :-)  :-)

OMG! My bicycle painting died!!

My racing cyclists watercolor painting started out ok, but then I decided that I needed more contrast between the cyclists and the background. I went over the background a second glaze to darken it a tad.  Sometimes one can get away with glazing, but sometimes it can make the painting looked over worked. Bummed out, cuts this is exactly what happened! So I began a second painting. This time I went with a blue background with more white showing through for pop and tilted the cyclists at a more dramatic angle. At this stage, I am very happy with the results and think it is a vast improvement to my first iteration. The painting is about 40% complete at this stage, so tomorrow I shall bring it to a finish. Pray for me.

Where The Wild Things Are

Every year there is the annual Where The Wild Things Are art auction here in Sacramento, Calif. It raises money for a wild life sanctuary on the American River (one of the two major California Rivers that run through the city). This year, I will be judging what paintings will get into the auction. The event will include a sit down dinner under magnificent old growth oak trees at the sanctuary. These are step-by-step photos of my contribution to Where The Wild Things Are. It is a full sheet watercolor highlighting some of the creatures who call the sanctuary home.