Food and watercolor

Although I have been focusing on portraits for the past year or so, I still love to do my pen drawings and watercolor them after. Apparently I am not the only one who likes them; I recently posted a little food montage I produced at a sketch-along with Nate and Sally from theydraw.com, and my friend Kirsti posted this:

"I do love your portraits, but boy do I love your pen and watercolor sketches, especially when they involve food! More, please!!!

So, partially to gratify Kirsti and partially because I wasn't in the mood for faces today, and also because I just made this and it was so SO good, here is a recipe for Magic Eggplant Casserole, done in my contour-drawing-and-watercolor style, and in proper format to get uploaded to theydrawandcook.com as well! (They have everybody do their illustrations in a format so that they will make a double spread in a book, and then they periodically collect some of the submissions and publish one.)

Because I did this "real size" instead of scaling up, I didn't manage to put all the detail into the "products" (canned goods etc.) that I normally would; but I also didn't feel like doing complicated math OR piecing things together in Photoshop today.

"Magic Eggplant Casserole"—pencil, Uniball pen, watercolors, on Fluid 140-lb. coldpress watercolor paper, 16.5x6.25 inches.

I wish I had broken the border with the casserole dish, like I did with the carrots and the pasta lid—it would have been more consistent. Also, I wish I had put in a block of cheese instead of that grater, but oh well.

Note: I don't know why this is specifically eggplant casserole, since it has equal parts of many vegetables in it, but I copied it approximately from a dish they used to serve at the Good Earth Restaurant, now defunct, and that's what they called theirs. This can even make a fun party dish—you can divide it up into individual ramekins, top it with some really good cheese before baking, and then serve it with a small dollop of sour cream on top for fanciness.

Also, you don't have to include all these veg—sometimes I make it without the carrots and potatoes. And sometimes I add other stuff too, like green beans or individual pearl onions, or small chunks of sweet potato. It's quite versatile. And it's also good served up over brown rice.

Wet and wild(er)

I've been saving this reference photo for a while, and today she seemed the perfect subject to try out the new, wet-brush loose technique I learned in the lesson on Tuesday, so I sketched her out in pencil and went to town. It could still be looser in some respects, and maybe more colorful and less blended as well, but I'm pretty pleased. That great cloud of hair was challenging, but I just kept painting until it looked sorta right. I couldn't resist using my rigger brush to do the lace on her shirt, although she got purple instead of the black she was wearing, just to provide yet more interest.

"Alessandra"—pencil and Paul Jackson watercolors

on Fluid 140-lb. coldpress watercolor paper, 9x12 inches. 

A new school

I am so often annoyed by all the advertising crap that pops up in my Facebook feed, most of it directly related to some random remark I made that results in my being bombarded with weight loss formulas or expensive pajamas or whatever. But an ad for Etchr Studio art school displayed a watercolor so enticing that I went to their website and ended up registering for three mini workshops. And what they interpret as a mini workshop seems pretty generous to me: For six dollars, I was treated to a 90-minute stroke-by-stroke narrative by the artist (Fiona Di Pinto, a lovely Italian lady) on how she paints a portrait, and was able, thanks to the advance delivery of the reference photo for me to draw, to follow along and try it for myself.

I have been painting portraits in both watercolor and acrylics for a while now, but the looseness to which I aspire graces me only infrequently; I more often than not end up over-blending and coming up with something that is blander and less risky than I would like. But I think that going along with this as Fiona painted it, in the order and with the colors she used, is going to have an effect on future work; additionally, she gave a few small tips that were so simple but so revelatory that I can't believe I never figured them out for myself.

We painted this entire thing, except for the detail work (which was done with a fine rigger brush) with a Silver Black Velvet #12, a brush that holds a lot of water. Previous to this I have avoided using it for much of anything but background washes, preferring the control of my Escoda Prado synthetic brushes, which maintain a perfect point and don't overwhelm you with wetness. But after this experience, I'm game to keep on with the looser, wetter brush to see if I can improve and gravitate towards the spontaneous feel that I'm seeking.

"Fiona"—pencil and watercolor on Fluid 140-lb. coldpress watercolor paper, 9x12 inches.

I lost the plot on this one a bit on the eyes and also on the nose, simply because I'm not used to having to wait so long for things to dry before going back into them; I had to lift the eyes a couple of times and rework them, so they became a little dark and teary; and I got carried away with the shadow on the side of the nose and overwhelmed it a bit. But even with those caveats, I am so pleased with what I learned in this workshop! And in three days' time the recording of it will be delivered to my inbox for me to keep, so I can even go back and review.

Etchr is my new favorite school! They have master classes that are more expensive, but even then the price range is so reasonable that I wouldn't hesitate to sign up. But for now, I have two more six-dollar experiences coming up in the next 30 days, about which I will report back!