Painting Proof

Here are some more in-process images from the studio, this time for "Proof." This watercolor, along with twenty other recent paintings, are in my solo show at Left Coast Galleries in Studio City through May 25, 2010.


I started by masking off the foreground areas, using cut out drawing paper sealed around the edges with drafting tape, plus a little liquid frisket for the antennae and various irregular edges. Then painted the background wet-in-wet, and scrubbed out those circular shapes with a damp bristle brush after the whole thing was dry.


Next, lightly washed in the foreground hues. The citrus wedge is already too dark, but I'm hoping to scrub some of that off. Watercolor has a reputation for being unforgiving, but you can make adjustments as you go. You just can't go back to square one. Every mark is a commitment.


I gradually darkened the butterfly and glass shadows, and lightened the citrus wedge by rewetting and lifting off color. Slightly darkened some of the light areas of the table to make that refracted highlight look whiter than white.


Then layered washes on the butterfly wing, and darkened the abdomen...


Added some pale blue in the blur zone at the edge of the table, corrected the curve of the glass lip, lightened some of the cast shadows and added some diffraction rainbow effects. Okay, wow, am I really painting butterflies and rainbows now? It's like some 14-year-old girl is telling me what to do...

Anyway, that's it! Thanks for dropping by...