Eddy.

From the original photo



to this finished painting:

Eddy

this painting will be added to my permanent gallery site

Pat Elliott Paintings

Eddy 6

I'm continuing to paint the spots and some of the shadows as I progress up the body, through the neck and into the face.

Just the ears to go and the painting will be finished.


We had such a beautiful sunny day, that at certain angles you could see the collar name "Eddy" sparkle.. so I photographed him at a strange looking angle, but you get the idea of how he will twinkle - like a little star :)

Eddy 5

Here I start painting Eddy's spots and some of the marking on his muzzle.
Being a Liver dalmatian, his spots are brown.

These actually take quite a time to paint.

Because Eddy is a friend's dog, she would know instantly if the spots were wrongly placed or the incorrect shape. So, I take my time and try to be just as precise with the placing of the spots.

Eddy 4

The eyes are all finished , the collar was next to be worked on.

The dark collar throws the name "Eddy" forward and the curve on the neck helps to create a feeling of a 3 dimensional dog.

The name Eddy was actually spelled out in diamante, but that's incredibly difficult to reproduce, so I used some iridescent medium, which will sparkle in certain lights .

Eddy 3

Once my background is in, I start on the eyes.
As always, the window to the character of the dog.



Once the eyes are in, the painting sits more comfortably and I know whether or not the portrait will be as I want it .

Eddy 2

In this stage, I painted in a blue sky with a few clouds to make a nice backdrop against which Eddy would stand out.
Just the one colour in this sky - French Ultramarine - and lots of water.



It took a couple of hours for thee painting to be completely dry so that I could paint the next section.
Some people like to use hairdriers to get the painting to dry quickly.
My preference is to let the paint and water do their own thing !

I also painted Eddy's name in a pale shade of the same blue, with some iridescent medium added - to give his collar a little sparkle in certain lights !

Eddy 1

I'm taking a little break from experimenting with flowers and floral backgrounds to paint a very special dog.

He's a liver dalmatian and his name is Eddy.

The drawing includes all the prominent spots so that I can get a good likeness to his handsome self .
You might need to click to get the larger picture, to see him clearly.

Aliens Must Die!

Bit of an odd title for a watercolour post isn't it?

But, as my title says, its a journey with watercolour and my dog :)

This post is about Missy and our great joy over her annual check.

To celebrate the good news, we bought a new toy for Missy - an Alien!
She's a jack - you never thought the Alien would live, did you?

Such joy on her face when she de-stuffs him!

D-Day for Rocky

Here is the finished painting:

D-Day for Rocky

This painting will be added to my permanent gallery

Pat Elliott Paintings

Stage Three

In this stage, I am painting another layer, but this time with more definition - and some negative painting too.


I really like this background and foliage technique, it is definitely one I will use again.

Stage Two

After the first background was was left to dry, the paper was completely wet again and a second set of washes laid down.

These also had to be left to dry.
This painting technique needs a great deal of patience - or a pile of ironing!



This is one of my "secrets"
Between very wet washes that need to be bone dry before you paint again, I go off and iron at least four garments.
That way when I return, my painting is ready for the next stage!

Feel free to use that technique :lol:

More Flowers!

You know by now there wasn't a holiday away this year, that I had a new summerhouse/art studio instead.

And in the break, I have been practising floral paintings, using the techniques outlined in North Light's Big Book of Painting Watercolour flowers.

Here is the beginning of another of these practice pieces

Tidy Up - and Great News!

Am I tidying up my new summerhouse?

Nope.

Though little Missy surely wishes I needed to.. because she was the object of my tidying session.

My little girl is very fearful of the groomers, so we have taught her to be reasonably comfortable about us doing the necessary!

And here is the tidied up version of darling Missy!

The Great News:

Annual check: Missy behaved perfectly (that's routine now, but the vet always remarks on it) not a squeak for the jab..put on 0.2lb and NO sign of cancer regrowth.

Vet "hard to believe she's 12 and a half, she's so sparky" :)

Sa Belle

Here's the finished painting:

The first of many from my beautiful retreat, I hope!

Sa Belle

This painting will be added to my permanent gallery
Pat Elliott Paintings

Sa Belle IV

Stage four - and the sea salt has been removed .




I love this effect, it gives a little more depth and interest to the painting.
Next will be to paint some shadows on the flowers, and to add a centre to each. So tomorrow the painting will be finished.

Sa Belle III

Stage three of Sa Belle.

Here I have painted the background in shades of yellow ochre, ultramarine blue and sap green.

Then I sprinkled some salt on the very wet washes because I wanted a particular effect, which you will see when the painting has dried - tomorrow!

.

Sa Belle II

Stage two of Sa Belle, in which I have painted the stems and undersides of the white flowers in a very loose fashion, allowing colours to run together:

Sa Belle I

Time for another floral painting - again I am practising the techniques laid out in North Light's Big Book of Painting Watercolor Flowers........

and this one was the first painted in my summerhouse art retreat, so takes its name from that... "Sa Belle" .. which is short for Sa Belle Retraite.. and that's French for "her beautiful retreat" - which it is..


and here is the drawing

Even Angels Weep

the haiku:

Flying Heavenward
Ferrying innocent home
Even Angels Weep


the painting:

Quilted Art

Previously we had bought a wall hanging for our home:


and we were so enamoured with it, that we asked Tonya at Hillbilly Handiworks if she would make both a table runner and four placemats that would echo the Love wall hanging.

We're delighted with what she created for us :






Go visit her website to see some more artistic creations: Here

While you were Sleeping

I took this precious photo of our sweet rescue girl, Missy - all snuggled up to her dad!



Rescue a russell - we did :)

Incoming!

Here's the finished painting :

Incoming!

This painting will be added to my permanent gallery site
Pat Elliott Paintings

Flower painting V

Now I have painted the flowers, in shades of crimson and ultramarine.

Hopefully this would look attractive to a butterfly!

Flower painting IV

In this stage, I have painted the flower stems and the foreground grasses.

I have also painted around the legs and antennae of the butterfly, to reduce the fat stumps to fine insect legs.

Flower painting III

Stage three sees the removal of the masking fluid after the thorough drying of the background washes.

You might notice, watercolour dries a couple of shades lighter than you paint it on !

I've also "lifted" out a few background grasses.. by running a clean damp brush over the paint, where I want the grass to be.

Flower painting II

Here's stage two of the flower painting..

Before I put the background washes on, I masked around the edge of the flowers, their stems and the butterfly.

This was so I could wet the rest of the page and not have any colours run into these parts .

Flower painting

I'm on holiday, so its time for flower painting practice!

Using North Light's Big Book of Painting Watercolor Flowers, I have started one of their practice demos; flowers and a butterfly.

This piece shows you how to scale up a reference photo, by making a grid.
Here's the grid and drawing


Come back tomorrow for the next stage!

More Bookmarks!

Painting bookmarks is fun...
here's a couple more I've done

Happy Days!

Here are some photos of things that make up Happy Days:


Hubby in the recliner, snoozing peacefully



Missy wanting to nick the space and have a snooze herself !



Sunflowers, bought as a present for me


Another cheerful flower that greets us in the bathroom first thing.


Summer fruit chocolates... delicious!


Simple pleasures, inexpensive pleasures - but such happy days :)

Bookmarks

I recently painted a few bookmarks...

they were great fun to do - I had them laminated and these three have found homes already.


Enjoy :)

Sailing

Tractor Tyre

Hybrid

Happy Birthday!

To my darling Husband..





there's no more to blog about today, because we'll be out celebrating :)