Study for the Constellation Lepus

"Study for the Constellation Lepus" 8" x 10" casein
Copyright Sara Light-Waller, 2015

For a little while now I’ve been writing a fairytale as a series of linked drabbles (100-word stories). “A Patchwork Tale” is planned as a story in three parts, with illustrations in pen & ink and watermedia. Eventually, I’d love to publish it as a bound book. We’ll have to see how that goes later on.

For now, I’m writing Part II and starting the illustrations. Here's a detail study for the first painting. This one is called, "The Constellation Lepus." I'll do two more studies like this one before starting the final painting.
 

If you’re interested in reading Part I of “A Patchwork Tale” you can find it on my other blog: Through the Looking Glass.

Painting of the Day

"Brush Jar," 11" x 14" watercolor
Copyright, Sara Light-Waller 2015

A few details about the painting
This stoneware jar has been in my family for as long as I can remember. It's always given me a feeling of solidity and comfort and is one of my favorite things from childhood. The long-handled brushes are the ones I use for acrylics, not watercolor, gouache, or casein. Watermedia brushes typically have short handles and would have been too small to be seen over the edge of the jar.

The painting was done in shades of neutralized yellows to compliment the color of the stoneware, which has a color base of gritty, grey-yellow.

Although I can see flaws in the drawing, I'm pretty happy with the watercolor application. And the brushes do look like brushes, which makes me very happy!

New Years Wishes from Flying Pony Studios!

Wishing all my friends a very happy New Year, 2015!

Ah, the new year…there are always resolutions, aren’t there? And then you break them…So ultimately, no one bothers to make them anymore. But I’m going to do this year. My resolutions are as follows: to keep up with my painting, plein air and in studio, building up my skills as a watermedia painter. Also, I will be publishing a book (one of them that’s almost ready) and perhaps more than one in 2015! It’s been an intense couple of years of writing and illustration just to get here and now it’s time to bring it all home. *smile*

On that note…here are some of my most recent illustrations, created for my “Patchwork Tale” a series of mini-stories written as linked drabbles (100-word stories). I’ve got it (still in progress) posted on my other blog, www.saralightwaller.com/ in case you’d like to see something of my writing at long last. ha-ha!

 

"The Elfin-Queen and her Griffin," 8” x 10” pen & ink drawing

"The Elfin-Captain," 9” x 12” pen & ink drawing

“Clockmaker, the Sorceress,” WIP 9” x 12”

Have a great year everyone!

Double Posting

So I’ve started another blog which I’ve designated as my “writing” blog. It’s called Through the Looking Glass: My Life as a Mystery School. I’ve been writing a multi-part faerie tale in drabble format, which means that each part is done in a one hundred word segment. Although I’m going to keep my two blogs distinct (this being the ART blog, and that the WRITING blog) there is some overlap when it comes to artwork. I thought Flying Pony Studios fans might like to see my newest pieces, illustrations that go with parts II and III of the story, called “A Patchwork Tale.” You can read the entire thing (without the pictures) here.

“The Faerie-Knoll,” watercolor & gouache on paper,
8″ x 10″.  Copyright, Sara Light-Waller, 2014.

"The Elfin-Knight's Mount," pen & ink.
Copyright, Sara Light-Waller, 2014.

Two more studies

Seattle view, two studies, watercolor

...showing the same location as the studies done yesterday. I am exploring different methods of laying down paint. The two studies today, and the two yesterday, used two colors of paint: Ultramarine Blue and Orange, either Cadmium Orange or Permanent Orange. It's amazing how much you can do with only two colors. And you learn so much in the process!

A couple of landscape studies

What I'm doing this afternoon. Two landscape studies handled differently but both using only two colors: orange and blue.

A scene from Seattle looking at Lake Washington, watercolor.

How Color Affects Color

As I get back to painting after nearly a month off (NaNoWriMo month) I wanted to start with something simple, an exercise showing how complementary colors affect each other.

Here’s what I did:

I drew six large boxes with a smaller box inside the first. I chose two paint colors, red and green, which are direct complements, directly across from each other on the color wheel. (For those of you who are interested I used Quinacridone Rose and Cobalt Green watercolor.)

 Here’s the key for what I did and the results I saw.
(Descriptions are from top row left to right, then bottom row left to right.)

1. Neutral gray box painted around an inner red box. The red box is activated and “pops” forward.
2.  Black outer box with the inner red box (I got the black by mixing the red and green together.) The red box looks bigger and brighter.
3. White outer box with inner red box. The red box looks duller and smaller.
4. Green outer box and inner red box. The two colors compete to come forward, creating an interesting vibration for the viewer.
5. A red outer box with a neutral gray inner box. Because your eye seeks balance the inner gray box looks cooler and more green.
6. A green outer box with a neutral gray inner box. The inner gray box looks warmer and reddish, reflecting the missing complementary red color.

Aren’t optical illusions fascinating? More than that, they’re useful. By understanding how one color affects another, a painter can better plan their paintings leading to more frequent successes. Sure it takes practice, but the results are well worth it.