Finished Japanese Garden Page

I was planning on making this my last page of my Virtual Trip to a Japanese Garden journal.  After looking at it I thought it would be better as my first page.  It shows a sketch from each lesson plan and would nicely fit as the first page even though it has sayonara on it.  This was sketched on Arches off white 140 pound cold press watercolor paper.  Watercolor paints are from Daniel and Smith.  The bamboo is drawn in copper ink with a  Pelikano Junior fountain pen, and the writing was with a bamboo pen and watercolor pigment. Just want to thank Laura for letting me know about the class.

Painting White Koi

I decided to work on sketching white koi.  I was afraid that the other colors would cause the fish to look off, but I like how they turned out. I used Arches 140 pound cold press watercolor paper and Daniel and Smith watercolor paints.  I used Mineral Violet for shading the fish in the blue water and Perylene Green for the fish in the greenish-yellow water. The first fish on the left I made ripples by painting French Ultramarine Blue mixed with Neutral Tint over the fish and water that had previously had a wash of the same color lightly pulled over the fish.  The center fish I made ring like ripples by using the same mix as above, but making the sharper edge ringlets.  On the final fish I used a mix of Perylene Green and Hanasa Yellow to try and show reflections.  The last fish had some problems of the orange spots wanting to lift off with the final wash.  I have learned so much on using watercolors with taking the Stratford free workshop class and Laura's Imaginary Realm class.

Quick Sketch Temple in Watercolor

This temple is part of a combination page for my imaginary trip to a Japanese garden. I am planning on adding other garden structures to this page by the end of the week. This temple is in Vietnam, I like its cap stacked on cap look  I used a pencil to do a rough sketch and then applied the color. Sketch is on Arches 140 Pound cold press off white watercolor paper with Daniel and Smith watercolor paint.

Gouache

This is the first time trying gouache. The background is wet on wet for the plants, dry brush for the water, and pen and ink for the legs.  Paper is 140 pounds Arches off white paper.  This is a sketch from my journal on my trip to Las Vegas.  I did a pencil sketch their and painted yesterday at home. The stork is made up of flowers on metal legs. His body turned out darker than I wanted, but for my first time with gouache I think it turned out well.

Urban Sketching

I have been looking for this book in the store for a few months now.  I guess it was back at the printers for another printing.  Just received this today.  I can hardly wait to go through it.  I hope to improve my drawing of buildings in a landscape.  Well, I guess we will see how it goes.

Wet on Wet Wash = Sunset?

Decided to do a wet on wet wash to make the sky for this sunset scene.  I think my sky turned out well and I would do this again. My picture isn't 100% correct in color.  I think next time I will take a picture with my digital camera and see how it turns out. I used Daniel and Smith watercolors on Arches 140 pound off white watercolor paper. Part of my imaginary trip to Japan.

Bellagio Conservatory

I decided to include another sketch from my trip to Las Vegas.  This one is of the conservatory at the Bellagio.  The poppies stand about 20' tall and the bees are suspended on wires from the ceiling.  The bee are made of flowers.  They look like mums.  I simplified the background to show off the flowers.  Painted on 400 Series Strathmore 140 pound watercolor paper with Daniel Smith watercolor paints.