A Meeting in the Woods

I found this painting on the web to practice sketching.  I like the way the artist directs the viewer towards the two soldiers at center through the perspective and values of the individuals and trees in the forest.

The Painters Honeymoon

I found this painting by Lord Frederick Leighton called The Painters Honeymoon at the Art Renewal Center museum.  You see their complete bliss together as the painter sketches and his wife casually looks on.  The magnificent light and rendering of her dress illuminates her face and the room.  Just as the fruit in the window has grown to maturity so has their love which also portends to bear fruit.  Below is a quick watercolor rendering of this painting.

Villa Palma

I wanted to do a landscape watercolor painting but was too lazy to go out.  I discovered a site that recommended using Google Street View as a source of subjects for compositions.  So after playing around with GSV I discovered Villa Palma in Italy and decided to do a watercolor sketch on hot press watercolor paper.  I have always used cold press paper and found the switch to hot press a little unsettling at first.  The paint drys fast on hot press making it more difficult to do wet-in-wet.  You have to carefully think through your strokes as you work the composition.  The color does seem a bit more saturated on hot press paper.  Below is the watercolor sketch followed by the reference photo.

Lady at the piano

I found this oil painting on the Internet by Theodore Robinson and liked the composition so I decided to give it a go in watercolor.

Rinaldo and Armida

One of the best ways to improve your drawing skills is to practice by copying works of great artists.  I've been having fun with my new Lamy fountain pen and decided to sketch this famous painting by Nicolas Poussin.  In this painting, Rinaldo is a soldier during the first crusades who is held as a lovesick prisoner of Armida until his comrades remind him of his mission.

Pas de deux

I saw a photo of two San Francisco ballet dancers and tried to capture some of their energy and grace in this sketch

Still life composition

Last weekend I arranged some fruit and a tea cup on our kitchen counter playing around with different positions.  I had trouble deciding where to focus the composition so I started with a pencil sketch and did some thumbnail drawings.  I wanted the apple and banana to be the main subject.  Today I completed a watercolor painting of this still life composition.  I think the apple should be a warmer red and the teacup a more turquoise color..