Sketchbook: Watercolor...

  

Comments: Like most people, I currently have more time on my hands. So I did a couple of random watercolor sketches in one of my smaller unfinished sketchbooks. The reference photos I used were ones I took of the faux plants around my house. My use of watercolor (Sakura Koi) here was mainly to block in the general shapes before I went in with colored pencil....

Watercolor: Return of the Puffins

It’s been a hot minute since I last talked about the art I was working on over here on the main blog. So, I wanted to do that today.

Lately, I’ve been drawing a lot in my sketchbook, and I haven’t worked on as many paintings as I did toward the beginning of the year. However, on the 5th of June, I went back through some of my older pieces—the ones I did when I was just getting back into watercolor painting— and I came across the page of birds (I believe I mentioned it sometime in 2017?). I was in the mood to paint something different—not a portrait or one of my usual landscapes. I really just wanted to paint a puffin again. So, on the 5th, I worked on this painting.

The composition is a little off. That's mainly because I picked a few random plants I wanted to include, and I unfortunately didn't pay as much attention to the placement. However, this was just a practice piece. If I did it again, I would give more attention to where I wanted the eye to be drawn and would tie the elements in so that it didn’t look so odd next to the puffin. However, I did this for the process, and I accomplished what I set out to do. So, I’m happy with it. (Here's a closeup.)

Now, as far as Mermay...well, I thought about participating this year. However, I didn’t do as many individual pieces as I would have liked. I did a couple of marker sketches (not shown here), but the only completed ones are both in pencil. And the one in the corner is just a landscape I scribbled in because I had a sudden idea for it. However, after that, I got bored with the subject and went on to work on other things. It's a reoccurring theme on my end, which is often why I don't participate in month-long challenges. Since, I don’t have that much to show for Mermay, I thought I would share them here instead of on an individual post…

What have you been working on lately? Did you participate in Mermay?

The Spider Bride...

It’s finally October 31st. So, to start off this post I just have to say Happy Halloween! I actually planned ahead for once, and as such, had this post in mind as far back as the middle of September. And today, I’m finally going to talk about the second October related watercolor project I tackled: the Spider Bride. This is the other painting that I mentioned briefly on my Watercolor post for the witch redo. And I’m so excited to finally talk about this one. There’s no history behind this piece, and it came about kind of spontaneously.

The Process...

Around the time I was working on the witch painting, I did a quick sketch of another idea that I got out of the blue. I didn’t put too much effort into it, because at the time, I was just trying to parse out a general idea of it before I forgot. And ultimately, it didn’t fit with what I was trying to do with the Witch. So the idea landed on a different page, and that’s where it stayed until I decided that I also wanted to paint it. The Spider Bride is one of those sketches that happened to be good to go without too many alterations from the original version. Off to the side of the initial sketch, I played around with the option of doing a gothic cathedral inspired background. However, I ultimately abandoned that idea early on, because I didn’t like how it even appeared alongside the initial sketch for the Spider Bride.
When I mentioned on the Witch post that the color combinations for both paintings complimented each other, I honestly wasn’t kidding. I don’t know why, but I just didn’t go very dark with my color scheme. And the same thing applies for the Spider Bride. Once I started painting, my original warm/dark tones were tossed out the window in favor of the cooler tones I’m currently a fan of.

The final painting…

A couple of close ups...

The Witch and the Spider Bride side by side. From this view, it’s easier to see how the colors complement each other...

So, that’s about it for today. As for my next art related post, I’m planning to share some of the pages from my current sketchbook; although, I don’t know when that’ll appear on the blog—because I want to amass more pages so it’s not a post with one or two things. Anyway, I hope everyone has a great Halloween!

 Supply List...

Sakura Koi Watercolors

Prismacolor Premier Colored Pencils

Artist Loft Level 2 140lb watercolor paper

Gelly Roll white gel pen

The Witch 2018 Repaint...

At the beginning of the month, I mentioned that I wanted to get back into making art related posts again. So, one of the things I wanted to do this October was redo some of the art I posted around this time last year. And the one that stood out to me first was the witch watercolor painting I did. I know I can do better now, and that’s the main reason why I wanted to tackle this project. Before I get into the process behind my updated version of this painting, I want to show the old one for comparison.

It’s not bad, but I can see all the places I went wrong on this painting. My layers were too dark too soon, and the colored pencils didn’t blend well at all unlike the Prismacolor ones I’m currently using.

The process…

Going into this project, I knew I wanted to take my time before I put paint to paper. I usually do some planning, but for this one I did more sketches before making a decision on which direction I wanted to go. I’ve been trying to change my process for more detailed pieces. So, I started out by looking at the original version + the old sketches and determining what I liked about them. From there, I made some new sketches for it while keeping in mind that I wanted to keep some of the key features including: the hat, the dress, and the two-tone hair. Once I was happy with the overall look, I started playing around with some of the other aspects of the sketch such as: the hat, and if I wanted to change the position of the arm and add a bird or not. However, I ended up scrapping the latter idea because I wanted to maintain some of the simplicity found in the original. I’d also decided to stick with watercolor and colored pencil instead of using a different medium like digital or acrylic paint.

Once I’d figured everything out, next was my favorite part: the actual painting part of the whole process. I enjoyed this part a lot. I had a loose idea of the colors I wanted to use, and in the end, I didn’t end up using as many darker tones as I thought I would. The purples, blues, oranges, pinks, and reds looked better when side by side with the other painting I’m going to be talking about later this month. After I was fine with where the color was at, I finished the painting off with colored pencil, bronze Sharpie, and little hints of white gel pen….

The finished painting…

Here’s a closer look at it....

Up next, I’m going to be talking about a different painting I worked on that I’ve nicknamed the Spider Bride….

Supply List...

Sakura Koi Watercolors 

Prismacolor Premier Colored Pencils 

Artist Loft Level 2 140lb watercolor paper 

Bronze Metallic Sharpie 

Gelly Roll white gel pen

Watercolor: Places #3

Comments: This is the third watercolor painting I worked on, and I wanted to try something a little different from the others. It came out how I wanted it to—particularly the background behind the city. However, I almost wish I’d reversed the colors and made the sky darker while reserving the lighter shades for the city itself. It’s too late to go back and change it for this one, but I may incorporate the idea into a different painting....

Watercolor: Places #2

Comments:This is another watercolor painting I worked on only because I wanted to paint a potted plant. My original idea for it involved the tree with a blank space in the background and maybe a shadow. However, the more I sketched it, the more I liked the idea of the tree being in front of a wall with a single window. I didn’t record the process for it since I only spent about an hour on it from start to finish. I like the colors, and my favorite part is still the tree...

Watercolor: Places #1

Comments: Lately, I’ve been trying to reduce the amount of fuss I go through while preparing to start another a painting. That means no tape at the edges, perfect lines, or overthinking. I’ve essentially been adding color to sketches without worrying if my pencil lines show through, and it’s been a lot of fun. I’m getting more done, and I’m generally happy with the results. One of the pieces I worked on was this street. I liked the shape of the structures and the simplicity. I was also experimenting with colors, which is something I need to do more often....

It's Halloween!: All about Star Wars & Reeves Watercolor

Well, hello. How are you doing? Today is Halloween—a.k.a. the end of the month—November is literally tomorrow. But, where’s the graphic? Why a full post? Well, typically I only post a picture on days like Halloween or Christmas, and it’s become something of a trend on Our Thoughts Precisely. However, this year, I wanted to do something a little different. So to break that trend I’m going to do an art supply review instead, which is why I saved my reeves watercolor review for Halloween. As always, a full list of supplies used will be down at the bottom of the post.

Name: Reeves Watercolor Paint

Source: Purchased

Set: 18 count

ml/fl oz.: 10ml; 0.34 fl oz.

Michaels     Walmart     Blick Art Materials     Amazon     Office Depot     Joann

More info...

• Good color strenth
• Transparent finish

Colors: Chinese White, lemon yellow, medium yellow, orange, flesh tint, brilliant red, crimson, violet, phthalo blue, ultramarine, permanent green light, sap green, viridian hue, yellow orcher, burnt sienna, burnt umber, payne's gray, and ivory black.

Today, I’m going to be talking about Reeves Watercolor paint. When I did the review for Canson watercolor paper, I used these paints, which reminded me that I hadn’t really written specifically about them in any kind of review, general thoughts, or whatever. So, I’m finally going to do that.

What I’m working on…

• Padme Amidala fan art

Some things to know...

• This paint does have a slight chemical odor. 
• This paint does separate in the tube, but once everything is mixed it works perfectly fine.
• When setting up a pallet, keep in mind that this paint can experience some cracking. That’s what happened to me, but I don’t mind since I haven’t had any cracking on my actual paintings and don't really care how messy my folding pallet is or isn't

Here's what this particular set looks like. It's pretty basic, nothing fancy.

I actually like Reeves Watercolor. For a set of 18 colors, the price isn’t very high, and the paint quality is better than say something you would find at the $5 price point. To talk more in-depth about these paints, I’m going to kind of discuss my recent fan art of Padme Amidala—a.k.a., the whole reason why I was so excited to share this post on the blog.


Normally, I try to do original art, because it challenges me more than something that I have a clear reference for. However, I was in the mood to draw one of my favorite outfits from the Star Wars franchise: Padme’s Throne Room Gown from The Phantom Menace. I mean, I like this outfit so much that when I was a kid I actually dressed up as Padme for Halloween. Yes, this outfit in particular. I've always liked the color choices and style of this outfit. The colors are so vivid, which gave me the opportunity to really test how far I could go with the paint. I layered a lot in order to achieve the color you see in the final picture. And, oh gosh, this painting basically took me two days from start to finish—that includes the initial sketch in my sketchbook, transferring it to watercolor paper, and etc.. The effort was worth it because I’m happy with the result.

All paint takes a little trial and error to really see if it suites your style. I’ve exclusively used Reeves Watercolor for months and like it a lot. It’s easy to use, and the range of basic, straight from the tube, colors offers a wide enough range of choices that I sometimes paint without mixing. In this case, I did mix the colors to get the shades I wanted.

Some other good points…

This paint doesn’t have a chalky finish that rubs away when you touch it. I honestly hate that about some cheaper brands of paint. As you can see in the picture, I can touch the dried paint without any problems (as long as my my skin is dry, otherwise the paint would reactivate). To finish my fan art of Padme, I used colored pencil and white gel pen.

Will I continue using these paints?

The answer to that is a definite yes. Eventually, I do want to try different, more expensive paints. That being said, Reeves watercolor works perfectly fine for what I'm trying to do: improve.

Finished painting…

Hop on over to Adri's blog, Toile, Think, Go, where she is reviewing some of the seasonal candy corn: It’s Halloween, Now Let's Talk About Candy Corn. Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got movies to watch. Happy Halloween!

Full List of Supplies…

Canson Watercolor Paper

Reeves Watercolor

Pigma Graphic Pen

Pigma Micron 02

Artist's Loft Colored Pencils

Sakura Gelly Roll gel pen (white)