Eclectic Studio - Tammy Morrison-Koenig

I chose to use a grisaille technique for the painting of this old man in watercolor. Grisaille is an old technique oil painters used to develop a monochromatic value study, kinda like a road map for your painting. This later served as a base for the addition of  transparent layers of color. For this painting, I chose to use a limited palette of dioxazine purple, Naples yellow,  alizarin crimson for the face with a pop or 2 of transparent orange and green gold at the end. **This is not a palette I would choose again and here's why. Naples yellow doesn't pack any punch and is opaque. This is not a great mix when you need to cover or mute the purple. Diox purple is also strong stainer, making it difficult to remove pigment. Sometimes this is ok, but didn't really help on this piece. I started this gentleman with an ink sketch that can be found in my Strathmore watercolor 400 series journal. I love the quality of paper in this journal but I wish it would lay flat when I am

I have decided to post some of my reference photos free for you all to use in your work. These are some lovely wild sunflowers growing in the fields out by the ball diamonds in Fort Macleod, Alberta.  This little gopher was trying to photo bomb my other shots so I had to include him in this batch. If you choose to use any of these photos in your art  I would love it if you could link back. Thanks, I really appreciate it.

Drawing portraits on kraft toned paper provide a mid-toned base in which to build your portrait upon. One of the drawing sites I visit has a Halloween drawing event going on right now. Each day a different Halloween inspired drawing prompt is posted and you have the opportunity to use this as inspiration for your sketch. The prompt for this day was Winifred Sanderson from Hocus Pocus and skulls.  This gentleman is full of personality and life. With very little detail or line work, you are still able to give life to a 2-dimensional piece of paper. Kraft paper is a little thin so you are not able to manipulate the ink like you can on some thicker papers, so you have to be very watchful when laying down your strokes.