Togetherness for February

Hello again! I hope you don’t mind that I’m on a bit of a roll with my watercolour painting, right now. I have another one to share today, but don’t worry – I’ll be sharing a card with you on Saturday! Today’s painting is for the theme of Togetherness for February’s banner challenge, in the Brusho Fun group. Each month there’s a new theme. Everyone is invited to create their own painting in keeping with the theme, and share it in the group. Then, before the end  of the month, everyone votes for their favourite painting. The painting with the most votes is used as the Brusho Group’s Facebook page banner for the next month! I was lucky one month, to tie with another artist, and we shared the banner.

PENGUIN TOGETHERNESS

Being aware of my abilities (or lack thereof), I decided that trying to sketch & paint a human couple was not going to happen. So I pondered what else could show togetherness… a pair of rings, perhaps? Someone else already did intertwined trees (and no, I can’t draw hands, either). Well, I turned to my favourite subjects – animals! I found this stunning photograph of a pair of King Penguins in another FB group of which I belong. This group is called Free Reference Photos for Artists, where photographers submit their photos, to be used as reference by artists, royalty free.  And there are AMAZING photographers in this group! This photo was taken by the very talented Gillian Merritt.

Isn’t that gorgeous?! And such a touching photo, of the penguins leaning into each other.

WATERCOLOUR PENGUINS

After tracing the penguins onto my 7″ x 5″ Stonehenge Aqua Cold Press paper, I got my brushes and Brusho Crystal Colours ready.

Starting with the background, I wet the upper half of the paper with clear water. Next, I applied Ost. Blue with a wet brush. For the bottom half, after again wetting the paper, I applied a very watered-down Grey. After that was dry, I started painting the penguins.

The colours I used are Orange, Lemon, Grey, Prussian Blue and Black Brusho. I did add a bit of Daniel Smith white – I’m still waiting on my order of White Brusho to arrive.  I know that I got the orange a little too orange, but I’m still okay with it. I’ll probably try this painting again, when I receive my white Brusho.

Here’s another look at my Togetherness painting, with a black mat over the image.

For the line of the eyes, I wanted to keep it very subtle, as it is in the original photograph. For this, I used my black Polychromos pencil.

Did you know that the King Penguin is the second largest penguin species? It’s only surpassed in size by the Emperor Penguin, which is very similar in looks.

ANOTHER CHOICE?

What would you choose to paint or draw, for the theme of Togetherness? I’d love to hear some suggestions – maybe I’ll do another painting! Thanks for spending some time with me today. I hope to see you again tomorrow, for my card for the Scrap ‘N Stamp team!