Happy Monday! Well, did you survive the Black Friday shopping? In case you got bogged down, you can still SAVE 25% in my ENTIRE SHOP! Today is the last day, so be sure to grab your one-of-a-kind gifts and something for yourself. Use Coupon Code BF25 at checkout. CLICK HERE to see everything in my Shop! Once you’ve shopped, you can come back and enjoy seeing my watercolour Victorian Lamp Post paintings.
THAT CHRISTMAS FEELING
I used a reference photo from a group I belong to, on Facebook. Fabulous photographers share their photos for any artist member to use, royalty free. This lovely old fashioned lamp post reminds me of Victorian era movies (think Dickens) and gives me a feeling of Christmas. I knew that I wanted to do the image in 5″ x 7″ or smaller, so I decided to do 2 at once!
I used my Stonehenge Aqua Coldpress pad that is 7″ x 10″, and literally drew a line down the middle. Then, I placed a piece of masking tape down the middle, then drew the image. I’m not very good at free hand drawing, so I trace the outline of the the lantern and bow. I did free hand paint in the background trees and greens, though! I’m pretty proud of myself for that.
PAINTING DETAILS
I wanted to create a bokeh background, so I first masked off some circles with a masking pen. If you’re not familiar with bokeh, it’s a term used by photographers for the blurred, out of focus parts of an image. Next, the background colours were added. Once they dried, I painted the lantern, then bow, and then added the background trees. The greens were painted in next, and finally the berry branches. I used a combination of Brusho Crystal Colours and Daniel Smith watercolour paints.
Between layers I went back and added shadows and highlights with different colours and even used my Faber Castell Polychromos pencils for some subtle shading. The snow on the lamp, berries and branches is painted on with Dr. Ph Martin’s bleed proof white and a small brush. Once I was satisfied with my painting, the last step was to splatter on some bleed proof white paint that had been diluted with a bit of water.
The photos below are of each of the paintings, separated. They are very similar, but not identical!
CLOSE UP
I’m quite happy with how the bow turned out in both paintings. I was worried about losing the details, but adding the shadows & highlights worked, I think.
After taking the pictures, I realized that I hadn’t signed my work, so I went back and did that! I may scan these, and print them for my holiday cards for next year!
Thanks for spending some time with me today! Be sure to check out the amazing deal of 25% OFF in my Shop – this sale ends at midnight tonight!
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